I'm thinking im gonna try the buckets. sorry for my ignorance but professor what does "PIA" stand for and is "lead on jigmasters" -lead core line of the penn jigmaster reels?

pain in the azz

Fishing The Tube And Worm - Charley Soares


This will be the best 12 bucks you can spend to get going.

For outboards I think they make a FLAP of sorts that can attach to the cavitation plate and it is set so that when you are moving slow it flops down and you go real slow, when you accelerate a little more it flops up and there is little resistance. I never used one but I have seen them in catalogs.
As for T&W....I have tried them and they do indeed work...I just have never landed a monster with the method. I did have a big one on once but ususally they are good for catching 20# class fish. (for me anyway)
I still don't get how they hook themselves either if they go for the head
Agree with Charlies book...the guy is the guru of the tube and worm!

LOL your not ignorant. Pain In the Ass :uhuh:

Yes lead core on jigmasters. Perfect set up, light, fairly inexpensive, and easy to maintain with minimal parts and easy open reel. Plenty strong enough for any bass in the ocean. If you can find the stainless or chrome over bronze spools all the better as the newer reels come with anodized aluminum spools and rarely last a season before they corrode no matter how diligent you rinse them. I just scored a brand new, old one, on E bay for 12 bucks. I think I got 10 back ups now still in their original boxes. :smash:. I also picked up a real decent reel at a flea market with ss spool for 5 bucks, just needed a good cleaning.

Yes Charlie's book is worth every penny.

on another note:

Hey Jay hope you and the family have a great Holidays.

Mr. Sandman. Jim, you just haven't been lucky yet. If you keep at it you will land a real big one sooner or later.. Very effective for large fish. Don't overlook the small 14 to 18 inch tubes.

Head of the worm, not tube. Tube is just the delivery system, something to catch their eye, cause them to feel the vibration.

I talked to my boat motor mechanic and he said he would not drill holes in his motor for one of those plates when I was thinking about it, but I do know people who swear by them. I just realized I can go plenty slow enough and didn't need it. I have fished with Jay and his trolling valve is nice and he gets that big steam roller to the perfect speed.:uhuh:

Merry Christmas Paul -- 117 Days til Launching Day!

Here's my Christmas Tube present -- (this is part of my morning charter orientation) watch the tips like a hawk, but resist any and all temptation to grab the rod when the fish first hits. Little bass will just pile on, but big fish will bump it a couple of times first, and then come back around and crush it.
It's kind of like, bump.. bump.. pause.. bump - CRUSH. If you try and set the hook yourself on the first one you'll miss your good fish. Let it hook itself right in the rodholder.
Be patient, if they don't come back - reel up, it got your worm.

Also - crank it tight in the outrodder, and then pick it up -- most fish are lost just getting the rod out and situated.

Happy Holidays.

I do so much T&W fishing that I steped down 1 pitch size on my prop to to get SLOW!!

Anyone ever use and dig yellow sand worms?? I find they work realy great when i have time to go dig them

I'm no pro, but have tube and wormed alot in my kayak... I know the bump.... Pause...bump.... Crash. And always assumed that was the fish slamming the head of the tube, then finding the hook.
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funny I leave the rods in the holders too. I also much prefer the horizontal rod holders in the port and starboard holders. if you read Charlie's book he says always hold the rods so to each his own . I need to drive the boat and fish 3 rods at once most times so that isn't going to happen. I very rarely miss any fish once they find the tube. I do really well fishing fresh sand eels on the tubes too. IMO I don't think the fish hit the tube very often, although I talked to a Montauk charter capt once and he told me they don't use anything but the bare tube so until a camera is mounted on the tube i really don't know what is going on down there but they certainly work, especially on large fish. IMO if you are obsessed with catching a big fish this would be my best advise to use, other than live bait.

I really don't know what they're doing to it on those bumps - I think about it all the time. I wonder if they tail slap it, and then come back around to eat.

I like the Tube-Cam idea - anybody that builds one can come field test on my boat. I'd love to know what's actually happening down there.

I always keep the rods in the holders parallel to the surface of the water and perpendicular to the side of the boat... Like this:
Attachment 37217


I have seen them slap the tube with their tail on several occasions, but I think most of the misses are just that, misses at the tail end of the tube.

anyone ever use a chartreuse tube and worm??

Find someone that is about to undergo one of those medical test wherein they swallow a mini-cam to get a few view of the digestive tract. Upon retrieval (somewhat messy) tell the Doc you accidentally flushed before finding the camera. Take the camera and insert into a tube.....have fun!

BTW: Niko gave me the idea from his comment: "pain in the azz"

The PillCam, about the right size for most tubes. You might also need the $26 image grabbing software used by the Taliban/Al-Qaeda to intercept the drone-cam?

yes. never got much on them. i have pretty much every color, size and style you can imagine. Must be 30 or 40 tubes down my cellar. I pretty much now use red in the day and black at nite in the 16" range. Got a few special tricks with them but I ain't sayin.


maybe I will ask around WHOI if they aren't using any of the underwater sonar, cameras that i may borrow one for some research:)

sounds like u all troll in a straight line....goin to fast? try makin "S" turns, every time u change your heading in the s you'll make the worn slow to a crawl ....as with wire, lot of big girls hit the jig when the line is slowing down going into the curve.

Has anyone here used down riggers for trolling tube and worm? seems like it would work real well....

where i fish i don't go deeper than 25ft... downriggers would be overkill. weighted keel with a big weight if you need it.

last year we put a 4oz egg sinker on the keel... went pretty much straight down. good for when your fishing lobster pots.

full disclosure... didn't catch anything that day. but looked like it should work :)