What length of tube bait do you throw most often in the BWCA or Quetico?
What weight of jig head do you use most times?
What is your favorite color?

I like to use the 4.5 inch inch flipping tubes made by Strike King in the Bleeding Bait variety.
The jig head I use most often is the 1/8 oz - either BassPro or Gamakatsu
And any color will work as long as that color is green pumpkin :)

Have always used 3" tubes, but hardly ever in canoe country. Green is my fav base color, but have also used smoke. Like a copper or gold fleck. Always afraid I'd lose 2 tubes per every 3 casts by hanging up in the rocks. What's the secret for knowing where to fish them, and not requiring me to bring 30 jigs and skirts? Looking forward to learning more from you regarding this QMike.....is that Tube article in process?

Geez if a guy had to pick one smallie lure wouldn't it be a tube? Most pros would think so I bet. I'm with you Mike on a big tube bait. I like the tapered variety being big and bulky at the jig end. My favorite color hands down is "baby puke" which is sort of a weird greenish pukey color typically infused with black fleck......tough to beat.

Jig weight depends on time of year I suppose but premium black nickel hooks and corresponding tapered jig head is the ticket.

I need to fish these more often but I don't focus so much on smallies in canoe country having usually gotten my fill on lake st Clair.

I wonder how many walleyes are taken with tubes while smallie fishing? I don't hear my guide buddies talk much about catching walleye with them while smallie fishing ( they talk about a fair amount of musky caught though) It certainly seems like walleye would eat them......

quote Bumstead: "Have always used 3" tubes, but hardly ever in canoe country. Green is my fav base color, but have also used smoke. Like a copper or gold fleck. Always afraid I'd lose 2 tubes per every 3 casts by hanging up in the rocks. What's the secret for knowing where to fish them, and not requiring me to bring 30 jigs and skirts? Looking forward to learning more from you regarding this QMike.....is that Tube article in process?"

Where to fish is wherever you find crawdads.

That's why I swim the tubes in extremely rocky areas. If you hop and drop in these areas you will get hung up a lot. Use a light jig head, swim the bait, throw in a couple of twitches during the retrieve followed by a quick pause and try your best to keep it out of the rocks. You could go weightless and use the Zulu rig or a Texas rig and a tiny split shot.

The article is pretty much finished. I will probably submit it to BWJ next week. If he likes it, it will be in the Summer issue.

I will have to try the swim method, as I've always bounced my tubes off the bottom in appropriate lakes / streams. When I've gone weedless, I tend to throw more spider grubs or erie darters. How far ahead of the weedless tube do you put the splitshot, 2'? And does the tube still have the spiral fall effect that it does with a jighead in it?

I use a 4 inch with a Shaw Grigsby Tube hook and bullet sinker... that way I can easily vary the weight. I lift it up 2,3,4, even five feet off the bottom, hold for a second, and then drop the rod tip and allow it to spiral down on a nearly slack line. When it hits, the tentacles shake and flare. Any dark, dirt color will do... watermelon pepper, pumpkin pepper, black. If you cut a fish and it is full of minnows, might get more bites on white, if full of crawdads or bugs, stick with dark. If I am working the lure more in a horizontal presentation, switch to a curly tail. If I am getting tail slaps on a Zara Spook, I rig an unweighted tube on a 14 inch dropper off the back hooks.

quote bassnet: "I use a 4 inch with a Shaw Grigsby Tube hook and bullet sinker... that way I can easily vary the weight. I lift it up 2,3,4, even five feet off the bottom, hold for a second, and then drop the rod tip and allow it to spiral down on a nearly slack line. When it hits, the tentacles shake and flare. Any dark, dirt color will do... watermelon pepper, pumpkin pepper, black. If you cut a fish and it is full of minnows, might get more bites on white, if full of crawdads or bugs, stick with dark. If I am working the lure more in a horizontal presentation, switch to a curly tail. If I am getting tail slaps on a Zara Spook, I rig an unweighted tube on a 14 inch dropper off the back hooks."

I don't think it is legal to use two lures on one line in MN. I could be wrong, I'm sure someone who lives in MN and knows the regulations can chime in. I remember checking to see if a double Zulu rig was legal and was told no. Not sure about Quetico, does anyone know if you can use two lures on one line in the Quetico?

Good stuff! I see you like the larger tubes as well. Where I fish at in the fall it is too rocky to drop the lure to the bottom of the lake, too many snags and too much time spent putting new lures on all of the time. If I could hop it off the bottom without snagging I would.

quote Bumstead: "I will have to try the swim method, as I've always bounced my tubes off the bottom in appropriate lakes / streams. When I've gone weedless, I tend to throw more spider grubs or erie darters. How far ahead of the weedless tube do you put the splitshot, 2'? And does the tube still have the spiral fall effect that it does with a jighead in it?"

