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It seems like many Pros say that tube baits are one of their favorite bass lures. Lately, I have been trying to use tube baits more frequently and I have some questions for the Prostaffer's.

What are your favorite tube bait colors (I live in Massachusetts if geographic region matters for color)?

What are your preferred rigging methods using both plain hooks and jig heads? When rigging on a jig head, can you describe the best ways of getting the tube onto the jig?

And last, what are your favorite ways to fish tubes?

As always, thanks for the help.
Jim

hey Jim, I live in Massachusetts as well so hopefully I will be of some help. Although tubes are not my "go-to" bait I still fish them with pretty good success. My favorite method is fishing them on a jig head with a weedguard. By using the weed guard you can flip them into heavy cover, and around trees just like you would a spider jig. Tap,tap,tap.
You can also Texas rig them. You can find tube weights at any bass tackle store, they have holes in the which allows you to slide the hook through. With this method, cast your tube and fish it like a jerk bait. Tubes actually have great action when fished like a jerk bait. As for color, it depends on the sun, water color, and stuff like that. In heavy dark colored areas (lily pads) try black and blue. Open clear water try watermelon. There is a good part of trial and error when fishing a new bait, try differnt colors, and techinques until you start producing fish. Dont be affraid to experiment. Good luck Jim, hopefully you can decifer some of what i spilled out.

Jim, I am a big tube guy. I sometimes use the traditional slip in head but most often I Texas rig them with a brass and glass set up. My favorite tubes are made by Mizmo. My favorite colors are Blk/Red flake, Watermelon purple flake, green pumpkin and Tequila

Jim, good questions.
I almost always Texas rig a tube, weight depending upon covered fished. 1/4 ounce is a good selection with a 3/0 bass hook, I use Daiichi wide gap. Colors, black grape, black with red flake for dingy water. Pearl or shad for clear water and crawfish for the in-between color. I like to fish the tube fairly slow, let it penetrate cover and start a slow methodic retrieve with just a little pumping action. In open water, I always swim the tube along the bottom, let it bounce once in awhile to simulate a feeding crawfish or bait fish. Tubes are great baits, but may require some patience to learn. Use light wire hooks to start out, often the fish will hook themselves. Jig heads are good too in open water. Hope you do well. Johnnie

Jim,

All of the guts gave great responses to your question. I always keep my colors very simple. I will use green pumpkin, watermelon, black, and white. The way the I fish them is with a jig head, texas rigged, spit shot rigged, and even weightless. The weight that I use depends on the depth and how the fish want the bait (falling fast of slow). If I am using a jig head, I moisten the jig head and insert it in the tube's cavity--I dont push it all the way to the front. Then I poke the eyelet threw the body and tie it to my line. I will also fish the tube weightless. This will give the bait a more natural appearence as it falls. You can also work the tube like a pook and "walk the dog". I love using the weightless, white tube because it resembles a shad.

Jim, all of the above are excellent responses! Personally, I like the Strike King tube lizard, Probably just me, but I have confidence in it. I Texas rig it with a black bullet weight. Any of the colors work in the right conditions. As said above, patience and a slow retrieve work for me. Hope this is some help!

I would say without a doubt that watermelon, green pumpkin and black will cover anything you need to fish. Unless targeting spawning bass on beds, then white or chartreuse are more visible to you.
I have molded my own jigheads for about 8 years now and use an insert head 95% of the time when targeting smallmouth. When inserting the head inside the tube be sure that it is straight before poking the line tie out of the head of the tube, this will keep spinning to a minumum when retreiving the tube, lessening the chance for line twist.
Same goes for when texas rigging. And use the biggest wide gap hook you can with the tube you will be using. I suggest a Gamakatsu EWG 3/0 for 3 - 3 1/2" tubes, 4/0 for 4" baits and a 5/0 or G-Mag ( about 7 - 8/0 ) for tubes 5" or bigger.
Use as light as weight as possible when fishing tubes. The appeal of a tube is in the way it falls, they glide and spiral like a baitfish or crawfish. A heavy weight will over power the tube causing it to fall straight down. About the only times I use a heavy weight is when fishing in heavy wind, deep water or when pitching grass mats.
Tournament Force Tackle Systems offers a great selection of tubes in different sizes and many productive colors, they also offer jigheads for inserting into tubes. http://www.TFBass.com
Good luck.

Jim, we should have you catching bass on tubes in no time.. My favorite way is to Texas rig them and flip and pitch them like a Jig and Pig. Like Eric spoke about I also use smaller than normal weights on my tubes it does make the bait much more life like.

Here is a another little trick I found I go to a WalMart/KMart find the hobbie/craft area and look for Jingle Bells the smaller the better, incert the Bell inside the tube for a rattle, it works great, try different sizes with different size tubes.

Also when flipping tubes into the brush or bushes I will peg the Texas Rigged weight with a tooth pick. By pegging the weight I mean stick the tooth pick in the top of the weight with the line through and breaking off the tip in the weight. Stops the weight from traveling forward on the line and getting hung up in the brush.

