Has the fishing been slow lately?

Wondering what you can do to get those tight lipped smallmouths to open wide for your bait is a dilemma all of us face. Don’t feel bad as this is part of fishing, and even the pros go through times of drought while casting all over the place. Experienced fishermen have the edge on those who are just learning the ropes when the smallies won’t bite; they switch to tube jigs for smallmouth action. If they can do this, so can you. Read on my friends and discover why these venerable soft plastic lures work so well.

Smallies love tubes

Tubes became all the rage upon their introduction in the early 1950’s. Since then, many changes have taken place in the design, materials used, and techniques developed for fishing a tube effectively. The great thing about these lures is they work year-round, in all water conditions, and come in so many sizes, colors, imitations of live bait smallies feed on, and designs it would  take a half dozen large tackle boxes to hold what is available. This means there is a tube that will work when the fishing gets tough. You just have to keep switching tubes until you hit on one the fish will hit.

Versatility

Tubes are also very versatile in the way they are fished. Texas or Carolina rigged, free floating, or with weighted jig heads, all these methods work depending on the depth of the water, water clarity, and currents. I have great success using tubes on the streams where the current is slow and steady. Toss these lures on top of a large rock where there is an obvious overhang and a few feet of water where a hungry smallmouth is just waiting for dinner to swim by.  Also, use the bank/shore as a landing spot for the lure and then hop them into the water. This is a presentation the smallmouths and other fish find very realistic. The strikes are often fast and hard when you fish a tube this way.

Seth Fieder talks tubes in this GREAT VIDEO:

When using a weighted jig head experiment with the type of jig head you use and use braided line for the best sensitivity. This can change the position of the tube when it is sitting on the bottom or being dragged or hopped along the bottom or worked through the water column. This will change the presentation slightly, and often this is all it takes for smallmouth to dash out and grab your bait.

Using tube baits is another tool in all smallmouth fishermen’s arsenal for landing plenty of fish. Who knows, there might even be a trophy smallie waiting for your tube!