I was thinking maybe 18 inches. Just use a tiny split shot in the real rocky areas. I rarely use this type of rig. Does it spiral like a jighead - not really. Rig one like that the next time you are near some rocky areas and check how it falls and what it does when you twitch it. Just cast it a few feet next to the canoe or shore and see how it looks.

Oooh, had not thought of that!

Oh yea, lose plenty to snags... however, ya kinda get a feel on when to pick it up to keep it from falling into a hole. When the large tubes came out, it was thought the air trapped in the tube, and then released, was attractive to fish... don't know!

quote bassnet: "Oh yea, lose plenty to snags... however, ya kinda get a feel on when to pick it up to keep it from falling into a hole. When the large tubes came out, it was thought the air trapped in the tube, and then released, was attractive to fish... don't know!"

I know a guy who would put chunks of alka-seltzer inside the tube so it would release bubbles. He caught fish with it.

Maybe I think to much but I was mulling over this whole "what size tube" question and filing through the various files in my noggin. I remember one tournament guy who my sister was dating and he used to throw very small power pro crawfish (think crappie size) when he fished docks for bass and did very well.

Many of us seem to be giving the nod to larger tubes (myself included) but that may be all fine and dandy when fish are say 10ft and deeper..........but my guess is when smallies are shallow (May, june, early july) I bet a smaller tube would be better. One of the biggest reasons is that it is going to land a bit quieter and sink a bit slower. Plus there is likely to be an abundance of smaller crawfish that time of year. My thinking for tubes the first 1/2 of the year would be 3", fine wire hook and 4lb green XT. Long quiet casts up near the bank........... Come to poppa baby!

Just a thought.

Here are some of the smallmouth bass I caught on my last trip to the Boundary Waters using a 4.5 inch tube. I will always be a firm believer in the bigger the bait, the bigger the fish........

Those are pigs Mike.......so I guess you must be right ;-)

Should I throw up a bunch of big bass pics of pigs caught on a skinny 4" straight tail worm with 4lb test? I'm not sure that it proves anything except maybe I was in the right place at the right time throwing the right thing. Maybe next week they want something different.

I am generally with you on the big bait = big fish (I take it to extremes) but there are huge exceptions......at least in my world. I can picture bass up shallow where a big bait might spook the crap out of them when it flies over their heads and lands. I like a small bait in certain situations........lands nice and quiet. And Im not saying a big tube wouldn't work great shallow (especially with a little riffle on the water) ..........but there might be situations where smaller could be the ticket even for big fish.

The biggest smally I have ever seen in person I hooked and fought to the side of my canoe on a 1/16 oz slider head and a Gulp leech with 4lb green XT......that is a very small package indeed. That fish broke my heart when it mustered one last jump and flipped the cheap little slider head out of its mouth. I hung my head and closed my eyes never saying a word for about 20 seconds and then re-tied.

The fish you have posted........caught on big tubes shallow or at 10ft?

Sure, post some pictures, I always enjoy seeing pictures of big bass no matter what you caught them on. Thanks for sharing!

To answer you question about water levels, they were are all caught in relatively shallow water. They were caught in the 2 to 5 foot range.

I can guarantee when I go to the Boundary Waters this year I will throw the same big tubes and catch monster smallies. I'm not bragging, just confident in my lures and abilities.

quote QueticoMike: "Sure, post some pictures, I always enjoy seeing pictures of big bass no matter what you caught them on. Thanks for sharing!


To answer you question about water levels, they were are all caught in relatively shallow water. They were caught in the 2 to 5 foot range.


I can guarantee when I go to the Boundary Waters this year I will throw the same big tubes and catch monster smallies. I'm not bragging, just confident in my lures and abilities."

Geez.......sure looks like bragging LOL

i would like to go with you and get educated some day ;-)

I would be being dishonest if I posted my big smally pictures as most were caught at Lake St Clair on live creek chubs which is cheating.
But back in my twenties when we fished practically every day after work I did catch lots of big fat largemouths on 4" charlie Brewer slider worms or perch colored F-11 original rapalas and 4lb green XT. Super deadly on clear high pressured lakes and private strip mines. My pics of those are in a shoebox taken with a Kodak Kodachrome........I had long hair and looked like a hippie ;-)

I still like my analysis however........I like throwing big stuff mostly but give me a super calm post cold front bite up near the shoreline on a calm quiet morning or evening and I might just be downsizing my presentation......both lure and line.

3.5 is just what is in the box. No 6 pounders though. I like live crawlers mostly. BUT....my target species is "whatever bites". Usually it is a smaller up there.

quote overthehill: "3.5 is just what is in the box. No 6 pounders though. I like live crawlers mostly. BUT....my target species is "whatever bites". Usually it is a smaller up there."

Do you have a favorite color you tend to use most?

I am surprised that not more people use tubes who go to the BWCA or Quetico. I don't like jigging due to the snags, but swimming these lures works well at times. If you like to catch smallmouth it has to be in the top 5 lures to use up there.

