Muskies go for tube baits in fall
The arrival of fall means muskies and other gamefish will be stacking up in slow-current pools. Tube baits, those broom-tailed soft plastic offerings that are so effective on bass, also are a top choice when targeting cold weather muskies in rivers and creeks.
Tubes, rigged with insert- style jigheads, fall in a spiral manner, a descent that can be the spark that triggers strikes. The broomtail of the bait furnishes an understated action that is less than a grub tail or the thump of a shad-shaped bait.
Most of the tubes I use on fall muskies are the same ones directed at smallmouth and largemouth bass in other situations. This includes Yum Bait's Vibra King Tube and Canyon Plastic's Great Lakes Pro Series Gitzits. I don't know that color is a big factor with river muskies. My partners and I have had good success with shades of watermelon seed and green pumpkinseed.
When targeting muskies with bass-sized tubes, some modifications are in order. The first is with the leadhead jig. I like the insert-style head used when presenting tubes to smallmouth bass, but upgrade to a jighead with a superior quality hook, choosing models made by Tourney Jigs (www.tourneyjigs.com). I use the heads molded on an Extra Wide Gap Gamakatsu hook.
The hook is extra strong, and will retain plenty of hook gap when using a tube bait with a fatter body. Jigheads in the one-eighth to one three-eighth ounce size cover the situations in which you'll be throwing tubes.
I fashion my own leaders from Gamma fluorocarbon material of either 60- or 80-pound test. The material is supple enough to tie knots with, rather than using crimp-on connectors. A high-quality ball bearing swivel connects the leader with the main line. The jighead is tied directly to the leader.
Foot-long leaders provide plenty of protection from bite offs without being cumbersome to cast.
The relatively light weight of the tube bait calls for downsizing equipment. You want a rod that will efficiently bring a muskie to the net, but still cast the smaller bait well. I use a seven-foot All Star TAS 846C rod coupled with a Pflueger Summit casting reel. The reel is spooled with 20-pound test Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line.
Odds are that a major slackwater pool will hold several muskies, maybe more. The ones you will target with tubes, though, are active ones, fish that will be holding on the edge of the habitat, in shallower water. That's why I recommend using the lightest tubes you can fish while still maintaining contact with the bottom.
Within a slackwater pool there will be shallow areas, which often are found along the fringes of the spot. This includes the tailout, where the pool gives way to the flat located below. The head of the pool, say the spot directly below a shoreline point or sandbar, is a premium spot. So is the bank section all along the pool. Submerged rocks and wood along a bank add to the likelihood it will hold a muskie or two.
When it comes to working the tube, there's really not much actual working to it. Many strikes will occur during the initial fall of the lure. When you have a visual target to cast to, such as a sunken tree trunk, aim your cast right at the spot.
Retrieves back to the boat or bank should consist of a dragging and/or light jigging motion. Once the lure is out of the shallow zone — the edge habitat — crank it back to the boat for the next cast.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
