Newbie Tube Lures, Fishing O,f Questions

[Robert11]

Hello,

Live outside of Boston, and do Pond fishing mainly.
Typical small stuff in pond: lots of Crappies, and some Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass.
The Crappies are particularly fun, as there seem to be so many of them,

and as I have a 7' ultra-light spinning rod, so even their "minimal" weight makes it fun.

Have gotten back into fishing since retired, and would like to try Tube baits now,
for the first time.
Never have, and have a few very basic, and probably dumb, questions, please.

a. I guess the "normal" way to rig these hollow tube baits is with the internal weighted-hook, inserted from the Rear. The eye for attaching the line would then be at the Top of the tube, after being poked thru.

Are tube baits ever also rigged with the typical external jig heads from the front ?
If so, is there enough "meat" on the tube to be able to do this ?

What are the advantages for internal vs. external weight methods, assuming the
external front jig head weight is possible ?

b. How are Tubes usually fished ?


e.g., are they only cast out and allowed to free fall with a slack line to the bottom,
or is it also a decent technique to retrieve them slowly ?

c. a very general question: how do tubes compare to a solid plastic worm, the kinds perhaps with the wiggly tails, rigged with an external jig head at the front ?

Or just rigged with a hook inserted from the front, without any extra weights ?

Realize there are quite a few questions here, but just trying to get educated, and do things "right."
Any thoughts on all of this would be most appreciated.


Thanks,
Bob

[JBledsoe]

.

All your methods will work under any given condition. The curly tail jig on a 1/16 oz. jig head works best for us. Colors that are popular are red/white and yellow/white. A bright orange is good in sunlight and a solid purple is good on dark days.

You have to let the fish tell you what they like. That's the reason I have a tackle box full of assorted jigs.

[Cmj]

Hello,

Live outside of Boston, and do Pond fishing mainly.
Typical small stuff in pond: lots of Crappies, and some Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass.
The Crappies are particularly fun, as there seem to be so many of them,

and as I have a 7' ultra-light spinning rod, so even their "minimal" weight makes it fun.

Have gotten back into fishing since retired, and would like to try Tube baits now,
for the first time.
Never have, and have a few very basic, and probably dumb, questions, please.

a. I guess the "normal" way to rig these hollow tube baits is with the internal weighted-hook, inserted from the Rear. The eye for attaching the line would then be at the Top of the tube, after being poked thru.

Are tube baits ever also rigged with the typical external jig heads from the front ?
If so, is there enough "meat" on the tube to be able to do this ?

What are the advantages for internal vs. external weight methods, assuming the
external front jig head weight is possible ?

b. How are Tubes usually fished ?


e.g., are they only cast out and allowed to free fall with a slack line to the bottom,
or is it also a decent technique to retrieve them slowly ?

c. a very general question: how do tubes compare to a solid plastic worm, the kinds perhaps with the wiggly tails, rigged with an external jig head at the front ?

Or just rigged with a hook inserted from the front, without any extra weights ?

Realize there are quite a few questions here, but just trying to get educated, and do things "right."
Any thoughts on all of this would be most appreciated.


Thanks,
Bob

As JBledsoe said, all of the methods that you mentioned, and probably a few more, are commonly used with great success. I use tubes more than anything else, and I just run the hook through the tube and out the bottom and press the tube up against the jig head. Some people put the jigs inside the tube. Either way will work. You can cast and retrieve slowly, jig vertically over brush or other structure, cast under a bobber, or use on a trolling setup. Basically, pick your method, learn all you can about it, and start with a few colors and jig styles. Dont go crazy with all the different colors at first. A few lights and a few darks will do just fine, ie. blk/chrt, blu/chrt, white/chrt, orange/chrt, with pink, orange and chartreuse heads.

[genec]

Just to add to already said,fish the jig slow then fish it slower ,jig head on outside will give a faster fall and on inside will cause a slower and different fall.As said just get a few basic colors for now,also a small hook for tubes because they will stay on better and tube will crush in for better hook up. The slow fall is good in shallow water,tube inside.

