fishing
Tubes: Made For Smallmouth
The Ideal Choice For Brown Bass
By Tony Hansen
I love to fish tubes. And that’s a good thing. Because there is no fish in Michigan that I’d rather catch than smallmouth.
They’re mean. They’re strong. And they’re not found just anywhere – which makes them special. Smallmouth embody everything I love about fishing. They like cold, clear water. They love rocks – and rocky lakes are generally found in some of the state’s more scenic locales.
Tubes are made for smallmouth. Here’s how you can fish them.
1. Drag Them
The cool thing about a tube is that they are really pretty simple to fish. Just cast them out and drag them slowly back to you. This is a pretty standard technique on the Great Lakes on on Lake St. Clair. It works anywhere that smallmouth swim.
But there are a couple of keys to doing the drag right. First off, you really need the right line, rod and reel combination. Bites are generally distinct “thumps” and if you aren’t using a rod that’s sensitive, it’s very easy to miss those bites. Today’s high-modulus graphite rods are the ticket. And there are a lot of companies making great rods that are quite affordable. Check out the National Angler rods from K and E Tackle. They’re really good rods at a surprising price. The rods are available on the Marketplace at MichiganOutofDoors.com.
Fluroucarbon line is a another key. It’s nearly invisible underwater and that’s important because you will generally be targeting smallmouth in clear water. It also has very little stretch which makes it more sensitive.
I prefer to use spinning reels for tube fishing. It’s mostly a matter of personal preference however.
2. Hop Them
Hopping a tube is really just a variation on the drag. Rather than dragging the tube back in, you’ll drag it along and add in a few short, erratic hops. The design of the tube will make the bait slowly spiral down. Experiment with different weights to vary the rate of fall to see what triggers the fish.
The best situation for hopping is in areas of scattered rock or grass. In those situations, I’ll drag the tube along until I feel it nudge up against a clump of grass or rock. Then I’ll hop the bait over the cover. It’s dynamite.
3. Swim It
I’ve also had luck using a light-colored tube to mimic a fleeing baitfish. Cast the lure out and allow it to fall just under the surface. Then reel it in with a yo-yo action of the rod allowing the bait to spiral down, lift the rod and reel up the slack. When bass are keying on baitfish, this can be a fantastic tactic to employ.