Over at bassresource.com, many of those smallmouth fishers will tell ya the tube is their number one lure. I don't use them much because I like surface fishing and when the surface fishing quits, I go TGO.

Have tried tubes but don't quite have the finesse to make the produce yet. All big bass I've seen up there have been on Texas rigs (sort of, but with no tungsten weight, so that it floats down). Going to try a smaller jig on a larger tube though so that it doesn't fall so fast.

QM: what do you see, when working a tube??? What are you trying to mimic? I see a loose hunting pack( too loose to be a school) of SMB, hunting, ambushing crawdads on a rocky flat. When the shadow of a predator sweeps over the craw, it PANICS! and jumps off the the bottom a few feet, and continues forward a few, and quickly settles back to the bottom. OR: a school of bank runners slashes into a school of ciscoes at the surface. 4and 5 inch minnows are killed, eaten, jump, and are crippled. Well underneath the 7-10 inch SMB, just above bottom, all 22nches of a Hawg slowly follows... waiting to pick off the cripples. How do you get fat?? Don't chase it!! Let the little ones do th work!! As she just cruises along, a 5 inch crippled Cisco , darts up, 2,3 feet off the bottom, but loses its umph, and spirals back towards the depths, only to meet ..... JAWS!!
People don't use it because they don't understand it. Be the lure.....

Looks like I'm banging my head against the wall trying to have a conversation about something I am passionate about. I do my best to acknowledge good input but it doesn't seem to be a two way street.

There is no silver bullet......there is no one size fits all in fishing......period, end of discussion. I will use words and the grey matter between my noggin to make my case instead of a bunch of pictures (which proves only that at a time and place a certain presentation worked).

My thoughts on the "size of a tube", the thread title, are as follows.......do with the info as you see fit but I implore the reader to think outside the box and at least try what I am relating as it has been a lifetime of hard earned knowledge which I impart freely.

I generally gravitate towards a larger tube and depth, temp of the water, and bottom will dictate the weight of the jig. Larger tubes usually mean bigger hooks which translates to heavier line (light line does not tie well to thicker wire). I am not a fan of braid for tube fishing in canoe country (very deep jigging would be an exception) and much prefer mono. The advantage is that it is more discreet and helps slow the fall of the tube and generally "flattens" out the retrieve and helps keep your lure out of the rocks. Here is where a little heavier mono might actually be an advantage as the diameter of the line helps slow the fall of the jig..........in other words it is easier to hop and swim a tube above the rocks with mono as opposed to braid, at least IMO. Plus, a tube is more about enticing fish to bite instead of getting a reaction type bite.........a finesse presentation as it were.

But there are glaring exceptions to the bigger tube philosophy ( that should of been quite easy to agree with ). Bigger tubes and thicker line (think 10b test) are fine and dandy in the oft common dark stained waters of canoe country.......especially fishing near the bottom. But there are other waters in canoe country where big tubes and heavy line will likely strike out big time. And that is crystal clear waters (think Argo > which has a sizable smallmouth population). When I used to go to canoe country in early July I knew of two small lakes which have crystal clear water. You could watch from camp as the occasional 18" smallie slid by. These fish were not fooled easily (live bait being the exception) and 8lb test and any sort of plastic was generally ignored by fish of any size.

And here is where folks need to think outside of the box. Small baits and light line rules these sorts of very clear waters. Give me a 2.5 or 3" tube bait or small rubber worm and a 1/16 oz jig head with 4lb green XT (6lb clear small diameter regular mono) and I will out fish the larger tube with corresponding heavier line 9 times out of 10 in this situation.

OK......Just try it. Easy enough to see if what I'm selling is genuine. If you have a light action rod of at least 6' you can play around. When you see how effective this is you will want to go longer, much longer. You will go to 7' and then 8' (at least I did). The longer rod does a few things for you.......casts the little baits far, absorbs any shock on the line and helps lift up on fish to get them off the bottom (very important).

Next is the line.......I cannot advocate 4lb green XT any more highly. Use a fairly large spinning reel with a wide spool and you will cast a mile especially with the longer rod. This can be important in skinny water. Next.......and if you reject this don't go any further.........for the 4lb to be in top form you must tie the correct knot and that is a Gryp knot tied with a tie fast knot tying tool. The physics of the knot are such that the coils tighten AROUND the main line......the knot grips the running line tighter as pressure is applied. Far superior than any other type of knot when dealing with small diameter mono. Try it yourself and see! Lastly try and get used to backreeling to fight your fish. I tend to use a drag except when fishing ultra light and then I want all the control.

So some folks are thinking "Go sell crazy crazy somewhere else we are all stocked up here" but if you want to catch big fish in highly pressured / very clear lakes this has worked for decades and typically never fails to produce. You WILL out fish your pals on these sorts clear water situations if you follow my advice step by step. Of course the skinny line will not work in thick weeds or timber etc. etc. but in open water where there is little to worry about they are yours with a little patience, yes even fish which outweigh the line.

