# Tubes



## Bass-Chad (Mar 9, 2012)

This bait among a few others I have 0 confidence in but, I see people smashing fish on them, any tips on how to rig it (hook size, weight size) would be much appreciated.


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## avantifishski (Apr 8, 2012)

Stupid rig em..

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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

When fishing open water or rocks, I use an insert head. Toss it out and drag, swim or hop it back.

When fishing weed and wood cover, I Texas rig them with a twist. Rather than putting the weight on the line, just shove it up into the tube. You can adjust the weight's position a bit to tune how the tube falls.

Joe


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

Chad, if you give tubes a chance you will definitely gain confidence in them. They're great baits. Especially if you need to get a bait down inside cover. Hook size really depends on the manufacturer of the hook as well as the style of hook. Bait size is also something to consider. Personally I am down to only one hook that I use for Texas rigging tubes. The Lazer Trokar TK190 tube hook. I use a 4/0 for 4" tubes or tubes that have fatter bodies, and a 3/0 for 3 1/2" tubes or tubes with a more slender body. The Shaw Grigsby HP hook is also a great hook for tubes. They're not as sharp as the Trokars are, but they're a really good hook. Since tubes are hollow you can get by with a smaller hook size if you want to I guess. It's just that I personally like a bigger hook. As Grubman said ...... for open water you can use a tube jig head. As with anything ..... the weight you use depends on the conditions you're facing, and what you want the bait to do. I use weights anywhere from 1/16 oz. on up to 3/8 oz. 

I will sometimes do what Grubman suggested as far as using a weight that you can insert inside the tube body and then Texas rig it. I differ from him in that I only use that setup in open water, or when I want to skip a tube under a dock. The internal weight makes a tube very easy to skip, and it gives the bait a nice spiral fall. Grubman's and my experiences may be different, but I find that not having the tapered nose that a bullet weight provides, makes the bait come through cover a lot harder than if I have a bullet weight on. I'll also use a lead bullet weight when Texas rigging tubes, versus a tungsten weight. I think the larger diameter at the base of a lead weight over a tungsten weight of the same size, helps the tube come through cover better.


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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

It's the spiral fall that I like about keeping the weight inside. It's been a long time since I fished one with the weight in front. Maybe I'll have to the next time I get frustrated dragging the tube through thick cover.

One other thing I like to do when the tube is T-rigged, especially with bigger thick walled tubes, is to cut the bottom of the tube from the tails to the hook, so when you set the hook, it only needs to move through one layer of plastic instead of two.

Joe


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## billorp (Aug 25, 2007)

Took the boat out tonight to a local quarry and was nailing them fishing wacky style. nothing big all between 12 and 15 inches. I wanted to try something to get down into the weeds and I remembered reading this thread earlier. So I Texas rigged a watermelon tube and started throwing to shore letting it drop into the weed pockets. Well that's where the big girls were. On my second cast a 23", 4.2lb. bass nailed it. Shocked the crap out of me. My next cast was in a weed pocket right next to the first one and a 19.5" bass nailed it. I caught 7 total on the tube, with the smallest being 15". Think I found my new "go to" lure. Thanks bass-chad for starting this thread!


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## Bass-Chad (Mar 9, 2012)

Bassbme said:


> Chad, if you give tubes a chance you will definitely gain confidence in them. They're great baits. Especially if you need to get a bait down inside cover. Hook size really depends on the manufacturer of the hook as well as the style of hook. Bait size is also something to consider. Personally I am down to only one hook that I use for Texas rigging tubes. The Lazer Trokar TK190 tube hook. I use a 4/0 for 4" tubes or tubes that have fatter bodies, and a 3/0 for 3 1/2" tubes or tubes with a more slender body. The Shaw Grigsby HP hook is also a great hook for tubes. They're not as sharp as the Trokars are, but they're a really good hook. Since tubes are hollow you can get by with a smaller hook size if you want to I guess. It's just that I personally like a bigger hook. As Grubman said ...... for open water you can use a tube jig head. As with anything ..... the weight you use depends on the conditions you're facing, and what you want the bait to do. I use weights anywhere from 1/16 oz. on up to 3/8 oz.
> 
> I will sometimes do what Grubman suggested as far as using a weight that you can insert inside the tube body and then Texas rig it. I differ from him in that I only use that setup in open water, or when I want to skip a tube under a dock. The internal weight makes a tube very easy to skip, and it gives the bait a nice spiral fall. Grubman's and my experiences may be different, but I find that not having the tapered nose that a bullet weight provides, makes the bait come through cover a lot harder than if I have a bullet weight on. I'll also use a lead bullet weight when Texas rigging tubes, versus a tungsten weight. I think the larger diameter at the base of a lead weight over a tungsten weight of the same size, helps the tube come through cover better.


Right now, I have Berkley Havoc Tubes in my box and I have a few 5/0 Trokar TK100 HD worm hooks that I tossed around texas rigged today at Old Portage state park, had a few hits but, I think my hook tip was sitting a little too deep into the tube, did manage to catch about a 2# off her bed. I think once I throw them more often I may grow attached to them. Thanks for the helpful tips, going to try the 2nd one tomorrow when I go out to Springfield.


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## Fishing Flyer (May 31, 2006)

I just started throwing tubes for the first time last week at Kentucky Lake. Wind kept me off the main lake on a couple days, where I had been hammering fish on the dropshot, and so I was throwing jigs in the coves when a local told me to give tubes a shot. I caught a couple before heading in that evening, then gave them a shot again the next day. Most bass had moved out of the coves, but right in the back of a cove near a culvert I nailed 5 bass in less than 5 minutes on the tube, with the biggest going about 18". Had some more hard hits on the tube moving along the banks of the coves, and now I'm hooked. Fished the tubes Texas rigged with a 3/0 hook and a 3/16 oz bullet weight. Hooked the point off-center through the side for better hook sets, and that also provided the spiral motion on the drop. Finally, I Carolina rigged tubes during my last day and dragged them over rocky points and was impressed with that setup as well.


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## jaximus (Jun 30, 2013)

i use a jighead, usually a 1/8 oz one rigged inside the tube (3.5-4") for all of my tube fishing. i dont like texas/carolina rigging tubes because i want the nose to be on the bottom at a split second notice. i also like having the hook exposed when fishing tubes. they are more rigid in their sidewalls and bulkier than a worm so i dont like weedlessly rigging them. i feel it takes too much to get the hook point exposed even when using an oversized hook. i lose a few more tubes my way, but also lose less fish. its a tradeoff im willing to take.


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## sterno (Jul 20, 2011)

I am not a user of tubes,however,i have heard the if you put some alka seltzer inside of them it drives the bass crazy.Not really sure though.


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## Bucket Mouth (Aug 13, 2007)

I throw tubes all the time. They catch everything. I waded on Saturday morning and caught 6 smallies, 6 walleye, 2 channels, and 2 farm animals - all on Poor Boys smoke/purple flash tubes.

I usually use 1/8 oz and can't say I go heavier than 1/4 oz. I used tube jig heads and rarely ever t-rig 'em. I fish pretty shallow, though, usually between 1-10ft. I find the versatility is that you can drag em for the crawfish imitation or you can swim them like a dying baitfish. Choose your colors appropriately depending on how you wanna work 'em. I've even trolled them in the prop wash 30 ft behind a boat and caught a few good smallies on them.

Some tube manufacturers make better tubes than others when it comes to swimming them. Try a few different makers and see what ones work better when you twitch them mid water column.

About the only time I'd say they don't work well for me is when the water temp is below 58, and then only pike seem to want to hit them (try ice fishing w/ tubes hint hint). Water temps into the mid 60's im throwing lipless cranks and suspending jerk baits with some occasional tube fishing, but once the water hits the high 60's I throw almost nothing but tubes once I figure out where the fish are at.


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## whalernut207 (Nov 9, 2013)

If I only had one bait it would be a tube. I fish rivers for bass often.small mouth love them .any place you can find moving water throw a tube. Let it hit bottom and drift in current bouncing off the bottom.you need to keep it moving just enough to keep it from hanging up.smoke red flake is my favorite.


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