The Tube is an absolute classic lure for smallmouth bass fishing. This bait works, and has worked for decades. Today we have @SmallmouthCrush on the channel to share with us some AWESOME tips on how to fish a tube for BIG Smallmouth!

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Video transcript:

Travis:
And we're hooked up. On this cold, windy day. Guys, it's SmallmouthCrush, on behalf of MONSTERBASS. I want to make a quick video about a bait that's been around forever, a fish catching bait that smallmouth love, and that would be the tube. And this beast here, he wanted it. He wanted it, and we're going to talk about it.

Travis:
There. Not too shabby. But there it is, the simple little tube.

Travis:
Tubes and small mouth go together. We're going to talk about it. That's all coming up.

Travis:
So tubes, fishing tubes, obviously, produce a lot of bass. Over the years, it's one of my go-to baits. I always have one tied on. It's spring time right now. It doesn't feel like it, feels like winter. It's cold. And it's a bait that you can fish super slow like I am right now. I'm just casting around fish-holding structure. We have this nice little river bend here with some good rock and I'm using a seven foot medium rod, braid, to a floral carbon leader. And I'm just working it around that hard bottom. And you're going to get hung up. And so I like to just pop that tube off that structure. A lot of times that's when you'll get bit is when that tube comes off of your snag, that fish is down there looking.

Travis:
But it imitates bait fish as well as crayfish. So you really cover the whole category of what these fish are feeding on, and I'm just slowly working it back to the boat. And I'm going to work down this whole bank and you can make a pretty long cast. You can chuck that tube out there quite a ways. Depending on the water depth and the structure will determine the size head. So I'll use like some sort of tube insert, eighth ounce, all the way up to three-eighths, half-ounce in some situations. Heck, there's been a... There's a bite. Got them. There's been situations where I had to use a three and a quarter ounce weight to get dial and current, things like that. Now here's another pretty good fish.

Travis:
I mean, they're smallmouth. They all feel big. But once you have them hooked, you just kind of take your time. Let them play it out. It's rare that you're going to lose a fish on the tube. Now there's another beast. That's two pretty good fish in a row here on this bank, on the tube. They definitely have some power to them. Another gorgeous smallmouth.

Travis:
If I can get my hands in his mouth without... There we go. Look at that.

Travis:
Simple as that. Of course some green pumpkin gold, put some nice smallmouth like this in the boat. We'll get him back in the water and keep making some casts.

Travis:
But tubes are really versatile because you can fish it in super shallow. I mean, it's two, three feet up here, or you can fish all the way out to 30, 40 feet depending on the situation. There's lot of good tubes on the market. I'm actually using a prototype tube by a guy, Joe Bates. Oh, and that was a bite. By a guy, Joe Bates. And there's some really good fish stacked up here, it looks like. Let's see if we can get another one. So as you notice, I'm using a high vis yellow braid. This is eight pound braid. There he is, another stud.

Travis:
And that just allows me to see that little tick when that fish bites, you'll see that line move. I do have a floral carbon leader on 8, 10, 12 pound, depending on the situation. You know, we're in some stained water, there's some bigger fish, rock. I got 10 and I'm able to flip that fish in the boat here without a problem. What another good smallmouth. Can we catch another one? We'll find out.

Travis:
There he is. They're getting smaller, guys, they're getting smaller. But that just goes to show the effectiveness of the tube, smallmouth love them. There's a reason why tubes probably have caught more smallmouth than any other bait out there. And that's because they simply work and they're easy to fish. A beginner can pick up a tube and drag it around fish-holding structure and get bites.

Travis:
Snap it off that snag. That's normally when you get a bite. Just waiting, just waiting for another bite. And there it is. Got them.

Travis:
He chomped on that one, he swallowed that down his gullet. There we go.

Travis:
I like snags because look, I'm going to pop this off... There, I popped it off. Normally that's when you get a bite then, especially if you're around a lot of fish and they see that commotion down on the bottom and that's actually going to draw them in. I don't get mad when I get a snag. I use it as an opportunity to hopefully get another bite or two. So I'm going to cast that out. I like to keep my rod tip down when I'm trying to feel that tube crawl along the bottom.

Travis:
And especially in this wind, you're going to feel that bait and feel that bottom content a lot better if you can keep that rod low to the water there. And then again, there's a snag, pop it, and I'm off. All right. So we got our tube, floral carbon, the braid, seven foot medium rod. Make a long cast. Wait until that tube falls to the bottom. Here I'm only in five feet so it didn't take too long. But now that I'm on the bottom, I just pick up slack with my wrist by moving the rod and then I real up slack on the line. And so really, the only time I'm dragging that tube is from the rod. There's a bite. Then you set the hook.

Travis:
I'm not picking up... I'm not moving that tube by reeling, I'm moving that tube by pulling it with the rod. That's how you got to present that tube to these fish. Now they're getting smaller. Am I worried? No, because a lot of times it's a numbers game. You got to go through some of these smaller fish to get the bigger ones.

Travis:
Again, long cast, let the bait fall, and watch this. I got the high vis braid so I can see the fish hit my bait. I can feel it with a sensitive rod. I'm moving it with my arm and the rod only. And I'm only reeling to pick up slack. There's a bite. And then I set the hook into a giant. That's a stud there.

Travis:
And like I said, when you get hooked up, you don't have to get nervous about it. Just keep that line tight, make sure you got good drag, and just let that fish play it out. Now, he fooled me. He's not a mega, but he's definitely a nice fish. I guess he was kind of a big one. I boat flipped him anyways. What do I know? There you go. Nice smallmouth.

Travis:
So tube is very versatile. Obviously I'm catching smallmouth with it, largemouth love tubes as well. And there's different ways to rig it. And you know, we didn't talk really about... You can Texas rig a tube. You can use a tube insert like I am, you can drop shot a tube. There's so many different ways to fish a tube. There's a bite, set the hook. I mean, we can do this all day if we wanted to.

Travis:
And just like that, a nice fatty to end this video. Get yourself some tubes. Fish it around any type of structure, hardcover, rock, where you think of fish like this is living and they will bite it, I promise you. Hope you enjoyed the video, and as always, until next time. We'll see you guys on the water.