River Rock tubes 2025
WI_Angler1989 reply :
I just picked up some 2.75" River Rock tubes (pro series) in a few colors. I've heard great things about the for years now, but never jumped.
Anyone else on here use or used them? I'd love to hear some opinions and stories while I wait for warmer weather to use them!
smalljaw67 reply :
I discovered River Rock a few years ago and most of my go-to soft plastics come from them. The tubes are by far the best I've ever used, and living around and primarily fishing smallmouth waters all my life I can say that I tried a lot of tubes and the River Rock tubes are second to none. I also use their Striker swim bait, Jakes Craw, and the SM Killer finesse worm is my number 1 shaky head worm. I'm not sure if they make anything I haven't used, but one thing I can tell you is there aren't any tubes made like the way they do it, I'm sure you'll end up like me and what I mean by that is that they are the only tubes I use now and they work so well you'll have to give other baits a try. Hint, a wacky rigged Helgripede will get bites when it is so tough a wacky rigged 4" Senko won't get bit, it happens in my waters by mid July, good luck with the tubes.
smalljaw67 reply :
What really got me into River Rock Baits is that they are geared toward smallmouth. From the types of baits to the colors, they do work well for the others species but everything they do is primarily geared to smallmouth and the smallmouth angler. I can attest to the power of the SM Killer finesse worm on largemouth too, in all my years of angling I've caught smallies in water down to 33 degrees but I never caught largemouth in water under 40 degrees. That was until January 2013, we had a warming trend and decided to give a local lake a try, the air temp was 43 degrees and the water temp was 37 and out of 3 boats and 6 of us fishing I was the only one to catch fish and I landed 3 nice largemouth and lost another 3 that I didn't hook well since they were biting light. They were all caught on the SM Killer in a color called chocolate moss and I was fishing it in 9' of water on a 1/16oz shaky head with a 3/0 hook, everybody else began throwing finesse worms on that kind of set up but I was the only one catching fish and I was getting bites regularly, none of the other guys even had a sniff. That was the moment when I realized it just wasn't the tubes that were so good and now I've purchased just about every bait they make and it all has exceeded my expectation, that company was the best accidental find I ever had.
heavyduty reply :
I fish the RR tubes a lot as well. Summer Craw is my favorite. The 4" jointed jerkbait is also a smallie producer!
PatrickKnight reply :
I think ill pick up some of these for the up coming season. What colors do you guys recommend? I fish for mainly smallmouth in a river.
smalljaw67 reply :
On 1/3/2017 at 10:08 PM, PatrickKnight said:I think ill pick up some of these for the up coming season. What colors do you guys recommend? I fish for mainly smallmouth in a river.
I focus on colors that work in both clear and stained water so they are darker but still natural. If you get the pro tubes, I recommend black melon flash and K-custom, those are my main colors with RT-custom and dark melon candy being close seconds.
cgolf reply :
While most of their baits are more than I would normally pay for plastics, the Helgripede looks intriguing. It does look fragile though.
How do you rig it and will it hold up to multiple fish?
PatrickKnight reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 2:58 AM, smalljaw67 said:
I focus on colors that work in both clear and stained water so they are darker but still natural. If you get the pro tubes, I recommend black melon flash and K-custom, those are my main colors with RT-custom and dark melon candy being close seconds.
Do you have better luck with the 2.75 or 3.5?
dwh4784 reply :
You've got me sold as well. What's the difference between Pro and Laminate tubes? I really like the look of the Summer Craw color for where I fish for smallies, it only comes in the Laminate style though.
heavyduty reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 7:56 AM, dwh4784 said:You've got me sold as well. What's the difference between Pro and Laminate tubes? I really like the look of the Summer Craw color for where I fish for smallies, it only comes in the Laminate style though.
Laminate is a double dipped tube. Summer Craw starts as a orange tube then is dipped in green pumpkin. When tentacles are cut you then see the blending of the colors. Pro tubes are one color throughout.
2.75" is my length of choice for flows I fish.
smalljaw67 reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 4:20 AM, cgolf said:While most of their baits are more than I would normally pay for plastics, the Helgripede looks intriguing. It does look fragile though.
How do you rig it and will it hold up to multiple fish?
Their baits aren't very durable because they're soft, and I mean Yamamoto soft. That said, I throw the Helgripede on a 1/16oz or 3/32oz flick shake style head rigged wacky style with a small O-ring. I've caught 9 fish on 1 bait rigged with the O-ring but if you are looking for durability that isn't the bait for you. I use them for tough conditions, when they absolutely won't bite anything, that is when the Helgripede shines.
cgolf reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 6:44 PM, smalljaw67 said:
Their baits aren't very durable because they're soft, and I mean Yamamoto soft. That said, I throw the Helgripede on a 1/16oz or 3/32oz flick shake style head rigged wacky style with a small O-ring. I've caught 9 fish on 1 bait rigged with the O-ring but if you are looking for durability that isn't the bait for you. I use them for tough conditions, when they absolutely won't bite anything, that is when the Helgripede shines.
The Smallie waters I fish are very rocky and I hang up at least once or twice a cast, which tends to be pretty hard on plastics and jigs when I pop them loose. So the area I fish most often dictates using more economical or durable baits because generally they aren't tied on all that long before they are donated to the river.
smalljaw67 reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 7:24 PM, cgolf said:
The Smallie waters I fish are very rocky and I hang up at least once or twice a cast, which tends to be pretty hard on plastics and jigs when I pop them loose. So the area I fish most often dictates using more economical or durable baits because generally they aren't tied on all that long before they are donated to the river.
