BigTerp Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 Do any of you guys have luck or routinely fish for largemouth with tubes? My go to river bait for smallmouth fishing is a 2-3/4" tube on a 1/8oz internal jig head, followed closely by a Ned rig with a TRD. River smallmouth fishing makes up pretty much all of my fishing. But I do take a yearly 4 day trip to a power plant lake (Lake Anna in Virginia) to chase largemouth. We fish the side of the lake that is influenced by the power plant discharge, thus the water is much warmer by 14+ degrees than the "cold" side of the lake. We typically have success with senkos and flukes for the most part. But the bite can be tough at times. I've always kept my smallmouth lures (tubes and Neds) at home. But am bringing them along this year thinking they may be the ticket when the bite gets tough. Thoughts on using 2-3/4" and 3" tubes and Neds for Largemouth? 1 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 Tubes work well for largemouths . i usually just Texas rig them and fish them like a worm . 5 Quote
FishinBuck07 Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 I have great luck with the NED rig for largemouth! T rig a tube and use it for a flipping bait sometimes, they seem to like that also! 1 Quote
Jermination Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 33 minutes ago, BigTerp said: Do any of you guys have luck or routinely fish for largemouth with tubes? My go to river bait for smallmouth fishing is a 2-3/4" tube on a 1/8oz internal jig head, followed closely by a Ned rig with a TRD. River smallmouth fishing makes up pretty much all of my fishing. But I do take a yearly 4 day trip to a power plant lake (Lake Anna in Virginia) to chase largemouth. We fish the side of the lake that is influenced by the power plant discharge, thus the water is much warmer by 14+ degrees than the "cold" side of the lake. We typically have success with senkos and flukes for the most part. But the bite can be tough at times. I've always kept my smallmouth lures (tubes and Neds) at home. But am bringing them along this year thinking they may be the ticket when the bite gets tough. Thoughts on using 2-3/4" and 3" tubes and Neds for Largemouth? catch plenty on tubes & neds in east tn. when it warms up throw it on a carolina rig, put a piece of an ear plug up in the tube so it floats and use 17+ mono for your leader. they chew em. my partner caught this one on a tube on a ned rig sunday afternoon 5 Quote
DanielG Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 Tube fishing can be a very rewarding experience. But I use it mostly for crappie and pike. Wait.... this is what you meant right?!? 1 9 Quote
EWREX Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 there's a guy in my local club who only fishes tubes, in one color (melon pepper), and consistenly places top 3 almost every tournament. most lakes around me are mixed between largemouth and smallmouth, but he catches both species very consistently. 2 Quote
BassNJake Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 Love fishing tubes- smallies and largies both eat em I'll drag one around points and over large flats but I like crackin' it on channel swings or bluff walls the most 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted January 16, 2020 Global Moderator Posted January 16, 2020 Use that same 2&3/4 inch with 1/8oz for lake fishing. I always use it for smallies too and the largemouth love it, especially around docks 1 Quote
Super User MickD Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 Yup, tubes and Neds work well for largemouths. I use conventional tube jigs, but with the other methods I've been seeing, I have to branch out a bit. I agree that greens are the best for both LMB and SMB, but black and blue is good for LMB too. 1 Quote
BigTerp Posted January 16, 2020 Author Posted January 16, 2020 Thanks for the replies. Looks like I've been missing out by leaving my tubes and Neds behind on my largemouth trips. I'll be sure to give them a go this year!! Quote
Super User N Florida Mike Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 I was thinking about trying tubes again soon. I’ve not fished them much but the few times I have, Ive only caught a few total. What kind of hook do y’all use for a T-rig with tubes ? I have to use a T- rig because of all the weeds in my home lake. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted January 16, 2020 Global Moderator Posted January 16, 2020 2 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said: I was thinking about trying tubes again soon. I’ve not fished them much but the few times I have, Ive only caught a few total. What kind of hook do y’all use for a T-rig with tubes ? I have to use a T- rig because of all the weeds in my home lake. Whichever one fits the bait the best. Not much different than worm fishing. They are also really effective weightless Quote
Super User Log Catcher Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Jermination said: catch plenty on tubes & neds in east tn. when it warms up throw it on a carolina rig, put a piece of an ear plug up in the tube so it floats and use 17+ mono for your leader. they chew em. my partner caught this one on a tube on a ned rig sunday afternoon Thanks for the tip. I had given up on tubes but I never thought about using them on a Ned rig. 1 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 I forgot all my soft plastics one time . So searching through my stuff i found a bag of black Gizits . I Texas rigged them and didnt miss my other plastics a bit . Caught many bass on points and in wood . 1 Quote
river-rat Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 It's rare that I don't have a texas rigged tube available. Quote
Super User N Florida Mike Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said: Whichever one fits the bait the best. Not much different than worm fishing. They are also really effective weightless I think 1-2/0 . I’ve got a couple bags of the 3 inch ones. They aren’t a confidence bait for me. I just need to fish em more. Bass in my lake haven’t seemed very interested in them though. Too busy eating flukes, I reckon.? Quote
Dorado Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 If you really want to see how much green bass like tubes, try it sight fishing on beds this spawn. Trust me I’ve used a 3.5” Gitzit Fat tube in Brown Craw/S&P (favorite tube color) for the past four years bed fishing and it’s highly effective! White tubes (more visible) are popular too during this time in AZ so anglers can see their tubes getting picked up easier Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 Many of us northerners love tubes for both species, when the situation calls for it. Check out these two episodes of Zona Live with KVD and Davy Hite, both times going after mostly Largemouth in Michigan natural lakes (yes, hes holding a smallie in the second one, but they catch mostly largemouth). Zona spends much of the time both episodes fishing a tube by popping it erratically along the bottom through early weedgrowth: Quote
Super User Bird Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 Whenever I'm in the mood to throw a tube.....I always end up throwing a TRD craw. Quote
Super User MickD Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 I was responding from MI fishing , too, and have no experience in the south. I'm not sure fishing to spawning bass requires any specific color. Are they not just taking anything that gets into the bed away? Quote
PourMyOwn Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 Another northern angler here who uses Texas rig tubes for both large and smallmouth. I tend to lean more towards a longer body that will hold a bigger hook. My favorites are the Snack Daddy tubes out of Michigan. Quote
Super User gim Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 I usually increase the size of the tube I'm using when I use them for largies. Not because the bass I'm after are necessarily bigger, but because their mouths are. I also generally use some sort of weedless or snagless setup like a skip gap hook or EWG hook so its not constantly getting hung up. Z-man makes a really small tube. It works well with their jig head. Quote
Super User Fishes in trees Posted January 16, 2020 Super User Posted January 16, 2020 Denny Brauer won a Bass Masters Classic flipping/pitching a tube. I don't flip very much at all. I pitch quite a bit. For me tubes are a pitching bait - but not my primary choice. I'll pitch a stick bait, a different color stick bait, a magnum trick worm, a craw bait or a ribbon tail worm before I'll pitch a tube. Back in the day I had a few days where throwing a tube worm was the ticket, but not so much lately the past few years. Quote
moguy1973 Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 Man those are some small tubes you use. I typically use 4 and 4 1/2” flipping tubes for both smallmouth and largemouth. Up your size of tube and up your weight to 1/4-3/8oz and go for the bigguns! Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted January 17, 2020 Super User Posted January 17, 2020 I use to fish tubes a lot and I had good luck with them around deep vegetation. I probably need to start fishing with them more this year. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.