I have found that salt incerted tubes seem to work the best, fish just seem to hold on longer. These are some basic's colors I hold in my tube box. Black and Blue, All White, Watermelon Cotton Candy, Watermelon red flake, Smoke, Watermelon Pepper. I found a small compamy called (Crock O Gator Baits)www.crockogator.com. Check them out..


Good Luck hope this helps little just go fishing and have fun...

Good Fishing

EAT SLEEP FISH

Jim, your question urged me to fish the tube bait on tuesday. I was at a lake in NH where there was an inlet, creek, brook, whatever you want to call it. The middle of it was wide enough for one boat, and the sides were all lily pads. What I did was drive myself up onto one side so the wind wouldnt blow me down stream. I cast across the creek into heavy pads using a 3 inch watermelon tube texas rigged weightless. Swim it across the top of the lily pads, and let it drop once it hit open water. I killed em!! The tubes resembled a frog skipping across the pads, and the bass just needed to have it. Just a little story I thought I'd share with you fellas.
Also Jim, you can stuff a cotton ball into the head of your tube, and apply some scent. the cotton helps the scent last longer. Have fun, and good luck.

Jim,
As many people know tubes are one of my main weapons in the bass fishing arsenal. While I have fished it in many ways, the first choice is Texas rigging. This is mostly because I fish a lot of heavy cover, especially when flipping and pitching.

To help explain a bit about “Texas Tubing” I’ve included an article I wrote a
couple of years ago about this subject. Hope it will help.

Before the article, I wanted to give a helpful hint on proper placement of a speed
head style jig head. Enter the hook point where the jig head eye should be coming out of the top side. Then thread the tube on to the hook (hook coming through the open bottom, not the side), and pull the head into the tube until it seals around the eye.

Now for the article on Texas rigging a tube:

Texas rigging a soft plastic tube lure is a great technique to use at anytime to catch
bass. It can be used in any type of structure, and with a variety of retrieves.

I have experimented with several hooks and tubes for this method of fishing. My
final selection has been a 2/0, 3/0 or 4/0 XGap XPoint (model X15 or X25) and Fat Gap
Daiichi hook, with an thick walled tube, such as a Larew Mega Ring Tube (has solid head protion) and Mann’s Jelly Tube.

The hooks mentioned have a kale style bend, with more of a set back worm holding bend in the front. This worm holder bend holds the tube tight, and the kale style allows the hook’s point to lay flat against the tube’s outside wall.

The rigging itself is a little tricky, but simple once it is done a couple of times.
Push the hooks point through the top of the tube and past the barb. Bring the hook out of the side of the tube. To this point it is like Texas rigging a plastic worm. Now, push the tube forward so that the hook can be placed through the bottom opening, and move freely. Insert the hook point through the tube’s outside wall. The point will lay flat against the outside. To complete the weedless rigging, lightly stick the tip of the point back into the outside of the wall. You can now run your finger down the outside without feeling the point, but can see the point area on the outside of the tube.

For a little extra punch, inject some of Kodiak’s crawfish or minnow paste in to the
tube. Use which ever type matches the bait that is being simiulated. As an example, if the tube is being crawled near the bottom or through brush like a crawfish, use the crawfish paste, or if it is being swam in a suspended pump motion where fish are feeding on baitfish, then use the minnow paste.

The bait is ready to be cast, flipped and pitched.

Slip sinker size depends on the rate of fall desired, and the type of cover. My main
choice is 3/16 ounce. A 1/16 or 1/8 ounce size works great if the rig is cast into schooling fish. In this situation the tube if fished quickly, similar to a jerk worm, but with a little faster drop. The sinker can be pegged, but most of my fishing is done with a free sliding sinker. It can also be rigged without a slip sinker for fishing over weeds and lily pads.

Texas Tubing is a great way for skipping a bait into hard to reach areas. Docks
and overhanging trees can be a problem, even for those of us who do a lot of flipping/pitching. Skipping also works great for getting into drain tubes, which are found connecting lakes and canals under roads and bridges.

When a Texas rigged tube is pulled over a submerged piece of structure, such as a
limb or rock, it flips to one side and then the other as it flutters down. The skirt also flares and wags back-and-forth.

It can be dragged or hopped on the bottom (great for fishing areas with crawfish),
and swam or jerked at a suspended depth (ideal for fish feeding on schools of bait fish). The tube can also be used on a Carolina rig, which is especially good because of its buoyancy.

Before finishing, part of your question was in regards to colors. I’ve fished a lot of
different ones, and probably carry at least 25 to 30. However, if I was limited to my three main producers they would be black/red flake (often called black neon), watermelon and pumpkinseed.

Hope this answer hasn't been too long, and that some of it will help you enjoy this
great bass fishing lure.

Best of fishing,
Dan