[VIDEO] Anime Alabama Rig + Behind the Scenes

I figured that I would talk about the crazy Alabama Rig challenge that I did a while ago. If you haven’t already, please give this video a watch.

Why Anime Key Chains?

I’ve always wanted to show that people into Eastern nerd culture are just regular people. There is a stigma that people into that kind of stuff never shower, are socially awkward and always stay indoors. Meanwhile fishing is one of those hobbies that seems to ooze masculinity. Which honestly is a bit silly, people should be able to do whatever they want and not have to worry about how they are perceived. Anyways I thought it would be quite fun to combine the two.

Ai-Kon Winnipeg is the biggest event that caters to those who enjoy Eastern nerd culture, generally Japanese animation and Korean pop music. I attend it every year if possible. There is a massive marketplace where various artists can sell their anime-related merchandise. Acrylic keychains are a very popular item amongst the artists which is where the idea of the Alabama rig came to me. I figured this was something that has never been attempted before so it would make for a cool video.

As for the artist who made these specific keychains, here are the links to her Instagram and her DeviantArt. I did like the art style of these particular ones plus they seemed a little more durable than most.

Building the Rig

Once I purchased the keychains, I had to find the components. Keychains don’t have any sort of action by themselves so I decided on bladed trebles. Typically Alabama rigs use swimbaits which work a lot better than keychains.

Due to legality reasons, only four hooks are allowed in Ontario and the Alabama rig I bought had five arms. So I took a willow leaf blade spinnerbait and “borrowed” its blade. This would just give the lure more flash while maintaining the four hook limit. It’s important to note that in Manitoba where I’m from, there is a two hook limit which would have made this challenge a lot less interesting. Fortunately Ontario is just a stone’s throw away.

Generally the common practice with Alabama rigs is to use heavier swimbait jigs on the bottom to prevent the rig from spinning. Since acrylic keychains have no weight, the best I could do was use rubber core sinkers on the arms. It turned out to work well and they never came off.

Fishing with the A-Rig

Well to be honest, as soon as I made the first cast, I knew I was not going to have the greatest time fishing.

When casting the lure, the keychains have a hard time cutting through the air. Plus it was pretty heavy which required a heavy bass flipping stick and a baitcasting reel. To add to that, it sinks really slowly. Retrieving it too fast would cause it to rise up to the surface. That essentially limited me to shallow water and moving the trolling motor really slowly. Not exactly what I would do for summer bass.

The rig also would tangle a lot. Turns out four keychains with trebles would inevitable tangle. I must have wasted a third of my casts overall which is pretty huge. Even worse, snagging is a big issue since there are so many hooks. Couple times I spent minutes trying to free the rig. It’s a precious rig and I wasn’t going to lose it that easily. I did plug a lure retriever fortunately and it was absolutely necessary. Without it, it would have a disaster trip.

Fishing itself was kind of tough due to the above-mentioned reasons. I did manage a couple bass and a few pike though nothing large. I watched some fish on the Active Target chase the rig a little. I suspect that keychains aren’t optimal lures even with all the blades. Oh well, that’s why it’s a challenge.

Final Words

Well that was quite the unique challenge. It was the crossover that nobody asked for and I’m glad to be the first person to ever do such a challenge on YouTube.

I don’t mess around on the water too much but this may not be the last time we get a unique challenge. I’m sure something else might come up from all the boredom eventually.