Tube and Worm by kayak fishing Stuff

I ‘d like to share with you what has become the deadliest technique for fishing off a kayak in the Northeast. It's called the Tube and Worm (T'n'W). I first became aware of the rig in June of 2002 when Joey, Doug, Jim and I were in a tackle shop in Cape Cod looking at lures. We came upon the T'n'W and we discussed how it was one of the hottest big bass lures in New England. Commercial fisherman used them at night in the bays and hammered fish. We discussed how we should try it off of our kayaks but we didn't take it any further.

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Fast-forward 6 weeks to the first Saturday of August. It was in the middle of the Dog Days of Summer. A bunch of us decided to get together and go kayak fish western Long Island Sound. This particular area produces well in the summer, as there's a lot of deep water and terrific structure. The same crew as above and a few others joined us. One of them was our buddy JoeV. He had been using something new and had been slaying fish for a few weeks with it. It was a small, burgundy T'n'W. The rig consisted of a surgical tube, a leader of approximately 2 feet, and a plastic rudder. The entire rig was tipped with a live sandworm. Everyone caught fish that day with the majority being schoolies to a few keeper-sized fish. Joe got 37 stripers with many good fish into the upper teens. I personally watched him loose 2 very large fish that were in the 30-pound range. After a while Joey couldn't take it any longer and borrowed the rig. He couldn't paddle for a minute without a striper hook up! That was enough for us. We all had to get T'n'W rigs.

That day was a real eye opener and I concluded 2 things: I needed to start using the T'n'W and our typical outfits loaded with 30 pound braid were inadequate for the task, especially when fishing near structure. To do so was a recipe to getting rocked by the larger fish and one could go through a lot of rigs this way. I learned this the hard way when a few weeks later I still hadn't setup a heavy outfit and got rocked by a freight train of a fish off of Montauk one night. I was helpless as I watched line peel from my reel.

So what is a T'n'W? It's a section of surgical tube that has been rigged in such a fashion that it spins through the water. There are numerous variations but they consist of wire that connects a hook to a barrel and the tube is slid over this with a hook at the end of the tube. The lure spins so it's necessary to either use ball bearing swivels or our preferred anti-twist device, a plastic rudder. A sandworm (I've only used sandworms) or bloodworm is placed on the hook and the entire contraption is trolled. If there are bass around they smash the you know what out of it. It really is amazing as the hits are savage. Tubes vary in length from a foot up to a few feet. Boats often utilize them with wire line and can troll some real monsters. I do most of my fishing from a kayak and I can't see a reason to use anything longer then 2 feet. People seem to make a big deal about color. The first ones we got from Joe were all a burgundy red, and they worked and still do. I've since used several other colors and they work too. I've concluded that the T'n'W is an attraction device and it gets the fish to notice it. Then they must smell the worm and wham, fish on.

Since kayaks always travel at trolling speed you can't really go wrong with it. Toss the rig out behind you at least 30 feet and start paddling. The T'n'W either is unweighted or lightly weighted so they tend to run very shallow. Combined with a kayak's stealth it's a terrific way to cover shallow flats. You can fish it anywhere but if there's any sort of fish holding structure around troll as close as you can to it. Here's where the kayak is the best way to present a T'n'W. Kayaks can access places that boats can only dream about. They literally get right on top of or in structure and that's the best place to catch fish. A fish finder is a big help too as it will show you depth, structure and fish. If I mark fish down deep I'll slow down and let the rig sink. Get the T'n'W near bass holding structure and then hang on.

That's brings me to tackle. I prefer spinning to conventional reels for this technique. The reason is that I can put the outfit in a rod holder and simply flip the bail and paddle if I need to let more line out. It's just as fast to flip the bail back too. A conventional requires more effort but if you decide to set up either a wire line or lead core outfit, to fish deeper, then it becomes necessary. A reel with a line counter built in would be helpful too. Letting out a lot of line is sometimes necessary too. This is important in some places. Cape Cod is such a place as the water is very clear. I found that I needed to get the T'n'W at least 150 feet from the kayak to consistently hook up. Whatever rod you choose make sure that it has some muscle. When hooking large stripers near structure you need to have some stopping power or else you're going to have a lot of fish swimming around with tubes in their mouths. Let a big bass get up a head of steam in an area where there's structure and you're never going to see just how big it was. Get at least a 7-foot rod and if you're using a touring or longer kayak 8 feet is the way to go. Even for shorter kayaks I prefer an 8' rod. The longer rod really helps when the fish makes those surges upon its first look at you and the kayak. I like a rod rated at least ¾ to 1 ounce for the low end and up to 3 or 4 ounces. As to a line choice I don't recommend using mono. The stretch is a big negative especially if you need to put the T'n'W out any distance at all. Go with braid with a minimum of 50 and you can go as high as 80 pound. I use 50 and 65 on my outfits. You want a line with minimal stretch and strong so you can really put the hammer on a big fish. You have to break their spirit and keep them out of the structure or you're going to loose a lot of fish. Light line doesn't let you do this. I keep my drag fairly tight but I also add pressure with my hand on the spool.

Another important accessory is a small ice chest. This is for storing the worms. It's especially important in the warmer weather, as the worms won't last long if not on ice. Get a small 6 pack sized cooler in either hard or soft design. They're less then $10 and readily available. They'll keep your worms lively, and that will produce more fish.

While on the subject of worms, as stated earlier, it's an integral part of the rig. I know people have tried all kinds of things but it takes the worm to make this rig effective. I've only used sandworms but I'm told that bloodworms work too. I like rigs with either barbless hooks or very small barbs. If it's a large barb I grind it off with a Dremel tool and make a conical point. I get a nice puncture and since there aren't any cutting edges on the point (if there were I use the Dremel to eliminate them) the hole remains small. As long as I keep pressure on the fish I won't loose it. Also since I release almost every bass I can give slack at the kayak and the fish will often get off by itself without my having to handle it. It's better for me and for the fish. The conical, barbless hook also is great for when I thread the worm on the hook. This way I do minimal damage to the bait. I try to put the point of the hook through the mouth and thread it about an inch. The head of the worm ends up in the end of the tube. The worm is then left dangling. Most fish tend to inhale the entire worm: even small fish. Often the fish will hit it a couple times. Since I'm trolling I let the fish hook themselves and by the time I get the rod from the rod holder the fish is taking line against the drag and turning the kayak.

The T'n'W can also be cast to fishy looking spots. For this type of fishing a T'n'W that doesn't require a rudder is a better rig. You'll need to use some high quality, ball bearing barrels.

So get setup with a T'n'W and appropriate tackle, get some worms and start exploring. You're going to have a lot of fun going on some sleigh rides.