I wish bassnet had a tv show. I'd watch every episode.

Now, Missmolly, when you decide to pick up a lure, think: what am I trying to mimic? Pick the lure accordingly. MT : excellent, as always!

quote bassnet: "QM: what do you see, when working a tube??? What are you trying to mimic? I see a loose hunting pack( too loose to be a school) of SMB, hunting, ambushing crawdads on a rocky flat. When the shadow of a predator sweeps over the craw, it PANICS! and jumps off the the bottom a few feet, and continues forward a few, and quickly settles back to the bottom. OR: a school of bank runners slashes into a school of ciscoes at the surface. 4and 5 inch minnows are killed, eaten, jump, and are crippled. Well underneath the 7-10 inch SMB, just above bottom, all 22nches of a Hawg slowly follows... waiting to pick off the cripples. How do you get fat?? Don't chase it!! Let the little ones do th work!! As she just cruises along, a 5 inch crippled Cisco , darts up, 2,3 feet off the bottom, but loses its umph, and spirals back towards the depths, only to meet ..... JAWS!!
People don't use it because they don't understand it. Be the lure.....
"

I know exactly what you are saying, it is just difficult to fish the area I target in the fall by letting the lure settle down into the rocks. It is possible I am not as proficient of being a jigging type fisherman and tended to get snagged in this area frequently. I know the smallmouth are keying on crawdads and a tube best resembles a crawdad and if I could make the tube mimic a crawdad without being snagged, I would reel and hop the lure as I would in other areas. This specific area does not allow me to use this presentation all of the time, so I often try to slowly swim the tube, with subtle twitches and short pauses on occasions and do my best to keep it out of the rocks and I also try to do the best I can to make the lure seem like a craw. I am not a fan of loosing lures and having to tie on new lures often, so I do what I have to do to keep the lure from being snagged. This presentation does still work on catching hefty bass without having to deal with the snags.

That is why I like the finesse presentation of working a soft plastic jerk bait making it look like an injured\dying fluttering cisco. I have this type of presentation down to a science and it works great for me with the added bonus of no snags. But there comes a time when you are in an area where the smallmouth are keying on craws and not bait fish and I resort to swimming tubes to avoid snags. Works for me and I will continue to fish these extremely rocky areas in the same manner.

mastertangler - you are correct my pictures prove that the tube I used and the presentation I used worked during that time and place. The presentation I used in this specific area worked each time. That is the key, the extremely rocky area (place) where I fished. I wish I could reel and hop a tube in this area but it is difficult. I fished it for several days in the spring before a trip to Quetico and crushed the big smallmouth then ( I have more pictures :-)) and when I went back to the same area in fall on a solo trip I did just as well and probably better.

I had to adapt to the area where I was fishing. I am sure other presentations and tube sizes and different lines work well in other areas. But for the place where I was fishing, this one specific type of area, I had to basically swim tubes to avoid continuous snags. I fished different sized tubes and the bigger tubes produced the bigger smallies. That was my experience each time I fished this specific area on 9 different occasions in 2016. I plan to fish this area again this fall and I am confident I will do well.

I'm catching smallmouth here in Ohio in February the past couple of days on a jointed #9 perch colored Rapala. ( I have more pictures) I was pike fishing and the smallmouth were hitting it in slack water in about 3 feet deep of water. I haven't caught many smallmouth during this month over my lifetime. Darn pike bit me off today......10 bucks gone. :(

Understand, QM. It sounds like that area is perfect for the sluggo, senko, Akan genre. Those hawg pics inspiring!!

quote bassnet: "Now, Missmolly, when you decide to pick up a lure, think: what am I trying to mimic? Pick the lure accordingly. MT : excellent, as always!"

Your words will be my cud as I fish this June!

Hmmm..... lemme chew on that........

Points taken Mike........FWIW I am a big fan of QM and thoroughly enjoy his perspectives, info AND pictures which I think are first rate. His Zulu method, for example, is hands down one of the best (if not the best) method to take lots of quality fish the first 1/2 of the season and if your not fishing them you are missing the boat IMO. And likewise his other tips concerning topwaters and tubes etc. etc.

Me thinks I may take all this fishing stuff a wee bit to seriously but i'm probably to permanently wired to change now.

I like 3.5-4.5" tubes in a brown, green pumpkin or watermelon. I use insider heads from 1/16-1/4 but would choose 1/8 if I had to choose one. If I had to pick one set-up I'd say 4" tube with 1/8 head and green pumpkin.I love fishing tubes!

quote bassnet: "Hmmm..... lemme chew on that........"

;-)

quote QueticoMike: "

quote overthehill: "3.5 is just what is in the box. No 6 pounders though. I like live crawlers mostly. BUT....my target species is "whatever bites". Usually it is a smaller up there."

