I found a rig that lets me use three lures on one cast

Hey, Keith here.

Winter always brings me back to the same problem. Bass start grouping around shad pods, and that means I SHOULD be throwing my Yumbrella Flash Mob rig.

It works—no doubt about it. It catches fish in cold water. Suspending fish, schooling fish, you name it.

But throwing an A-rig from the bank is a chore. It feels like casting a roof antenna. And after a handful of tosses, your shoulder wants to clock out early.

Last week I finally found something different. Something lighter. Something that gave me a true shad-cluster look without the heavy wires or bulky frame. 

Today I’m breaking down a winter bait ball presentation that might give bank anglers a better option than the traditional A-rig.

BEST LINKS

What I looked at this week

• How to choose the best umbrella rig for winter bass (Wired2Fish)

• Fishing the A-rig in the winter (Bass Resource)

• How to rig and fish the Berkley Triple Minnow Rig (Logan Parks)

• Umbrella rig 101 (Anglers)

• The Triple Minnow Rig: It’s as lifelike as a school of baitfish! (Matt Stefan Fishing)

Deals of the week

• Googan Squad marked down a Shad Wagon Umbrella Rig from $14.99 to $10.99

• Walmart has a 6-quart Frabill Flow Troll Minnow Bucket on sale for $8.45, regularly $11.99. 

• Dick’s has PowerPro Braided line marked down from $24.99 to $13.57.

DEEP DIVE 

The lightweight shad rig that surprised me

As winter settles in, I always debate whether or not to use my A-rig.

I know it works. I know it catches fish in cold water. I also know I do not enjoy throwing it from the bank.

It’s bulky, it hangs up easily, and after a few casts it feels like I’m launching a lawn chair across the pond.

Last year I left it at home more often than not because of how tiring it was to cast and how quickly it would snag from shore.

Last week I decided to try something different.

A cold front had rolled through overnight, and the air had a sharp winter bite to it. I headed to a stretch of bank where shad usually group up in December.

On calm mornings you’ll see them flick on the surface or slide along the deeper edge that runs parallel to the shoreline.

I had been sent a Triple Minnow Rig to review for a fishing magazine, so I was pretty excited to be one of the first people to try it.

But when I pulled it out of the package, I honestly thought something was wrong.

It only had one minnow with a hook. The other two minnows were just free-swinging dummies. 

Coming from a lifetime of single swimbaits and the occasional Alabama rig, it felt strange. I remember turning it over in my hand thinking, “How is this supposed to work?”

Still, I tied it on and made my first cast along the drop-off. The lure sank clean and stayed in that suspended zone.

I whipped it out a few times and was getting the hang of it. 

Halfway through the retrieve the line just went heavy.

No thump.

No real bite.

Just that cold-season weight that tells you a bass eased up behind the bait and inhaled it.

When I brought it in, it was a chunky three-pounder with a belly full of shad.

Two casts later I caught another.

Unfortunately, my trip was cut short due to all the Christmas errands I had to run. But I saw everything I needed to see to know that I loved the new Triple Minnow.

What stood out to me was how simple it felt. No heavy wires grabbing grass. No fighting a bulky frame in the wind. No feeling like I was throwing a roof antenna across the pond.

Just a small, tight little bait ball look that the fish reacted to immediately.

And that part about only having one hook?

It didn’t end up being an issue. I could feel fish swiping at the outer minnows a few times, but they didn’t give up.

They kept chasing the little pod until they found the middle bait and committed.

The two outer minnows did their job, pulling fish in and keeping them fired up, and the bass eventually bit the only one that actually mattered.

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a winter option from the bank that gave me the shad presentation of an Alabama rig without wearing me out or donating gear to the bottom.

Why this bait ball-style lure works in winter

Winter bass are looking for the biggest and easiest meal they can find.

A single bait like my favorite Zoom Fluke will often go untouched in cold water, but a small group of baits moving together looks like a heavy, slow-moving meal that is worth the effort.

There’s something about numerous baits swimming in a tight group that triggers bigger fish to commit.

A bait ball presentation lets you show bass a fuller meal and you can run it at different depths in the water column, which is something you cannot always do with a suspending jerkbait or a jig. 

Whether you use a full Alabama rig or a smaller cluster setup, the grouped profile matches what winter bass are naturally hunting.

How to fish the Berkley Triple Minnow from the bank

Here’s the simple approach that worked for me and will work anywhere shad winter up near the bank.

1. Cast along the drop-off, not straight out.

Bass suspend along edges in winter. Running your bait parallel keeps it in the zone longer.

2. Count it down.

Let the bait fall to where the shad are holding. Ten to fifteen seconds in ponds and small lakes is usually enough.

3. Use a slow, steady retrieve.

Winter bites feel like weight, not aggression. Keep the bait moving naturally.

4. Don’t overwork it.

The entire point of this rig is that it imitates three shad swimming together. Let the bait do the work.

5. Light line helps.

Fluorocarbon in the 8- to 12-pound range keeps the bait running true and improves the roll of the main minnow.