Tube fishing 101 - pics added 12/31/06 2024

bassnleo reply :

A tube... What's that? You actually catch fish on that thing?

Believe it or not, I still get asked that question frequently by anglers new to bass fishing. The tube bait has been around since the Bobby Garland Gitzit days, but just like other baits, the hype seems to fall off after the initial craze. Todays savy anglers all have tubes in their aresenal, don't let them tell you otherwise.

Tubes may be one of the most versatile baits going. It can be fished a variety of ways and in a number of different presentations or techniques. What follows is my most successful ways for scoring on a tube.

For simplicity, I will divide this into the 2 species of bass I target, smallmouth and largemouth.

Smallmouth:

I fish a variety of smallmouth waters including Lake Erie, Chautauqua Lake, and the Allegheny River. In an open water situation where I will be fishing structure I most frequently use a tube with an internal style head and exposed hook. In a lake environment like Lake Erie, I generally use 1/4 to 3/8 oz heads. A couple years ago I began pouring my own heads on Mustad Ultra Point hooks and I continue to use my hand pours. I just found that due to the shear number of heads I go through in a year I could buy premium hooks and pour the heads myself for less overall cost than buying comercially poured heads. My only downfall has been lending some to fishing friends, now I'm pouring for them too . The open water tube technique is kind of a no brainer. Most anglers will cast it out, let it sink, then basically drag it along the bottom as the wind blows thier boat along. I have used this drifting technique if the wind dictates that I do so, but I prefer to pull up on a reef and throw a marker, then back off and cast at my target. For a retrieve I generally use a slow, do nothing retrieve, imparting small jerks to make the tube jump off the bottom a few inches. In stark contrast, I too have had days where a sharp and hard jerk triggered bites. In that senerio it's my opinion that I basically get a reaction strike when the bait suddenly jumps off the bottom in the fish's face. Bites will feel a variety of ways. A sharp tick is common but mostly you will feel resistance, if you feel anything that feels different, let er' rip.

In a river or current situation, I basically let the current do the work for me. It is critical to match the head size to the current. I find myself most often using 1/8 oz to 1/4 heads, depending on current strength of course. My favorite technique is to cast the tube up-current and basically allow it to be washed down. A definite must is to keep in contact with the bait my reeling up slack as the bait drifts down. This serves 2 purposes, it allows you to feel the bait bouncing along and can keep you from getting snagged often, and it allows you to feel a bite. Bites in a current situation will often be undetectable and any mushy feeling or possibly a sharp tick will could possibly be a bronzeback sucking in what he thinks is a craw.

For this open hook technique I'm mostly targeting smallmouth in this area. As far as tackle goes, I mainly fish a Kistler Helium 7' MH spinning rod, This rod has plenty of backbone to put the hook home and nice action for when the fish gets close to the boat. I'm also mostly using 6-8 lb floro line. I really like the abrasion resistance and feel with floro.

Colors you ask. Well, I'm a basic kind of guy when it comes to colors. I really only use a few colors: Clear water to stained water- Green pumpkin (and some variations like green pumpkin brown candy) watermelon, brown. Dirty water- black and some variations like black neon. I do also dip the tails in chartruese or orange Spike-It dye on some occasions, mostly on low light days.

Now a little extra secret. You know then days where smallmouth are up busting bait but won't seem to hit any top water you throw? Try this, rig up a white tube, texas rig, no weight at all. Throw it out and fish it back like a soft jerkbait. It will dip and dart like a jerkbait then when you kill it those little tenticles just a wiggle away as the bait falls. You'll be suprised the number of bites you'll get...

Tube size, not too complicated here either. I mainly use 4" tubes. I do sometimes use a 3 1/2 inch but only on occasions where they seem to want a smaller offering.

One last technique that seems to work on occasion both in rivers and lakes, simply swim the tube along. In current I cast either up-current or perpendicular then swim the tube back. For suspended or schooling lake smallies, cast out and let the bait sink to their depth then reel it back through them. This techinque is more difficult mostly because of the location of the fish in the water column but can work under some situations.

Hope this gives you a starting point to tube fishing. In the next few days I will add my tube techniques for largemouth. I will also get into how these techniques will sometimes cross over from one style to another.

Catt reply :

That's excellent ;D

A tube is probably the only bait I have never caught a fish on :-?

bassnleo reply :

Quote
I had great luck before with Largemouth bass,pickerel, and rainbow trout.
My question is do tubes work well on channel catfish, like senkos?

