Fishing a tube...

[Luke512]

Im wanting to learn how to effectively fish a tube. I hear they are awesome for smallmouth, and i fish cumberland alot so I would like to know how to effectively fish a tube. My go to baits are jigs and cranks. But im stuck using jigs and cranks because that is the only thing i really have confidence in. But I want to learn to fish a tube, I have tried before but never got a bite. I used a 4 inch tube with a bullet (worm) weight and kinda fished it like a I do a jig. If anyone has any advise on this or what I am doing wrong I would appreciate your help.

[burt.fishin]

i personally like to jig it along the bottom like a craw. went to dale hollow last weekend and had lots of bites. can you give me advice on how to fish a crank?

[RICHYD4U]

Luke-
Tubes are great! I love to fish tubes in various situations. I've flipped them into shallow water with no weight and just let them fall then twitch them back up...WHAM! I've flipped them into cover with weight/rattles impregnated within the tube....WHAM! I've even thrown them onto pads and moss beds as a topwater....WHAM!

If you are going to add weight to a tube, add it from the inside, or even with a pre-weighted hook. By using a bullet weight T-Rigged, you lose a lot of the erratic behavior that makes a tube awesome. It then tends to fall just straight down, being pulled down by the weight. When the weight is inside, the tube will fall erraticaly (side-to-side), causing some vicious strikes.

Also, add some spike-it to the tails, or some other type of scent. This helps. Always rig them weedless to save yourself a lot of hassel. My go to colors are watermelon with red, green pumpkin, and junebug. Good luck!

-Rich

[DJD]

It took me several years to even start using them and now they tied on at least one rod at all times. I fish mine in the same places as I fish other plastics and jigs. A tube can catch some finicky bass and at times it's the diff between catching a few and scoring a goose egg!

I'm picky when it comes to tube sizes. I like the smaller profile ones from cabin creek...most of the time.

When I'm flipping I'll step up to a larger profile and larger weight.

[raincheck]

Dave told me one time if you want too learn how too fish a new bait don't take anything but that with you.that way you won't give up on it till you learn it.

[Luke512]

Thanks for all the info guys, i really appreciate it.
Burt.... The way I fish a crank is to speed it up, slow it down, but most importantly dig it into the bottom and just keep cranking it, also if there is any cover in your path (stumps, rocks, etc..) dont avoid hitting the cover with your crank, run it right into it and let it bounce off then keep cranking. For some reason i have gotten more fish when the crankbait is digging into the bottom or bouncing/reflecting off cover. I guess the fish just like seeing the commotion. Keep your rod tip pointed down when retreiving the crank, and the fish will usually hook itself, you dont have to rip the lips off like setting the hook on a plastic bait, just keep cranking and pull back slightly to make sure the hook is in him good...

[Luke512]

Burt, i know you will use what you like best, but when it comes to a crank i love to fish a Bomber "Fat A" that runs 8-10ft deep. I fish it on points and run it up on the point so it digs the bottom on the wher the point comes up and it is shallow and then run it back down off the other side towards the boat.

[ironhead70]

not had much luck on a whole tube but cut that baby in half and u got something that never falls the same way to cut it start at th bottom were the tube turns into the tail strings and cut at a slant to the top middle rigs it texas, light weighted hook or weightless

[burt.fishin]

Thanks for all the info guys, i really appreciate it.
Burt.... The way I fish a crank is to speed it up, slow it down, but most importantly dig it into the bottom and just keep cranking it, also if there is any cover in your path (stumps, rocks, etc..) dont avoid hitting the cover with your crank, run it right into it and let it bounce off then keep cranking. For some reason i have gotten more fish when the crankbait is digging into the bottom or bouncing/reflecting off cover. I guess the fish just like seeing the commotion. Keep your rod tip pointed down when retreiving the crank, and the fish will usually hook itself, you dont have to rip the lips off like setting the hook on a plastic bait, just keep cranking and pull back slightly to make sure the hook is in him good...

thanks alot i really appreciate it

[DonC]

I fish Tender Tubes, 3.5 inches, from Bass Pro for about 90% of my bass fishing. I like to catch smallmouth, but everything hits a tube, including largemouth, occasional crappie, drum (oh well), white bass, rock fish, catfish, and sauger in this area, and walleye, pike and muskie in Canada.

I have a place on Barkley and fish a lot on Kentucky Lake in TN and KY also.

I usually fish a tender tube 1/4 ounce jighead (1/8 ounce is OK) internally in the tube. I use 8 LB. test mono (I like stren gold or a hi vis line) with a barrel swivel 10-12 inches up the line to decrease twists. I use a clear fluorocarbon leader. The tube needs to run back on retrieve without doing circles. Adjust or pluck the skirt to achieve a mainly straight retrieve. If tuned correctly, the tube will "walk the dog" each time you twitch.

My preferred method is to "pop the slack" which is a technique I developed several years ago. The tube is popped or twitched on slack line. This gives it a darting motion, and each pop should caused the tube to go back and forth from the midline, like walking the dog with a zarra spook. See what intensity of pop or twitch is best for that day.

If this does not work, then working it like a plastic worm, or dragging it can work. When the bass are schooling, I toss in the school and gently work it with mild twitches in the water column.

Favorite colors in order of preference are:
Green pumpkin with orange flake
Rootbeer pepper
Tennessee Shad

If you hang on a rock, try shaking a slack line, and if that does not work, open the bail, pull the line with the rod bent, and let go, and this will frequently cause the tube to pop backward.

If you want to fish heavy cover, I use a #1 or #2 offset hook and Texas rig, with a 1/8 ounce or lighter bullet sinker. If you really have patience, use this setup without a weight.

Good luck,
Don

[bob46]

I fish it like I fish a worm, light jerks, or pop it up and down, I started fishing them last year I found they work better in the spring and fall.

[Les Young]

Another method that works on Cumberland at night is big(Bass Pro Shops Magnum Flipping Tubes)texas rigged with a good loud rattle & shaking them both on the wayup & on the way back down with high lifts or popping them 3 or 4 times & letting them fall on a slack line like stroking a jig. Smallies love them like this at times on Cumberland & several other local lakes too.