I have had many people leave messages both on my blogs and forum.  How do you rig the "Stupid Tube"?

The Stupid Tube was made famous when Federation Nation angler Terry McWilliams from Indiana made the Bassmaster Classic through the Federation Nation ranks, largely on the fish he caught on his "Stupid Tube".  It got the name, because anglers back home always asked if he was catching fish on "That Stupid Tube" he so often used to beat them with.  See article on Terry here.

The only real difference between a Stupid Tube and a normal tube jig, is the way you rig it.  The stupid tube still used a tube jig head or similar jig head, but you kind of rig in a hybrid between a texas rig, normal tube rig and a shakey head!  Below are picture diagrams of how to rig your own "Stupid Tube".  The reason the stupid tube rig is so deadly, you get a similar erratic fall and action as an exposed tube jig, but its virtually weedless and still gets great hook ups on fish!

Start out with your favorite 3-4" Tube, and either a tube jig head, shakey head jig or even a ball head jig.  The jig shown here is a Picasso Shakedown Head and a 3-1/2" Strike Kind Coffee Tube


Start by inserting the hook point into the hollow end of the tube


Run is all the way up and poke it out through the tube wall near the head, about wear a texas rig hook would come out, about a 1/4" from the nose of the bait.  You will find where you like it for your jig with a little practice.


Pull the hook out, so the head fits snug up in the nose of the tube & then poke the eye of your jig head out the other side of the tube, so you can tie your line there



Then bring the hook back into the tube body and out the other side like a texas rig and then skin hook the tip of the hook back into the tube wall so it covers the point of the hook.  This keeps the hook from catching on snags & weeds, but only takes a little pressure to stick a fish!


Experiment with different jig heads, weights, hook & tube sizes to fit your needs.  This bait comes through cover and skips great.  Another big advantage over texas rigging your tube is that texas rigging tends to tear up tubes real bad after just a few fish.  You usually can catch a limit or more before you need to replace your tube with this rig.  So rig a handful up the night before and you should be set for the day!

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich's Bassin' Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog