Does anyone fish with tube baits anymore?

[Rusty63]

I live in the old south and tube fishing is not a hot bait around here. I am wondering what rod and reel setup and what line and hooks are the most popular for shallow water fishing with tube baits. I have been using a med/hvy spinning rod with 20lb braid. I have caught a few but I don't think that I have all of it down pat just yet. Any thoughts?

[Dink Dawg]

Tubes are a staple, especially for smallmouth.  I run a 31/2 inch size with a tube jig inserted and 3/0 hook exposed.  I run a 12 pound braid to an eight foot leader of 8 or 10 lb floro. The rod is a 703 or any good 7 foot medium power.
It's paramount that this tube rig is dragged and not hopped.
The second application is flippin a tube.  I like the Big Bite Baits Craw Tube in the Talapia color.  I prefer 20 lb floro, pegged flippin weight of your choice on a heavy wide gap hook.  Your color preference will vary as will the weight size.  They get bit.

[Princeton_Man]

They work around here. I decided to try tubes a few years back after watching a video on the Stupid Tube rig. The Stupid Tube rig is about the only way I'll fish a tube because it's weedless. I still prefer plain old Texas Rigs and jigs better, but when I'm looking for smallies I'll have a tube on deck too.

[Larry Francis]

When I was in Indiana the tube was a staple. I would even rig it weightless and drag it across pads then let it fall into holes. That was 20 years ago though. Things have changed since then and honestly the swim bait has probably taken over for what use to be the tube bait. In Florida where I am now, they just don't seem to work well. I guess they are too small because even the Ned Rig does not produce that well here compared to north a bit. Also I think the Ned Rig was the Tube killer.

[Rusty63]

I really appreciate all of the information from all of y'all. I guess my buddy and I are just lucky. We fished the weed line and the creek arm just jerking it up a little and letting the tube swim down on not a constant hop but a hop up and down. I am going to try to drag the tube next week and hope I get a better feel for the bait.

[big g]

I used to use quite often twenty years ago.  Today I only use with a Carolina Rig, and put a piece of styrofoam inside the body of the hollow tube.  It floats up above the big weight and dances in the water with just a slight shake of the rod tip.  I use a light wire #3 hook to get a max lift on the tube.  Just Texas rig right threw the bait and styrofoam.  Caught some nice ones on deep points, and Okeechobee grass flats.  A slow pull will cause the tube to drop down to the bottom and then float up when stopped.

[Smallie_Stalker]

For me they're like the old American Express commercial: I never leave home without them.

I've got them in sizes ranging from 1 inch up to 8 inches and I've caught bass on all of them.

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[J.W.]

I've got several big zip-loc bags full of tubes that were given away or won at tournaments and whatnot, and I have never even opened the bags. Maybe I oughta dust 'em off.

[D.W. Verts]

Hmmm. Just yesterday, in fact.

Cold water- drag 'em around on a shaky head.

Spawn- one of the BEST baits for bedding bass.

Flippin- in heavy cover, a really FAT tube is killer.

The rest of the time- from shallow to deep, fished on a head that produces the signature "spiral" drop. Especially effective for me in boat dock fishing.

I still have some Gitzits that Guido made and gave me in the early 80's. I use them rarely but with reverence.

Dale

[Pat Dilling]

Tubes used to be a staple for me also.  I used the original Gitzit for a long time then they got a little bigger, 3.5 inches.  I also used them for flipping.  Currently, like Larry said, the Ned rig has taken the place of a tube most of the time for me.  And for flippin and pitchin, the beaver and D-bomb style baits are the ones.   Tubes still work when I do tie one on.  For the 3.5 size I use a medium action spinning rod with 15# braid to 10# flouro most of the time.  How I fish them depends on what the fish want.  I will put a light 16th or 8th oz jig head and fish them primarily on the fall where they usually will spiral down, if no bite I will lift and repeat.  If the water is colder and fish want a bait on the bottom, I will use a 3/16-3/8 jighead and drag them.  It's never absolute.  Tubes have also been a staple for fish on beds, usually a lighter color so you can see it.

