I  acquired some 4 inch flipping tubes. I plan on pitching them into brush piles , beaver dens and laydowns. What hooks do you like for this? How do you like to rig them? 

I like the Owner weighted tube hooks (1/8 oz 3/0)

If I were going to use them that way, I would rig Texas style with a worm hook to keep the hook point unexposed.

 

Down here we don’t have beaver dams or lots of lay downs.  We do have brush piles on most every point on most all of our lakes.  Football jigs and Texas rigged plastics are what I use on them.

3 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

If I were going to use them that way, I would rig Texas style with a worm hook to keep the hook point unexposed.

X2.  There is a lot of vegetation growing around here.

Texas rig them with a 3/0 or 4/0 hook.

stupid tube

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/stupid-tube-fishing.html

For your application, I recommend T-rigging with a pegged weight. This will eliminate the occasional line wrapping around a branch as it spirals down as with a Stupid rig or the Owner weighted tube hooks which are designed to keep the spiral.  

https://www.basspro.com/p/eagle-claw-lazer-sharp-tube-hoo

These are what I use. I tried the Trokar version, but they tear up the tubes in no time.

16 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

For your application, I recommend T-rigging with a pegged weight. This will eliminate the occasional line wrapping around a branch as it spirals down as with a Stupid rig or the Owner weighted tube hooks which are designed to keep the spiral.  

https://www.basspro.com/p/eagle-claw-lazer-sharp-tube-hoo

These are what I use. I tried the Trokar version, but they tear up the tubes in no time.

What size do you use? I have 4 inch tubes.

A 3/0 OMTD EWG Tube hook is the best I’ve found.

I have been using a flipping tube for many years. It’s one of my confidence lures. I am never without one on the deck. 
 

I use a 4” tube made by Right Bite Baits (bait and lures.com). If I’m somewhere like Toledo Bend or Sam Rayburn I’ll use their 5” tube. 

 

I always use a Texas rig with a 4/0 Mustad Big Mouth Tube Hook. And I usually insert a tube rattle into the tube. 
 

I usually start with a 5/16 oz. tungsten weight but I’ll go as light as 3/16 or as heavy as 3/8 depending conditions and cover. 
 

Hope this helps. 

 

 

24 minutes ago, river-rat said:

I always use a Texas rig with a 4/0 Mustad Big Mouth Tube Hook. And I usually insert a tube rattle into the tube. 
 

 Do you have trouble with the tube balling up  on the hook? I've been watching videos and that seems to be a common problem. I have some parasite clips that would fix that if it becomes  a problem.

 

I love fishing tubes. They probably get more bites per cast than any lure I've thrown. I use the traditional tube jig head with exposed hook. Now I'm wanting to expand into thick cover where I pitch Texas rigs and jigs.

I’d rather use a wide gap straight shank , Denny Brauer flipping hook was an excellent hook choice. Owner hook still makes a killer hook for this tube rig or any soft plastic quite frankly.. I have several in 5/0 and they are massive. 

42 minutes ago, scaleface said:

 Do you have trouble with the tube balling up  on the hook? 

When I rig a tube I leave the eye of the hook outside the head of the tube. Rigged the tube doesn’t slide down the hook and ball up. 
 

Also the hook up ratio is higher rigged this way. 
 

 

On 9/12/2025 at 10:35 PM, papajoe222 said:

For your application, I recommend T-rigging with a pegged weight. This will eliminate the occasional line wrapping around a branch as it spirals down as with a Stupid rig or the Owner weighted tube hooks which are designed to keep the spiral.  

https://www.basspro.com/p/eagle-claw-lazer-sharp-tube-hoo

These are what I use. I tried the Trokar version, but they tear up the tubes in no time.

I picked a package of those up today along with some heads with a wide gap for stupid rigging.

That was a huge failure. I tried flippinh tubes today and caught   ten or so bass but also missed ten or so. I'd set the hook, feel the fish, then the lure would come out. One time I had mouth tissue on the hook. I'm just not a fan of EWG hooks. Switched to a texas rig lizard and did much better.

12 hours ago, scaleface said:

That was a huge failure. I tried flippinh tubes today and caught   ten or so bass but also missed ten or so. I'd set the hook, feel the fish, then the lure would come out. One time I had mouth tissue on the hook. I'm just not a fan of EWG hooks. Switched to a texas rig lizard and did much better.

I think you can cut a slit in the tube on the side of the hook bend, not the side with the point. That way the tube can flatten out when the fish bites down. You can also use a straight shank flipping hook. But those can tend to poke through the plastic sooner. But yeah, the creature and craw/beaver baits work better for me too. The Senko style baits are probably my best pitching bait. I got my PB on one. I still use a Gamakatsu EWG superline hook with all of these. I've tried them all and just settled on this one. I used to use regular hooks until a potential PB straightened one out.

28 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I think you can cut a slit in the tube on the side of the hook bend, not the side with the point. That way the tube can flatten out when the fish bites down. You can also use a straight shank flipping hook. But those can tend to poke through the plastic sooner. But yeah, the creature and craw/beaver baits work better for me too. The Senko style baits are probably my best pitching bait. I got my PB on one. I still use a Gamakatsu EWG superline hook with all of these. I've tried them all and just settled on this one. I used to use regular hooks until a potential PB straightened one out.

I went to bed last night thinking about this like I often to do after fishing. First I'm using a thick walled tube . I think thin ones will collapse better. Second I'm using a Laser sharp  tube  flipping hook . I'm going to go try a thinner EWG worm hook. I think it will be a better combination. I dont want to abandon pitching tubes because they get bit and nonone throws them around here.

15 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I went to bed last night thinking about this like I often to do after fishing. First I'm using a thick walled tube . I think thin ones will collapse better. Second I'm using a Laser sharp  tube  flipping hook . I'm going to go try a thinner EWG worm hook. I think it will be a better combination. I dont want to abandon pitching tubes because they get bit and nonone throws them around here.

I put some in my bag for that very reason. But I have yet to use them. There seems to be a huge difference in diameter between the 3" and the 4". I don't really have a small enough flipping hook for the 3".

Look up Denny Brauer video he invented the solid body flipping tube.

Tom

3 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Look up Denny Brauer video he invented the solid body flipping tube.

Tom

Would have the link Sir , I can’t find it 

 Today was a huge improvement. I bought a pack of Zman tubes. Used a 5/16th oz weight with a EWG hook. Dont know the manufacturer or size, probably a 3.0. I Texas rigged it using a parasite clip to keep the tube from balling up . Then I added a bobber stop to the hook   slid  it up the shank after the tube was texposed,, to keep the lure straight. Caught approximately 30 bass and only used two tubes. I had three fish come off. Two of them I didnt get  a hookset. One thing I noticed fishing tubes in wood , More times than not the bass are running with it.  I can take a picture of the rig if anybody wants to see it.