GEARING UP
THEN AND NOW
Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit pro Alex Davis has had a front-row seat to the rig ’ s evolution . He calls Lake Guntersville home , and in that 2011 event dominated by Elias , Davis finished 10th . He ’ s been using the umbrella rig ever since .
While Davis still uses the rig as he did back then , the lure and the techniques associated with it have evolved several times over the last decade .
“ When we first started fishing [ umbrella rigs ], I was making my own rigs with J-B Weld and plumbing wire ,” Davis says . “ It didn ’ t really matter what it looked like or what swimbait you were using because it was so new , and the fish hadn ’ t seen anything like it .”
As the technique gained popularity and bass started seeing more rigs , anglers were forced to evolve with newer versions . First up : the addition of some more flash in the form of blades .
“ Everyone was throwing the same rigs and the fish got used to them ,” Davis adds . “ Adding blades helped to show them something new , but downsizing the rig was just as important . If you fish a place where [ bass ] haven ’ t seen as many rigs as they do on Guntersville , it might not matter as much . If they haven ’ t seen anything like it , they ’ ll bite it no matter what it looks like , and there are still places in the country where the bass have never seen it as much as they have on Guntersville .”
Davis admits he ’ s had to implement different retrieves and downsize his rigs to continue to catch fish over the years .
Alex Davis picked up one of his earliest wins fishing an A-rig on Guntersville .
PHOTO BY ROB NEWELL
“ In the beginning , all you had to do was cast that thing out and reel it back in ,” he explains . “ Now , I ’ ve learned that you can do little things to get more bites . I ’ ll give the rod a quick jerk or hit my rod handle during the retrieve to get those blades to flash and make the swimbaits flare out .”
Bass Pro Tour pro Michael Neal was also right in the thick of things from the onset , as the technique moved upstream to his home lake of Chickamauga , Tennessee , right after Elias let the world know about the umbrella rig .
“ It ’ s not as popular as it was when it first came out , but like any other technique , it has its time and place ,” Neal says . “ During the winter and until the bass spawn is definitely the time to be throwing it . There ’ ll be certain days when it ’ s something you have to be throwing to compete .”
“ In the beginning , all you had to do was cast that thing out and reel it back in . Now , I ’ ve learned that you can do little things to get more bites .”
THE RIGHT GEAR FOR THE JOB
As Davis has learned to downsize his rigs , he ’ s also lightened the gear he uses to fish one .
“ In the real heyday when it first came out , I used a beefed-up setup ,” he says . “ I was rigging 5-inch Strike King Shadalicious hollow-bodied swimbaits with 3 / 8- and 1 / 2- ounce jig heads , and the whole rig weighed over 6 ounces .” This heavy setup necessitated a stout rod , big reel and heavy line .
“ I used a 954 G . Loomis GLX flipping stick with a Shimano Calcutta and 65-pound braided line ,” Davis adds . “ I ’ ll still go with that monster setup once in a while when I ’ m at home and just having fun trying to catch a really big one , but most of the time , I ’ m fishing a much smaller rig now .”
Davis ’ go-to rig nowadays is a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr . with 1 / 8- to 1 / 4-ounce jig heads paired with a Jackall Rhythm Wave 3.8 swimbait . Davis prefers homemade jig heads and likes those without screw keepers . He believes adding super glue is the best way to secure his swimbaits to the jig head .
“ What I use now is a much more natural-looking setup ,” he adds . “ The whole thing weighs less than 2 ounces , and because of that , you can use a lighter rod and line .”
Davis fishes his rig on a 7-foot , 7-inch heavy Shimano Expride swimbait rod and pairs it with a Shimano Tranx 300 spooled with 20-pound-test P-Line fluorocarbon .
84 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2021