Tube fishing basics
As many of you know I am a tube fanatic. It is my confidence bait. When
the bite gets tough this is the bait I go to. The reason I think tubes are so
effective is they simulate several types of forage at the same time. A tube
can resemble a crawfish, or some form of baitfish. There are several types of
tubes and countless tube manufacturers. I
have my own favorite tubes and they are made by Nichols Baits. As far as
colors I use a variety of colors to match the forage that the fish are feeding
on. If the fish are feeding on shad I’ll use a blue shad pepper tube or a
smoke with black pepper and dip the tails lightly in chartreuse. If the
primary forage is crawfish Ill turn over rocks and look at the crawfish in the
shallows and use tubes that mimic them. Usually I end up with a shade of green
or brown with the tail dipped in orange, red, or chartreuse. I feel the better
you can match the hatch the more strikes you’ll get. I like the Nichols
tubes as they are durable and seem to have more salt than comparable tubes.
I rig my tubes several different ways according to where I’m fishing
and the primary cover. If I am
fishing around heavy wood I’ll usually Texas rig my tube. I try to not peg
my sinker to allow the sinker to fall away from the bait when the fish picks
it up, but if I need the sinker to stay close to the bait to get it to fall
exactly where I want it to Ill use a rattling Florida sinker with the screw in
weight or a rubber peg-it. My favorite way to rig a tube bait is to use a tube
head jig head with an exposed hook. The exposed hook on this rig will stick
some of those fish that mouth a bait and spit it out without the angler
feeling the pick-up. Another plus to rigging your tube this way is the ability
for the bait to be easily skipped up under a dock or low hanging branch. If
you are skipping the tube under a lot of low hanging branches you may opt to
use a lead head tube jig with a single strand wire guard to offer some
weedlessness. One last way I rig a tube is with a Nichols Bait Company
Toothpick Jig head. I usually rig my 5-inch tubes like this when I’m fishing
a heavily pressured lake with a lot of heavy cover or am fishing behind other
boats who are using a jig-n-pig. The tooth pick jig head has a small hole in
the collar of the head to allow a person to insert a toothpick thru the tube,
into the hole in the collar, and out the other side of the tube. All you need
to do then is take a pair of side cutters and trim off the edges, drown it in
Kick-n-Bass and go to work.
About 90 percent of the time I pitch my tube on either spinning
equipment or bait casting equipment. For spinning equipment I use wither a
6’6” G-Loomis GLX medium heavy action paired with a Shimano Stradic
spooled with 6# or 8# clear CXX P-line or a G-Loomis GLX 6’6” heavy action
pitching stick paired with a Shimano Chronarch and 12# or 15# clear P-line. I
also use a J.R.s 6’0” custom made spinning rod paired with a Shimano
Stradic for weed less tube head jigs to skip up under low hanging trees or
boat docks. Once you have decided on what color tube matches the forage,
equipment, and rigging method its time to drown that little tube. There are
several ways to fish a tube with a few specific tactics being my favorite.
Once you have found an area that should be holding fish you’ll need to
determine the depth of the fish to get the bait in the strike zone
efficiently. For Example 1 well use a shallow water structure target with
current. Usually when fish are in a pattern like this you will find them on
the down streamside of the target in the eddy that the current makes. They
like to hide here awaiting forage to ambush. If you are fishing a clear water
environment you can do a little trick I like to do that I call rounding the
target. With some practice you can effectively make a semi-circle with your
pitch to actually pitch “around” where you think the fish is lying. I like
for my bait to appear beside the fish and almost surprise the fish rather than
the fish being possibly spooked by seeing something fly directly over top of
them and then landing beside them. When you round the bait you want the lure
to make a semi-circle behind the way you feel the fish is pointed and enter
the water with minimal water disturbance, appearing beside the fish. Once the
bait has entered the water allow the bait to fall on a slack line. You may
need to feed line from the reel to the bait to ensure that it falls exactly
where you targeted. Once the bait is there you’ll need to feel the fish out
and see what mood they are in. If they are in a aggressive mood all you may
need to do is flip or pitch the bait to the target, shake it and if they
don’t bust it then pitch to another target. If the fish are pressured or
sluggish it may take you making the bait move in little hops or shaking the
bait next to the structure. Once a fish picks it up don’t get in a hurry. If
you’re using a quality tube like a Nichols tube with a high salt
concentration and a good scent/flavor like Kick-n-Bass they will hold onto the
bait. Point the rod at the fish, reel down and set the hook hard. Most of the
time I move the fish out of whatever cover they are in on the hook set unless
it’s a grown up and then the fight is on! One other example topic well
discuss will be a deeper water structure pattern. Lets say you have a brush
pile in 12 to 15 foot of water with baitfish in the mix of things. Use what
color tube is going to closest match the forage and make an under hand pitch
with spinning equipment beyond the target. Let the bait fall on a slack line,
carefully watching your line for any hint that a fish is going to pick it up,
and allow the bait to rest on the bottom for a few seconds before you move it.
A lot of times fish will follow it to the bottom and pick it up after it has
not moved for a few seconds. Once the bait has sat on the bottom for a few
seconds pick up your rod tip and swim the bait up off the bottom. You want to
use a pick up/fall retrieve until the bait reaches the brush pile. Once the
bait is at the brush pile work it slowly through the brush pile allowing it to
fall into the brush pile repeatedly. This may require you opening the bail on
your spinning reel to help the lure fall into the brush pile. Most guys I’ve
seen fish like this work the outside and top of the brush pile not allowing
their bait to fall within the structure. I can’t tell you how many times I
have been scuba diving and witnessed several nice fish buried up inside a
brush pile. Once you work the bait out of the structure allow it to hit the
bottom again. Of nothing picks it up shake it some and then work it back to
the boat with a pick up/fall technique.
A tube bait is an extremely versatile tool to use to locate and catch
fish. In this article we have merely touched the surface of what the
capabilities of this bait can do and to write about every way to fish a tube
would take more time than I have. If you have specific question about a tube
fishing technique please feel free to contact me. If you would like
information on any of the products I use when I tube fish give me a shout and
Ill pass along web addresses and contact information. Thank you for taking
some of your time and spending it here.
Tight lines, Ken Nance.
Ken Nance is sponsored by Triton Boats, Mason Dixon Marine and Polaris,
Sliding Weight Company, Kick'n Bass® Fish Attractants, Silverbuddy, Eat-em-up
Bait Company, J.R.s Custom Rods, Caps Tackle, Susky Bugs, Bonzai Bait Company,
Cabin Creek Bait Company and Nichols Bait Company.
All
articles are re-printed with permission from Ken Nance from his web site
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