B
ass fishing is always a moving target. Tactics and
baits come and go, but a few of these baits have
stood the test of time. Jigs, spinnerbaits, and tubes fall into this category.
Tubes were introduced to bass fishing in the early 1980s by Bobby Garland, after he won a 1980 Fall Western Bass tournament on Lake Havasu. From there, news traveled of a new bait that the Garland brothers would release very soon after the tournament. The news of this win only created more anticipation as to what this new bait was.
If you remember when there was no internet, tournament news was often spread over the phone – one call at a time. That was the fastest way of getting information out, and many times it could be weeks or a month before word spread about who won a tournament and what they may have been using.
That was how the news about a new bait called Fat Gitzit Tube spread and the rest is history.
Anglers that could get their hands on this newfound bass bait called a tube caught bass with it using little effort. As time passed, anglers found more diverse ways to rig and fish it.
That was back then, let’s fast-forward to today. In 44 years, the tubes stature has only gotten bigger. Fishermen have produced more and better riggings, and companies have developed better tubes as well.
Let’s break down today’s tube fishing and get caught up in how you can put more bass in your boat this season.
TUBE MAKEUP THIN VS THICK HEAD
Depending on manufacturers, tubes today come either thin or thick makeup. This is okay on the sides, but it will matter more when it comes to the head of the tube. To hold the tube in place, I prefer to use a thicker head option. This gives my jig or hook something to grab a hold of and stay in place better.
Let’s say you want to rig your jig head outside the tube. You take your tube and push the tube head up to the barb of your jig, and within a few casts, the tube is bundled down around your jig hook. This can happen because the barb of your jig head has nothing to grab and has ripped the little bit of plastic there.
Yes, you can try to glue your tube in place on your jig, but that will soon become a problem also. To solve this, you can buy thicker head tubes, but these can be hard to find at times.
When I am faced with this problem, I have a solution. I will cut a five-inch Yamamoto Senko in half and then cut off a 1/2-inch section out of one half of the bait. I will add a couple of drops of superglue on one side of the cut piece, flip my tube upside down, and insert my cut Senko piece glue-side pointing toward the head of the tube, I will then take a pencil and push this section up to the head of the tube. I hold this in for a minute and have a thicker head that can be even better than a stock thick head tube. Now, when I thread my tube onto my jig, the barb of the jig has something to grab ahold of and stays in place better than before.
JIG HEAD OUTSIDE TUBE
When trying to locate bass on the rocks or on weed/ rock edges before they move shallower, I will use a tube rigged with the jig head outside of the tube. I mainly do this because I get a better feel for what my tube is doing. I can feel the rocks better as my jig contacts the bottom.
This helps me adjust, and allows me to dial in the bite, by being able to tell where the bass are located, either on the rocks, in the weeds or a mix of both.
I will also specify a jig head with a 60-degree jig eye. This eye position gives my tube more gliding action as the tube falls on a slack line, which allows me to cover water quicker, trying to make first contact with the bass or get dialed in when I am breaking down an area.
When rigging my jig and tube, I will thread my tube onto the jig hook and add a drop or two of superglue to the back of the jig head to help lock my tube in place. As I said earlier, it is best to use a tube with a thick head or a doctored tube with a beefed-up head.
®
Spring 2025
page
27