Skipping Tubes

Like many bass anglers, I love fishing shallow anytime I can successfully catch the bass living there. Since most shallow water bass are cover oriented, bass anglers often target bass hanging around docks, laydowns, anchored boats and overhanging brush. 

Whenever the available cover creates a canopy (docks, overhanging brush, pontoon boats, etc.) bass hide beneath, the ability to skip a bait back under that canopy is key to consistently catching bass living there. 

Though there are a number of baits and rigging methods that can be skipped under overhanging cover, a simple 3" to 4" tube is a great skipping bait that many bass living in those areas seldom see.

Take a few minutes as MLF bass pro Kevin Vandam explains his approach to using a tube bait to coax bass holding under docks from their hiding spot and into his boat...

In the video, KVD tell us he uses a 6' 10" medium power, extra-fast action spinning rod, Size 200 spinning reel filled with small diameter braid and leader and a tube rigged on an open, tube style jig head:

KVD's Tube Skipping Rod:   Lew's KVD Series Tube Rod

KVD's Tube Skipping Reel:   Lew's KVD Series Tube Reel

KVD's Selected Tube:            Strike King Coffee Tube

Tube Jigheads:                        Tube Jigs

Just like KVD, when I first started skipping baits under docks, overhanging brush and such, a tube bait (Gitzit or Berkley Powerbait tube) was one of the three lures I would rotate through along with a 5" curly-tailed grub or 5" to 7" worm; all fished on a similar type spinning setup. 

One big difference between KVD's approach and mine: 

I opted for a weedless jig head like the Owner Ultrahead Weedless Finesse jig head opposed to an open style jig head since I was typically skipping both docks and overhanging brush!

It definitely helps keeping the bait from getting hung up and still provided great hook-ups even when fished on light (8 lb test) line.