Do you have a favorite color you tend to use most?"

Rust/orange and blue/grey .both fleck speckled

quote QueticoMike: "

quote Bumstead: "Have always used 3" tubes, but hardly ever in canoe country. Green is my fav base color, but have also used smoke. Like a copper or gold fleck. Always afraid I'd lose 2 tubes per every 3 casts by hanging up in the rocks. What's the secret for knowing where to fish them, and not requiring me to bring 30 jigs and skirts? Looking forward to learning more from you regarding this QMike.....is that Tube article in process?"

Where to fish is wherever you find crawdads.


That's why I swim the tubes in extremely rocky areas. If you hop and drop in these areas you will get hung up a lot. Use a light jig head, swim the bait, throw in a couple of twitches during the retrieve followed by a quick pause and try your best to keep it out of the rocks. You could go weightless and use the Zulu rig or a Texas rig and a tiny split shot.


The article is pretty much finished. I will probably submit it to BWJ next week. If he likes it, it will be in the Summer issue."

My article came out today in the Boundary Waters Journal. It is called "Dog Days Smallmouth".

Congratulations, QM!!

quote QueticoMike: "

quote QueticoMike: "

quote Bumstead: "Have always used 3" tubes, but hardly ever in canoe country. Green is my fav base color, but have also used smoke. Like a copper or gold fleck. Always afraid I'd lose 2 tubes per every 3 casts by hanging up in the rocks. What's the secret for knowing where to fish them, and not requiring me to bring 30 jigs and skirts? Looking forward to learning more from you regarding this QMike.....is that Tube article in process?"

Where to fish is wherever you find crawdads.



That's why I swim the tubes in extremely rocky areas. If you hop and drop in these areas you will get hung up a lot. Use a light jig head, swim the bait, throw in a couple of twitches during the retrieve followed by a quick pause and try your best to keep it out of the rocks. You could go weightless and use the Zulu rig or a Texas rig and a tiny split shot.



The article is pretty much finished. I will probably submit it to BWJ next week. If he likes it, it will be in the Summer issue."

My article came out today in the Boundary Waters Journal. It is called "Dog Days Smallmouth".





"

First article I read when BWJ was in the mailbox when I came home for my lunchbreak. Great read . Has me wishing I was fishing. Thanks QMike.

Here are a few I caught on tubes during my last trip......I used a smaller tube (3.5 inches) during the spring. I will go back to 4.5 inch tubes for late summer later this year.

Nice article. I am not a smally guy but I think my kids might be :)



By boys will read it too, probably teach me what to do next year. I started my 7 year old in the Quetico with a white wacky worm due to ease/simplicity of use and he out did me that year :) good to have some other methods we typically are up there in August.

T

quote timatkn: "Nice article. I am not a smally guy but I think my kids might be :)





By boys will read it too, probably teach me what to do next year. I started my 7 year old in the Quetico with a white wacky worm due to ease/simplicity of use and he out did me that year :) good to have some other methods we typically are up there in August.


T"

Thanks! Nice fish picture!

Have your boys ever thrown a soft plastic jerk bait like a ZMAN ShadZ or Strike King Zulu? It doesn't get much easier than that for catching quality smallmouth. If you haven't read or want to read my article on Zulu fishing, send me an email - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request the Zulu article.

+1 on swimming the tubes. I started to do it on Mille lacs because of the zebra mussels but it works well everywhere. Definitely saves me lots of time not being snagged in the rocks all day.

i read the article last night Mike. Good job, Thanks for sharing!

Thanks.....if anyone has any questions, just let me know and I will try to answer them.

quote QueticoMike: "

quote timatkn: "Nice article. I am not a smally guy but I think my kids might be :)







By boys will read it too, probably teach me what to do next year. I started my 7 year old in the Quetico with a white wacky worm due to ease/simplicity of use and he out did me that year :) good to have some other methods we typically are up there in August.



T"

Thanks! Nice fish picture!


Have your boys ever thrown a soft plastic jerk bait like a ZMAN ShadZ or Strike King Zulu? It doesn't get much easier than that for catching quality smallmouth. If you haven't read or want to read my article on Zulu fishing, send me an email - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request the Zulu article. "

Yea I have tried that technique with them, but I take them the first week of August many times and it isn't unusual for the fish to be 15-30 feet deep. The Zulu rig just hasn't been effective that time of year. I tried putting a split shot in front for more depth but my sons did better with the wacky worms so they abandoned the Zulu method. The wacky worms don't cover as much ground though, so unless I know the fish are stacked up in a spot looking for other search methods for the kids.

My wife did catch a nice largemouth on Basswood last year, but that's the only Zulu fish we caught.

I got some Z-Man paddle type tails that I want them to try as a swim jig over deeeper edges and reefs, but haven't used them yet.

