Spring 2021
®
many years. A simple Texas-rig starts with the sinker and your hook.
Many anglers will choose to use a standard EWG worm hook, according to the size of the tube. I prefer to use an Eagle Claw Tube Hook with the clip or a Trokar hook with a plastic barb to help lock the tube in place.
I feel this works better than a standard worm hook in keeping the tube in place better when fishing in weeds or cover. There is nothing worse than your tube slipping down on your worm hook, balling up at the hook point, costing you fish along the way.
One thing to be conscious of is the size of your sinker. Don’t use a sinker that overpowers the tube. Tubes have built in action, but that only works if they are not overpowered by the weight. I try to use a weight that is between 3/16- to 3/8-ounce. It is always better to undersize the weight to get more action from the tube.
Remember this is not flipping and weigh size in flipping is a different story.
JIG HEADS
STUPID RIG
A weedless rigging version is called the Stupid rig. With the Stupid rig there is no worry about sinker size, as it is rigged with a tube jig head that has an EWG hook.
To rig, you simply put the
hook first into the
open end of the
tube and it exit
the tube about
an 1/8” from
the tip. You
pull the head
of the jig all the
way to the tip
of the tube and
twist the head
to get the eye
of the jig to exit
the top of the
tube at the
head,
then tex-pose the hook into the tube and that is the Stupid rig. You can fish the Stupid rig anywhere you would fish a Texas-rigged tube.
TUBE JIG 90-DEGREE EYE INSIDE OF TUBE
When it comes to tube jigs pay attention to the jigs eye angle. The standard ball head jig has a 90-degree eye.
When fished on a slack line, the tube will fall in a spiral motion. When there are bass sitting on beds, this is the jig head to use. Make a cast and let it fall with slack in the line. If fished on a tight line, the tube will pull back towards the tip as it falls, missing the bed.
For this setup rig the jig head inside of the tube to get the best action.
TUBE JIG 60-DEGREE EYE INSIDE OF TUBE
Next, is the 60-degree eye jig head. When fishing this setup on a slack line, the tube will have more of a gliding action as it falls. I use a tube rigged this way if I do not know where beds are located or if it is a windy day and I cannot see them. This setup covers water quicker and gets bites from bass that can’t be seen.
TIP: Have both of these tube rigs on the deck to make quick changes on the fly.
EXAMPLE: When I am not be able to see beds in the water that well, I would use a 60-dgree eye tube jig. Not being able to see could be because of wind or it may be that the sun has not gotten up in the sky high enough. But as I am fishing, I may come across a bed close to the boat that I can see and then it is time to make the change and grab the 90-degree tube rod to drop the tube on that bed.
It is easy to see how these two can work together when you know what tube setup to throw in the conditions that you are faced with.
JIG HEAD 90-DEGREE OUTSIDE OF TUBE
When a little more feel is necessary, rig the jig head outside of the tube. For this situation, I try to fish with a hard (thicker) head tube that will give the barb on the jig head something to hold. I will also add a drop of Super Glue to help hold the tube on the jig head better.
TIP: If the tube has a thin head, cut about a 1/4-inch piece of an old trick stick (Senko) and add a few drops of Super Glue and glue the Senko to the head of the tube (inside). This works the same as a hard head tube and gives
the jig barb something to grab ahold of holding the tube in
place on the jig.
This setup will act the same as if the jig is
rigged inside or out, the tube will fall in a
spiral motion.
If I am fishing bass on the beds,
this setup allows me to feel
when the tube is in the
bed area a little bit
better with this
exposed
jig
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