Feeling The Bottom Finesse Tube Fishing 2025
Felix77 reply :
Question for the BR crew ...
Last season I struggled to catch fish on a finesse tube. I struggle to feel the tube on the bottom. I watch the line more than "feel" the weight dragging if you know what I mean.
Not sure if it has to do with the plastic muting the "feel" because it's inside the jig or if I just plain don't have enough weight on. I generally fish a 1/8oz tube jig head in less than 20 FOW.
Thoughts?
Jig Man reply :
I fish a lot of tubes and mostly with the same rigging as you mentioned. There is nothing more important than watching the line. Sometimes I can feel the bottom very well and sometimes not. I get more feel with braid and a leader than I do with mono. Lots of times the bite is only seeing the line jump or move with no thump at all.
cajunpapi reply :
Need a little more weight try 1/4 oz see the difference.
J Francho reply :
I'm not sure I even have a 1/8 oz. tube jig. I generally start at 1/2 oz., and work up or down from there.
lmbfisherman reply :
On 2/25/2014 at 10:13 PM, Felix77 said:Question for the BR crew ...
Last season I struggled to catch fish on a finesse tube. I struggle to feel the tube on the bottom. I watch the line more than "feel" the weight dragging if you know what I mean.
Not sure if it has to do with the plastic muting the "feel" because it's inside the jig or if I just plain don't have enough weight on. I generally fish a 1/8oz tube jig head in less than 20 FOW.
Thoughts?
I have the same problem, so I generally stay away from using standard tube jig. I am more confident using a tube on jigs or texas rigged.
On 2/25/2014 at 10:23 PM, J Francho said:I'm not sure I even have a 1/8 oz. tube jig. I generally start at 1/2 oz., and work up or down from there.
On 2/25/2014 at 10:23 PM, cajunpapi said:Need a little more weight try 1/4 oz see the difference.
Hrm maybe this is the way to go, heavier..do you guys do this even in shallower water? Like say 5-10 ft?
Zach Dunham reply :
1/8 oz tub jig is really small. As J Francho said, I would at least go with 1/2 oz to start. And this isn't only for feel, if the weight in the tube is too light you may not be getting the desired action either.
Mike L reply :
In my opinion 1/8 oz is definitely too light for any depth over 5 feet.
its ideal for calm water up to maybe 3 ft.
I assume youre useing braid or floro.
Mike
Tim Kelly reply :
I use an 1/8 as standard, but generally in less than 8ft. Watching the line is important. Depends how you're fishing them and what you want to imitate. I'm generally imitating small fish and swimming it more than dragging it to imitate a crawfish.
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
go a little heavier as mentioned and you should be good!
EvanT123 reply :
I fish 1/8 quite a bit. I like to use a light action rod and really wait for the bait to get down. I find a super slow retrieve also helps me feel the tube crawling along the bottom. I also generally use 1/8 when there is little to no current. Add in alittle current and bump it up to 1/4.
Felix77 reply :
On 2/25/2014 at 10:40 PM, Mike L said:In my opinion 1/8 oz is definitely too light for any depth over 5 feet.
its ideal for calm water up to maybe 3 ft.
I assume youre useing braid or floro.
Mike
Yup ... braid to FC.
Felix77 reply :
To be more specific I use the Gitzit tube jig heads with their finesse tubes. I thought the "sell" on these flat heads was the action on the fall. That is why I stuck to such a light head. The others drop straight down for the most part.
I look forward to experimenting some more with this. It's a fun way to fish.
Siebert Outdoors reply :
Being that light at that depth I'd have a hard time detecting a bit unless you can vertical jig them or keep a tight line. I'd go heavier imo.
fishguy613 reply :
ive never needed to use more than 3/8oz tube and thats when i fish around 30ft, usually i go with 3/16oz up to 15ft and 1/4oz for up to 25ish
J Francho reply :
I use Bite Me and Venom heads. The Bite Me work well for vertical and dragging. The Venom for casting out. For real deep stuff, the Big Dudes are the head to get.
Mike L reply :
On 2/25/2014 at 11:40 PM, Felix77 said:Yup ... braid to FC.
Felix
Well, then with a good set of eyeballs keeping the line in sight and a heavier weight to get it down to the depth you need to be, you should be good.
Good Luck
Mike
wnybassman reply :
On 2/25/2014 at 10:23 PM, J Francho said:I'm not sure I even have a 1/8 oz. tube jig. I generally start at 1/2 oz., and work up or down from there.
