by Basser, April 21, 2001

This set up will not out fish every bait all the time, But ( in my opinion ) it will out fish most bait's most of the time. It's easy to rig, it's versatile, and it's cheap.

THE GEAR
To the far left is a 2/0 extra wide gap Gamakatsu hook ( any sharp wide gap hook will work )
In the center is a 1/32oz HP Quickclip weight made by eagle claw they come in 1/32, 1/8, and 1/4oz
To the right is the finished product the tube is a jerry's 3 1/2 inch, power bait also make's a good tube be sure it has a hollow tip they also make a solid tipped tube it's made for heave weighted flipping. My favorite jerry's color's smoke with blue or gold flake, my favorite power bait colors plum/blue flake, and motor oil/gold flake. the best tackle shop I have found is auburn sport's marina. although sportco in fife is getting better.

RIGGING
1. Take the weight loop end first and insert it into the tube body pinch it up as far as it will go.
2. Stick your hook point thru the loop of the weight it should look like the tube on the left in the picture. then slide that up the shank of the hook to the eye.
3. Rotate the hook 180 degrees so the hook point is pointing at the tube. Then pinch the tube at the bend of the hook, bend the tube so you can run the hook point thru the body and straiten. The hook point should be flush with the tube. This makes it pretty weedless but you can also bury the tip of the hook into the tube body so it will not snag on anything.



THE FISHING METHOD
I like to fish this on a spinning rod due to the light weight. (8 pound test ) I use a pitching method, rod in right hand pull line off the reel with your left hand to form a triangle right hand, left hand, tip of your rod. The tube should hang to the reel or lower swing forward and back on the forward swing give it a flip of the wrist and let it sail. The point of this is to keep your bait low to the water for a splash free entry ( And to help get under dock's ) . With practice you can match distance of your over hand cast. Head out to your nearest bass lake, and cast to the first piece of cover you see. ( log's , brush, over hanging tree's, weed's ect. ) Let the tube sink this is where most of your hit's will come. You want to keep just enough pressure on the tube to feel it. ( a slight bow in your line not tight ) keep both eye's on your line where it enters the water. If it stops or starts to move off reel up any slack in your line and set the hook, in the opposite direction it's moving. Or you will pull the bait out of the fishes mouth. If you do not get a hit on the first fall let it set on the bottom for a couple seconds. Then give it a short twitch and wait still nothing then twitch twitch fall, twitch twitch fall still nothing reel in and give it another cast to the next spot. For spooky fish cast past your target and reel it to your target and let it drop. You can also cast it up on the bank and drag it into the water, don't worry it won't snag if it does let your line go slack then give it a quick jerk and duck

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS
Tube's skip good that is with practice. You can use the over hand cast in warmer weather, the fish are not so spooky. Most of the time the fish hit this like a freight train, others just swim off with it. The tube is a good lilly pad bait. This bait falls in a foot and a half circular pattern put a slight bend in the tube body for a smaller circle. Rig it perfectly strait and centered and it will swim away with the tail wagging. Work's spring summer and fall. Eagle claw hp quickclips are hard to find locally. Down size this rig to a 2 inch tube and catch lot's of rock bass. On a mid summer morning /mid day anyone can catch fish with rig, including wife's, girlfriends, kid's, and even that dumb in-law that everyone has. Don't forget the fish attractant any fishy sent ant hurt, you can fill the hollow tube body with sent.

Eat the small free the large. Good luck -- BASSER