I hear you on that!!! The river I fish is extremely rocky and shallow so that is why I'm using a 1/16oz head to fish plastics most of the time and I still lose baits even on the boat as not every place you can get to. I have had weightless baits get snagged by getting wedged in between the cracks in the rocks and even going over the snag with the boat I've been unable to get some which makes me wonder how it got like that in the first place...LOL.
padon reply :
hmm if they are very soft I may give them a shot. especially the swimbaits I think the softer ones swim better even though they aren't very durable. I don't see a way to order direct on their website and no dealers near me. any tips guys?
heavyduty reply :
There is a link on their website to go to their online store. Link is in the first or second paragraph on the home page, not a link at the top of the page.
Jaderose reply :
Am I the only person that thinks Tubes are great LM baits, too?
Smallieseeker reply :
You guys talked me into it! I saw the blue craw laminate and had to have it. I'm a sucker for a good blue craw color also ordered a few of their other products to try out
Turkey sandwich reply :
On 1/6/2017 at 3:13 AM, Jaderose said:Am I the only person that thinks Tubes are great LM baits, too?
Tubes flat out catch fish. Tubes are the most ridiculously under appreciated flipping bait I can think of.
@smalljaw67. What makes the tubes different?
smalljaw67 reply :
On 1/7/2017 at 4:55 PM, Turkey sandwich said:
Tubes flat out catch fish. Tubes are the most ridiculously under appreciated flipping bait I can think of.
@smalljaw67. What makes the tubes different?
They make a hand dipped tube that is soft, because of that the action is much better and the fish don't spit them. I can honestly say I was a cabin creek guy but the plastic started getting harder with every bag and the fish were spitting them on a regular basis. So after discovering River Rock's Jointed Jerkbait, I decided to go with some tubes and that was it, I've never used another tube since, in fact a lot of guides on the Susquehanna use them when the bite is tough. They now make a flipping tube too that is called an "elite tube", it is injected and comes in side by side laminates and it has a solid head to securely hold a screw lock or hook for Texas rigging, I bought 4 packs to try and it is what I use to pitch with but it has really worked well on smallmouth, but they don't slam it, they just grab and run, every one I caught on that big tube ate it the same way.
Turkey sandwich reply :
Looks like the Cabin Creek and Coffee Tubes will be getting some company on my yak.
dwh4784 reply :
They got my order today also. Just need to figure out which style of hooks for them, so many options!
Glenn reply :
On 1/8/2017 at 1:32 PM, dwh4784 said:They got my order today also. Just need to figure out which style of hooks for them, so many options!
Perhaps this will help: How to Rig A Tube The Right Way
smalljaw67 reply :
On 1/8/2017 at 7:26 PM, Glenn said:
Perhaps this will help: How to Rig A Tube The Right Way
That video is awesome!!!!!!
WI_Angler1989 reply :
On 1/8/2017 at 7:26 PM, Glenn said:
Perhaps this will help: How to Rig A Tube The Right Way
Just so you know, I wasn't here LITERALLY trying to promote his stuff. I actually wanted to hear if anyone liked the stuff because I was excited when I got them. When I saw how much people were taking an interest I felt proud to have helped. That's all. I had no intention of "promoting."
dwh4784 reply :
Here's what I ended up with, I ordered just enough to outfit a 3500 box. It also helped that they tossed in a sample pack of green pumpkin SM killers to go along with the alewife color I ordered. Pretty cool! The stuff looks great. Although I didn't realize how tiny the SM killers would be (was thinking Senko sizes) so I ended up ordering a couple packs of Owner Shaky Head hooks from TW to round it out. Never fished shaky head so another new technique to learn this year. The tubes are Summer Craw and K-Custom w/ Owner Phantom tube hooks. I can only fit four of each color in the box but should be more than enough for any outing.
WI_Angler1989 reply :
On 1/28/2017 at 11:31 AM, dwh4784 said:Here's what I ended up with, I ordered just enough to outfit a 3500 box. It also helped that they tossed in a sample pack of green pumpkin SM killers to go along with the alewife color I ordered. Pretty cool! The stuff looks great. Although I didn't realize how tiny the SM killers would be (was thinking Senko sizes) so I ended up ordering a couple packs of Owner Shaky Head hooks from TW to round it out. Never fished shaky head so another new technique to learn this year. The tubes are Summer Craw and K-Custom w/ Owner Phantom tube hooks. I can only fit four of each color in the box but should be more than enough for any outing.
Looks great! I got the k-custom too. That's my favorite so far, hopefully the fish agree! Lucky guy! Got a free pack!
dwh4784 reply :
Yeah it was like they read my mind, I had several different colors of SM killers in and out of my cart before I ordered.
WI_Angler1989 reply :
On 1/28/2017 at 11:58 AM, dwh4784 said:Yeah it was like they read my mind, I had several different colors of SM killers in and out of my cart before I ordered.
That's good customer appreciation right there. I wish I'd have gotten some when I made my order. I was lucky enough to get some to try from another user on here.
smalljaw67 reply :
I'm telling you guys, that SM Killer is by far the best finesse worm I ever used! I use them on a shaky head and a simple ball head jig but I've also had a lot of success with them on a drop shot last summer, my buddy calls it the "Skunk Killer" since we've had days were that was the only thing we would get bit on.
WI_Angler1989 reply :
On 1/28/2017 at 5:07 PM, smalljaw67 said:I'm telling you guys, that SM Killer is by far the best finesse worm I ever used! I use them on a shaky head and a simple ball head jig but I've also had a lot of success with them on a drop shot last summer, my buddy calls it the "Skunk Killer" since we've had days were that was the only thing we would get bit on.
I tried one out on a warm day recently just to play around with it. No fish, but it was amazing getting a lure out still. The action they had was awesome!
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