Sorry, can't help you there. I have caught walleye and 1 catfish on a tube but I don't specifically target them. Maybe someone else here could shed some light.

roadwarrior reply :

Excellent!

Thank you for taking the time to make this detailed post. Tubes are a passion of mine, too.

For smallmouth, I too fish an inserted jighead in relatively open water targeting structure, not cover. I prefer the 3 1/2" Mizmo in Kent's Classic (squash green). With this tube my technique is almost always a hopping presentation.

For largemouth, I fish the Micro Munch Tackle El Gordo (black neon) or Mizmo 5 1/2" tube (green or watermelon). My set up and presentation is completely different for these fish, but I'll share that on the next thread when bassnleo discusses his approach to largemouth bass.

cart7t reply :

To further expand on Leo's fine presentation.

I bring you

Skippin a tube

The technique was initially attributed to Guido Hibdon but I'm betting he learned it from someone else fishing Lake of the Ozarks. Essentially, the tube is one of the best baits out there for skipping under overhanging trees or under boat docks.

The art of skipping is all in the cast. You'll use a spinning rod but a spincast also works. The cast involves a side arm motion sending the lure in a near parallel or very shallow trajectory towards the object you're trying to skip under. If done properly, the bait will skip much like a rock and gain you up to several feet extra distance under overhanging objects. I prefer the old Gitzit style jig heads where the lead head is inside the tube itself. This presentation is best done after some on the water practicing in an open water situation. It does take a knack to get the cast down right but done properly you can get the bait to skip 4-6 times, sometimes more. It's also not a choppy water presentation either. You're best skipping results will occur in calm water situations.

Once the bait has come to rest and begins sinking, be prepared to close the bail immediately as fish will often strike the bait soon after it comes to rest.

This technique isn't just limited to fishing under objects either but can also be used in open water situations as well when the fish are shallow. The skipping action in open water mimicks a baitfish fleeing and will draw strikes. It's a great presentation during the pre-spawn when the fish are in cruising the banks and you can really rack up some fish quick with this presentation.

If you're skipping around docks, I'd prefer a medium action rod and around 10lb line. You'll need to get the fish away from cover ASAP so you'll need the stiffer action of the medium rod. In Open water you can get away with a M/L rod with only 6lb test. I prefer a 6' rod as the more compact length makes the cast a little easier to perform though some guys prefer the extra power of the 6'6" rod.

I keep the baits simple, a 3 1/2 inch tube works great and I usually fish it in shad colors. The lead heads I use are normally 1/8 oz or 1/4.

bassnleo reply :

cart, most excellent addition to this post, saved me a little typing for my largemouth section!

I actually have a little system I use for skipping that I will add with my largemouth info. I will include some pics of terminal tackle that I use for tube skippin.

roadwarrior reply :

Slam dunk!

Nice follow-up cart7.

Siebert Outdoors reply :

Awsome topic guys

Tubes are probably my 2nd favorite. IMO its the most versitale lure available. Works in all water temps, catches all species, and you can fish it in the whole water column. Excellent lure.

The_Natural reply :

Oh Man!...Love those tubes! Would you mind sending me down some clear water with some Smallmouth, and I'll give your technique a shot! I mainly pitch Texas-rigged tubes, and will pop it once, then twice after the initial rest before pitching to the next target and repeating. I opt for the larger sizes in green squash (baby poop yellow), black neon, and green varieties. I will occasionally swim a tube utilizing a jighead in the spring to imitate a bluegill, and then do the same with a white tube in fall as the bass chase shad. I think the best advice I can give is to keep the weight you are using internal, even while Texas rigging. This insures your tube will spiral down on the fall, which is key. There are several manufacturers that make weights that cling to your hook one way or another, but just make sure the weight isn't impeding your hookset. My method is to actually shove a drop shot weight up the tube until it reaches the head, and then shove in a large glass tube rattle. Works for me 8-)

Bud reply :

Bassnleo

I fish Tubes 50% of the time on the water with Jig making up another 40% or so depending on the time of the year. I fish just about like you except I will yo-yo it some. I let the bait hit botton and sit for a few second depending on the water temp then with the rod tip pick it up a foot or so with a fairly quick montion and let fall back on a semi slack line. Similar to stroking a jig

I have rigged it several ways and have found no difference in the numbers of bites or hook up. I usually use a internal style head and exposed hook rigged weedless.

