Go tubular during November

Remember in 1998 when Denny Brauer won the Bassmasters Classic at High Rock Lake?

The long-time Missouri pro set off the “flipping-tube craze” for largemouth bass fishing with that win.

Tubes always have been revered by smallmouth anglers in the north, but this was a fairly new technique for southern bassers. It’s been nearly 10 years since Brauer’s Classic victory, and I’ve noticed the use of this remarkable lure has dropped off dramatically during the last three years.

That really captures my attention because I’m always on the lookout for a forgotten or new lure that few people are using. I think a lot of anglers gave up on the bait after having trouble hooking fish with this bulky lure.

Yes, it’s still a little harder to hook bass, but with the right equipment and hookset, you can put most of your tube-bait bites in the boat.

Tubes are desirable for several reasons — they catch fish in all seasons and conditions; they cast well; they penetrate cover well.

I’ve done well at Lake Wylie, Falls and Kerr lakes with these baits. They work well as a follow-up bait to a shallow crankbait or spinnerbait patterns in the fall.

Longtime Bassmaster superstar Gary Klein also can’t understand why the tube has fallen out of favor.

“All the great flippers still rely on the tubes,” Klein said. “I use them from 9-inches-long all the way down to 2 inches. In fact about 30 percent of the fish I weighed in this year on the Elite series were on tubes.”

FLW pro Jeff Thomas thinks all the press that shaky head and beaver-style baits have received recently contributed to the decrease in tube fishing.

“Tubes are some of the most realistic lures while they are falling,” said the Broadway pro angler. “I like to use a Berkley tube and 4/0 wide gap Eagle Claw hook on 20-pound fluorocarbon. On the FLW tour, the fish get so much pressure that power techniques lose their effectiveness later in events and simply don’t get the press.”

Choosing the right hook and tackle is crucial when using tube lures because of their bulk.

Brauer used a Mustad ultra-point wide-gap hook for his win at High Rock.

I’m partial to a 4/0 wide gap X-point hook. This hook and others similar to it provide enough gap for the bulky bait and have a Z bend so it will not slide down the shank as easily. I use 20-pound-test fluorocarbon for 90 percent of my flipping with a tube. But I’ll drop down to 15-pound-test fluorocarbon for flipping in extreme clear water or at lakes with heavy fishing pressure.

Fluorocarbon has much less stretch and better shock strength for hard hooksets. I go all the way down to 6-pound-test fluorocarbon for fishing deep water with an exposed hook.

Rod and reel choices also are important to get good hookups using tube lures.

Again, because of the lures’ bulk, you need special equipment that’ll enable you to drive the hook through a fish’s jaw.

Klein, Thomas and I recommended a heavy-action flipping stick for flipping and pitching tubes. A high-speed reel to take up slack and keep up with fish that run at the boat after the hookset is also a must. Daiwa’s new Steez or 7.1:1 Zillion reels keep slack out of my line in such instances.

When you detect a bite, drop your rod and set the hook as hard as you can. If you have problems hooking fish, try going to a braided line for even less stretch but don’t fish braid around rocks because it will cut.

Regular monofilament line (because of its stretch) is really difficult to use to get a good hookset. I wouldn’t recommend using mono in particular with Texas-rigged tubes.

If you’re still having trouble hooking fish, try using some sort of scent that acts as a lubricant. This will allow the bass teeth to not dig into the tube as much when it slides through on the hook set. Tungsten weights also speed up hooksets because tungsten is harder than lead.

For general light-cover fishing a ¼-ounce worm weight seems to be a good choice with a Texas-rigged tube. As always you need to experiment with weight until you find the right rate of fall (which may change throughout the day).

Proper lure fall rate is easy to identify when you’re getting lots of bites, but not so easy when you’re fishing at a tough lake. I recommend practicing at ponds where you can get lots of bites and get a good feel for a good fall rate.

Other rigging options for tubes are rigging for topwater with a piece of foam inside the tube, fishing with an exposed hook on a jighead, rigging with an internal weight and the “stupid” rig.

The stupid rig is rigging a jighead weedless on the tube by inserting the hook down about ¼ inch from the head of the tube and popping the hook back out. From there you force the lead part of the jig into the head of the tube and rig it like a Texas rig. But, for the most part, the standard Texas rig gets most of the play in tube fishing.

Don’t forget about tubes in your quest to catch more bass,

Tubes are some of the most natural and time-proven lures available and currently out of favor with the masses, which makes them in favor with me.

Dustin Wilks is a 30-year-old professional bass angler and Raleigh native now living in Rocky Mount. He has qualified for the Bassmaster Classic four times and operates Fish Like a Pro Fishing Lessons (252-883-6749, www.fishlikeapro.com ). His sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha, Daiwa, Keelshield and Culprit.