A tube is a very capable and adaptable bait, so there are dozens of ways to rig and use them. My use of them has been largely replaced by Senkos...pitching and skipping around docks and moored boats, lilly pads, brush and trees. Tubes will simply become part of my Drop Shot attack. I may even rig them on a jighead with exposed hook, and swim them, as they were intended.
For many years, the Tube bait was one of my mainstays. Silver, Banks, Potholes, Mason, Isabella, Sawyer, Lk. Desire, Washington...all produced good fish on the normal 3.5" sized tubes for me. Tubes got me a 6 lb LM and a 4 lb 9 oz Smallie. I like G-4's from Luck E Strike, or Zoom tubes...thick walls being the key deal, IMO. More weight, but weight that floats, so falls slower. They're also affordable, and tubes can be pricey. BPS products have not found favor with me. They don't hold up very well, very soft, but thin. Price isn't everything.
I like to rig 'em on a Gamakatsu G-Lock hook. The Z bend holds the nose of the tube well, yet the tube will also slide up the line when a fish is on. Before these hooks came out, I used the "Shaw Grigsby" hooks with the little clips. They tear up the plastic on almost every hookset, so I don't use them anymore. Tubes are fairly expensive, as plastics go. They are dipped, much like candles, and then the tails have to be sliced. Both are fairly time consuming processes.
To add weight, I use one of two things. First is a McCoy's or Venom tube rattle. These are glass, 1/4" diameter, two buckshot. I'll usually wrap them with electrical tape or lead tape (hard to get), to make them a bit tougher and stay in the bait better. Depends on the inside diameter of the tubes you have. Second thing I'll do is use a short piece of surgical tubing and slip a small splitshot into one end. The tubing is about 5/8" long, and the empty end goes forward. The idea is to put the weight amidship, so the bait falls not quite flat...a bit nose down. It will then do a "death spiral", that the fish can't resist. Either rig will do that, the idea is to avoid the rattle in real clear water. It will scare the fish off like you won't believe.
I like to use this as a heavy cover bait, so my rod of choice is a pretty stout 6' spinning rod with a soft enough tip to cast this light lure, a "4000" size spinning reel, and 10 lb Excalibur or McCoy's copolymer monofil.
To work the bait, I let it fall on a slack line, watching for ticks and unusual movements (set the hook!). If it hits the bottom, let it sit for 15 seconds, then start to twitch the rod up from 8 o'clock to 12 o'clock, 3 or 4 twitches. Keep it moving, but make it irregular, then let it fall to the bottom again, and start over.
Colors of choice...Green Pumpkin, Mellon Pepper, Watermellon Pepper, Salt and Pepper, Smoke with black and gold or copper flake, Camoflage, etc. Basic rule is to have 3 colors..."Light, Dark, and In-Between". Don't worry about color too much. I would take only Green Pumpkin to any body of water and feel 100% confidence in it, but I probably caught more fish on Camoflage than all the others. For reference, this color is called PB&J at Yamamoto...AKA peanut butter and jelly.
C&R, Steve
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Weighted TUBES....- HOW TO DO IT..? (Read 5444 times)
