Phantom tube jig hook/rigging

[riverbasser]

I've recently stumbled upon the phantom tube jig hook and think it would be great for flipping tubes in my area. I plan to use the bigger 4 to 4.5 in tubes flipping for largemouth. I like this rig for its weedlessness and natural look. Anyone using these?

 

I wish the hooks came in heavier weights but the heaviest I've seen is 3/16 ounce. So I plan to make some myself. I'm not exactly sure how big a weight I can actually fit into the hollow body though. I would like to get it to 3/8 oz but 1/4 would probably work fine. Anyone else ever done this or have any idea how big a weight a tube will hold?  Weights will be crimp on hook weights so about as wide as the widest part of a bullet weight in the same size

 

One pic of hook and one of the hook weights I plan to use

[SWVABass]

I have never used them but a buddy does. He swears by them, unsure if he is flipping them or not. They really don’t work for the way I like to fish a tube. Sounds like solid plan that you have though good luck!

[Raul]

Never mind about them, instead make yourself some nice jigheads with oversize hooks ( 4/0 ) and stupid rig the tubes.

 

 

[riverbasser]

The "stupid rig"  is definitely easier but I don't like the line tie being so off from the front which will make it coming through thick wood cover harder. Maybe I'm picking but I also like to tinker so that's part of this whole thing

[Bluebasser86]

I make my own kind of rig with a bass casting sinker with the brass eye. Push the eye up to the top of the tube and when you T-rig the tube, pass the hook through the eye so the weight stays to the top of the tube. Bam, poor man's phantom weight tube rig. 

[A-Jay]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I make my own kind of rig with a bass casting sinker with the brass eye. Push the eye up to the top of the tube and when you T-rig the tube, pass the hook through the eye so the weight stays to the top of the tube. Bam, poor man's phantom weight tube rig. 

 Nice Blue - I LIKE IT ~ ! 

What size weights to you find fit best ?

A-Jay

 

[Bluebasser86]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 Nice Blue - I LIKE IT ~ ! 

What size weights to you find fit best ?

A-Jay

 

I mainly use the 1/8-1/4 ounce sizes in the Strike King Coffee tube. I would think up to a 3/8oz would probably fit pretty well in a larger tube like the OP is talking about. Hook clearance becomes the biggest issue with the bigger weights if they hang down too far. 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I mainly use the 1/8-1/4 ounce sizes in the Strike King Coffee tube. I would think up to a 3/8oz would probably fit pretty well in a larger tube like the OP is talking about. Hook clearance becomes the biggest issue with the bigger weights if they hang down too far. 

Thanks - I'll be checking this one out - 

As soon as my casts stop bouncing.

A-Jay

[Scarborough817]

the only issue i see with those hooks is that the gap between the weight and the hook point is so small, as long as you use a suitable size hook i think you should be fine

[SWVABass]

@Bluebasser86 or @A-Jay isn’t it lindy that makes a weight similar to how you described rigging with your set up?

[riverbasser]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I mainly use the 1/8-1/4 ounce sizes in the Strike King Coffee tube. I would think up to a 3/8oz would probably fit pretty well in a larger tube like the OP is talking about. Hook clearance becomes the biggest issue with the bigger weights if they hang down too far. 

That's what I needed to know, 3/8 will be the heaviest I will ever need.

[A-Jay]

10 minutes ago, Swbass15 said:

@Bluebasser86 or @A-Jay isn’t it lindy that makes a weight similar to how you described rigging with your set up?

Not certain - these are a very basic & often generic weights offered under many brands.

A-Jay 

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

15 minutes ago, Swbass15 said:

@Bluebasser86 or @A-Jay isn’t it lindy that makes a weight similar to how you described rigging with your set up?

I believe it was Mustad that used to make one that went with the Shaw Grigsby tube hooks but I haven't seen them for a while. Lindy now makes one designed to do the same thing, but it's very finicky about what hooks work with the weights because the hole is in the lead itself.

