Alabama Rig

Ok guys, went to Badin lake here in NC the other day and every boat I saw was throwing the A-rig and there I was chunkin' the shad rap and jig. Though I did manage 6 fish on my old timey presentations I'm obviously behind the times and if I don't catch up quick I will be doing a lot of donating at the scales. Being a complete noob, I need a few tips and was hoping the guys here would help. What wire length works the best and are there designs/manufacturers you prefer or to stay away from? What weight jig heads work the best? Is there a particular plastic that you prefer? While I have my own ideas bout the plastic of choice my main worry is wire length and weight. Any help would be much appreciated!

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I use my homemade version which is the original POSS design I use 5/0 roundball heads with a light wire these are poured in my shaky head mold I normally use light weights on the outside wires and a heavier weight jig head in the center which I change out determining the depth I want to fish I normally use 1/8 on the outer wires and 3/8-1oz in the center. I love Basstrix swimbaits but they are too soft for the A-Rig I normally use either strike king shadalicious yum money minnows or my favorite the berkley split belly swimbait it is much tougher than the hollow belly version and doesntslide down the hook nearly as bad I throw mine on a 7'11" shimano crucial swimbait rod with either a shimano chronarch or a calcutta 300te with 65lb power pro braid or in really clear water 20-25lb Pline cxx feel free to PM me if you need any more help I am pretty skilled in the A-rig and have been using it since august of 2011

Joey Watts at Flatlands Custom Tackle makes a good A-rig an he is a site sponsor.
The umbrella rig(A-rig) has been around for 50 years and was used for stripers on Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes.

Good Fishing!

my question is do the wires hold up? I saw the FLW show where the pro kept breaking the wires off one at a time. I am looking for the most durable one.

The ones at the FLW were joined with no weight at the head. Joey Watts has the wires going into a shad shaped weighted head. Go on his site and takke a look.

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<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by LOZman &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">The ones at the FLW were joined with no weight at the head. Joey Watts has the wires going into a shad shaped weighted head. Go on his site and takke a look.

</td></tr></table>I took a look and I know Joey makes good stuff but they look the same as the orginal a-rig. I think the difference is you can get the baits from Joey with 3 different types of wires

I ried weighted heads on some of my rigs all I did was stay hung up all day with it it dug into the bottom too bad

Thanks for the responses. I will be doing some experimenting of my own, what have you guys found as far as wire lengths goes? I've heard the more compact are better. I've also heard that some folks put heavier lead on two of the outside wires 3/8 which sould put them at the bottom and 1/8 on the other two so they would ride at the top. Does this work and help balance the lure to keep it from spinning?