Just picked up 4 packages of Tubes from the Local Tackle shops clearance bin. They are made by Big Boys Bait company and I beleive they are out of business. The tubes are the standard size,not real huge but also not  tiny crappie tubes .

 Colors I purchased were:

Grey(smoke) with red fleck

Off white color(kinda like the color of an item that would glow in the dark) with black fleck

Pumpkinseed

Grey(smoke) with multiple color sparkles

Now heres the questions I have:

1. Whats the best presentation for these baits?

2. Whats better? An exposed hook or a weedless T-rig? With a weedless T rig what size hook is good?

3.Out of the colors I mentioned above,which might be a good overall productive color?

4.What size weight should I use? I can get 1/4 and 1/8 oz jig heads

5.Spinning or baitcasting setup,which is best for these baits?

6. Why are tubes so darn popular? What is it about them that appeals to the fish? Exactly what is a tube supposed to mimic?

A little info on your lakes rivers or streams would help. Sounds like good colors. Tubes remain popular because the catch fish everywere.

Garnet

The lake I fish  has  vegetation that extends about 6-7 feet out from the bank in some areas. There is a "dam" and its made up of Boulders. Theres also areas of steep cliffs that extend straight down into the water. The deepest part I have fished so far measured about 50 feet deep. I dont have a graph or electronics on my boat so I can only observe what I see above the water level.No trees in the water at this time,they will be when the rains come though.There are sections of reeds. Water clarity is good. Supposedly this is the "cleanest lake in Arizona". This lake is stocked with Rainbow Trout,also has Bluegill,Green Sunfish,Largemouth Bass,and Redear Sunfish. There are also crayfish which live in the lake.

I only fish jig heads with 3 1/2" tubes in open water for smallmouth bass. Otherwise, I prefer T-rigged, Tx-posed, skin hooked, 1/8- 1/4 oz bullet or barrel weight, with a bead and unpegged. I fish all soft plastics on spinning tackle, 7' Medium Power/ Fast Action and #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft. Color is not important as long as it's DARK! (Exception is 3 1/2" Mizmo Kent's Classic or squash green).

I fish tubes like a Senko most of the time. Occasionally I'll fish it with short hops and sometimes with long exaggerated lifts, letting the tube spiral on slack line. However, my most productive technique for big bass is doing nothing: cast out, light a cigarette and let it lie. After the first smoke, reel in about ten yards SLOWLY and light another, maybe drink a beer...NOTHING is VERY productive. In a boat, drifting with the wind over points with the tube dragging the bottom is killer.

My three best producers of big bass are (in order):

#1 Fat Ika

#2 6" Senko

#3 Micro Munch Tackle El Gordo tube (black neon)

Check out the Ikey jig heads, they work very well for T-rigging tubes and come in a variety of sizes.  The weight just depends on the conditions at hand, such as depth, current (if any), cover, etc...Tubes work very well for sight fishing bed fish, they see it as maybe a perch, shad or other bait fish trying to eat their eggs.

There are a few ways I fish tubes.

One of the ways I do most is a tube rigged texas with a 4/0 ewg hook tx-posed with a 1/2 oz to 1 oz pegged worm weight for penetrating thick cover I pitch and flip the tubes into the little holes in the cover let them hit bottom trying to feel the weight all the way through the cover. I than shake the rod tip just a little to get some movement out of the tube in this case I feel it is mimicking a crawfish. I than jerk it out and find the next little hole in the cover. I use mostly dark colors for this.

I also rig them weightless with the same hook and swim them like a fluke. I usually use the white to silver type baits mimicking a shad or wounded fish.

The other way I have used them is fishing open deep water structure with a bullet head inserted inside with a exposed hook and fish them verticle on that structure here again mimicking a crawfish. Recently I have been trying some on a dropshot rig as well using a smaller tube and have caught a few that way as well. I think the tube is one of the most versitile baits around there one of my few year round confidence baits I alway have one rod rigged with one.

Check this thread, it should have info for you:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1167358924/0

Not sure if this has been listed yet, but I remember watching a show with Woo Daves and he was fishing a tube using a soft weight insert instead of a jig head or bullet weight.  He inserted it into the tube, passed the hook through the tube and the soft weight, and T-rigged it like you would any other soft plastic.  This allows the weight to be forward and the tube falls straight down, and also keeps from damaging the tube after setting the hook repeatedly b/c the weight insert is solid and keeps the hook still.  Not sure where to get them or how they are available, just thought I would list it as it looked like a cool deal.

How do you rig a tube with a jig head?

I try differant things with tubes,some effective some not so. Mostly t-rigged or texposed weightless,sometimes I stick a splitshot inside them if I want them to sink a little faster,the next way would be on a Venom Deathgrip rattling jig head. I use to weight them with worm weight to throw them in the lillys and such,but I like the Fat Ika better for that now.

When i fish tubes, i always run the line through the top of the tube, insert a bullet weight up into the head of the tube, then tie on a straight shank hook. It is pretty much a homemade version of a jighead.  This setup is nice, because when you catch a fish, the tube and bullet weight will shoot up the line, making it easy to remove the hook and the tube doesnt really get damaged at all.  

How do you get the line INTO the tube?

;)just found my 20 year old flyin lures, and helicopter baits. the boys are excited, I dont know how to break it to them.

Here are pics of the Tubes I have. Which color would be an all around good color to use?