Thanks,

T

Thanks for the article. I'm heading up to the Quetico in late August and looking forward to giving it a try.

quote timatkn: "

quote QueticoMike: "

quote timatkn: "Nice article. I am not a smally guy but I think my kids might be :)







By boys will read it too, probably teach me what to do next year. I started my 7 year old in the Quetico with a white wacky worm due to ease/simplicity of use and he out did me that year :) good to have some other methods we typically are up there in August.



T"

Thanks! Nice fish picture!



Have your boys ever thrown a soft plastic jerk bait like a ZMAN ShadZ or Strike King Zulu? It doesn't get much easier than that for catching quality smallmouth. If you haven't read or want to read my article on Zulu fishing, send me an email - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request the Zulu article. "

Yea I have tried that technique with them, but I take them the first week of August many times and it isn't unusual for the fish to be 15-30 feet deep. The Zulu rig just hasn't been effective that time of year. I tried putting a split shot in front for more depth but my sons did better with the wacky worms so they abandoned the Zulu method. The wacky worms don't cover as much ground though, so unless I know the fish are stacked up in a spot looking for other search methods for the kids.

My wife did catch a nice largemouth on Basswood last year, but that's the only Zulu fish we caught.

I got some Z-Man paddle type tails that I want them to try as a swim jig over deeeper edges and reefs, but haven't used them yet.


Thanks,


T"

My fishing partner on the last trip used the ZMAN SwimZ bait with a jig head and did pretty well. Find some moving water during August and you will find the fish a lot shallower. Also, fishing late in the day for smallmouth during that time of the year you will find smallmouth move up shallow once the sun starts to set. Top water baits such as torpedoes and Pop-Rs work well during August too. If mid day fishing over reefs, try the tubes with the kids, maybe go with 1/16 oz jig head? A chartreuse double willow spinner bait is a great search bait, but might be a little too much work for a kid.

I have really enjoyed reading this thread but have no idea what tube is could someone post a picture of one for me, thanks.

quote drrick: "I have really enjoyed reading this thread but have no idea what tube is could someone post a picture of one for me, thanks."

Hilarious, you made my morning!

Hey for real man I got no idea what a tube is. I kind of like to know they send very cool.

quote drrick: "Hey for real man I got no idea what a tube is. I kind of like to know they send very cool."

Tube bait search on Google.......

Tube Bait

Yeah Mike after I posted last night I did did such thing looked at Google. I've got several those Rascals in The Tackle Box and you all are right they work great. I've got to go back and reread this whole article. Wondering how they'll work first week in September up around knife?

quote drrick: "Yeah Mike after I posted last night I did did such thing looked at Google. I've got several those Rascals in The Tackle Box and you all are right they work great. I've got to go back and reread this whole article. Wondering how they'll work first week in September up around knife?"



Tube baits work most of the open water season.

I know people are huge fans of tube jigs. But... I always snag the bottom within a cast or two. I a few times and then move to something else.

How do you keep the jigs from snagging so much? (or do I need to buy the article for that?)

I am sure Stu would be happy if you bought the article :) Try swimming the tube and not let the lure drop to the bottom of the lake if you can. Work in subtle twitches and maybe use a lighter jig head.

If your always snagging bottom while fishing a tube I would evaluate 2 things.....QM has already mentioned one factor, your jig head weight. But I would also consider what type of line you are using.

While thin braid has enhanced sensitivity I would not like to try "swimming" a tube jig near bottom with it. In this case I like QM approach of using what most would consider heavier line (10lb test mono). Consider the physics involved......the larger diameter of the heavier line not only helps slow the fall rate of the jig but the "track" of the lure is is much easier to control IMO.

Plus, the bit heavier line on a cast, fisher near bottom, is not excessively obtrusive or noticeable (as opposed to fishing vertically).

Something to chew on........hard to argue with the results.

Love this thread! Sounds like the internal jig is the recommended rig? Any other rigging suggestions? Pics?

So in late summer to early fall using the swim technique would you cast to Shore and retrieve or spend more time in Open Water or would it just depend on time of day temperature and weather conditions?

quote drrick: "So in late summer to early fall using the swim technique would you cast to Shore and retrieve or spend more time in Open Water or would it just depend on time of day temperature and weather conditions?"

Cast into current.

Images for tube bait rigs on Google......

Tube bait rig images

I just ordered the article (actually, you can tell Stu that I subscribed just for your article).

But patience is not my strong suit. I have a bunch of questions (I'm sure the article will answer them but...)

- What style jig head do you like? Typical tube head inserted in the tube?
- Have you tried 1/16 or 1/4 oz heads?
- Have you tried weightless heads?
- How deep of water would you target? Does deeper water need a bigger head?
- Do they work better at specific times of day? (i.e. would you still use a zulu at dusk?)

