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If I was given a choice of only one soft plastic lure to catch northern smallmouth, I would have to choose a tube. These little morsels fool more smallmouths year in and year out than probably any other soft bait (or possibly any other bait, period). While there are many ways to rig and fish a tube, this article will focus on the insert jighead method. This method of rigging is most often used for smallmouth in the northern part of the country. The lure gets its name because of the hollow cavity created when the plastic is molded. The cavity has an opening at the base of the "body" of the lure, with the tentacles extending down past the opening. Without solid plastic creating the "body" of the lure, you can insert a jighead inside the lure. This gives the bait a very clean profile and easily controlled color pallete. The hollow body also gives the bait a squishy feel when compressed. The tentacles of the lure give it life when moved in the water. Good quality tubes have neatly cut, fine tentacles. Poor quality tubes will often have unevenly cut or chunky tentacles. When shopping for a tube, keep an eye out for that feature. Most tubes used for smallmouth are between 2.75" and 4". Generally, I am rigged with something in the middle; right about 3". If I feel the fish are feeding on smaller bait, I will downsize. Likewise, if I feel that the primary forage that the fish are keying on are larger, then I will bump it up to a 4" bait. Below you can see some different size and color tubes. You will notice in the above image the leadheads used for inserting in a tube. I have tried many different brands and configurations, and I have finally found one that I am 100% confident in. These leadheads are molded on an super sharp hook that has a 90 degree eye. When shopping for a jighead, you will see that some brands are molded with a 60 degree hook eye (in relation to a the imaginary continuation of the hook shank in the forward direction). I like how the 90 degree eye causes the bait to tip forward when dragged, pulled, or hopped along the bottom. The 90 degree eye also keeps your line a tiny amount further from the abrasive rocks and zebra mussels that are often on the bottom. The jigheads I use are also molded with a slightly lowered lead head in relation to the hook shank. This allows the bait to track nice and straight, with a lot of control. The small profile hook also does not get snagged on sparse grass and zebra mussels as badly as a large hook. These jigheads were designed by renowned guide and tournament angler Art Ferguson of Lake St. Clair, MI. He has caught more smallmouths on tubes in his lifetime than most of us all combined! I trust his design and craftsmanship of his ProVider Tackle tube heads. Remember when inserting a jighead into your tube, make sure that it is tight to the top before poking the hook eye through the plastic. Having it tight to the top will give you the maximum sensitivity when it is dragged across the bottom. Below you will see a photo of a tube unrigged and rigged.When you head into your nearest tackle store, you will likely have an incredible number of choices of colors. For example, between their 3" and 4" tubes, YUM soft plastics sell 25 different colors of tubes. The most important factor when picking a color is matching the main forage that the smallmouths are feeding on. If they are eating crawdads, shades of brown are usually best. If the smallmouths are eating perch fry, then shades of green are often the ticket. If the smallies are eating bait like alewives or shiners, then using whites or smoke colors is the way to go. There are always slight variations within these generalities. For example, smallies are often foraging around rocks for crawdads, but will opportunistically eat a dying baitfish overhead. I will then try to use a color that looks natural both falling through the water column as well as when it is being worked across the bottom (watermelonseed or green pumpkin firecracker are excellent examples of these colors). Pay attention to anything that a smallmouth spits up when hooked or netted to see just how close your bait matches the food that was in its stomach. It is always smart to experiment with colors from day to day. A fine example was an early summer trip I took with a friend in preparation for a guide trip. I was dragging a straight green pumpkin tubejig over some rock flats, and he was dragging a green pumpkin with red and green flake. He was catching three fish to my one. I switched to his color, and I started catching them well. I decided to go back to the green pumpkin, just to see if it was really not the deal that day, and he started whoopin' on me again with his tube that had much more flake and flash to it. The rest of the day, we realized that no matter what the base color of the tube was, you needed some color flake in it to trigger the most bites. The photo below shows the color difference between three baits that made a HUGE difference in bites on that particular day. Areas to fish a tube should usually have hard bottom. Hard bottom attracts crawdads, and in the Great Lakes region, Gobies. These two forage species are on or near bottom, so the tubejig is a great imitator. When you cast the jig out, let it fall on controlled slack line. Don't let your line totally flap in the breeze, but don't inhibit the fall too much where the tube pendulums back towards you. Keep an eye on your line looking for strikes that came from suspended fish during the decent of the jig. Once the tube hits bottom, begin to experiment with retrieves. I generally start by using small hops of the jig, trying to keep it within a foot of the bottom. I use a weight that allows me to stay in contact with the bottom, without getting hung up on every hop of the jig. If this retrieve is fruitless, I then switch to a straight drag. The term I use with my clients is to "scrape" the jig along the bottom. When using the proper weight jig, you would be surprised how little you will snag. If you do get hung, popping the jig free can often cause a reaction bite out of nearby smallmouth. I use heads ranging from 3/16oz up to 1/2 oz. Much of that depends on the depth, current and/or boat drift speed if I am dragging the tube with the drift of the boat. Most folks, including myself, use a spinning rod and reel for tubejig applications. Spinning rods cast the light lures well, and also manage the 6-10lb test lines that are often used for this technique. As for line type, use what you are most comfortable with. I generally use fluorocarbon line for this, but if you like monofilament or braided superlines, then go ahead and use them. No matter what type of line you use, make sure it can maintain its strength when rubbing on rocks and zebra mussels on the bottom. The line should also have a low visibility as to not spook timid fish in clear water. When fishing for smallmouths this season, make sure you give tubejigs a try. You will be glad you did!.