Yamamoto and and a couple other make them too, but they have the same issue with having to have just the exact right hook or they don't work.

[riverbasser]

in case anyone is interested in what I plan to make. but will be trying bluebasser's version too

[Munkin]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I make my own kind of rig with a bass casting sinker with the brass eye. Push the eye up to the top of the tube and when you T-rig the tube, pass the hook through the eye so the weight stays to the top of the tube. Bam, poor man's phantom weight tube rig. 

 Learned this from the Ike finesse fishing video.

 

Allen

[Bluebasser86]

Just now, Munkin said:

 Learned this from the Ike finesse fishing video.

 

Allen

It works great for smallmouth on one of the lakes I fish with zebra mussels because the bait falls more horizontal and keeps the line out of the rocks better to protect the line and knot. I started using bullet weights and egg sinkers, but lose them every fish or two. Then I tried the casting sinker and it worked great and I lose way fewer of them. I don't do it for largemouth often, but it skips awesome if you're fishing docks. 

[fishwizzard]

1 hour ago, riverbasser said:

in case anyone is interested in what I plan to make. but will be trying bluebasser's version too

I have used this things from Monar Hooks to try an idea like that;

 

It works, but it is a PIA and using a sinker with a nice wide wire loop is far far easier.  I have a small pile of the other insert weights that were posted and none of them work as well as a sinker.  The only issue with the sinker is fit, but if you use a little megastrike as lube you can get them in some pretty tight tubes, it actually give them a cool gobie-like look.  

[papajoe222]

Just curious as to why you wouldn’t just T-Rig the tube and peg the weight. Although I have used bluebasser’s style of internal weighing a tube, it’s limited to the lighter weights as the weights I use for flipping are generally 3/8oz or larger. No extra terminal tackle needed to T-Rig, so there’s also a saving of carrying less and spending less. 

[BassNJake]

I've had to modify a drop shot when I lost my last internal weight.

I liked the skinny drop shot weight in the longer tubes as it did not impede with the hookset IMO.

I used 2 pairs of needle nose to expand where the line goes to accommodate the hook.

 

 

[riverbasser]

15 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Just curious as to why you wouldn’t just T-Rig the tube and peg the weight. Although I have used bluebasser’s style of internal weighing a tube, it’s limited to the lighter weights as the weights I use for flipping are generally 3/8oz or larger. No extra terminal tackle needed to T-Rig, so there’s also a saving of carrying less and spending less. 

this is what I have been doing, just want to try something different. I don't use tungsten and I don't like the way a 3/8 lead t-rig looks. like I said im just tinkering with new stuff, I also think the internal weight will be much better coming through cover

[Bluebasser86]

19 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Just curious as to why you wouldn’t just T-Rig the tube and peg the weight. Although I have used bluebasser’s style of internal weighing a tube, it’s limited to the lighter weights as the weights I use for flipping are generally 3/8oz or larger. No extra terminal tackle needed to T-Rig, so there’s also a saving of carrying less and spending less. 

The bait falls more horizontal than vertical like it does with a T-rig, looks a lot like a descending craw waiting to be eaten. It also scoots and glides better along the bottom.

[Raul]

16 hours ago, riverbasser said:

The "stupid rig"  is definitely easier but I don't like the line tie being so off from the front which will make it coming through thick wood cover harder. Maybe I'm picking but I also like to tinker so that's part of this whole thing

Thick wood ..... you mean like this ?

 

 

In 3+ decades of fishing that place never had a problem stupid rigging my tubes, btw, I do own a few packs of those Phantom Tube hooks, they are there somewhere in the boxes of stuff I never use because I found a better solution.

 

 

[papajoe222]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

The bait falls more horizontal than vertical like it does with a T-rig, looks a lot like a descending craw waiting to be eaten. It also scoots and glides better along the bottom.

Now that's a reason to give them a try. I'm always open to new ways of rigging a tube. I tried belly weighted swimbait hooks to get that type of fall, but the tube wanted to glide. I still use them, just not for flipping.