Field Guide

Tube Rig

Crawfish / goby imitator for smallmouth on rock — drag, hop, and let the skirt do the work.

Confidence

SpringSummerFallDragHopCurrent DriftVertical

Gear

Rod

Cashion Element Z2 Ned Rig Spinning Rod — 6'10" Medium / Fast

Reel

Shimano Sedona FJ 2500HG spinning

Line

10–15 lb Sufix 832 Braid Neon Lime → 10–15 ft of 6–10 lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon

60-Second Refresher

Scent the head first: Coat the tube head with Pro-Cure or gel scent before inserting — it lubricates the insertion and leaves scent inside the hollow body.

Insert from the skirt end: Spread the skirt strands, slide the jig head into the hollow body, and keep the hook riding between two strands.

Pop the eye through the nose: Push the head forward until the eye bulges, poke it through with your fingers, then tie a Palomar direct to the exposed eye.

Lightest weight you can feel bottom with: If you snag every cast, you're too heavy. Lighter heads glide through rock and snag far less.

When to Throw

Good Water

Smallmouth on rock, gravel, boulders, and current seams. Clear-to-moderately-stained water where natural bottom colors shine. When fish are feeding on crawfish, gobies, darters, or bottom minnows.

Bad Water

Heavy wood — exposed jig-head hooks hang too easily; switch to a Texas-rigged tube. Snagging every cast = head is too heavy. No bottom feel = go heavier.

Tube & Size

2.75" · 3.5" · 4"

Strike King Fat Coffee Tube

2.75" for finesse river smallmouth, 3.5" as the all-purpose tube, 4" for trophy goby-eating fish. Coffee scent helps; gel scent inside the hollow body helps more.

Strike King Fat Coffee Tube 2.75"

Green Pumpkin

Finesse rivers, pressured fish, mini tube heads

Smallest profile — pairs with 1/8 oz heads

Strike King Coffee Tube 3.5"

Green Pumpkin / Goby

Standard all-purpose tube, bigger smallmouth, Great Lakes style

Default starting size

Poor Boys Fat Tube 4"

Green Pumpkin Purple

Trophy fish, big gobies, Lake Erie style

Upsize for quality bites

Weight vs Conditions

1/8 · 3/16 · 1/4 · 3/8 oz+

Go lightest weight that maintains bottom feel — heavy heads plow into rock and snag.

1/8 – 3/16 oz

Finesse / Shallow

Shallow rock, light current, calm wind, chunky boulders

Lighter heads glide through rock

3/16 oz

Standard

10–15 ft, minimal current, bottom dragging

Best starting point

1/4 – 3/8 oz+

Wind / Current / Depth

Wind, current, deeper water — only when you can't feel bottom

If snagging every cast, lighten up

Colors

Green Pumpkin · Goby · GP Gold · Black & Blue

Stay in natural bottom tones. Step to black & blue only when water gets muddy or low-light.

Green Pumpkin / GP Purple

Main Family

Crawfish, gobies, darters, suckers, river minnows — clear to stained

Default tube color

Magic Goby / Goby Tones

GP + Purple/Silver Flash

Smallmouth feeding on gobies or dark bottom forage

Dark-bottom imitator

GP Gold / Copper / KVD Kick

Light Craw

Crawfish bite or when a lighter brown-green profile gets more looks

Warmer water option

Black & Blue

Dark Contrast

Muddy water, low light, dirty rivers, heavy clouds

Strong silhouette

Retrieves

Drag · Hop · Vertical

Drag to read bottom and find fish, hop to trigger active ones, then slow down once located.

Drag

Default

Main retrieve — pull slowly so the tube crawls over rock. Reel slack, pull, pause, repeat

Naturally moves with current

Hop

Trigger

Active fish — snap off bottom and let it spiral back down like a dying baitfish

Fires up aggressive smallmouth

Current Drift

Rivers

Cast upstream or cross-current, let the tube crawl with the flow

Natural presentation in moving water

Common mistake — Hopping it constantly. Use hops to locate; drag once you find them.

Where to Throw Each

Chunk Rock Banks / Boulder Shorelines

Hard rock where smallmouth pin crawfish, gobies, darters, and minnows.

Current Seams / River Rock Piles

Cast upstream or cross-current and let the tube crawl with the flow.

Gravel Flats with Rock

Best when baitfish and crawfish are present — find fish, cover, and forage overlap.

Depth Transitions

Drag through the transition, then pause when it ticks the edge or a bigger rock.

Avoid Heavy Wood

Tube heads snag in wood — switch to a Texas-rigged tube when wood is the main cover.

Cheat Sheet

Default smallmouth setup

3.5" Coffee Tube Green Pumpkin on 3/16 oz head — slow drag.

Pressured / finesse rivers

2.75" Fat Coffee Tube + 1/8 oz mini head.

Goby lakes / trophy fish

4" Poor Boys Fat Tube Goby on 1/4 oz.

Dirty water / low light

Black & Blue tube, slower drag.

Snagging every cast

Drop weight one size — you're plowing the rocks.

Found a fish

Stop hopping, drag the area thoroughly from multiple angles.