Stan Fagerstrom
03-13-2004, 08:03 AM
You Gotta Rig ‘Em Right!
Outlaw Baits Slam-It Tubes Deadly Bait For Big Bass
By Stan Fagerstrom
I don’t have the foggiest idea of how many new bass lures are introduced here in the United States each year.
I do know some of them disappear just as quickly as they show up. But not all fade away fast. Now and then one comes along that really works. It catches a sufficient amount of fish to carve a permanent place for itself among bass anglers all over the world.
One such is a little tubular hunk of plastic you often hear bass fishermen call “Gitzits.”
I knew the man who made the first of these popular baits. His name, as long time bass anglers will recall, is Bobby Garland. Bobby and his family lived in Oregon at the time. He later moved to Utah. I’ve lost track of him in recent years.
Bobby was a consistent winner in early day tournament circles. I was in the boat with him once in Missouri when he was competing in one of the former Western Bass Grand National Fly Away tournaments. Later he was our guest for a few days when we lived right on the shore of Southwest Washington’s popular Silver Lake.
Today plastic bait makers all over the country manufacture a variety of tube style lures. Some of the best are produced right here in Oregon. I’m talking about the plastic bass baits manufactured by Outlaw Baits. The Outlaw Baits lure factory is located in my hometown of Florence.
Regular readers of these columns may recall one I wrote last year after a trip to Mexico’s famed Lake El Salto. In that column I told how my partner and I clobbered those bigmouth beauties down there south of the border on an Outlaw Baits tube. I mention it again because since that story about how effective they were in Mexico appeared I’ve had calls from anglers who want to know how we rigged them. Anglers employ a variety of hook-ups with tube baits. The method I used in Mexico wasn’t fancy, but it sure as heck got good results.
The bluish colored Outlaw Baits Slam-It tubes we used at Lake El Salto are 4-inches long. The El Salto bass were often in submerged timber 15 to 25-feet down. You had to have a rod and line sufficiently strong to let you fight a fish up through the tangle of underwater branches. I used a G. Loomis flipping rod. My reel held 30-pound Power Pro braided line. I attached about 6-feet of 20-pound leader to the end of the braided line.
I started out with a 3/0 wide gap Gamakatsu hook, but wound up switching to a 5/0. Though I thought the 5/0 might be a bit large, it turned to be my best bet to get a solid hook set on those broad shouldered El Salto bass.
Take a look at the illustrations below. You’ll note I insert the point of the hook in the center of the head of the lure, then bring it out about an 1/8th-inch back. I then rotate the hook it and push the point all the way through the tube. I do not, as some fishermen do, leave the point of the hook inside the tube. I prefer to bring the hook all the way through, then slide the point just under the plastic skin of the lure on the top of the bait.
http://www.ifish.net/sfhowtorig1.jpg
Insert your hook through the nose of the tube.
http://www.ifish.net/sfhowtorig2.jpg
Push the point of the hook up through the body of the tube.
http://www.ifish.net/sfhowtorig.jpg
Now pull the hook back and run the point just under the plastic on the top of the tube and you're ready to go.
I favor this procedure because this way the hook point is up where it doesn’t have to punch its way through much plastic when a bass picks it up. I’m talking here only about the Outlaw Baits 4-inch tube. I change tactics on some of the smaller tubes.
Because those Mexican bass were often holding 15-feet or more down, it was necessary to use a substantial weight with our tubes. I tried several smaller sizes but wound up using 7/16th ounce slip sinkers. That big 5/0 hook and the 7/16th-ounce weight made for a totally ugly looking set up. At least it did in my eyes. Those pot bellied El Salto bass loved it! Any time I can sit right in one spot and catch 15 to 20 largemouth running up to 8-pounds, and we did that more than once, I don’t give a toot how the lure I do it with looks to me. The bottom line is what the fish think about it.
If you’ve not thrown tube lures, it’s time you did. Like any other bass lures ever made, they won’t always put bass in the boat. But some of the time they will. Some of the know-it-alls who were at El Salto last year told me it was a waste of time to throw tubes at that lake. I’d like to “waste time” like that more often!
I’ve told you how I rigged the Outlaw Bait tubes that clobbered those Mexican bass. You may have methods you like better. Rig yours any way you choose, but you’re missing a bet if you don’t give them a try. If your favorite dealer doesn’t have them in stock he can order them for you from Outlaw Baits. The phone number is (541) 007-7338.
Like I said, if you’ve not used tubes for bass, it’s time you did. A whole lot of anglers around the country have been doing that ever since my friend Bobby Garland made the first ones available several decades ago.
