Thinking of trying some tube baits for largemouth and smallmouth bass. Tried a few times but never had any bites and the tail didn't separate and have that slow expansion that I have seen on tube videos. I think it's was a power bait tube I used. 

 

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a tube that has tails that don't clump together in the water. Any suggestions regarding brand, size, and colour are appreciated. 

The 3.5" Strike King Coffee Tube in green pumpkin is a stable in my own tube fishing world.

Reasonably priced, durable and until this weekend, almost always available. 

Another very good, but lesser known tube option is right here 

http://www.providertackle.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=66_70&product_id=174

Been hammering fish on this one for a decade plus. 

 

As for the tails clumping up, many brands seems to do that.

My solution is to snip off the last 1/4 inch of the tube tail,

or whatever I need to cut off the sections that are connected. 

Leaving just the individual strands. 

Good Luck

A-Jay

For largemouth I've had luck flipping the yum vibra king tubes. They don't seem to clump up...at least I haven't noticed.

Ditto on the SK Coffee Tube. Earlier this summer in the creek I fish, smallies and spots were just hammering it. Green pumpkin is a must, they also really liked the Crazy Craw color which is an orange pumpkin-ish color with some different color flakes mixed in. 

V&M Smallie tube for smallies (duh). Green pumpkin or any variation thereof works well.

 

Big Bite Baits Craw tube or Strike King Flip N Tube for largemouth. Black Blue tail, Black Neon, and green pumpkin for the SK. Watermelon red flake, green pumpkin, confusion, junebug, hematoma, or black neon for the BBB.

BPS Tender Tube #71

 

Snack Daddy elite tubes are my favorites, with Gitzits a close second. Both I feel are pricey but worth it. 

 

I do think you'll be fine with the Strike King coffee tubes though. 

Poor Boy Baits tubes for me!  Get a bag of 20 for $8

Net Bait made the best tube going.  Of course they discontinued it.  They had a color called "Lou's Special" that was probably the single greatest bass catcher I ever saw.

Yum vibra tube . Venom tubes are good. Poor boy baits. Elite tubes. Strike king flippin tubes.  The thing that will set a tube apart is the durability. Most of them are pretty much the same. I'm a tube freak fish them all year and I still have yet to find the perfect tube. The strike king flippin tubes are nice because they have a solid nose

I'm a tube freak fish them all year and I still have yet to find the perfect tube. 

 

MegaStrike Mega Tube Craw

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Megastrike_Mega_Tube_Craw_8pk/descpage-MEGATUB.html

Rig it on rhe MegStrike Shak-E2 head

https://www.megastrike.com/product-page/original-shakey-heads

Strike king bitsy tube is my favorite. I’ve never noticed or cared if the tails clumped together but the fish eat them year after year after year 

I absolutely love tubes and fish them all year long in all kinds of ways. You really can’t go wrong, but I’ll list some favorites below.

 

Skinny tubes:

Dry creek tourney tube

Bass pro teaser

 

Small tubes:

right bit 2.5”

mizmo teaser

bass pro teaser

 

Mid size tubes:

poor boys

right bite 3.5/4

Sk coffee tubes 

Secret lures stupid tube

isg dream tube

big bite 3.5/4

 

Bigger tubes:

Secret lures flipping stupid tube

big bite tour flipper

 

 

I’ve got some favorite colors that are more on the unique side, but like most soft baits a good start is a green pumpkin variant, a watermelon variant, and a black variant. Oh and maybe throw purple smoke in there too. 

 

Zoom green pumpkin.  All you really need 

Dry Creek...Candy...if had to choose just one....BUT I don't so have other's

Thanks everyone for the response. Looks like I have some great options and a lot of people seem to have high confidence so I will have to give it a go. Thanks again. 

Mizmo makes a good tube.

I find that I seem to fish the Stupid tubes more than any of the other ones that I have.

On 7/27/2020 at 8:07 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Strike king bitsy tube is my favorite. I’ve never noticed or cared if the tails clumped together but the fish eat them year after year after year 

What heads do you use for these?

 Just got some and they are way smaller than I expected.

1 hour ago, EzyEric said:

What heads do you use for these?

 Just got some and they are way smaller than I expected.

I shove an 1/8 oz round ball head into them and push on the eye, it will break through the bait and be ready to tie on. Caught several with it this evening 

Partial hijack, but the thread has all the right people... in southern waters when would one throw a tube and what would you throw it instead of?

16 minutes ago, txchaser said:

Partial hijack, but the thread has all the right people... in southern waters when would one throw a tube and what would you throw it instead of?

Throw it any time you would think of throwing a jig senko or creature bait. Most guys do not think to throw a tube for largemouth. I like these guys come tournament time. I turned one of my buddies on to tubes for largemouth and he hasn't put it down all year

I have had good luck with the swing oil J tube. A bigger tube but very durable. Before that I really liked the old Trigger X tubes, wish I could find more.

 

Realistically I haven't bought a brand of tubes that doesn't catch fish. I generally choose my tubes by color not the brand when in store. If ordering from TW I would probably go with the Strike king coffee tubes like others above.

18 minutes ago, txchaser said:

Partial hijack, but the thread has all the right people... in southern waters when would one throw a tube and what would you throw it instead of?

I fish up north, but will add that the tube is a very versatile lure. You can bounce it on bottom to imitate a craw, or lightly weight it and fish it up in the water column to imitate a dying fish. I only texas rig them on slider heads, but hear that spiral drop with the insert heads can be killer, just never got around to trying it over the years.

Gitzit tubes catch em

Dry Creek 3.5 Full Bodied Double Dipped Tubes/Bama Craw, Changeable Orange & Changeable Blue

 

Dry Creek 3.5 Tournament Tube/Old Ugly, Ghost Hologram & Green Pumpkin Purple Copper Flake

 

I don't use tubes as much as I used to. They were one of my top producing soft baits. Just not as effective as they used to be here. Lotta guys throw tubes. Strike King 

KVD Pro Model Tubes and Mismo Tubes were also in the rotation. I need to down size and pick up some in 2.5/2.75" sizes.