Fishing a tube like a Rapala

[Fgoricha]

If I cast a tube out into the lake and start to retrieve the tube at a steady rate before it reaches the bottom, what type of action does a tube give (like a Rapala)? I typically just use a ball head jig (1/8th oz) and I noticed that it kind of just spins in circles. Does anyone have any experience with fishing a tube like a Rapala? How would you rig the tube to get more of a baitfish action on the retrieve?

[JediAmoeba]

47 minutes ago, Fgoricha said:

How would you rig the tube to get more of a baitfish action on the retrieve?

I would rig a small swimbait 

Tubes are a finesse bait.  They are not meant to be fished like that. More of a hop, hop fall retrieve- similar to a jig but more subtle and slow. 

[.ghoti.]

Rig the tube on a keel weighted hook. Get the right combination of tube size, hook weight and line diameter, and you can make the tube walk the dog underwater. 

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, .ghoti. said:

Rig the tube on a keel weighted hook. Get the right combination of tube size, hook weight and line diameter, and you can make the tube walk the dog underwater. 

I've also fished them weightless and twitched them like a fluke, or even over vegetation like a toad that I could drop into holes in the weeds with quite a bit of success. 

[.ghoti.]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I've also fished them weightless and twitched them like a fluke, or even over vegetation like a toad that I could drop into holes in the weeds with quite a bit of success. 

A ZMan tube, 4/0 EWG hook and no weight is as good a topwater bait you can get for throwing into heavy vegetation.

[waymont]

I sometimes retrieve tubes with a slow steady retrieve similar to a hair jig presentation. Cast it out, let it sink, then a slow steady retrieve with an occasional light twitch.

[OnthePotomac]

My tube rig in grass beds is on a 3/0 EWG hook with a 3/16th slip sinker pegged on a 7'MH Carbonlite with a Shimano Curado 70 spooled with 15lb Invizx. Then it is lift and drop, lift and drop.

[Fishin' Fool]

On 7/30/2019 at 10:10 PM, JediAmoeba said:

I would rig a small swimbait 

Tubes are a finesse bait.  They are not meant to be fished like that. More of a hop, hop fall retrieve- similar to a jig but more subtle and slow. 

True but sometimes cracking a tube or violently ripping it off the bottom creates a reaction bite. Zona talks about this somewhere out there in the world wide web

 

Edit:

 

[VolFan]

You can walk a weightless tube in grass or heavy cover great. Adding a piece of stryrofoam or unsalted plastic to the head helps keep it up and adds casting weight. You can do it subsurface too, walking it like a fluke. I used 4 to 7 imch tubes with this technique in Colorado...nothing like a big pike or bass blowing it up in the slop.

[A-Jay]

What about fishing an A-Rig like a Drot Shot ?

A-Jay