It is hard to believe more than a decade has passed since the Alabama rig burst onto the bass fishing scene. In fall 2011, veteran pro Paul Elias unveiled the umbrella-style rig on Lake Guntersville during an FLW Tour Open. After fishing from daylight until noon without a single bite, Elias eased under a bridge and tried the umbrella rig for the first time.
Four casts later, he put 15 pounds of bass in the livewell. He returned to areas that had been lifeless earlier in the morning to catch another 20 fish. By the end of the day, the Alabama rig was no longer a curiosity: It was bass fishing’s most talked-about lure.
Jason Pittman of Covington, Louisiana, remembers watching that tournament unfold and feeling the same pull many bass anglers did. “Once I got one in my hand, I realized the magnitude of this technique,” he said. And like most anglers, it took some time for him to master the A-rig. “Early on, it was truly a learning-curve deal, and I was guilty of all the wrong ways to try and fish it.”
Pittman now has an entire box in his arsenal dedicated to the A-rig, which earns a permanent place on the front deck once winter settles in. After years of experimenting with the setup, locations, and retrieve, he keeps coming back to three key reasons the bait continues to shine when the water turns cold.
Reason No. 1: Fires Up the School
An A-rig has a unique way of turning curious bass into competitive ones. Pittman learned this lesson on a trip while fishing a drop-off. “I saw a bait ball with a few bass around it on my Garmin Livescope,” he said. “After making a few casts, I realized that the bass would rise up off the bottom out of curiosity more than hunger.”
For 20 minutes Pittman threw different baits at the bass, only to watch them scatter. “I mixed in a few casts in between all the baits with the A-rig and regained the interest of them, but nothing would commit to the bait. I finally changed the plastics from a 4-inch lure to a 3-inch Sassy Grub from Mister Twister and with the downsized bait, the fish reacted after seeing it on a couple casts.”
The difference was like night and day, he recalled. “Once the first bass was hooked, their instincts took over. They were fired up and several casts in a row resulted in double hookups on the lure.”
Reason No. 2: Cover Water Efficiently
Winter bass often roam in groups, following bait rather than relating tightly to cover. When that happens, Pittman wants a lure that allows him to search efficiently without guessing.
The A-rig excels as a search bait because it lets anglers cover water while still presenting a realistic, high-percentage target. Pittman uses it to locate schools of bass feeding on shad, especially in open water around ledges, humps, and sharp drop-offs. Once he finds active fish, he can slow down or adjust depth, but the A-rig is often what helps him find them in the first place.
Reason No. 3: Precise Depth Control
One of the most overlooked strengths of the A-rig is how it can be fished at different depths. By adjusting jig head weight and retrieve speed, Pittman keeps the rig in the strike zone whether bass are tight to the bottom or suspended. “The ability to control the depth is what really separates it for me,” he said. “If they’re suspended, I can put it right in front of them instead of fishing over their heads.”
Pittman typically fishes lighter with 1/16 or 1/8-ounce jig heads in water less than 20 feet deep. This allows the rig to fall naturally and stay in front of suspended fish longer. When bass are holding deeper, he increases weight to get the rig down faster while maintaining control throughout the retrieve.
“If you are fishing in 40 feet of water and the bass are suspended down around 30 feet, you might want to go with 1/4-ounce heads to get it to them faster,” he advised.
Pittman’s Setup
Pittman keeps his A-rig setup simple and balanced to maintain control without overpowering the bait. He fishes a Yum Flash Mob Jr rigged with 1/16- or 1/8-ounce jig heads most of the time. On the heads he threads 4-inch Mister Twister Sassy Swimmers in white or shad patterns.
For the rod, Pittman uses a 7’ 6” KastKing medium-heavy, which gives him the backbone needed to manage multiple hooks while still allowing the rig to load properly on the cast. He pairs it with a KastKing MegaJaws Blacktip reel in a 7.2:1 gear ratio, giving him the ability to control retrieve speed and quickly catch up to fish that rush the bait.
He spools the reel with 20- to 25-pound KastKing Kovert fluorocarbon, favoring the heavier line for its abrasion resistance and control when fishing deeper water or around structure.
Pittman admits he’s come a long way since first trying out the A-rig, but after years of using the rig it’s proven to be a tool that consistently produces when other baits fall short. In cold water, few presentations match the A-rig’s ability to turn interest into bites.
