bassnleo

Makin me sick man! It'll be a few months before we can get back at it here. Nice fish.

Is it possible he means a cruising or suspended bass? I have often seen bass in shallow water almost appear as if they were "sunning" themselves just hanging on the surface a few inches under. I'm kind of guessing that's what he may mean rather than a bass doing the death float.

I use some of the Lewis traps but mostly I throw the Strike King Diamond Shad. It seems to have just a little different sound than the original traps and sometimes works if alot of other anglers are throwing traps. I mostly use 1/2 oz, chrome w/ blue or black back, all chartreuese, orange craw. My favorite time is pre-spawn when water is just topping 50 degrees here. You wouldn't believe the fish I have caught in 50 degree water by burning the bait around grass or old pad stems.

I have not fished tubes very much and when I have it has been either weightless or bullet style. With the poured internal weights shown on this post are they inserted from the rear with the eye punched through or from the front with the weight punched through. You can insert them from the rear, pushing the head up to the top of the tube then popping the eye through. OR Insert the hook point in the top of the tube(where you want the eye to end up) and work the hook down through, then punch the head through. It's kind of up to you. Personally I start at the top of the tube, It's a little speedier than the other way because you don't have to re-tie your line each time.

Look at the Eagle Claw HP hook which is pictured on page 1. The tube will stay in place with this hook. As far as pegging with toothpicks, I know alot of guys do that but I personally don't want that little piece of wood against my line fearing it will wear on the line and cause a weak spot. I peg my weights with a rubber band. Take a thin rubber band and run your line through it. Tie an overhand knot to affix the band to your line. Slide your bullet weight on the line and to the overhand knot you tied. Pull the knot down through the sinker. Now, take the main line at the bottom of the sinker and cut it (about 3" below the weight and above the knot), this will leave you with band remaining in the weight and your main line running through it. Trim the rubber band at the bottom of the sinker, be sure not to nick your main line. This leaves you with rubber against your line. It will stay in place firmly, but you still will be able to slide it to re-tie if necessary, and without fear of the band damaging your line and causing a break off on a hook set. One more tip, when your pull the band through, pull it until about 1/16 of an inch of band remains exposed at the top of the weight. This will allow you to have something to grab on to to remove the band from the weight so you can re-use the weight. If you need me to, I can take step by step pics and post them here.

Not sure what it looks like to a bass but if you have ever looked at a bluegill in clear water, it's fins and tail will appear as light chartreuse.

Largie

Smallie

Lastly, the crossover between these techniques. Although I have divided these between smallmouth and largemouth, these techniques will catch both species. For example, try a tube rigged for skipping around bedded largemouth or on a shallow weedbed. A tube gliding as opposed to spiraling down can often trigger a fish into biting. Let the fish tell you how they want it. If your not getting bit flipping or pitching try a lighter weight or differently rigged tube. That's often all it takes to turn a biteless morning into a time to remember. Also, for deeper summertime largemouth fishing (or structure fishing) instead of a deep crank, jig, or carolina rig, try a tube rigged with and exposed hook. Drag it the same as you would a jig or bump it along like a crank. Rip it off the bottom, jig it, basically the only thing holding you back is your imagination. There is no rule when it comes to tubes or bass fishing for that matter. There are just therioes.... Next are 2 pics, 1 largemouth and 1 smallmouth. Both bit a tube and not too far apart. Hope this info helps everyone improve your tube fishing. Give them a try, you might be suprised!!

And, here's 2 styles of internal heads. I just started messing with the wide gap style and will probably pour more this year. Notice the difference in eye angle. The tube is a 4" Micro Much Flipping Tube, color is green pumpkin brown candy.