The color for me is anything watermemln or green pumpkin in 31/2 or 4 inch

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

Great tube post. I have actually used tubes less and less for some reason. This post encourages me to dust them off and give 'em a go!!!!

Wayne

bassnleo reply :

Ok, here goes some largemouth info.

Since cart7 accurately covered skipping a tube, I'll skip that. I will add that for skipping, I rig my tubes with an internal weight usually 1/16 to 1/8 oz and a Eagle Claw XP hook. These hooks have a little clip around the eye that closes and holds the tube in place which is really handy. The weights I use are nothing more than the thin cylinder style drop shot weights. I simply take a 1/4 drop shot weight, use an ice pick to spread the line clip into a circle, then snip off about 2/3 of the weight. It makes a nice compact weight. I also pour these myself due to the shear number I use each year for this technique and for drop shotting. This rig is weedless and fairly snagless and has kind of a slow gliding fall that is dynamite for skipping under docks or around any kind of cover or open water for that matter.

As far as the rest of my largemouth fishing, I mainly flip or pitch a tube. I use the same hook but rig it texas style with a bullet weight of varying sizes to match the type of cover and depth of water I'm fishing. I will peg the weight with a rubber band if I'm fishing bushes or really thick cover and want the bait to be more compact. If I'm targeting holes in grass beds or laydowns or stumps I leave the weight free sliding. I use both lead and tungsten weights. I like tungsten if I'm above 1/2 oz, lead below. Cost is the main factor there, I really haven't noticed more or less bites lead vs. tungsten.

On occasion I will cast a texas rig tube and fish it like a worm.

Size wise, I still use 4" tubes but usually flipping style tubes which have a little thicker wall. Colors are usually the same as I mentioned above.

Soon as I get them taken, I will add some pics of some of the things I have mentioned.

Grey Wolf reply :

Great info guys , thanks.

Alpster reply :

This might be the most usefull (fish catching) thread in a long time. Thanks men, for your expertise!

Ronnie

gman2 reply :

Another great things about tubes is there are many variations to. Tube craw- Lake Fork Craw Tube, Strike Kings - Wild Things are variations of the tube that may help to get the fishes attention if there is alot of fishing pressure by people throwing the common tubes. My 2 cents great post guys. I have 2 poles for strictly tubes they are my money bait year in and year out. I also agree the 4 inch usally does do alot better and I have even seen some 4 1/2 that looked pretty good.

WhiteMike1018 reply :

Awesome Post. I learned some vital tactics I Must thank you for this

Mike

bassnleo reply :

Here's the terminal tackle I use for my skipping rig. In the pic is an Eagle Claw HP hook. Notice the little lip around the eye, you open that when rigging it through the tube then close it when done, it holds the tube in place, is great to keep a skipped tube in place.

Also notice my internal weight is nothing more than a drop shot weight modified a little. Be gentle when spreading the clip. They are thin and can break if too much pressure is put on it. Internal weights can be purchased pre-made and I've tried them all. I just wasn't happy with commerciall made ones and the way they rig so I came up with this way to make my own.

I know the pics is a little big, I wanted everyone to be able to closely see the weight and clip on the hook.

The weight goes inside the tube and is threaded to the top, the hook is simply texas rigged, the hook goes through the circle of the internal weight and that's how it stays place inside the tube.

One note of advice. I use the largest hook I can with these tubes, usually a 4/0, I want a large gap between the hook point and end of my weight inside the tube. If you hook is too small or the weight is too long it shortens the gap and ability for the hook to hit pay dirt when you set the hook.

bassnleo reply :

And, here's 2 styles of internal heads. I just started messing with the wide gap style and will probably pour more this year. Notice the difference in eye angle.

The tube is a 4" Micro Much Flipping Tube, color is green pumpkin brown candy.

bassnleo reply :

Lastly, the crossover between these techniques. Although I have divided these between smallmouth and largemouth, these techniques will catch both species.

For example, try a tube rigged for skipping around bedded largemouth or on a shallow weedbed. A tube gliding as opposed to spiraling down can often trigger a fish into biting. Let the fish tell you how they want it. If your not getting bit flipping or pitching try a lighter weight or differently rigged tube. That's often all it takes to turn a biteless morning into a time to remember.

Also, for deeper summertime largemouth fishing (or structure fishing) instead of a deep crank, jig, or carolina rig, try a tube rigged with and exposed hook. Drag it the same as you would a jig or bump it along like a crank. Rip it off the bottom, jig it, basically the only thing holding you back is your imagination. There is no rule when it comes to tubes or bass fishing for that matter.

