[George P.]

I am heading out to St. Claire to visit with my brother-in-law next week and plan on getting my week's worth of fishing in. I was just wondering what colors seem to be most productive on St. Claire. I've seen that tubes are productive - anything else in particular that is hot for the smallies? I've got a ton of stuff, but you never know what might be hot on a particular lake. Any kind of a topwater bite out there yet? Any general tips would be most appreciated.

 

[jcheetam]

I've always had luck with natural colors: watermelon's, smoke, etc. (any color really that mimics a crayfish and/or baitfish). Hope this helps...

 

[Daytonian]

Try smoke with red flake and smoke with blue flake. Also, white senkos are catching smallies right now.

 

[George P.]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[jcheetam]

No problem...welcome to the board!

 

[garza7585]

I like to use Mizmo's Big Boy tubes (4 inches). Mizmo has alot of colors available. Here in St. Clair any "greens, browns, and whites" work well. Like jcheetman said...natural colors that mimic baitfish and other food items. I like to use a 1/4 ounce ounce round head jig with my tubes.

Other plactics like Senkos, Kinami Flashs, skirted grubs and Flukes work well also...

Hope your trip to St. Clair is a good one...I heard its ON FIRE...

God bless,
Jose

 

[MrPaul]

Bring the top water, it will be a blast

 

[Guest]

When tube fishing what is the best way to rig it? I am sure conditions change but overall the best way?

 

[Basstrap896]

For tube rigging go to www.laketownmfg.com.
Not only will you see how to rig a tube, you will also find
how to rig a tube on a weedless rig. Works great aroung
rocks and weeds.

 

[garza7585]

I just insert the head of the jig inside the tube...if you get caught in any grass just give it a sharp pop and it usually comes out...might even trigger a strike...

Garza

 

[Marcus]

I like to use Gamakatsu tube hooks. The weight is narrow so you can slide it through the tube while your hook is tied on and it will not create a huge hole that otherwise causes your tube to come off easy. In one hand Hold the tube with the tentacles down, and in the other, hold the hook by the weight with the point tip pointing down. Insert the hook into the tube near the end (maybe a 1/4 inch depending on hook size and type). Once in, rotate the hook 180 degrees and slide it into the tube until the weight slides into the tube completely. The hook point is either poked through the tube or comes out between the tentacles depending on hook and tube length. The hook is exposed when finished. This is my most often used set up and is very fast to do with a little practice.

Hope this helps,

Marcus

 

[madman24]

heres a cool trick for rigging tubes. it works especially well if you are changing colors often to try and figure out what the fish want on a givin day.

take a pin. any pin, safety pin, sewing pin, an old hook works well also. heat up the point. ( if you are using a sewing pin or a light wire hook, be careful not to heat too much or your gonna get burned)

take the point of the pin and let it melt a small hole in your tube where you would like the eye of the jig head to come out.

this will make it much easier to insert your jig heads into the tube without tearing them up. the small hole allows the tube to stretch around the jig head very easily.

some people prefer to just slide the jig head up through the bottom of the tube and then push the eye through. but i find that if you are using a bulky tube, it makes it very hard to get your line through the eye of the hook this way. plus it takes forever to keep re-tieing (sp?) if you want to change colors.

if you get some spare time, give this trick a shot. i promise it will save you time on the water. i usually do a bunch of tubes the night before a tourney while im watching tv. or on rainy day when there aint nothing else to do.

madman himself