Outdoors Central

head, a member of Team Evinrude, recently won the FLW EverStart Bass Fishing Series Championship on Kentucky Lake. When asked what was the one key factor in his win, he said “Without a doubt, the Alabama Rig. The Alabama Rig opens up a whole new world in fall bass fishing.”

Before we get into the what, where, when and how to fish and Alabama Rig, I wanted to talk with Dan some about his win on Kentucky Lake. Dan has fished Kentucky Lake all his life, and admitted that he is very confident here most of the time. However, Dan likes to deer hunt, and come the fall he can be found in the woods instead of on the water. So with all his experience on Kentucky Lake he wasn’t exactly ecstatic with the thought of a fall tournament there. “I only fish Kentucky in the fall when ‘they’ make me”, he said chuckling. The home lake curse is often just that, with local anglers struggling to catch a winning stringer. Dan was able to best the rest of the field by several pounds, begging the question, how did you overcome the home town jinx. Dan was quick to say that over-all there was a home lake advantage; it was not a curse this time. “Once I figured out what was going on, I was able to use my knowledge to duplicate the structure that was producing throughout the lake.” Dan went on to say, “on the last day of practice I figured out what was going on, and because I know this lake so well, I had endless places to fish.”

Conditions for this tournament were typical fall fishing.

Water Temperature: 59-62 Degrees
Water Clarity: 4-5 feet visibility in the areas he was fishing
Water Level: Normal scheduled winter pool
Weather Conditions: Rirst two days were overcast, third day was sunny and no wind, last day sunny with gusts to 15 mph.

Dan had a great pre practice for this event. Pre practice is the time on the water before official cut off. With the help of a local friend, Dan caught 5 fish limits upwards of 25 pounds on a Zara Spook over stump covered flats. Dan told me, “I 100% felt this pattern would hold up through the summer and into fall; bass were there, food was there, all the conditions were right for this to last.” Dan continued, “I spent my first two days of practice working this pattern, trying to force it, make it work; it didn’t.” On his third day of practice, he realized he needed a change. Competitors were catching plenty of fish in the backs of coves. Smaller fish had large balls of bait fish pushed up into the bays. However, this pattern did not have the size to win this event. Dan said, “This tournament was not for points, go big or go home.”

Knowing the lake as he did, along with the fall feeding in the backs of the coves, Dan started working the deeper breaks on the way out from the backs of these coves. “On the third day of practice, I found that there were quality fish hanging on the first deep water breaks as you headed back to the main lake. I was able to catch a couple tournament quality fish on a Zara Spook.” The 4th and final practice day is where it all came together for Dan, “The sun came out, and we had some wind. This is when the Alabama Rig can really shine, and it did.”

Having already ‘spotted’ the rest of the field, of competitors, three days of practice time Dan’s home field advantage began to shine. Because he fought so long to find quality bass, Dan didn’t have much time to duplicate his findings throughout the lake. However, he was confident with his knowledge of the lake and put it to good use, culminating in winning the Championship. I asked Dan what his thoughts were about why many anglers fall to the home town jinx. He replied, “Anglers fish memories and not patterns, you have to stick with the pattern. Use your knowledge of the bass fishing water to duplicate what you’ve found.” As you have read, Dan almost got caught up in the memory fishing, hitting the flats that he had found bass on prior to cut off. I asked Dan about this, he replied, “that’s a loaded question, yes I was fishing an area I had found fish before; however, this pattern and that area set up right for the fall. The pattern just wasn’t there.”

Okay enough with my personal quest to find out how Dan beat ‘The Curse’, let’s find out about the Alabama Rig. Dan started fishing the Alabama Rig back in May of this year, seeing the potential for catching schooling or suspending fish. Dan told me that he spent many hours on the water learning this bait, from how to cast and retrieve it, to how to maximize its potential.