CatchingConcepts

They look to be late 70s - early 80s handmades in the style of TN makers... coated with polyurathane or marine varnish wich yellows greatly over time. May be early baits from a known artist, or more likely a small regional builder long forgotten. I would say that the bumps on sides of baits are not weights but are some kind of brass rattle glued into the bait. On baits like these I have seen the makers use 22 bullet casings with shot for rattles. Most telling stylistic signature on the baits are the eyes on most. Someone here will know who made these baits if they got any exposure further than one crafters box.

I have 1000 or so of the clips in my method above in use at all times, and very few ever damage the topcoat once you learn how to remove them from the bait after fully cured. My system uses inexpensive materials so that I can effectively hold the baits and be able to move and secure them during various steps in larger numbers and have lots of clips always rotating through the processes. System uses simple wood clothes pins and short lengths of 1/16" high carbon coated gas welding rod. Material easily slips out of bait after coating, light touch on belt sander and bait is ready for rear hook hanger in pre-drilled hole.

Trout patterns can be very intricate and complex in their formula. Guys who do them well usually dont give up their basics to getting the effects. A good starting place for better understanding would be to check out some of the taxidermist supply places for paints and even some vids on their paint techniques, makes great reference and lays good groundwork to mastering your own signature trout painting style. A clue to the masters of near taxidermy quality trout paint work would be attention to detail in blending and shading of the base coats, and use of very transparent paints for shading and detail work. Heavy handed effects and thick opaque paints muddy the beauty of a good trout pattern.

How about something like this ?? seems to work for me...

Most everything I shoot is lacquer based thinned with acetone or lac thinner... One thing no one mentioned is buying a big can of a quality clear lacquer, thin down to spray through your airbrush, and then possibilities are unlimited... I use auto or worm pouring pearls,powder pigments and metalic powders, micro glitters and flip flops... mix them into the clear, as well as any tints or dyes, like worm or lure dye, even Ritt dye to get great trans colors. Once you get comfortable with the system, you can even mix in other paints and pigments to hot lacquers with good results... Enamels actually work well to pigment the lacquers and spray nicely in thinned clear or white lacquer with near instant drying qualities. Always do this in well ventilated area!

All the pix I have seen dont have a swivel on the nose of the bait... http://www.thealabamarig.com/ for reference, check out the official site ! EDIT --- I get it you mean that they used a crane swivel for the line tie on the front and formed the body over... Good idea to reduce bending wire I guess and getting a cleaner look...

Think I got it right this time? Resin pour head looks clean and sexi...

On the legal side the more I read of fish and game rules and such, I think the main thing to beat is making the RIG a LURE... It needs a main body and set number of hooks pre attached to the bait to meet most regs. one main line tie point of attachment and its a lure not a rig, not an umbrella rig, not something with extra lures hanging off of it as the TAR is now advertised as being. I think that was a mistake on their part to do such. It cannot be advertised as being able to hang 5 lures off its legs, it has to be a single entity unit, pre rigged with its hooks attached to the main lure out of the package. I think that is how something like this can wiggle around most DFG laws? Someone will figure out the nuances of all and come up with a original method of packaging a lure that fishes big like a school of baitfish and encorporates the same triggering qualities while keeping the overall lure package one main lure entity to meet regs... We havent seen the last of this thought in lure making, where there is money to be made the sharks are circling, and they smell blood in the waters! Still thinking something like bait below is a viable model and would pass most DFG regs minus the snaps and with affixed hooks?

OH I agree, the american way is alive and well on this one... But... so many guys here could easily duplicate that rig.. honestly most guys with wire and pliers could make one with a little effort. Guess its the makers time to shine, every gets a few glimpses of fame and fortune... Remember some of the other crazes? what was it.. a frontrunner? everyone had to have one??