Here's the terminal tackle I use for my skipping rig. In the pic is an Eagle Claw HP hook. Notice the little lip around the eye, you open that when rigging it through the tube then close it when done, it holds the tube in place, is great to keep a skipped tube in place. Also notice my internal weight is nothing more than a drop shot weight modified a little. Be gentle when spreading the clip. They are thin and can break if too much pressure is put on it. Internal weights can be purchased pre-made and I've tried them all. I just wasn't happy with commerciall made ones and the way they rig so I came up with this way to make my own. I know the pics is a little big, I wanted everyone to be able to closely see the weight and clip on the hook. The weight goes inside the tube and is threaded to the top, the hook is simply texas rigged, the hook goes through the circle of the internal weight and that's how it stays place inside the tube. One note of advice. I use the largest hook I can with these tubes, usually a 4/0, I want a large gap between the hook point and end of my weight inside the tube. If you hook is too small or the weight is too long it shortens the gap and ability for the hook to hit pay dirt when you set the hook.

Ok, here goes some largemouth info. Since cart7 accurately covered skipping a tube, I'll skip that. I will add that for skipping, I rig my tubes with an internal weight usually 1/16 to 1/8 oz and a Eagle Claw XP hook. These hooks have a little clip around the eye that closes and holds the tube in place which is really handy. The weights I use are nothing more than the thin cylinder style drop shot weights. I simply take a 1/4 drop shot weight, use an ice pick to spread the line clip into a circle, then snip off about 2/3 of the weight. It makes a nice compact weight. I also pour these myself due to the shear number I use each year for this technique and for drop shotting. This rig is weedless and fairly snagless and has kind of a slow gliding fall that is dynamite for skipping under docks or around any kind of cover or open water for that matter. As far as the rest of my largemouth fishing, I mainly flip or pitch a tube. I use the same hook but rig it texas style with a bullet weight of varying sizes to match the type of cover and depth of water I'm fishing. I will peg the weight with a rubber band if I'm fishing bushes or really thick cover and want the bait to be more compact. If I'm targeting holes in grass beds or laydowns or stumps I leave the weight free sliding. I use both lead and tungsten weights. I like tungsten if I'm above 1/2 oz, lead below. Cost is the main factor there, I really haven't noticed more or less bites lead vs. tungsten. On occasion I will cast a texas rig tube and fish it like a worm. Size wise, I still use 4" tubes but usually flipping style tubes which have a little thicker wall. Colors are usually the same as I mentioned above. Soon as I get them taken, I will add some pics of some of the things I have mentioned.

Look at my Tube fishing 101 thread, should give you some pointers.

Nice pics and fish. What river/state and curious as to what water temp is?

Yep, it's cool to catch fish on stuff you pour. I'll pour stuff all winter, least it passes the time. Advice though, if you do start, don't let your friends know, you'll be taking orders from them before you know it

That's good news and actually encouraging that Lee will stand behind their products. Awesome!

To expand on what fivebasslimit said, when I find structure I like to idle around and look at my electronis to see if there is any cover on the structure. 1 stump or rock on a piece of structure may hold all the fish. If I cannot seem to locate any cover via electronics I'll simply fish it with a bait that will tell me the bottom's composition, good choics are deep cranks, carolina rig, football jig. I had an older gent tell me one day that all he does is finds a sudden or drastic depth change and he fishes it. This old boy was known for catching some big ones in his day. I got to thinking about what he said and really, that's what structure fishing is, fishing changes in depth etc.. as opposed to visibly targeting shoreline or other cover. Also key is to remember the seasonal movements of bass. Targeting deeper offshore structure is going to be more productive at certain times like in mid summer. 1 more word for you, POINTS. Some of the best structure I have ever located was on main and secondary points.

cart, most excellent addition to this post, saved me a little typing for my largemouth section! I actually have a little system I use for skipping that I will add with my largemouth info. I will include some pics of terminal tackle that I use for tube skippin.

Sorry, can't help you there. I have caught walleye and 1 catfish on a tube but I don't specifically target them. Maybe someone else here could shed some light.

