I love to read about bass Fishing and I was reading something about largemouth bass and it was talking about tube jigs usually if you’re fishing for largemouth bass usually a tube is Texas rigged. So the question is in the 90 early 2000 what exactly was a tube jig for largemoith

I still think the majority of people fish tubes on a jig head.

It’s kinda like the original Ned rig but more of a spiral on the fall.

Traditionally rigged with a open hook but makers have developed “stupid” style tube jigs that essentially allow for weedless rigging the traditional way.

Tackle Warehouse carries all of the stuff you need to get started fishing tubes the traditional way.

I still like flipping them on a free rig but - tube jigs have their place. Love them on rip rap!

The Owner Phantom hook came out in the early 2000's and is weedless Texas rigging a tube.

Guido Hibdon won a lot of cash using them on light line and a jighead. Denny Brauer Texas rigged them and won a classic. I use them both ways.

I will rig it Stupid at times but with the line exiting the tube on top instead of the nose like on a Texas rig , it doesnt go through brush and laydowns as cleanly. It does all right in older wood without the small branches.

51 minutes ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

.....the question is in the 90 early 2000 what exactly was a tube jig for largemouth

A good question. And I wanted to know who invented the tube.....

"Bobby Garland is credited with inventing the tube bait, known as the "Gitzit," in 1964, making him widely recognized as the "father of tubebaits". Originally designed for light-line fishing in clear water, the hollow plastic lure with trailing tentacles became a revolutionary, highly productive tool for targeting smallmouth and largemouth bass."

So when you ask what is the tube lure? To me it is a great lure to catch with because it works, and it has also been a great lure to catch fishermen with as well. But once you get locked into buying into the tube fishing system, you find yourself in an endless trap. The following image does not even show the Shaw Grigsby method.

I love old Shaw Grigsby, one of the greats, but I never let him sell me the tube system. Today lots of companies make tubes and tube hook variations. If one is not careful tubes can really turn the bait monkey into a gorilla and cause your boat to ride low in the water.

I think the answer to your question is shown here by Shaw Grigsby back in 1991 on one of Florida's crystal clear spring fed rivers near where Shaw lives in Gainesville, Florida- but I do not recommend "wetting" a lead weight in one's mouth. Shaw does it on camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLO-8gJJ80Y

Bassmaster

Shaw Grigsby - Old School Tube Fishing - Bassmaster

Long before the flipping tube was a staple of shallow water, Shaw Grigsby, was using these mini-squids to take other anglers' entry fees.

And for inquiring minds... I actually spent the time awhile back trying to figure out what reel Shaw Grigsby was using in the video above back in 1991. And I think I have it figured out. Its a Quantum Great White 4W spinning reel. Today these are quite rare and difficult to find. Shaw had an endorsement deal with Quantum back then. He is seen wearing a Zebco hat, and back then Quantum was a side brand owned by Zebco.

Shaw has modified his rod and reel requirements over the decades since the 1991 video which in it he says medium and medium light rods was the way to go, but listen to him now:

"He throws the tube on spinning tackle, usually with 8- or 10- pound test fluorocarbon line.

"I'm using a 6-foot, 10-inch Quantum Shaw Grigsby Signature Series rod (Model No. PTS6105FSG) that I designed specifically for skipping and casting tube baits at sight fish," he says. "It's tremendous for worm fishing too. It's kind of a medium-heavy, so it has a lot of power in it, and it's got a parabolic bend which makes it easy to cast but it won't pull the hook out of the fish's mouth. Once you stick him, it'll hold him."

His rods have gotten longer and with more power over the years. So has his line. Back in 1991 I think he said he was using 4 to 6lb line. Now its 8 to 10lb. A slight increase.

So many of the the older terms that I commonly use and have been for a few decades in most any setting,

are now frequently deemed radical or politically incorrect. I can't even give examples for fear of being

- oh, can't say that either.

Fishing terms like Texas rig, Carolina rig, stupid tube, Childs rig, and fat girl might be on their way to getting added to the list. I'll probably just keep rolling like I do and blame it on old age.

👴

A-Jay

It's still called a tube jig, or "tube". Is that offensive now?

What, are the kids now calling it a “Subsurface Cylindrical Interaction Module (SCIM), with adaptive appendages” ??! 😁

But to answer @GoneFishingLTN post:

11 minutes ago, Glenn said:

SCIM

That acronym is taken by “squirrel cage induction motor” lol

It’s totally tubular brah ! That’s how I would have described it in the 90s.

I’ll be flipping them this year. I’m really into the stuff that nobody throws anymore. People get so obsessed with all the newest baits and techniques. The old stuff never stopped working

When you go way back, which is relative, the “tube jig” was created by Bobby Garland and the goal was to create a small plastic bait for panfish. A jig could be inserted in the hollow cavity or the lead jig head could be positioned outside the head of the tube.

The design was so effective Garland developed the Gitzit, the first tube dedicated for Bass. Like most new bait designs, anglers figured out numerous way to rig the Gitzit. The rest is history.

Personally, most of my tube fishing is with the jig head inserted and the hook exposed. I also fish a Flippin tube or craw tube rigged Texas style.

Back in the 90s, it was pretty straightforward. You were likely either Texas-rigging a tube designed by Guido Hibdon like the G-3 or G-4, usually with a hook similar to the Eagle Claw HP by Shaw Grigsby with lighter weights and often on spinning gear (those two guys won a ton of money doing it), or you were flipping a heavier, beefier tube like the Strike King Denny Brauer Flipping Tube (various spellings and offerings over the years) or Magnum Flipping Tube (w/EWG and heavier weight) like what Doug Garrett used to win the '97 Megabucks event, or Brauer the '98 Classic.

I've been fishing tubes ever since they came out in the 80's. They were a Western finesse bait at first, so I was fishing them before they became mainstream.

I still fish them today on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, I have 3 rods rigged up right now in my boat (split shot, jig head, T-Rigged for flipping). It's been pretty much like that year round for decades.

Whether smallmouth or largemouth, the tube almost always produces for me. I've made over a dozen videos on it: https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos?field_tags_target_id=190

I caught a bunch of fish on tubes last early season, both smallies and largies. I remember the very first fish I caught on a Gitzit, an 18-19” smallmouth on albino pearl in the late 90’s.

Strike King used to make a line of Elaztec tubes; they floated high, could be worked in tight places, and skipped very well when Texas rigged weightless. It was my best producing topwater for river smallmouth.