Advanced Bass Tactics | Rich Lindgren's Bass Fishing & Bassin' Blog

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

Stupid Tube Rigging — Important to have a jig head with a wide gap hook

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.

Rigging a Stupid Tube — This is by far the trickiest part to master

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

The Perfect Stupid Tube Rig — Almost 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!

Fully Rigged Stupid Tube — Just add water & catch’em!

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

I thought it would be good to do some tips & techniques again, been mostly focused on tournament stuff.

Hey you all that love flipping, here are a few things to try to increase you hook-up ratios.

1. When in doubt, go TUNGSTEN. Its denser and smaller, so you get better penetration on the flip and on the hook set when the fish clamps down on your weight. Tru-Tungsten has some great designs and colors to meet all your needs. So try some of these Tru-Tungsten Tungsten Sinkers

2. Try a snell knot on a heavy duty straight shank flipping hook! If done correctly, when you slide a slip-sinker down on the hook, you will see the hook point curl up like a scorpion tail. This action causes most bass to get hooked solid in the roof of the mouth. The snell knot works effectively when you peg a bullet sinker as well, but precautions must be taken. The most important element is how tightly you snug the weight.

If you peg the weight down so tight that it doesn’t slide up the line, the hook won’t kick, and you might as well just tie a Palomar knot on an offset hook. It has to have room to move so when you set the hook, it slams against the weight and shoots the hook upward. So you use a bobber stop or a Smart Peg to peg your sinker, not one of those threaded rubber toothpicks.

For hook selection, consider Mustad Denny Bauer Flippin’ Hook or the Brand New Reaction Innovations BMF Flipping Hook. The BMF hook is a special hook that had a completely closed hook which will make the snell knot a little easier to tie and will not let the knot slip out on the hook set. Youvella is coming out with some great flipping hooks as well!

Reaction Innovations BMF Flipping Hooks

3. Use a high quality Braided line, like Power Pro Braided Line. Tie a Palomar or Double Palomar Knot and a dap of super glue does not hurt either. Also camouflage your braided line with a permanent marker, the line often fades and turns white after use, so take a blue, black or green marker to your line for the first few feet. The other option would be to go with 20-30lb flourocarbon, but I like braid better.

Hopefully you can try a few of these tips and they will help you put a few more fish in the boat. Beware, practice the snell knot at home or on land, its not an easy knot to learn when out in the boat