Outlaw Baits Slam-It Tubes Deadly Bait For Big Bass
By Stan Fagerstrom
I don’t have the foggiest idea of how many new bass lures are introduced here in the United States each year.
I do know some of them disappear just as quickly as they show up. But not all fade away fast. Now and then one comes along that really works. It catches a sufficient amount of fish to carve a permanent place for itself among bass anglers all over the world.
One such is a little tubular hunk of plastic you often hear bass fishermen call “Gitzits.”
I knew the man who made the first of these popular baits. His name, as long time bass anglers will recall, is Bobby Garland. Bobby and his family lived in Oregon at the time. He later moved to Utah. I’ve lost track of him in recent years.
Bobby was a consistent winner in early day tournament circles. I was in the boat with him once in Missouri when he was competing in one of the former Western Bass Grand National Fly Away tournaments. Later he was our guest for a few days when we lived right on the shore of Southwest Washington’s popular Silver Lake.
Today plastic bait makers all over the country manufacture a variety of tube style lures. Some of the best are produced right here in Oregon. I’m talking about the plastic bass baits manufactured by Outlaw Baits. The Outlaw Baits lure factory is located in my hometown of Florence.
Regular readers of these columns may recall one I wrote last year after a trip to Mexico’s famed Lake El Salto. In that column I told how my partner and I clobbered those bigmouth beauties down there south of the border on an Outlaw Baits tube. I mention it again because since that story about how effective they were in Mexico appeared I’ve had calls from anglers who want to know how we rigged them. Anglers employ a variety of hook-ups with tube baits. The method I used in Mexico wasn’t fancy, but it sure as heck got good results.
The bluish colored Outlaw Baits Slam-It tubes we used at Lake El Salto are 4-inches long. The El Salto bass were often in submerged timber 15 to 25-feet down. You had to have a rod and line sufficiently strong to let you fight a fish up through the tangle of underwater branches. I used a G. Loomis flipping rod. My reel held 30-pound Power Pro braided line. I attached about 6-feet of 20-pound leader to the end of the braided line.
I started out with a 3/0 wide gap Gamakatsu hook, but wound up switching to a 5/0. Though I thought the 5/0 might be a bit large, it turned to be my best bet to get a solid hook set on those broad shouldered El Salto bass.
Take a look at the illustrations below. You’ll note I insert the point of the hook in the center of the head of the lure, then bring it out about an 1/8th-inch back. I then rotate the hook it and push the point all the way through the tube. I do not, as some fishermen do, leave the point of the hook inside the tube. I prefer to bring the hook all the way through, then slide the point just under the plastic skin of the lure on the top of the bait.
http://www.ifish.net/sfhowtorig1.jpg
Insert your hook through the nose of the tube.
http://www.ifish.net/sfhowtorig2.jpg
Push the point of the hook up through the body of the tube.
http://www.ifish.net/sfhowtorig.jpg
Now pull the hook back and run the point just under the plastic on the top of the tube and you're ready to go.
I favor this procedure because this way the hook point is up where it doesn’t have to punch its way through much plastic when a bass picks it up. I’m talking here only about the Outlaw Baits 4-inch tube. I change tactics on some of the smaller tubes.
Because those Mexican bass were often holding 15-feet or more down, it was necessary to use a substantial weight with our tubes. I tried several smaller sizes but wound up using 7/16th ounce slip sinkers. That big 5/0 hook and the 7/16th-ounce weight made for a totally ugly looking set up. At least it did in my eyes. Those pot bellied El Salto bass loved it! Any time I can sit right in one spot and catch 15 to 20 largemouth running up to 8-pounds, and we did that more than once, I don’t give a toot how the lure I do it with looks to me. The bottom line is what the fish think about it.
If you’ve not thrown tube lures, it’s time you did. Like any other bass lures ever made, they won’t always put bass in the boat. But some of the time they will. Some of the know-it-alls who were at El Salto last year told me it was a waste of time to throw tubes at that lake. I’d like to “waste time” like that more often!
I’ve told you how I rigged the Outlaw Bait tubes that clobbered those Mexican bass. You may have methods you like better. Rig yours any way you choose, but you’re missing a bet if you don’t give them a try. If your favorite dealer doesn’t have them in stock he can order them for you from Outlaw Baits. The phone number is (541) 007-7338.
Like I said, if you’ve not used tubes for bass, it’s time you did. A whole lot of anglers around the country have been doing that ever since my friend Bobby Garland made the first ones available several decades ago.