Fishing Frenzy

The tube n' worm is not any secret and for good cause. Tubes are affordable and may easily be made in your own home. Tubes catch sedentary bass as well as stripers which are aggressively feeding on baits which the tube is not going to mimic.

A tube will continue to work if bass are feeding on mackerel. A tube will also produce if striped bass are feeding on sand eels. Obviously a tube will give you results if striped bass are feeding on 24 inch long worms. Which leads to the debate about exactly what a tube n' worm rig actually imitates.

I completely believe stripers mistake tubes for ribbon worms and large sandworms that live in New England waters. These worms can grow to a length of four feet. Large sandworms and milky ribbon worms in many cases are reddish-pink or orange in color. Sandworms and ribbon worms are also likely to move through the water with a gyrating or spiraling action.

A 24 inch long ribbon worm, swimming through the water, possesses a strangely similar likeness to a correctly trolled 24 inch long red tube.

Should you be a striped bass accustomed to chasing speedy pogies and ink filled squid, then catching a worm must be about as simple as it gets. It could possibly be the human equivalent of hitting up the drive-thru over spending the energy necessary to prepare a turkey dinner.

In such a sense, it is my opinion stripers possess a "why not?" attitude towards tube n' worms. I believe that even if bass are honed in on different bait, they may still consume a big worm because it's so easy to capture.

Making the most of Time Spent On the Water

Enough time is spent on the water in search of fish, as we discussed last week in Developing a Strategy for Finding Big Fish.

The very last thing I wish to do is waste time tinkering with different techniques and lure options when I ultimately identify an area holding big striped bass. Uncommon are the days that a tube n' worm fails to catch a fish, when trolled through fish filled areas.

This makes it easy to feel confident, realizing that the tube will more than likely prove interesting to a passing bass, regardless of weather conditions or the presence of a certain bait.

Trolling three different tubes at three different depths through an area containing striped bass will quickly allow me to see what length/color tube and what depth will be most productive. Once a number of fish are caught, I will have a decent sense as to the most productive tube and depth. A quick modification to the other two tubes is all that is needed.