Im sorry, but this Alabama rig thing just has me in disbelief over what they are now going for... http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=737574 Us bass guys have to be some of the most gullable and impulsive breed there is? I mean seriously, guys are throwing away over $100.00 for a trend rig that may be illegal next month, has at most $3.00 worth of materials in its construction, and is honestly incredibly simple... Its magic I guess...

On wire size, .035 is average gauge spinner bait wire though .040 or so might be a bit better suited for this bait. Agreed exactly on the reason for the body on the bait, it makes it a lure as MuskyGary stated above (laws), and it also makes it somewhat unique and able to have a direction to go if a patent was desired. As well as provides a place to hide the wire wraps and make it clean looking. With the heavy wire and extra heavy swivel and clips I keep thinking how much it looks like some sort of culling clips system, though it put bass in the livewell and money on the table when it counted, so it has cred...

Ok, after some thinking and mods, here is my latest take on the schooling baitfish rig... much more conventional feel to the bait, casts well, doesnt roll over, great balance, much better on the drop! Swims great and looks like a school of bait... As well, the arm is removable for ease of storage... and fishes much lighter and easier with a conventional profile and 1 ounce weight, throws nice on a 7 foot heavy action rod with softer tip/bend... Thoughts on this one? Oh BTW this is the Catching Concepts baitfish school rig... PATENTS PENDING

Yeah its going to start the usual big next craze in the bass guys world... Everyone will think they need to try one like its a new magic fish magnet. In reality 90 percent of the guys will plunk down their money and never really grasp its correct applications, especially with it being a very self customizable rig with user input required on what you snap on all the arms, it could get real scary what guys are flinging out there! As I see it, the best app for this bait is suspended schooling bass that are located in open water with electronics and then back off and lob this heavy rig at them and drop it or pull it through the school. Will the average bass fisherman looking for the next magic lure attain correct understanding of presentation to make it consistantly work? Its a great tool obviously in the hands of those who understand its applications, just as swim baits are incredible tools when applied in correct situations. But look just how many swim baits sit in guys boxes who never fully figured out the correct applications and more importantly never took the time to master the presentation. But it is potentially the next bass craze, so lure builders get ready... There will be a market and as I see it, lots or room for modification and improvenment on this "rig"

Fish and Game regs around the country will be under review concerning this rig... Reading Elias article http://www.bassmaste...its-alabama-rig it says he attached 1/2 ounce jig heads to the rig, making it weigh in at over 2 ounces... To me, the weight doesnt belong on the arms, but on the central main shaft or frame of this bait with the arms having straight wide bend flipping style hooks or ewg for weedless apps. Also makes it very self defeating to create a forebody of wood or bouyant material, requiring even more weight to get the rig down. From my experiments the rig functions better and baits all tangle less and swim more naturally as an illusion of a school of bait with no weight hanging from the arms. I see this bait morphing into a more compact style sort of hybrid spinnerbait looking device with a weight placement that allows it to be cast even better and be better balanced.

Epoxy is excellent for hook hangers and lips, the 30 min is a bit better option if you are patient, as it soaks into the balsa a bit more and provides more strength. Havent used hobby lobby, but much of the epoxy packaged comes from same source no matter the label, and they are all basically the same make up. I use Devcon 5 and 2 ton for most applications just because its an old trusted friend. but have been happy with other hobby bulk brands I bought too... Welcome to your new addiction!

Here's my take on the Alabama rig, adapted to pass most fish and game laws as well as tournament rules... And totally original new ideas incorporated... Its a bit more compact, still spreads the trailing baits nicely and crank imparts a bit of extra action to the rig... Catching Concepts Cali Rig ??? Thoughts?

Agreed, its all in the lawyers on Patents... most never bother to actually incur the patent costs and fees, just say Pats Pend and hope they slide along while an item is hot... Such minor changes could be made, even a few for the better and still use same concept on a simple device...

welding would be overkill, not necessary... Haywire twist is a simple twisting of wires just twist two doubled up wires over the main fifth wire shaft to form a bundle with five wires out the back, and a single strand shaft to form the eye out the front. for my fisrt try and ease of construction, Im betting you could slide a correct sized foam float (slip bobber or float of correct size) over the twists, epoxy into place, then form front eye, and paint... five legs just look to have simple duo lock snaps on twist formed eyes?

