I can remember when the original tube lures came out, we called them Gitzit’s, named after the original company. They were just a soft plastic tube lure with a squid like tail of shaved tentacles. Little has changed from the original Gitzit’s and one of the largest soft plastic bait companies Zoom, produces their own line of tube lures. Tubes are excellent lures to catch Bass, particularly Smallmouth. They imitate a crawfish or a minnow and represent a meal for a predatory fish.
-------------------- What is it?------------------
Even though I fish for every species, I concentrate most of my efforts fishing for bass, largemouth and smallmouth. I have been asked countless amounts of times What the heck is that lure, or what is that supposed to represent? Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits seem to draw the most adverse attention but the appearance of several soft baits initiate the same line of questioning. The Tube Bait is no exception. It doesn’t closely resemble anything swimming around in the lake. It does however slightly resemble a crawfish and when worked a certain way, even a minnow. It is basically a hollow tubular piece of soft plastic with a blunt nose and a multi-tentacle tail. But it catches fish, loads of them, and large fish. I think a couple of features really help it to work so well, the bite size and the soft texture. A fish is a little less picky with a smaller meal and when they chomp down on one they get a soft squishy feeling which they hold onto and give the fisherman enough time to set the hook.
-------------------- Colors:------------------
There are about 20 different colors Zoom is making the 4 inch tube with and I won’t list them here because a handful of them change from year to year. I will list my favorite ones and the colors that have been around awhile that will probably stay around. Watermelon, June Bug, Pumpkin, Black and Smoking Shad are my favorite colors for bass fishing with the Zoom 4 inch tube. If I had to pick one it would probably be the brown Pumpkin. This color is closest to the color of the crawdads which I try to imitate with my tube baits. The smalley’s especially love this color.
-------------------- Sizes:------------------
Tubes are made in all different sizes, the largest I have fished was 7 inches and the smallest just an inch. This particular model is 4 inches long and about a half inch wide. IT is pretty much a standard size tube as far as tube baits go. IT works on a variety of different fish and fish that range from small to large. I have caught several different species of Trout, Bass, and Perch to name a few on this lure.
-------------------- How To rig them:------------------
Weightless: I only rig the tube this way in certain situations. I will pass the hook through the blunt nose of the tube and back into the body burying the point of the hook in the hollow section of the tube. When rigged this way I can fish it in the shallowest, weediest, and sloppiest water without worry of it snagging on weeds or debris. They are buoyant enough to float a hook as large as a 5/0. I like to fish the 4 inch model with a wide bend 3/0 bass hook. Sometimes I like to fish it weightless when fishing for smallmouth bass as they get into feeding frenzies on the surface and it can be very exciting.
Jig Head: This is probably the most popular way to fish the tube. A weight is connected to the hook and the weighted head is passed in through the hollow cavity of the tube with only the eyelet protruding through the soft plastic where the line can be attached. The hook is most commonly exposed and only certain jig heads can be rigged weedless. Rigging it with a jig head is great for open water without many obstructions and you can work it with a more erratic and darting action similar to a crawfish.
Texas Style: This is a popular way to rig most soft baits including the tube. The bullet weight is attached to the line first then the hook and tube. The hook is passed through the nose of the tube and back into the body where it is virtually weedless and snag proof. This is a great way to rig it for flipping into heavy cover or for fishing it on the bottom.
Carolina Rig: This is a little more complex rigging than the standard Texas rig or Jig head rigging. The weight is located a couple of feet or so up the line from the bait which is rigged weightless. The idea is to get the bait up off of the bottom by a foot or so and into the strike zone while the weight hits the bottom and churns up the mud. The weight is made to click and make some noise while also creating a visual aid as it churns up mud or weeds. The lure rides above the mud and weeds and sits in the strike zone waiting for a fish. At certain times of year, this is the best way to rig the tube. The strike is a softer and longer strike rather than the tap-tap or yank you will feel with a direct line to weight and hook system such as a Texas or Jig Head rigging.
-------------------- A Couple of my once secret Tube Tricks:------------------
Other than the normal and well know ways of rigging the tube, I have found a couple of different techniques that work and are not as well known. There are three different things I have shoved up the open chamber of the hollow tube which have worked in catching more fish or triggering more strikes.
Styrofoam is one thing that works to keep the tube afloat. I cut small pieces from left over shipping or packaging blanks or any old foam and stuff the pieces into the center of the tube. This works for when I want to keep the tube on the surface while fishing in very shallow or weedy water but more often when I want to Carolina Rig the bait. The tube itself will sink slowly which is nice when rigged weightless but when Carolina Rigged I like for the bait to stand tall and sit in the desired depth. The weight of the rig get it to the bottom and the buoyant foam holds the bait at whatever depth from the bottom I want to fish it.
Attractant: Scientists and bait companies have been studying the effects of a scent attractant while fishing. I use them and believe them to work. The only problem I have had with them as oils and gels is that they wear off after just a couple of casts. However, with a tube bait, you can squirt the scent inside of the tube and it leaves a nice trail behind in the water, it last longer, and it gives the fish a nice taste when they chomp down on the lure.
A bubbler: By inserting a substance that bubbles when submerged in water, the lure gets the attention of every fish within sight of the lure. I have used Alka-Seltzer and some other bubblers or this and I have found it to work on some finicky fish. Most of the time I try this is when I am sight fishing and maybe fishing for bass on beds or in the slop.
-------------------- Price and Availability:---------------
These are selling for about $2 per pack of 10. I mostly buy them from Bass Pro Shops when ordering them over the phone or internet and pick them off of the shelves at Sports Authority, Dicks, and Wal-Mart. Zoom is a popular soft bait company and you should have no problem finding their line of soft baits stocked in retail stores. However, certain colors and tubes might be harder to obtain depending on popularity.
Load your tackle box with some of the hottest soft plastic baits in the industry. Zoom baits are preferred by tournament fishermen for their uncanny f...More at Bass Pro Shops
Load your tackle box with some of the hottest soft plastic baits in the industry. Zoom baits are preferred by tournament fishermen for their uncanny f...More at Bass Pro Shops
Load your tackle box with some of the hottest soft plastic baits in the industry. Zoom baits are preferred by tournament fishermen for their uncanny f...More at Bass Pro Shops
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