soft plastic tubes

[lhcbassman]

ok i am sort of new to soft plastics i have always used crankbaits and topwaters so i want to ask,and please dont laugh at me but how do you fish soft plastic tubes i know how to rig it i just dont know the best way to fish them

[Speedmunkee]

There's a buncha ways to fish it but first try it S-L-O-W. Crawl it l along the bottom around some rocks. Think of it as a little minnow or crawdad just picking its way along the bottom. I'm sure you'll find abunch of other ways, but that's how I learned and I usually go back to that technique most often.
 A hint: If you think you're fishing it slow enough, fish it slower. 

[fisherdad]

I've had good success this summer with using a 3/8 bullet, not pegged and just bouncing it across the bottom. I cast it... let it sink, give it one or two good pops, and reel in slack. Let it sit, and pop it one or two times. I'll vary the amount of wait between the pops. Usually start off fast and then slow it down if they dont want to fast.

I've read that a lot fish the with a tube jig or a ball head jig. They say if you rig it right with center of weight in the mid, the tube with flutter down in a spiral imitating a dying bait fish.

I personally love tubes. First time I ever fished a tube, I got some fish... gotta love that!

[paxpress]

You can fish them like a jig.  Flip, pitch, swim, crawl along the bottom and so on.  Use a tube jig head instead of Texas rigging for a spiral fall.  We use a lot of tubes here in Pennsylvania for river smallies all year round.

[coldfront]

a tube is a real confidence bait for me (I chase largemouth in flood control reservoirs)....

I fish them T-rigged, weight not pegged...flip, pitch, cast...work best for me as a target bait...

also, fished on a Carolina rig can be very very good...


I prefer the double-dipped, fat tubes...Strike King makes a very good tube in the 3.5" KVD...

[OutdoorFrontiers]

One of my favorite ways to fish a tube is to take a 1/8th or 1/4 oz. standard ball head jig and run it up inside the tube.  Work the hook out of the body and leave the hook exposed.  Then pop the line tie through the tube and tie it on.

With the jig head all the way to the nose of the tube, you'll have a lure with a slightly erratic fall.  The further back the jig is in the tube body, the further back the line tie is, and the more erratic the action of the tube becomes.  It'll fall in a spiral and when dragged across the bottom, will tip and run off in all different directions.

I don't have any particular action that I prefer over another with tubes.  I let the fish tell me what they want.  Sometimes I'll pop the rod tip and the tube will lead off the bottom and spiral back down.  Other times I'll fish it in a series of small hops and pops, or simply drag the jig on the bottom, occasionally giving it a hop.  I think that a tube might mimic a crayfish crawling along the bottom, or perhaps a feeding minnow.  All I know is they work if they're used!

Steve

[coldfront]

... I think that a tube might mimic a crayfish crawling along the bottom, or perhaps a feeding minnow... 

just about every body of water has some kind of 'bottom' fish...from gobies, to sculpins, to bullheads...  a tube is a great 'all-around' mimic bait...and yep, it can be reminiscent of crayfish as well...


Just a great bait that is extremely versatile in how it can be fished/rigged.


Shoot, know folks who fish tubes as topwater baits and do very well with them...

[Baron49]

Steve has already mentioned one of my favorite ways to rig a tube for open water fishing.  I use the exposed hook mainly for smallmouth fishing in deep clear water.

My #1 way to fish a tube is to rig it texas style.  Using a 4/0 Owner EWG and normally 1/4 oz unpegged weight.  Will vary the weight due to the type of cover I am fishing.  This setup works very well for flipping and pitching into any thick cover you can find.  A small rattle can be inserted inside the tube for extra attraction when fish thick weeds of off colored water.  Favorite colors are watermelon/gold fleck, black neon (red fleck), and green pumpkin.

[goliac7]

You can fish them like a jig.  Flip, pitch, swim, crawl along the bottom and so on.  Use a tube jig head instead of Texas rigging for a spiral fall.  We use a lot of tubes here in Pennsylvania for river smallies all year round.

took the words out of my mouth..

[lhcbassman]

i use a jig head and i have been crawling them along the bottom i think im gonna go out today and try it again

[HawgPours]

Get some internal tube weights. You slide them in and then Texas rig the bait through the weight. They make your tube vertually snag proof, work with any offset shank hook and you can skip a tube a country mile up under a dack with this rig.

The big thing is that it disperses the weight in the tube. This gives your tube the killer circular falling motion that mimics a dying baitfish. IF it hits bottom pick it back up and let it fall again. Be a line watcher.

They won't be all keepers but it is not unusual to catch 50+ fish a day doing this. On The great lakes 100+.

[bassindago]

my favorite way to fish a tube is to put a sinker on the line unpegged. then tie the hook on and put the tube on. now i say unpegged because i swim the tube by jerking the rod like you would a jerk bait. jerk the bait all the way back to the boat and reel the slack up as you go. what happens is the sinker slides forward and it looks like the tube is chasing the weight. when the tube and sinker hit the sinker bounces off the tube and slides up the line. i found this by accident one day trying to get some junk off my bait. the bass seem to love this way here. i don't know what it is but i catch more bass doing this than i do woking it like a worm up and down off the bottom. i don;t usually fish it deep but you can adjust your weight to fish deeper.

[Ray Emory]

I like thorwing/pitching a tube around any cover with a 2/0 hook and a tungsten 3/16 weight for the most part.  Fish it slow, very slow drag , pop, twitch but try to keep it on the bottom on the structure. I've found if you can leave it in a spot and just wiggle it in the zone those bass will alot of time pick it up and start swimming with it.  I've noticed alot of bites with a tube you really dont feel so pay close attention to your line and any unnatural feel on your rod. I personally really like using a tube made by a company called, Hookedup or a I also throw the coffee tubes at times as well.

[badgerbass]

Tubes are extremely versatile, you can fish them Texas rigged around cover like a jig, you can Carolina rig them, you can rig them weightless Texas rigged and twitch them like a fluke, you can Texas rig them and fish them like a worm on a weedline, you can dropshot them, and on the Great Lakes we like to rig them on a tube jig head and drag them on the bottom or hop them to mimic a Goby or crawfish!!! And you can skip them weightless under docks.

[dcfirefish]

I have had a lot of luck with exposing the hook and jigging it along the bottom. I caught a pretty good amount of bass using this method