The Umbrella Rig for Crappie (Minibrella)...

I came across a post on the kentucky Board that interested me today....read this info. on "The Minibrella." It's an Umbrella Rig for Crappie made by Burditt Baits...ever heard of this? Used this? Know anyone who has used this? Just curious for those of you that spider rig if you've thought of this madness, haha!!! Can you imagine 30 hooks in the water at once, better you then me!
It's almost got me ready to buy a few of them, yes they are expensive, but sounds like if you got on the right holes you could figure out what depth they are at a WHOLE lot easier....what are the laws on hooks per line vs. poles per person in arkansas. It's only two poles per person for the trout laws under Beaver Dam, right? I would not want to get busted for doing this and getting caught out of assuming it was legal to find out later it was not!!! :confused:

MM

this might help, here is the link to it.....(no pictures???) baffles me they would offer a product and not have a picture anywhere on the page....???
http://www.crappieminibrella.com/

MM

I have enough trouble keeping a barbless #6 cricket hook from getting hung up, much less an umberella rig. I bet it would work on some of the larger resivors with limited cover like Beaver.

I know that was probably meant to be honest and sincere, but it was funny. We have limited cover and I HATE IT!!!! MM

Limited unless you know where JT's holes are!!!!:D

I have a few. Good way to take something simple and make it complicated. Actually there is only one bait with a hook. The outside lures are teasers.

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Originally Posted by TJ Adams

Limited unless you know where JT's holes are!!!!:D

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JT's probably got so many he doesn't remember where they all are, haha. I have a few of my own just hard to find a day where there is nobody sitting on them....oh well, long as they keep producing the fish I'll sit on them as long as I can....come join me sometime I'll share my "honey holes" with you although it's nothing like a trip out with JT, it will sure to produce a few slabs.
I used to live next door to a guy that had a fishing show and was a guide for bass on Beaver...he put me on a few spots that seem to produce a couple 16" fish each year, even one that was 16.5" last year.....! By the way, even with all the spots people have on Beaver lake you can be assured the cover is STILL limited.....:D MM

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Originally Posted by rockmike

I have a few. Good way to take something simple and make it complicated. Actually there is only one bait with a hook. The outside lures are teasers.

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So you are telling me they are a pain in the neck, basically? Hmmm....let me know if they work or not? I thought you could have up to 4-6 hooks? If the law prevents using more then 1-2 hooks you could use the rest for favorite bait attractors? What does it look like? I would imagine an umbella model? It's hard to just picture....thanks for reply! MM

I remember reading an article about this rig in Crappie World. I think you can make them be more than one hook. However, the principle behind the use of it is that the rig resembles a baitfish school. The one "hooked" lure is a little longer than the rest of the lures. Therefore, the rig now looks like a school of baitfish with one hanging lower and sticking out like a sore thumb. The crappie (and other fish) are programmed to hit that one lure that sticks out from the rest of the school of baitfish, and that's the one that just happens to have the hook in it...

Otherwise...these rigs are going to be difficult to troll. If you do, you'd better go with superbraid line and change out the sinker that comes with the rig to a heavier one. After saying all this...I've never even held one in my hands, so be sure to give us a report on how they do!

Ps...and they do look like a mobile that would hang in a kids room.

the guy that makes then lives in South Carolina. He will sell them to you for about $8. He makes then out leader wire. They used to have a phone # to reach then on there web page but it looks like they change it. I think Burditt baits is in Anderson, SC.

They are just a small version of the umbrella rigs used for stripers and salt water fish. You could change out the teasers for hooked baits, but they are hard enough to use with only one hook. They probably catch more fishermen than fish, but I'm a sucker for something like this.

These rigs are used all the time in salt water. I have used them on fishing boats in Florida. They are sometimes uses just as Chris said, but in the salt, most of the time they are used as teasers to get the fish up so you can cast to them. They do resemble a school of bait fish. There is also a rig with 6 small fly type hooks that hang straight down, its called a Zabinki rig. I have a couple of them in my kit. They are used to catch bait fish. I spent several years as 1st mate on a fishing boat in Florida when I got out of the Navy in 1971.

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Originally Posted by ceb

I remember reading an article about this rig in Crappie World. I think you can make them be more than one hook. However, the principle behind the use of it is that the rig resembles a baitfish school. The one "hooked" lure is a little longer than the rest of the lures. Therefore, the rig now looks like a school of baitfish with one hanging lower and sticking out like a sore thumb. The crappie (and other fish) are programmed to hit that one lure that sticks out from the rest of the school of baitfish, and that's the one that just happens to have the hook in it...

Otherwise...these rigs are going to be difficult to troll. If you do, you'd better go with superbraid line and change out the sinker that comes with the rig to a heavier one. After saying all this...I've never even held one in my hands, so be sure to give us a report on how they do!

Ps...and they do look like a mobile that would hang in a kids room.

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CEB, great information, thanks for sharing...I wonder if that article is archived on a website somewhere? I'll go looking around. I'll let you know if I have any luck at all, I ordered two of them....MM

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Originally Posted by rockmike

They are just a small version of the umbrella rigs used for stripers and salt water fish. You could change out the teasers for hooked baits, but they are hard enough to use with only one hook. They probably catch more fishermen than fish, but I'm a sucker for something like this.

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I am kind of with you RockMike....I am not a sucker, but I for SURE just HAVE to know for myself if something works or not, haha. Thanks for the post, it sounds like I should rig one with several hooks and one with teasers and see how the two differ in performance...the PROOF is in the PUDDING! Thanks.

MM

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Originally Posted by flyflinger

These rigs are used all the time in salt water. I have used them on fishing boats in Florida. They are sometimes uses just as Chris said, but in the salt, most of the time they are used as teasers to get the fish up so you can cast to them. They do resemble a school of bait fish. There is also a rig with 6 small fly type hooks that hang straight down, its called a Zabinki rig. I have a couple of them in my kit. They are used to catch bait fish. I spent several years as 1st mate on a fishing boat in Florida when I got out of the Navy in 1971.

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Wow, impressive resume you must have FlyFinger...!! Did you ever fish around Ocala? I cannot remember where it is but I went once, we had to go through a manatee zone to get out to where the fresh water and salt water divide by these huge rock islands?? Sound familiar at all? MM

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Originally Posted by crappiemaster

the guy that makes then lives in South Carolina. He will sell them to you for about $8. He makes then out leader wire. They used to have a phone # to reach then on there web page but it looks like they change it. I think Burditt baits is in Anderson, SC.

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Thanks for the information, if you get his number, let me know please, thanks.

MM

I have fished all over Florida from Pensacola to Jacksonville, to Key West and back up to Tampa Bay. Ihe only place I have left to fish is the Destin area. I plan to go there next year to a place called Carrabelle Beach. I have also fished in WV, AR, FL, VA, SC, NC, AL, LA MS, OK and MO. But I have decided that of all the places to fish, AR is my favorite for freshwater and crappie fishing is about the most fun you can have with your clothes on!