Also, Strike King makes a bunch of flipping tubes (coffee, vandam, etc). Which ones do you like best?

quote Mad_Angler: "I just ordered the article (actually, you can tell Stu that I subscribed just for your article).


But patience is not my strong suit. I have a bunch of questions (I'm sure the article will answer them but...)


- What style jig head do you like? Typical tube head inserted in the tube?
- Have you tried 1/16 or 1/4 oz heads?
- Have you tried weightless heads?
- How deep of water would you target? Does deeper water need a bigger head?
- Do they work better at specific times of day? (i.e. would you still use a zulu at dusk?)
"

Yes, I just use a typical tube head insert. I mostly commonly use a 1/8 oz.
Yes, I have tried both 1/16 and 1/4 oz jig heads. 1/8 oz seems to be a good avg. jig size to use for the depth and current I am working over.
No, I have not tried weightless heads. I have used just a plain 1/0 worm hook and a swivel similar to my Zulu rig.
I don't target deep water during late August, early Sept. Don't think I ever fished deeper than 8 feet of water during this time frame. Most of the time I am fishing 1 to 5 feet of moving water.
If I were to be fishing deep water over reefs during that time of year then I would consider using a 1/4 oz jig head.
Smallmouth seem to be more active during the afternoon during this time frame.
At dusk I typically eat dinner now and start a fire now.
I have learned there is no reason to start early or fish late during this time frame.

quote Mad_Angler: "Also, Strike King makes a bunch of flipping tubes (coffee, vandam, etc). Which ones do you like best?"

I like the Strike King bleeding bait tubes and the Flipn tubes

Strike King FlipnTube

I'm really excited to try tubes this year... (Actually, I'm really excited to try any fishing..)

When swimming these tubes with light jigs, do they sink very fast? I've used 1" tubes for crappie. Those tubes don't really sink and it is easy to swim them. It is the same with these big tubes?

I mostly use 1/8 oz tube jigs. They sink fast enough for me, but not too fast that they fly to the bottom.

If you want to read my article on fishing tubes for smallmouth send me an email - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request the tube article.

Any color, as long as it's Green Pumpkin! I like 3' to 4" on a light jighead.

I've had great luck with Mizmo tubes, specifically their Big Boy 4" tubes in Roadkill color. That color seems to just be the ticket everywhere on smallies. I like the Lazer Trokar tube hooks with a 1/16-1/8 oz bullet weight on the line. Texas rigging with those hooks can make it a little difficult at times to get the hook set - but you won't get hung up.

QM, do you ever mess around with texas rigging tubes, if so what has your experience been? I do it so I can easily replace torn up tubes without retying and to avoid snags, but the harder hookups can be frustrating at times.

Here is an on-topic video that is very informative. Tube discussion starts at about 8:45.

Al Lindner's Favorite Walleye & Smallmouth Lures

Tube size: It doesn't matter*.
Presentation is what matters, and I'll vary the size of tube jig based on water depth, current, and wind speed. I try to keep the bait near the bottom with a slow, controlled rate of fall. I'm going for a 'gliding' fall, and not a vertical fall. I believe that the 'gliding' fall will trigger more bites from fish, especially fish that are in a neutral feeding status. For active fish, a slightly faster approach with a little more weight is definitely effective, too.
I usually throw a 3" tube. Sometimes I mix it up and throw 'Gitzit' brand tubes, as they are less bulky, and fall faster when compared to 'standard' tubes on the same jighead.
I can use a 1/16 oz internal jighead, and fish shallow (3-10') of water effectively.
Work 8-16' with a 1/8 oz jighead.
Work 15-30' with a 1/4 or 3/8 oz jighead.

*I WILL switch to a 4" tube if I want to slow the rate of fall. For example, if I'm running low on 1/8 jigheads, I'll switch to a 3/16 jighead and throw a slighly larger tube, with increased water resistance and bouyancy, in order to fish it in the same depth area with the same 'gliding' presentation. The gliding presentation is key to triggering more strikes, and a balance of tube / jighead size is the key to getting the proper glide after a twitch.
Also, if I am getting indications that there are a lot of active fish, I'll experiment with a larger bait. I think smaller fish may hesitate, and the big'uns just go right in and inhale, so I may be selecting for larger quarry by throwing a bigger bait. -but from my experience, if you put it where the fish are, there's no problem catching 20" bass on 2.5" or 3" tubes.
*Those 2.5" 'fat tubes' are awesome on smallmouth bass of all sizes.
I fish them pretty slowly, but keep in close contact with them, and try very carefully to keep slack out of the line. . I don't typically allow them to rest on the bottom. I like a s-l-o-w rate of fall to give me leeway with my twitch cadence (which isn't a cadence at all, I'll keep it fairly erratic), and to keep the bait a couple feet up the water column and in a 'vulnerable' position to predators.
*I will 'size up' if I'm fishing muddy water, which doesn't happen in BWCA very often. Also, Storm makes a tube with an internal rattle that I have had success with in muddy water. IDK whether the internal rattle makes much difference, but it didn't seem to hurt.

