Trolling with tube and worm for striped bass has been very productive for me over the years. It is a more passive than active tactic compared to site fishing and casting. However, the method allows you to cover a lot of ground when fish are on the move, below the surface and can put your bait exactly where the fish are in the water column. The reward for your patience? You catch bigger striped bass.
Here are a few tube and worm trolling tips that will enhance your catch.
What is a tube and worm rig? A tube and worm rig consists of a colored rubber tube with wire running through it. At one end it has a weight and a swivel that attaches to your line and a hook (or two) on the other end. A live or artificial worm is placed on the hook.
What type of line is used? Fishing with tube and worm generally involves trolling with lead core line (wrapped with braided nylon) or wire line so the tube sinks to a desired level depending on how deep the water is and where the fish are. Generally you want the tube close to the bottom where the big bass are. Lead line is generally used in the Bay for depths of eight to twenty-five feet and wire generally in the ocean for depths greater than twenty-five feet.
The line is marked or coded so the angler knows how much to put out for the depth of the water. For example each thirty feet of lead line is a different color and gets you down five feet. However, I have found this to vary widely depending on the current, weight of the tube and boat speed (when trolling for bass in the Bay I like to troll at 1.5 to 2 knots).
Different types of rigs. Tubes come in all sizes and colors. I have had great luck with red tubes in Narragansett Bay, but amber tubes seem to work best in the ocean in deeper water. I keep a few colors on board… black, orange, purple, red, amber, etc. and rig two different colors and see which color the fish seem to bite. Then switch the rigs to the color that is working.
Knot your tubes. This is important… tubes are supposed to curl and twist like a cork screw as they go through the water. The twisting helps call attention to the bait and they say the bass see it as an eel or large worm going through the water. So buy tubes that are rigid enough to hold a twist. Many anglers knot tubes in storage so they are not flat when they are pulled through the water.
Where to troll. Troll close to shore where bait can get trapped by bass and any place that has good structure on the bottom… rocks, ledge, debris, near bridge pilings, holes and at the edge of current flows. Large bass hold up behind rocks and pilings, in holes and outside of current flow waiting for bait to swim by and then move to take the bait. The ideal place to troll is along a rocky coastline close to shore. Lobster pots are often placed on the edge of a drop off. So although they can create accidental hook ups, tolling near lobster pots is usually a good bet… you’re on a ledge and there is bait in the pot which acts like chum.
Single hook good for catch and release, but keep the pressure on. Striped bass taken on tube and worm are generally hooked on the lip (no gut hooks) with a single hook. The hook is easy to remove and causes minimal trauma to the fish. However, the single hook in the lip can easily be shaken loose by the bass, so it is important to keep pressure on the fish.
Fighting and boating your catch. When fighting fish it is important that the master of the vessel keep the boat moving forward at slow speed and the angler keep pressure on the fish keeping the pole high. Vessel movement is often achieved by putting the boat in and out of gear so it creates slow forward movement. Once the fish is close to the boat try to bring it to the side of the boat so it can now be removed from the water by hand or gaff without shaking loose the hook. These tactics are difficult to do if the angler is alone. Safety should be your top priority, so you may only be able to use some of these tactics when alone.
Where’s the Bite
Fresh Water. Harold Hemberger reported catching three nice pike (the largest six pounds) and one bass on Waterman Lake last Sunday at sunrise with shiners. Melonie Carr and her partner Joe caught five trout, two at Carbuncle Pond in Coventry and three on Wood River. I met Julies Mitchell of Warwick on his way out for a day of bass fishing on Indian Lake. He related he has caught a lot of great bass in Warwick, close to his home, at places like Arnold Pond. Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle in Providence/Coventry/Bristol reported that Dave Pickering caught a 22 lb. carp and Devon White (seven years old) caught a 17 and an 18lb carp at Lake Tiogue in Coventry. Fresh water fishing has been consistent but few have caught their daily limit.
Striped Bass. The striped bass bite seemed to slow as the water cooled last week (dropped two degrees by Friday) and fish in the lower part of the Bay were finicky. Mike Shepard from Newport reported that the bite on and around Aquidneck Island slowed. However, striped bass were being caught in the upper Bay as the water warmed up again Saturday. Anglers caught striped bass using a variety of baits. Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle in Warwick reported anglers taking fish all over Greenwich Bay… Sally Rock, Warwick Light, Sandy Point, etc. A lot of fish, school bass as well as keepers up to 36”, taken on medium sized storm shad. Early in the week I caught six fish using surface and swimming plugs and at the end of the week landed five fish using tube and worm including a 30” keeper on Greenwich Bay.
Tautog bite was strong in Bristol Harbor this week with Captain Billy Silvia reporting several seven to eight pound fish taken. No fish reported taken at Ohio Ledge Saturday with an incoming tide. However, Ken Ferrara from Ray’s Bait & Tackle reported anglers landing good sized tautog (8 lbs.) at Spindle Rock and Ohio Ledge on Monday with the outgoing tide.
Fluke. This week the RI Department of Environmental Management establish a 21” summer flounder minimum size, with a season that runs from June 17 to December 31 and a possession limit of six fish per person per day. So far other 2009 Recreational Marine Fisheries regulations have stayed the same.
Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license. Your fishing photos with captions, stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net .
Here are a few tube and worm trolling tips that will enhance your catch.
What is a tube and worm rig? A tube and worm rig consists of a colored rubber tube with wire running through it. At one end it has a weight and a swivel that attaches to your line and a hook (or two) on the other end. A live or artificial worm is placed on the hook.
What type of line is used? Fishing with tube and worm generally involves trolling with lead core line (wrapped with braided nylon) or wire line so the tube sinks to a desired level depending on how deep the water is and where the fish are. Generally you want the tube close to the bottom where the big bass are. Lead line is generally used in the Bay for depths of eight to twenty-five feet and wire generally in the ocean for depths greater than twenty-five feet.
The line is marked or coded so the angler knows how much to put out for the depth of the water. For example each thirty feet of lead line is a different color and gets you down five feet. However, I have found this to vary widely depending on the current, weight of the tube and boat speed (when trolling for bass in the Bay I like to troll at 1.5 to 2 knots).
Different types of rigs. Tubes come in all sizes and colors. I have had great luck with red tubes in Narragansett Bay, but amber tubes seem to work best in the ocean in deeper water. I keep a few colors on board… black, orange, purple, red, amber, etc. and rig two different colors and see which color the fish seem to bite. Then switch the rigs to the color that is working.
Knot your tubes. This is important… tubes are supposed to curl and twist like a cork screw as they go through the water. The twisting helps call attention to the bait and they say the bass see it as an eel or large worm going through the water. So buy tubes that are rigid enough to hold a twist. Many anglers knot tubes in storage so they are not flat when they are pulled through the water.
Where to troll. Troll close to shore where bait can get trapped by bass and any place that has good structure on the bottom… rocks, ledge, debris, near bridge pilings, holes and at the edge of current flows. Large bass hold up behind rocks and pilings, in holes and outside of current flow waiting for bait to swim by and then move to take the bait. The ideal place to troll is along a rocky coastline close to shore. Lobster pots are often placed on the edge of a drop off. So although they can create accidental hook ups, tolling near lobster pots is usually a good bet… you’re on a ledge and there is bait in the pot which acts like chum.
Single hook good for catch and release, but keep the pressure on. Striped bass taken on tube and worm are generally hooked on the lip (no gut hooks) with a single hook. The hook is easy to remove and causes minimal trauma to the fish. However, the single hook in the lip can easily be shaken loose by the bass, so it is important to keep pressure on the fish.
Fighting and boating your catch. When fighting fish it is important that the master of the vessel keep the boat moving forward at slow speed and the angler keep pressure on the fish keeping the pole high. Vessel movement is often achieved by putting the boat in and out of gear so it creates slow forward movement. Once the fish is close to the boat try to bring it to the side of the boat so it can now be removed from the water by hand or gaff without shaking loose the hook. These tactics are difficult to do if the angler is alone. Safety should be your top priority, so you may only be able to use some of these tactics when alone.
Where’s the Bite
Fresh Water. Harold Hemberger reported catching three nice pike (the largest six pounds) and one bass on Waterman Lake last Sunday at sunrise with shiners. Melonie Carr and her partner Joe caught five trout, two at Carbuncle Pond in Coventry and three on Wood River. I met Julies Mitchell of Warwick on his way out for a day of bass fishing on Indian Lake. He related he has caught a lot of great bass in Warwick, close to his home, at places like Arnold Pond. Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle in Providence/Coventry/Bristol reported that Dave Pickering caught a 22 lb. carp and Devon White (seven years old) caught a 17 and an 18lb carp at Lake Tiogue in Coventry. Fresh water fishing has been consistent but few have caught their daily limit.
Striped Bass. The striped bass bite seemed to slow as the water cooled last week (dropped two degrees by Friday) and fish in the lower part of the Bay were finicky. Mike Shepard from Newport reported that the bite on and around Aquidneck Island slowed. However, striped bass were being caught in the upper Bay as the water warmed up again Saturday. Anglers caught striped bass using a variety of baits. Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle in Warwick reported anglers taking fish all over Greenwich Bay… Sally Rock, Warwick Light, Sandy Point, etc. A lot of fish, school bass as well as keepers up to 36”, taken on medium sized storm shad. Early in the week I caught six fish using surface and swimming plugs and at the end of the week landed five fish using tube and worm including a 30” keeper on Greenwich Bay.
Tautog bite was strong in Bristol Harbor this week with Captain Billy Silvia reporting several seven to eight pound fish taken. No fish reported taken at Ohio Ledge Saturday with an incoming tide. However, Ken Ferrara from Ray’s Bait & Tackle reported anglers landing good sized tautog (8 lbs.) at Spindle Rock and Ohio Ledge on Monday with the outgoing tide.
Fluke. This week the RI Department of Environmental Management establish a 21” summer flounder minimum size, with a season that runs from June 17 to December 31 and a possession limit of six fish per person per day. So far other 2009 Recreational Marine Fisheries regulations have stayed the same.
Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license. Your fishing photos with captions, stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net .
Very interesting to read this article.I would like to thank you for the efforts you had made for writing this awesome article.
ReplyDeleteKetchikan Fishing Charters