"alabama rig" illegal in new hampshire's fresh waters
 

CONCORD, N.H. -- Anglers should be aware that the "Alabama rig," a lure gaining popularity in the bass fishing world, is illegal to use in New Hampshire's fresh waters, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department officials said today.

The Alabama rig generated national interest following a well-publicized win by a professional bass angler in a major bass tournament last fall.

Technically, the rig is not a lure, but an apparatus that allows an angler to attach and fish up to five lures on a single line, with the possibility of catching more than one fish at a time. It is basically a castable "umbrella" rig, consisting of a hard body with a line-tie, followed by five wire strands in a fanned out design each with a snap swivel at the end. Anglers can attach a variety of lures to each swivel for a look that is meant to mimic a school of baitfish. A photo of the rig can be seen on the N.H. Fish and Game website at http://www.fishnh.com/Fishing/alabama_rig.html.

Saltwater Maybe
 

But to use this rig in freshwater just totally wrong in my humble opinion. And for a recognized fishing organization to allow this rig and others like it certainly adds to the non-public's generally negative opinion of bass tournaments, and fishing competitions in general.

This type rig makes sport fishing seem more like commercial fishing. Kudos to NHF&G for outlawing it.

How far does it go?
 

Questions,

According to the write up then wouldn't a "spinner bait" also not allowed?

It has one artificial bait with a hook and then the spinner without a hook.

. /spinner
./
.\
. \
. \hooked bait

If one was to take the alabama rig and have only one hook would it be allowed? How many additional spinners are allowed. I've seen some spinner baits with multiple added spinners but only the main target bait has a hook.

Just food for thought.


ToW

I think this is a good rule. I've seen video of this rig in action, and it does seem to stack the deck in favor of the angler.

Sport anglers stopped using these types of rigs long ago because it was felt they gave the sportsman an unfair advantage. Now that the sport of angling has been corrupted by big bucks I think many feel the end justifies the means. Not too long ago most anglers would have stuck their nose in the air if someone suggested using such a rig. "The 'umbrella' rig!? That's for sustenance fishermen in the ocean." Today the Alabama rig (umbrella rig) is one of the "newest" fishing techniques and a big seller. I believe that some of these fisherman and manufacturers promoting this rig have forgotten where they came from.

Agreed. The post caught my eye because just last week a friend down here sent me some links about the rig, saying that he was getting some of the gear. I didn't like the concept, and so dismissed it, and didn't think about it again until seeing it posted here. I think the idea is to put less pressure on the fisheries, and provide the fish finder-/bass boat-toting angler with any more advantages! And I say this as a lifelong angler.

Your mileage may vary.

That's like hunting deer at night with a light. Get rid of these so-called sportsman that use this thing.

I don't think any legitimate sportsman on freshwater would support this rig. Nuf said.

Alabama Rig
 

I have spoken to NH F&G about this issue and the law states (paraphrasing here to make it more easily understandable) only one lure is allowed to be used per line, and a lure is defined by a bait containing hook(s), so an Alabama Rig being used with only one of the baits containing a hook is legal, using the rig with all five baits all having hooks is not.

The question about a spinner bait being legal is answered by this as well as any other spinner/dodgers being used as attractors...the spinnerbait has one hook and an arm with attractors that does not contain hooks, so it is perfectly legal.

On another note, many fisherman that "drop shot" use a jig instead of a weight on the bottom of the line, with the other lure coming off the line above that, this would be considered illegal as well. Can not have two lures with hooks on one line.

Sorry if I get a little wordy hear, but I think it is better stated than what the F&G Rule Book states.

This is what I thought.
 

Thanks.

So the alabama rig is in fact legal if only one of the baits has a hook. Therefore the umbrella rig is also legal as long as the trailing bait is the only one having a hook.

This is what I thought.

And thanks for your effort in getting the true facts out.


ToW

You would think
 

that pontoon guy on the lake with at least 12 rods dangling from his boat will be illegal. By definition of the law it is perfectly legal as long as there is one bait/hook per rod.

My biggest gripe are the fishermen that fish too close to swimmers and those who do fish in swimming areas, lose a hook or two which ends up on the kids later.

Not sure
 

what you are getting at? As long as the pontoon boat only has two rods with hooks then he can have as many rods as he wants dragging junk in the water. The law says that you can have two rods with hook baits in the water at a time. So as long as all the other rods don't have hooks then I would guess he is OK.


ToW

Hi Broadhopper,
The pontoon guy with "12 rods dangling" is most likely trolling and thus probably isn't close to shore. Being close to shore mean he will be losing some expensive equipment. The 12 rods is legal as long as he has 6 or more persons onboard who are licensed or under 16.

Fishermen fishing close to swimming areas which i would broadly define as "along any shoreline" are most likely bass fishermen and they are fishing where bass congregate: under docks, around rock piles, under trees and around weed lines. All these areas are legal to fish in as long as they are not designated swim areas defined with floating buoys etc and is part of "sharing the resource. I would expect common courtesy from any such fisherman not to target an area where a swimmer is in the water or a dock where someone is on the dock AND that if a hook is lost - he should make every effort to retreive it. I think most do these actions but there are always bad apples. However in unmarked swim areas and on unoccupied docks...you just have to share the lake with these guys. Its the way it is as the laws are defined. In fact interfering with their right to fish public water is illegal.

Actually you can have as many poles as you want in the boat. You can only have two lines in the water per licensed fisherman or children under 16 yrs of age. Having extra poles on the boat is not an issue as long as they are not in the water.

Dan

My neighbor bought one and tried out in the pond behind my house. The action of the lure(s) is pretty neat. It looks like it can save a slow fishing day, but I can't say I'm crazy about it. You need a really heavy action rod because that thing had a lot of drag to it.

well..
 

what if you to had say...5 mooselock wobblers on the alabama rig, but took 4 of the treble hooks off and leaving one of the treble hooks on one of the wobblers? the four without the hooks could act as attractors(like a spinnerbait) and the fifth lure has the hook on it, would that still be illegal??

This would be legal, a discussed in posts above.