A tube... What's that? You actually catch fish on that thing? Believe it or not, I still get asked that question frequently by anglers new to bass fishing. The tube bait has been around since the Bobby Garland Gitzit days, but just like other baits, the hype seems to fall off after the initial craze. Todays savy anglers all have tubes in their aresenal, don't let them tell you otherwise. Tubes may be one of the most versatile baits going. It can be fished a variety of ways and in a number of different presentations or techniques. What follows is my most successful ways for scoring on a tube. For simplicity, I will divide this into the 2 species of bass I target, smallmouth and largemouth. Smallmouth: I fish a variety of smallmouth waters including Lake Erie, Chautauqua Lake, and the Allegheny River. In an open water situation where I will be fishing structure I most frequently use a tube with an internal style head and exposed hook. In a lake environment like Lake Erie, I generally use 1/4 to 3/8 oz heads. A couple years ago I began pouring my own heads on Mustad Ultra Point hooks and I continue to use my hand pours. I just found that due to the shear number of heads I go through in a year I could buy premium hooks and pour the heads myself for less overall cost than buying comercially poured heads. My only downfall has been lending some to fishing friends, now I'm pouring for them too . The open water tube technique is kind of a no brainer. Most anglers will cast it out, let it sink, then basically drag it along the bottom as the wind blows thier boat along. I have used this drifting technique if the wind dictates that I do so, but I prefer to pull up on a reef and throw a marker, then back off and cast at my target. For a retrieve I generally use a slow, do nothing retrieve, imparting small jerks to make the tube jump off the bottom a few inches. In stark contrast, I too have had days where a sharp and hard jerk triggered bites. In that senerio it's my opinion that I basically get a reaction strike when the bait suddenly jumps off the bottom in the fish's face. Bites will feel a variety of ways. A sharp tick is common but mostly you will feel resistance, if you feel anything that feels different, let er' rip. In a river or current situation, I basically let the current do the work for me. It is critical to match the head size to the current. I find myself most often using 1/8 oz to 1/4 heads, depending on current strength of course. My favorite technique is to cast the tube up-current and basically allow it to be washed down. A definite must is to keep in contact with the bait my reeling up slack as the bait drifts down. This serves 2 purposes, it allows you to feel the bait bouncing along and can keep you from getting snagged often, and it allows you to feel a bite. Bites in a current situation will often be undetectable and any mushy feeling or possibly a sharp tick will could possibly be a bronzeback sucking in what he thinks is a craw. For this open hook technique I'm mostly targeting smallmouth in this area. As far as tackle goes, I mainly fish a Kistler Helium 7' MH spinning rod, This rod has plenty of backbone to put the hook home and nice action for when the fish gets close to the boat. I'm also mostly using 6-8 lb floro line. I really like the abrasion resistance and feel with floro. Colors you ask. Well, I'm a basic kind of guy when it comes to colors. I really only use a few colors: Clear water to stained water- Green pumpkin (and some variations like green pumpkin brown candy) watermelon, brown. Dirty water- black and some variations like black neon. I do also dip the tails in chartruese or orange Spike-It dye on some occasions, mostly on low light days. Now a little extra secret. You know then days where smallmouth are up busting bait but won't seem to hit any top water you throw? Try this, rig up a white tube, texas rig, no weight at all. Throw it out and fish it back like a soft jerkbait. It will dip and dart like a jerkbait then when you kill it those little tenticles just a wiggle away as the bait falls. You'll be suprised the number of bites you'll get... Tube size, not too complicated here either. I mainly use 4" tubes. I do sometimes use a 3 1/2 inch but only on occasions where they seem to want a smaller offering. One last technique that seems to work on occasion both in rivers and lakes, simply swim the tube along. In current I cast either up-current or perpendicular then swim the tube back. For suspended or schooling lake smallies, cast out and let the bait sink to their depth then reel it back through them. This techinque is more difficult mostly because of the location of the fish in the water column but can work under some situations. Hope this gives you a starting point to tube fishing. In the next few days I will add my tube techniques for largemouth. I will also get into how these techniques will sometimes cross over from one style to another.

Great idea. I will compose a thread on fishing a tube, seems to be a frequently asked topic.

That's awesome, I wish I could be bassin in a sweatshirt this time of year!

I'm with fivebasslimit! If the ducks weren't flyin I'd be back at the truck gearing up!

Welcome, Merry Xmas, and enjoy!

Welcome, Merry Xmas, and enjoy!