Similar for me. I start with 3/8 ounce but rarely have to go up or down from there. lol
5fishlimit reply :
I agree with the suggestion of using the Bite Me tube jigs, and like J Francho said start with a 1/2oz.
Otherwise, I t-rig my tubes with a 3/16oz tungsten weight and the Trokar tube hooks for all shallow water fishing.
Fish Murderer 71 reply :
I use tubes for bed fishing, never really had much luck going deep with them.
J Francho reply :
We fish for smallies in 20+ with them. A t-rig isn't really the best rig for that. But shallow - heck yeah. Tubes are sort of forgotten T-rig baits, especially for beds. Most are throwing creatures. Good change up for that stingy bed fish.
Will Wetline reply :
Felix, I've been fishing a 3 1/2" Gitzit with an 1/8 oz. Insider jighead for smallies for years. Generally I'm casting over rock piles or sand flats with some gravel and assorted rubble at depths of 5' - 15'. Line is 6 lb. copolymer.
I let this little bait hit bottom then raise the rod tip to 45º and reel v e r y slowly. I frequently hit bottom and accept the fact that I'm going to leave a few rigs in the rocks each trip but hey - this presentation catches em!
Your braid/FC combo would be better to detect takes quicker. Usually the smallies simply inhale this offering and are hooked deeply.
cbfishalot reply :
I fish with a 1/8oz tube 95% of the time. My setup includes a St. Croix 6'8 M XF legend xtream rod, Daiwa sol reel and 8lb seaguar invizx fluorcarbon. I use either a 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 inch tubes. I use a custom speedloader jig style tube head. If i'm using a 2 1/2 in tube i use a 3/0 trokar tube jig hook (2/0 in a mustad ultra point) or a 4/0 trokar (3/0 in the mustad) in the 3 1/2 inch tubes. I will use a 1/16 tube jig head all the way up to 1/2.
When fishing these tube you always want to watch your line. Watching your line is a must when fishing a 1/16 oz jig head. As you increase your jig weight line watching becomes less important and you can use more feel. Night fishing the feel is a must and watching your line is a non factor.
The best way to fish light tube jigs by using feel is by using the rod. Many people try to move the tube with the reel and not the rod. Place the rod to side of your body. Keep a simi tight line at all times. Use the rod tip to drag the bait along the bottom. Remember that the distance that the rod tip moves the bait is also moving the same distance. At the same rate of speed also. Only use the reel to pick up the line slack with the reel.
EvanT123 reply :
This is a great thread. There seems to be opposite sides on weight but the same result.
Personally I dont fish much water deeper than ten feet and 1/8-1/14 works for me(most days). The guys that fish deeper like these jigs with a heavier weight and that makes sense; to keep the bait down.
Guess there is no wrong way to fish a tube.
Comfortably Numb reply :
Hard to get a 1/8 oz bait down with floating braid. Try a heavier weight as said.
Bluebasser86 reply :
I had a lot of success with a tube last fall down to about 20'. I was fishing them on a 1/8oz head with my shakyhead rod and 10lb fluoro, no problem feeling the bottom or the bite.
mod479 reply :
1/8oz is pretty light, especially running it on braid, you know power pro floats Felix. I only run braid when I drag tubes in deep water and want no stretch at all when I set the hook from 30 fow.
I'll throw an 1/8oz tube jig late in the summer when the river is less than 5 feet deep and I DON'T want it touch the bottom much, just barely slip and bump over it in the current. I can still feel the bottom though.
I'll throw a 3/16oz when I want to feel contact with bottom, it's not so much weight you lose them every time. You will lose a pile of them though, get used to that. Get some 3/16 or 1/4oz heads and start there.
tubedude reply :
I fish the gizzit as well in the brown root beer color, but I'd definitely recommend the 1/4 oz. I fish it down to 30 ft and have had good success on summer smallies, or even as they're staging during pre-spawn. I don't like the flat gizzit jig heads mainly because the hook itself is pretty weak. Standard tube heads seem to spiral down alright for me.
If you push the eye of the jig head further back through the plastic, closer to the tail, you'll get a wider spiral. Closet to the front of the bait produces a tighter spiral typically.
jhoffman reply :
The action of the spiral is dictated by where the line tie comes through the tube.
Felix77 reply :
Thanks for the input. Looks like I have some more exploring to do.
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