There are just therioes....

Next are 2 pics, 1 largemouth and 1 smallmouth. Both bit a tube and not too far apart.

Hope this info helps everyone improve your tube fishing. Give them a try, you might be suprised!!

bassnleo reply :

Smallie

bassnleo reply :

Largie

bmkole reply :

I usually T-rig a flippin tube with a bullet sinker. I don't use this often and when I do the tube will eventually slide down the hook. I use toothpicks to peg my sinkers and so I started taking a toothpick and sticking it through the head of the tube and through the eye of the hook to hold the tube in place. Any other ideas out there?

rocknfish9001 reply :

bmkole- use something like along the lines of a flipping tube. They have really thick, meaty heads that can hold a hook really well. They dont work too well on jigheads, though. Btw, i am always fishing tubes. And almost exclusivley on 1/8th oz. insider heads, sometimes 1/16 oz, and rarely 1/4 oz, although i have them up to 1/2 oz.

Here are some good flipping tubes that wont slide on the hook

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=15640&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=7&hvarSubCode=6&hvarTarget=browse

bmkole reply :

Thanks Rockn,

This past season was the first time I really tried using tubes and that was sparingly. Mostly out of the weeds on exposed hook jigs. i just thought a "flippin tube" was bigger than a regular tube. I just cracked open a bag of Powerbait flippin tubes that I just got in the bargain bin and they too have the solid plastic head.....i will make sure I look for that in the future.

BassPonder72 reply :

great timing on this post. I have just started adding tubes to my selection of soft plastics and was looking for help fishing them. Can anyone point me to a similar post on crank baits?

bassnleo reply :

Quote
I usually T-rig a flippin tube with a bullet sinker. I don't use this often and when I do the tube will eventually slide down the hook. I use toothpicks to peg my sinkers and so I started taking a toothpick and sticking it through the head of the tube and through the eye of the hook to hold the tube in place. Any other ideas out there?

Look at the Eagle Claw HP hook which is pictured on page 1. The tube will stay in place with this hook.

As far as pegging with toothpicks, I know alot of guys do that but I personally don't want that little piece of wood against my line fearing it will wear on the line and cause a weak spot.

I peg my weights with a rubber band.

Take a thin rubber band and run your line through it. Tie an overhand knot to affix the band to your line. Slide your bullet weight on the line and to the overhand knot you tied. Pull the knot down through the sinker. Now, take the main line at the bottom of the sinker and cut it (about 3" below the weight and above the knot), this will leave you with band remaining in the weight and your main line running through it. Trim the rubber band at the bottom of the sinker, be sure not to nick your main line. This leaves you with rubber against your line. It will stay in place firmly, but you still will be able to slide it to re-tie if necessary, and without fear of the band damaging your line and causing a break off on a hook set.

One more tip, when your pull the band through, pull it until about 1/16 of an inch of band remains exposed at the top of the weight. This will allow you to have something to grab on to to remove the band from the weight so you can re-use the weight.

If you need me to, I can take step by step pics and post them here.

MALTESE FALCON reply :

Great posts guys, thanks to all for sharing their techniques. The tube is one bait I always seem to ignore. Rest assured they will be my number one bait to master this spring.

Falcon

guest reply :

bassnleo---Thanks for adding the pictures. They really helped me as well as other anglers like me that don't know that much about using tubes.

Garnet reply :

Try a very small metal bead (small hole)with a rubber bobber stop above then your bullet wieght.

I use to use spinnerbait materail but didn't like throwing worm wieghts away or fighting to clear the hole.

If you go on the FLW site and watch Larry Nixon rig a worm you will see the Bobber stop. I thought it was my invention but apparently not.

Garnet

Painter Dude reply :

Quote
And, here's 2 styles of internal heads.

I have not fished tubes very much and when I have it has been either weightless or bullet style. With the poured internal weights shown on this post are they inserted from the rear with the eye punched through or from the front with the weight punched through.

bassnleo reply :

Quote

Quote
And, here's 2 styles of internal heads.

I have not fished tubes very much and when I have it has been either weightless or bullet style. With the poured internal weights shown on this post are they inserted from the rear with the eye punched through or from the front with the weight punched through.

