I have had many people leave messages both on my blogs and social media.  How do you rig the “Stupid Tube”?

The Stupid Tube was made famous when Federation Nation angler Terry McWilliams from Indiana made the Bassmaster Classic through the Federation Nation ranks, largely on the fish he caught on his “Stupid Tube”.  It got the name because anglers back home always asked if he was catching fish on “That Stupid Tube” he so often used to beat them with.  See article on Terry here.

The only real difference between a Stupid Tube and a normal tube jig is the way you rig it.  The stupid tube still used a tube jig head or similar jig head, but you kind of rig in a hybrid between a Texas rig, normal tube rig, and a shaky head!  Below are picture diagrams of how to rig your own “Stupid Tube”.  The reason the stupid tube rig is so deadly, you get a similar erratic fall and action as an exposed tube jig, but its virtually weedless and still gets great hook ups on fish!

Start out with your favorite 3-4″ Tube, and either a tube jig head, shakey head jig or even a ball head jig.  The jig shown here is a Shakey Head and a 3-1/2″ Strike King Coffee Tube.  My new jig head of choice is the BassTEK Tungsten Agitator Finesse Head.

Start by inserting the hook point into the hollow end of the tube

Run is all the way up and poke it out through the tube wall near the head, about whereTexasxas rig hook would come out, about a 1/4″ from the nose of the bait.  You will find where you like it for your jig with a little practice.

Pull the hook out, so the head fits snug up in the nose of the tube & then poke the eye of your jig head out the other side of the tube, so you can tie your line there

Then bring the hook back into the tube body and out the other side like a Texas rig and then skin hook the tip of the hook back into the tube wall so it covers the point of the hook (Texposed).  This keeps the hook from catching on snags & weeds, but only takes a little pressure to stick a fish!

Experiment with different jig heads, weights, hook & tube sizes to fit your needs, just be sure your hook has enough throat to stick the fish and let tube collapse on the hook set.  This bait comes through cover and skips great.  Another big advantage over Texas rigging your tube is that Texas rigging tends to tear up tubes real bad after just a few fish.  You usually can catch a limit or more before you need to replace your tube with this rig.  So rig a handful up the night before and you should be set for the day!

June 1, 2015 – Update
Just to refresh this post and keep it up to date, few things to add.  I still use this rig all the time for both smallmouth bass and largemouth both.  Details on my setup, usually I fish this with 12lb Fluorocarbon, Dobyns DX743C baitcasting rod, and the jig head is usually a 3/16oz BassTEK Agitator Finesse Head.

Also if you prefer videos, check out this How to Rig a Stupid Tube video.

Rich
RichLindgren.com