Going Against the Grain

A few years back, a buddy of mine gave me some HUGE tubes in comparison to other tubes I throw to catch smallmouth bass. He had been trying to convince a mutual friend and me of the fish-catching ability of these tubes for quite some time, and we would both snicker behind his back. We thought he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Imagine a tube bigger in diameter than the average man’s thumb! There’s no way these Vienna Sausages were going to catch smallmouth!

This past summer, I was entertaining a friend on his first trip to Lake Erie. We both caught some good fish and I caught quite a few more than my buddy because the bite was so subtle. Just with my experience, I was able to boat a few fish because I was able to detect my jig getting heavy. They certainly weren’t smackin’ it aggressively like smallmouths were capable of. Well anyway, since we were just having fun, I thought I would get a chuckle by throwing this massive tube on a ½ oz. jighead. It didn’t even touch bottom… and this strike was a sure strike. That first fish hammered it. You know the type of strike that nearly rips the rod out your hand. I had a look of bewilderment on my face. I was amazed. Quickly I re-tied and casted the huge tube again to prove if this was the real thing or just a fluke. This time the jig made it to the bottom, but within 15 seconds another decent smallmouth hit it hard.

For the rest of the summer, I experimented with the big tubes. I ran out of the supply of tubes my buddy gave me (made by Ohio Pro Lure), so I tried five inch flippin’ tubes. I had the same success. I found that whenever I was on a decent school, the bigger tubes would always produce with better than average fish. Below is a picture of the size comparisons of these massive tubes.

Going from top bottom, Left side: Standard 3.5” BPS tender tube, 2 Tournament Force 4” tubes (green pumpkin copper and smoke copper), 2 Tournament Force flippin’ tubes (green pumpkin and avacado). Right side: 2 Ohio Pro Lure “Fat” Tubes (watermelon and pumpkin) and ISG’s Dream Tube (St. Clair Special).

In order to get these bulkier tubes down, my “crazy” buddy told me to utilize heavier jigheads. Since these tubes are so much bigger, you will need to use at least a 5/0 hook. Most Lake Erie smallmouth enthusiasts will tell you that the norm is ¼ to ½ oz. weights, but always go as light as possible. With my experimenting nature, I tried using bigger weights with the normal tubes and was amazed with the results. On calm days, I was catching more fish with heavier weighted jigheads versus lighter ones. With the heavier weight, you are prone to snag up a lot quicker so you will need to actively twitch your rod when you feel your jig starting to snag during a drift.

Top to Bottom:

Rigged Ohio Pro Lure “Fat” Tube with a ½ oz. jighead with a 5/0 Mustad Ultra Point Hook.

¾ oz. 5/0 Mustad

½ oz/ 5/0 Mustad

In my humblest opinion, I have tried to come up with biological reasons why these experiences with “BIGGER” being better. First and foremost, big catches the pig. If you are sitting in your lazy boy in front of the television, what is going to get your rear up? Which would be more effective, a personal pan pizza or a large pan pizza? The second reason is more biological, bigger prey means more energy with less effort. Finally, the reason I feel that the heavier weights illicit more quality bites is because of reflexive reactions. The smallmouth is a much quicker and aggressive species when compared to its largemouth counterpart, but when we speak of a reaction bite many times we are thinking strictly green fish. The heavier weight is going to be falling and darting around much more quickly than a lighter lure. It’s still a reaction bite…it is just in open water and not around cover.

Next time you aren’t having any luck with the smallmouths, go against the grain a little bit and throw a Vienna sausage tube. You might just give yourself a heart attack!

If you are interested in the Tournament Force tubes mentioned above, visit www.tfbass.com and make sure you tell them Tom Hack sent you. I also make the heavier jigheads and carry them in my jig line.