You can insert them from the rear, pushing the head up to the top of the tube then popping the eye through. OR

Insert the hook point in the top of the tube(where you want the eye to end up) and work the hook down through, then punch the head through. It's kind of up to you. Personally I start at the top of the tube, It's a little speedier than the other way because you don't have to re-tie your line each time.

bassnleo reply :

Thought I'd bring this back since there has been some tube questions lately.

justfishin reply :

Darn good job Bassnleo, and everyone that added to this post. In my area I would say the tube is the no. 1 bait, day in and day out for smallmouth and used a lot for green bass as well. For guys that do not catch fish on tubes or have never used one, this post hit the info right on the head. I only have one thing to add. I use the Gammy G-Lock hooks for rigging my tubes for flipping wood and grass for green bass. They really work well. Is this a great site or what.

lmb7 reply :

thanks thats some good info

Bankbeater reply :

Excellent Post. A lot of good info in here.

bassnleo reply :

Thought I'd bring this one back up since there seems to be quite a few tube questions lately, enjoy, there is some great info in this thread.

BassHunter69 reply :

another great idea with tubes which i Loveeeeeee is brass and glass, that extra falsh helps somehwta plus the brass resonates a bit differntly then lead and plastics beads. a buddy of mine and i went fishing as wheeler d**n i caught 3 to his 1 just fishing tubes with brass and glass, i added a tooth pick in the brass as well after a few cast and i was still getting mojo bites.

Catt reply :

Excellent post y'all

Made me dig out my tubes & dust them off

Now if I can get rid of a hurricane I'll give em a try :

.ghoti. reply :

Hey Catt, we all know how to fish post-spawn, post cold front, post storm, etc. What the heck do you do post hurricane? Hope you weathered the storm safely.

Agree with Alpster. This has been on of the most informative threads lately. Over the last couple of years I've been using tubes less and less. They used to be one of my go to baits. Two years ago I got on trick worms and flukes; last year was Ikas and Cut-Tails; this year it's been hula grubs, and now SwimSenkos. And, I always have a senko on one rod. Tubes just got pushed farther and farther down the list. I gotta put "em back in the rotation. Thanks all, for jogging my memory.

I've always been a fan of Zoom tubes and Power tubes. I have several others in my tube bag, but those two were my best producers. For rigging, I switched from an EWG hook to the Gammy G-Lock hook. It holds the bait better, with a lot less sliding down the hook. I always put the weight inside. I've tried several different ways to hold it in place, but the best seems to be the old style "bass casting" sinkers. Insert one into the tube and run the hook through the eye on the sinker. Works like a champ, and they are cheap. A split shot with a rattle behind it works pretty good, too.

On a side note, why are these called bass casting sinkers? I've never seen or heard of any bass rig that employs these things.

I also put in a Berkley crappie nibble, the ones with glitter. When you're working them through the water, they shed "scales", and add a good taste. My catch rate goes up when I use them.

Greta thread, gents.

Cheers,

frogflogger reply :

good info - really a weak spot with me - thanks to those that know

Dwight Hottle reply :

bassnleo

Excellent post. Very informative & the pictures helped immensely.

bassattackerdad reply :

We fish tubes mostly for smallies with an internal jighead 1/4-3/16 oz in green pumpkins, browns & light greens. They can mimic craws or baitfish. 6'6 to 7 spinning rod, with good backbone and sensitive tip, light line 6-8lb. We cast to rock structure, riprap, drop-off etc. let tube sink and sit. Slowly raise rod tip and feel for weight. If there is weight, set hook. If not, drop back down, wait, shake rod a bit, wait, raise rod tip again, repeat. Then cast to spot 5 feet further down bank. And on and on. For us, often times the take is extremely subtle. One thing to remember about tube fishing is that it has a tendency to twist up your line. This is because of the falling action of the tube. So you might need to stretch your line after tube fishing or replace it. My kid likes to dropshot tubes nosehooked on #1 dropshot hook. it gives a lot of action to the tube legs.

The_Natural reply :

Wow...old post. I can still say I am defintely still a tube nut. Like most, I have successfully worked a beaver in to the mix, but in postspawn....the spiraling tube is second to none. I attribute my tube fishing to Gary Kline back in '92. Even with the Sweet Beaver taking the place of the tube in a lot of circumstances...Kline even recently proved that the tube can still dominate. He set the 'A Day on the Lake with a Pro' record with a tube in smoke red. Smoke red or purple is probably the most underrated plastic color in fishing, but that is a different thread. I'll post pics later of how I rig my tubes...I never leave the dock without one.

bassnleo reply :

Man, you are so right, I also never leave w/o one tied on.