[Rusty63]

@Pat Dilling
I am fishing a pond that is maybe 10ft deep on average a 1/8 oz  jig head would probably work the best? The Ned rig down here in the grass farm ponds doesn't seem to be as popular for bank anglers. The boaters seem to keep the Ned going here especially in deeper lakes

[Smallie_Stalker]

A quick tip for tubes for those who might not be aware of this: If you fish a tube on a ball head jig you can change how wide or tight the tube spirals by adjusting where inside the tube you put the head. Put it all the way up front and you get a tight spiral. The further you move it back the wider the spiral will get.

Sometimes this little change is all you need to get the fish to hit it.

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[Rusty63]

@Smallie_Stalker thanks for the tip I'm going to try that one.

[skidemn]

I used to fish the Crappie John tube jugs in the 80's for Calico bass off the SoCal coast. They were the hottest bait you could get back then, but  they sure didn't hold up well getting pinched between the jighead and the fish jaws. I still fish the micro size for trout and bluegill, but I have never done well for bass on the tube.


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[Smallie_Stalker]

@Smallie_Stalker thanks for the tip I'm going to try that one.

My pleasure. Like anything else it doesn't always work and even when it does it can take a little experimenting to figure out just where to place it.

It's can be very effective during those times when the baitfish are dying off. They do a  pretty good imitation of the shad death spiral.

But don't limit it to that situation. Play with it in different situations and see what works for you.

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[Dink Dawg]

It's nice how a simple question provides so much good information.

[Pat Dilling]

@Pat Dilling
I am fishing a pond that is maybe 10ft deep on average a 1/8 oz  jig head would probably work the best? The Ned rig down here in the grass farm ponds doesn't seem to be as popular for bank anglers. The boaters seem to keep the Ned going here especially in deeper lakes

1/8th would be a good place start.  It never hurts to experiment going lighter with 1/16th or heavier with 3/16th or even 1/4.  Try lighter if fish are very shallow or if you are working the top of submerged weeds.  Heavier if the fish are deeper or seem to want something moving faster.

[coldfront]

I live in the old south and tube fishing is not a hot bait around here. I am wondering what rod and reel setup and what line and hooks are the most popular for shallow water fishing with tube baits. I have been using a med/hvy spinning rod with 20lb braid. I have caught a few but I don't think that I have all of it down pat just yet. Any thoughts?

I'm 'different'.  fish the tube a LOT.  strike king 3.5 with a 2/0 VMC EWG.  texposed.  1/8 ounce tungsten bullet weight.  not pegged.

flip it.  pitch it.  drag it.  pop it.  all works at times.  most colors are effective at times.  green pumpkin (and variants) are the workhorses.

fish this on medium heavy, xfast 7 to 7.5 foot rods.   baitcasters.  10 or 12 lb flouro.




mimics crayfish, bluegill extremely well.

and it's NOT just a small fish bait.

[bigjim5589]

I think that in many folks minds now, that tubes are only a Smallmouth bait, which is unfortunate.

Several days ago, I was fishing the lake and a young guy & his son came in there working the grass beds on the opposite side of the cove, and we struck up a conversation as they moved closer. I could see that they were flipping some type of white plastic bait so asked what he was using. He said it was a creature bait and he didn't know the name, but it looked like a double curltail with a skirt to me, like a Yamamoto Hula Grub. I mentioned using pearl or white tubes in the past and he said he had some tubes, that he had used for SM, but had no confidence in using them here.

So, that probably sums up the thoughts of many here in the south as far as using tubes.

I haven't used them here, with fishing from shore, my opportunities to use them are limited, but I think they could do well, especially as a flipping bait with a rattle jig. I would bet that no one else is doing that. 

