Rigging tubes better

[hershey]

Tube baits are one of my favorite lures to fish and one of my best producers. The only problem with it IMO was that either way you rigged it (inner jighead or t-rig) it would catch weeds, in the jighead way by the hook, and t-rig by the weight. I like to use the jighead teqnique whenever possible beccuase it gives the tube a slow, spiriling fall, but most of the time I am limited to the t-rig because t doesnt pick up as many weeds. Well today when fishing I decided to expiriment and put a bullet weight inside a BPS magnum flipping tube( my favorite). It fit in tightly and I could texas rig it. Because the weight was inside it gave the bait the slow, spiriling fall of the jighead rig and because it was t-rigged with no weight on the outside it didnt catch nearly as many weeds. In very thick cover and snot grass it did pick up some weeds, but not in huge chunks like the other two methods. I caught two average size bass on it( 2 pounder and a good 3.5 pounder) and the weight did not fall out for the whole time I was fishing. Does anyone else use this rig? In places with no weeds or cover, I will continue to use a jighead, but this has taken the place of a t-rigged tube for me.

[jglassguy]

I wonder if you could put inside the tube something super buoyant, with no weight and made a split shot 18 inches or less away, to fish the weeds with the tube not digging into the weeds...stryofome maybe

[hershey]

Ive read a article in a magazine about that.

[jeffman]

GUACAMOLE/JB,

The way I rig my tubes is to take an old used worm and coat it liberaly with Bang garlic scent. This will make the worm slide inside the tube easily. This gives the worm enough weight to throw, but gives the tube a slow fall. If I want a faster fall, I use one of the large lead nails like the kind used for wacky worming, only the larger size. After I get the worm inside the tube, I shove the nail up thru the tube and worm at an angle. This gives a little extra weight to get a faster fall as well as locking the worm inside the tube.
Then I rig the tube Texas xstyle with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG riggin' hook, and skin hook the point back into the top of the tube about 1/8 inch to make it completely weedless.
If you want to make a floating tube for using on a C-rig, you can get a piece of brass tubing at a hobby store to cut styrofoam plugs the size you need to fit inside your tube. Chuck the tube in a electric drill and sharpen the cutting edge by turning on the drill and holding it against a file at an angle, then find an old styrofoam cooler to cut the plugs out of. Shove one inside your tube and rig the tube as normal.

JackL

[hershey]

^^Or better yet part of an old tiki stik. Good info Jackl.

[Rich]

Try a bell sinker. Insert it into the tube with the brass loop pointing towards the head of the tube when T-rigging it. Just make sure the hook goes through the brass loop. It not only holds the hook in place, it eliminates the need for an external weight and is a lot less expensive than those weights designed for tubes.

[jglassguy]

I always like the alka selzer for those tubes, makes bubbles, but i dont know if bass get heartburn or not..its a catch22 huh mkay lol

[mblk181]

For floating tubes, try some of the sheet foam that comes with electronic equipment and sometimes as packing around small wood furniture pieces....the thin sheet pliable foam.....cut into a strip just wide enough to fit the length of the tube body..then roll it a bit, cut and insert the roll......texas rigging it will have the hook penetrating the roll and holding it in.

[randerson52]

I have trouble getting the tube to stay on the hook.

[hershey]

What kind of tube are you using? BPS magnum tubes have pretty thick walls, I havent tried it on smaller tubes. . And it probly wont work if your trying to rig it texposed, because the weight inside might interfere with the hook. Try rebs idea.

[Mossman]

check out these new tube weights from yamamoto they work great

http://yamamoto.baits.com/cgi-bin/order/35S

[jeffman]

POWERBASS,

Try using a EWG "riggin hook" instead of a worm hook. They have a shorter shank so you can run the point of the hook straight thru the body of the tube and then skin hook the point back into the top of the tube about 1/8 inch. This helps hold the tube on the hook as well as making it weedless. Use Rebs idea of a bass casting sinker (Bell type) or one of the Yamamoto type.

JackL

[randerson52]

Jack,
I have the Mustad 3/0 and 4/0 EWG Big Mouth Tube Hooks. And I still have problems

[mike0062466]

Most of my tube fishing is Texas-rigged using internal weights. Sometimes I use a split shot, sometimes a rubber core sinker with the rubber removed, but most of the time it's an internal weight that the hook goes through, similar in concept to the weight shown in the Yamamoto link.