It seems I have also worked a beaver style bait into my flippin aresenal, it may be #1 now. This past year I found myself actually going back to a tube on more occasions. I used to use it more than any other bait I had.

Here's an example .

Seems like everyone was flippin a beaver style or creature style bait. I had one particular occasion during a tournament, alot of boats were in an area I had found decent fish. Problem was this was my back-up area and me along with everyone else were there because the wind was hammering most everyone's water. I had boats within pitching distance for hours .

Guys caught fish, BUT, as the day wore on in this weedbed the number of bites seemed to tail off. It was my thought that the number of boats along with heavy weights constantly punching thick grass had the fish a little spooked.

I needed to change. I looked down and saw a tube rigged on a spinning rod........Hmmm.....I re-rigged a flippin stick to accomodate a tube and began to flip/pitch that (smoke red flake ) and with half an hour had culled up 3 times and right in the same area I had just passed through without a bite. I can only attribute that to a tube and it's uncanny ability to get bites.

bassnleo reply :

Another noteworthy offering for this thread.......

In the past year I have been experimenting with different size tubes, specifically, tubes much smaller than the norm.

I had this trip on Lake Erie.......Conditions were perfect for tubes. Those fish see countless numbers of 3 and 4 inch tubes. I downsized to a 2 1/2" tube.

It's a little more work to cram a jighead into these tubes but with a little patience it can be done. That size change totally changed the rate and type of fall usually associated with 3-4 inch tubes. I actaully had to mess with jighead weights to acheive proper bottom contact depending of course on wave action, depth, "snagyness" of the particular bottom.

End result, I loved how they performed, so did the big smallies .

I found that my landing ratio went up dramatically. I attribute that to the fact that there was far less plastic (than on a 3-4 inch tube) to interfere with hook penetration. If you've ever fished a tube in depths of 20-30 feet for smallies, hook penetration can be a factor. Now, it's not all from tube size, line strech, rod power, smallies just closing their mouth and holding on all play a factor. It's not uncommon for a 4-5 lb Erie smallmouth to go from 20 feet deep to 3 feet out of the water in the blink of an eye after hook set. It's heart breaking to watch one jump one way and your tube goes the other.

I can honestly say that with the smaller tubes I did not have that happen once! I landed EVERY smallmouth I hooked on the smaller tube and each time the hook was firmly embedded in it's mouth, and I pour my heads with only 3/0 light wire hooks.

This was all using a 6'6' Kistler rod and 8 lb flouro line.

Another interesting fact from that experience. Just about everyone knows that gobies are a predominate forage on the Great Lakes. I actually foul hooked several gobies that were pecking at my tubes. They were just about the same size as my tubes. I found that I WANTED gobies pecking away and they often telegraphed when I was going to get a smallmouth bite. The gobie pecks would suddenly stop and THUMP, a smallmouth would be on. I honestly believe that the gobies pecking away drew the smallmouths attention, they came in for a look, and liked what they saw.

Just a theory, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Primus reply :

Great info guys, bassnleo you sure know your stuff when it comes to tube fishing. I also agree with the Natural on Smoke Purple being the most underated color for soft plastics.

Anyway, to add my 2 cents, tubes are great bait for a Carolina rig. I personally prefer the thin walled single dipped tubes like a BPS tender tube, regular Berkely power tube for this application because the double dipped tubes have all that extra plastic which makes the tube a little stiffer and seems to interfere with the hookset. However the double dipped tubes are my preference when fishing a tube with an internal jighead.

bassnleo reply :

Thanks man!

The wall thickness of tubes is something I've yet to write about. I think I'm similar to you in that I like thin walled tubes for internal jigheads. For flippin applications I like thicker plastic. The thicker plastic seems to hold up better with the heavy weights and heavy guage hooks common for flippin. They seem to last a bit longer when constantly popping the tube of out the weeds or whatever heavy cover I'm targeting.

Carolina rig, try this. Take a foam earplug, soak it in whatever scent you like. Jam it inside the open end of the tube and leave it toward the opening. Serves 2 purposes, obviously the scent, and it will allow the back of the tube to float up slightly. It's a good deadsticking technique!

bassnleo reply :

Quote
bassnleo
Excellent post. Very informative & the pictures helped immensely.

Dwight, judging by your Erie smallmouth pics, I can't imagine you need much help. You got game on the big water.

We need to hook up this Spring!

6619

Tube fishing 101 - pics added 12/31/06 2024

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