[Dark3]

I absolutely love fishing a tube for Smallies. Smoked them yesterday and even LM joined in. You can fish them weedless texas rigged near grass lines or docks. In open water I will use a 3/16 jig head stuffed inside with an exposed hook, poke the line tie through and then tie on. The head wont be all the way forward in the nose to allow for a decent size spiral. Strike king coffee tubes or big bite baits tour tubes are what I use mainly. I have been fishing tubes lately on a 704 but you could fish it on a 2 to 5 power rod depending on the application, honestly I dont think it matters that much. Yesterday they were nailing them in heavy current flowing into a bay off of the ST Lawrence River.


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[Smallie_Stalker]

Some good points by CF and BigJim and Dark3.

Tubes are not just a small fish bait, and they are not just a smallmouth bait. You can fish them on a jighead or T-rig. Or even weightless or on a C-Rig etc. They are a very versatile bait if you give them a  chance.

I've caught dink size smallies on an 8 inch tube and 5 lb. largies on a 2.5" tube.

Show the fish something different. When everyone else is throwing a craw you throw a tube. When they're throwing swimbaits you swim a tube.

Like anything else it's all about presentation in the current conditions.





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[coldfront]

I've caught dink size smallies on an 8 inch tube and 5 lb. largies on a 2.5" tube.

got my butt handed to me in a tournament by a guy (now a friend/mentor) who was fishing a tube.

to Dale's (DW) point:  my preference is a FAT tube.  double-dipped... about the thickness of my thumb.   where it kind of all 'comes together' is that great book by Dr Keith Jones ... who did/does a tremendous amount of research for Berkley.  in there they do 'feeding response' studies looking at crayfish... offering a whole crayfish... and gradually reducing the number of pincers, then legs...

the most PREFERRED shape was the completely legless crayfish.  about 3-4 inches.  thickness of my thumb.


that... is a tube.  or 'toob' if you're al lindner...

[Marky1]

Been having good luck "skipping" them under docks, pontoon boats, swim floats(wooden ones, not inflatable ones). Will have 2 or 3 rods set up ,different weights/colors.

[Donald Garner]

I fish them down here in Central Texas during the Spring and throughout the Summer.  I mostly flip and pitch them around laydowns, weed lines, submerged bushes.  Most of the time I Texas Rig the bait using either a EWG hook or a Trokar / VMC Flipping Hook.  I'm going to try these Big Bite Baits Pro Weighted Single hooks also.
Tube Hooks I use EWG hook; Trokar / VMC Flipping Hook; Pro Weighted Single Hook
 

The equipment I use BPS Extreme 7ft (H) fast tip casting rod; Reel > Abu Garcia Black Max 6.4:1 Low Profile Bait Casting Reel; Line > Berkley Big Game Clear 20lb test; Lure > Lockett Lures Craw Tube Watermelon Red Flake; Hook > BPS 4/0 EWG Worm Hook; Sinker > Water Gremlin 1/4 oz lead sinker; Sinker Stop > Bass Pro Shop Brand


One of my favorite lakes to fish tube baits is Nolan Lake over on Ft. Hood. Below is a picture of the West end of the lake area.  It has a lot of thick mats and some isolated clumps
I was flipping and pitching the matted reels and isolated clumps with a Lockett Lures Watermelon Red Flake Craw Tube.
My third flip into this isolated clump (Arrow Point) I set the hook on our only fish of the trip.
The fish was sitting in 4ft of water.



I have different types of tube baits.  Some are Zoom Brands, Bass Pro Shop Brands and Lockett Lures Brands.  I have different color I use depending on the water color.  If the water is semi clear to dingy I like using a Watermelon Red Flake.  Below are some of the baits I use here in Central Texas
Zoom & BPS Brand Tube Baits 


Lockett Lures Tube Craw Soft Plastics
   

[FlatsNBay]

After reading all these posts, I need to get back to fishing a tube. It's been years since I've fished them. A couple of years I got interested in the stupid tube rig but totally forgot to try it. I even bought some new tubes but they turned out much smaller than I intended. Maybe I'll try and fish a tube in 2024.