As a very avid bass fisherman, I can say that tube jigs are THE confidence bait for me. I have caught largemouth and smallmouth bass on tubes with such regularity that I am of the mindset they'll ALMOST ALWAYS bite the tube jig, -it's just a matter of WHETHER I can fish the tube jig effectively.
If I'm fishing an area that's very weedy, I'll often throw something weedless like a Texas-rigged plastic worm or slug-go type bait.

*Tube size does especially matter if you're trying to mimic large baitfish like open water ciscoes or herring of 4-5 inches or more. In that case I would size up, but would most likely try to cover water with crankbaits, swimbaits, etc.
*Also, I think tubes are a very underrated bait for stream trout species. I have caught many rainbow, brown, and brook trout after exhausting my live bait, by going to 1.5" crappie tubes. They seem to work in deep water better than most other artificial lures for trout.

Repaired quote chain

Repaired quote chain

tombo131: "I've had great luck with Mizmo tubes, specifically their Big Boy 4" tubes in Roadkill color. That color seems to just be the ticket everywhere on smallies. I like the Lazer Trokar tube hooks with a 1/16-1/8 oz bullet weight on the line. Texas rigging with those hooks can make it a little difficult at times to get the hook set - but you won't get hung up.


QM, do you ever mess around with texas rigging tubes, if so what has your experience been? I do it so I can easily replace torn up tubes without retying and to avoid snags, but the harder hookups can be frustrating at times."

I have only Texas rigged tubes weightless and worked them the same way I do with soft plastic jerk baits. This setup works pretty well, but I still think the jerk bait is more productive overall.

Castaway: "Repaired quote chain

Repaired quote chain"

How do you make this repair? It is bothersome when you can't tell what the previous quote was and what the new comment is. BTW....thanks for fixing!

Another member here deserves the credit for posting how to fix run-on quotes. I can't find his post to properly recognize him.

When the "reply with quote" is used, html code is added. < quote> (without the space) is a tag used to start the quote and < /quote> (again, without the space) is the tag used to end the quote. If a poster inadvertently edits the ending quote tag, for instance by dropping the ">" at the end, the quote never ends. Meaning, everything that follows in later posts is still considered a quote.

To answer your question: simply submit a post with < /quote> (drop the space between the < and /).

Castaway: "Another member here deserves the credit for posting how to fix run-on quotes. I can't find his post to properly recognize him.

When the "reply with quote" is used, html code is added. < quote> (without the space) is a tag used to start the quote and < /quote> (again, without the space) is the tag used to end the quote. If a poster inadvertently edits the ending quote tag, for instance by dropping the ">" at the end, the quote never ends. Meaning, everything that follows in later posts is still considered a quote.

To answer your question: simply submit a post with < /quote> (drop the space between the < and /). "

Thanks that is very helpful!

I use a variety of tube sizes but I'm not afraid to use a bigger tube with light weight jigs. You can catch a small fish on a big tube. The lighter weight gets a better action too when you pop it. I want that erratic action where you don't know which direction the tube will go. I'll go heavier if current or depth demands it, or if I can't cast through the wind. I will say that I think a white tube jig is a magical lure. I have caught monster smallies, big walleyes, and Pike love it too. White has been so good to me that I don't usually even bother with other colors.

My favorite size is a 4" on a 1/8 insider head, but often fish larger tubes. If the fish are reluctant, I sometimes go down to 3-3.5 inch and a 1/16 head.In heavy current and some depth I like the smaller jigs and a 1/4 head. When deep I use a 1/4 head and the larger bodies. Tubes are among my favorites, especially for big smallmouth. Tube jigs over 6" are a GREAT pike lure. I have also caught many Lakers, walleye, largemouth, and panfish on tubes. I rarely but occasionally(weeds) use a Texas rig. Drifting with the wind( a drift sock can help) over deep rocks while dragging a tube just above the rocks is a deadly tactic in the summer. You have a lot more precise depth control than when casting and retrieving when they are deep. You will pick up a lot of walleye doing this. Scented tubes (like power tubes and Yum f2 etc.) will increase your catch.

I bought 3.5 and 4.5 inch tubes last fall after reading Mike's article.

Will they work right now in cold water? Where/How should I fish them?

Mad_Angler: "I bought 3.5 and 4.5 inch tubes last fall after reading Mike's article.


Will they work right now in cold water? Where/How should I fish them?"

If there are fish around I'm sure they will work.
I would either fish them in moving water, most likely at the plunge pool where the water flows into a lake and slowly swim them or find some deeper reefs and vertically jig on top of them.

3.5” Gander Mountain brand...I loaded up before they closed.
1/8-3/8 depending on wind...usually exposed hook but have done some Texas rigging if it’s a rocky area.



Tuna