Then minus the egg sinker, do a couple haywire twists and mold a simple resin body over the front... If you need more bouyancy use foam for the molding process of the front structure...

The wires come out of the back of the rig... Something as simple as a half ounce egg sinker with two wires bent in half through the egg sinker to create 4 of the legs and a fifth wire run through with an eye on the end. Then is cast in some resin mold to create the body and paint... looks quite simple...

Looks aweful simple to me... http://thealabamarig.com/ View the vids and info, easy to duplicate, even room for improvement...

Oh, and YES a quick shout out to a good friend who continues to help me ensure that Catching Concepts crankbaits remain relevent tools and gain exposure to NC area bass guys... Thank you Bob Szymakowski! All you guys in the NC area make sure to stop by Sportfisherman booth at Raliegh Sports Show Jan 5-8th and Greensboro Feb 24-26th... Say hello to Bob and check out all the products he is helping to represent!

Very true, in our eyes, when a matte finish bait is underwater its colors look much more clear. Infact it is because the ambient light refracts off the bait in a much more natural way, and the bass see the colors available to them with much less of a mirrored effect that you will get with a deep glossy coated bait. Many factors are dependant though on how the bass sees the bait and which colors they actually do see in given depth and water clarity. In stained or off colored waters glossy baits will have far less flash effect and may have positive triggering quailties much like chromed baits, but as with my experiences in ultra clear California waters, high gloss baits on sunny days can be overwhelming and actually alert the bass of something very un-natural at times. Read : http://www.midwestou...fm?articleID=44 As with the article written by trophy bass hunters throwing swim baits in gin clear water (couple posts above). Besides the factor of fishermans confidence level in a given color patern of a bait, color is really the least important part of the equasion in presenting a bait correctly in a given fishes environment to coax a strike. All lures are just tools for a given job, and while you can remove a bolt with a pliers, it is much more productive to have a rachet and socket. As is so with crankbaits... If you arent throwing a bait that is covering the correct depth, with the best action to attract the fish for that given job, pretty colors will do little magic. At an ICAST show in Vegas many moons ago I was standing near the Poes booth with a couple of my cranks in hand talking shop with several other guys when a man walks up and puts his hand on my shoulder... Tells me he has some experience with cranks... I turn around and there stands David Fritts... We proceeded to go have lunch and talk cranks, was one of those educations of a lifetime! I have some personal insight into touring pros tools of choice and have in years past had numerous well known pros personally as customers of my baits including one you mention above. They have greatly helped with their input to shape the baits I offer today. Which brings me back to the common point here. I know my baits are not the most sexi, but they are tools for given uses, years of evolution and input have helped me to create a lure I KNOW will put fish in the boat when presented correctly in the right given environment. There's much more to a good quality bait than a pretty paint job...

On a similar subject of finishes... Matte finishes were somewhat popular for a short time, but fizzled, again likely because they dont catch the fishermans eye like a deep glossy brilliant finish. Matte finifhes are dull, and tend to get a scuffed or dirty look easily if not taken care of. Just not great selling points to fishermen, they lack the pretty elements, but what do the fish think of them? There are reasons that a matte finish looks more natural underwater and subdued hues . In much of the gin clear water I fish I feel that wary smallmouth will hit a matte finish crank with subdued colors at times much more readily than a stock glossy color. Here is an interesting article to consider... http://www.bassfan.com/bigbass_article.asp?ID=36 I especiall like matte finishes on deep diving baits in craw hues. To get the effect I spray Krylon frosted glass finish over my top coat. Has anyone else experiment with finishes like this?