[deathb4disco]

e.g., are they only cast out and allowed to free fall with a slack line to the bottom,
or is it also a decent technique to retrieve them slowly ?

c. a very general question: how do tubes compare to a solid plastic worm, the kinds perhaps with the wiggly tails, rigged with an external jig head at the front ?
[]

I prefer marabou jigs and other plastics (curly tail, paddle tail, straight tail) to tubes, but they will all catch crappie. Check out this link for a good method of fishing any crappie jig, including tubes:

Charlie Brewer's Slider Company - Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* Weedless Crappie Slider "Why&How"

[Rock Crusher]

One nice thing about the hollow tube jigs is that you can some cotton and stuff it up inside the tube and then soak the jig in some of your favorite scent, the cotton will hold the scent for a long time.

[wcoffey81]

hey robert, i have always been a committed worm + bobber/slip bobber fisherman. i have always wanted to try plastics and over the years i have purchased a few here and there, some i have carried around for 20 years. i would only give plastic a couple of casts before going back to my trusted worm. this year i decided to give it a real effort so i hit the internet to narrow down my new purchases and to get an idea what works. i ended up with some 1/16 and 1/32oz jig heads, in both round and minnow shapes, split in a couple different colors. i did buy "barbed" jig heads so they will hold a tube body on a conventional jig head. for bodies i chose 1-1/2 tubes, 1-1/2 curly tail grubs and some others i bought on a whim several years ago. (southern pro tackle helped me see a good cross section of what's out there).
for rigging i used a 7' light action spinning rod/reel with either 6 or 8lb suffix high vis line and an 8' leader of 4lb fluoro. i used a clip-on bobber about 4' above the jighead.
the only real difference in technique was every minute or so i would raise the rod tip, drop it back down and then reel in the extra line. where i was fishing there is not enough current to give the plastic tails any action so i used this retrieve to create action.
i stuck with it and after a few adjustments i came away very impressed! in one afternoon i caught 6-8 crappie, a couple of small bluegill and a perch. all were on the plastics except the perch who hit on my nightcrawler baited catfish rig.
in one afternoon i caught more fish, on plastics, than my lifetime combined total. it's not all that hard to make the change to jigs/plastics. if i can do it anyone can. i suggest for you to buy small jigs and bodies (between 1/8 and 1/64oz heads and 1" or 1-1/2" bodies). for colors, do some research and pick a couple. most of all you need to be patient and stick with it, don't do what i used to do and only give it a few casts before giving up.

[Rock Crusher]

I catch the majority of mine on 2" jigs.

[BigEdCT]

One thing worth considering is if you use a traditional round head jig you can easily change the tube bodies without retying. If you use a jig head meant to be inserted into the tube body you must insert it then tie your line. Round head jigs can also be used on other style plastic baits (like a baby shad, slab bandit, etc) so they are a bit more versatile IMO. I use both but like the round jig heads because I can quickly change tube colors to see what they are biting on, and when the kids want to try a different color I can save the old tube and slide a new one on in a few seconds. That said I think the tube insert style jigs help the tube stay in position a bit better than just a hook through a hollow body. Both work well for me though. I usually fish in water no deeper than 20' so a 1/32 or 1/16 oz is usually what I use. BPS Squirmin Squirts have been a productive tube for me and come in a large assortment of colors. My kids fish them all the time and they've done well with crappie, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, white and yellow perch, smb and lmb, and believe it or not I have even caught a 26" carp on them. Drop em down from the dock, jig the bottom and work up the water column, cast towards the shore and skip them over the bottom back to the boat, cast and retrieve over weed lines, toss em into fallen trees, they can be fished in almost any way you like. I bought a large assortment of minnow style baits to try this year but I started crappie fishing with tubes and they worked so well I always keep an assortment on hand.

[Rock Crusher]

With the volume and even the quality of fish I catch on a round head jig head, I could not see any reason not to use one and especially for the reasons to listed above, BigEd.