Here is an easy way to modify your tube-jig presentation to trigger more bass. I call this the Texas-rig reverse-fall method. This rig is exactly as it sounds, it falls in reverse. What makes it so interesting to a bass is the flaring of the skirt that’s caused by the water resistance. The flaring skirt makes that tube appear much like a defensive crayfish, holding out claws ready to attack. This doesn’t occur when it falls head first.
The tube is rigged Texas-style, with an offset hook and a small weight added to the bend of the hook. The weight is a modified bell sinker that’s trimmed to suit the desired sink rate. I prefer a slow-sinking tube when fishing around docks and overhead cover, like trees, but will use a heavier weight if some extra punch is needed.
Here’s how you rig it
• Place a 1⁄4- to 3⁄8-oz bell sinker onto a hard, smooth surface and hit it several times with a hammer to flatten it to about 3mm.
• Using side cutters or pliers, trim the sides of the weight. I pre-cut several different weights of various sizes at once.
• Using a 2/0 or 3/0 Texas-rig style offset hook, poke the hook point through the nose of the tube as shown, and feed the hook through. The hook should be long enough to hook back into the tube just above the skirt.
• Insert the ring of the bell sinker up into the tube body. Slide the ring over the hook point and down so that is rests on the bend of the hook.
• Push the hook point out the other side of the tube, and embed the point as shown
Originally published in the June 2020 issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS.
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