How to Catch Striped Bass: Common Tube and Worm Trolling Mistakes   by Ryan Collins

in Outdoors / Fishing    (submitted 2011-08-28)

1) Fishing the Tube in a Spot that is not Holding any Bass

This particular one seems to be a no-brainer, even so it shows up often. Despite the fact you are fishing in a recognized "hot spot" such as Scorton Ledge, the Fingers, Race Point, or the Elizabeth Islands, it would not necessarily mean that you are in a hot spot for that specific fishing excursion.

Throw a glance around the next instance you happen to be on the H2O. When it comes to Cape Cod Bay in particular, the striped bass could really be pretty much anywhere in the Bay. There's a TON of water around to cover! I by no means put a line in the drink until I see a minumum of one striper on my fish finder. Locating just one striper, within all this open water, is a big matter. Probabilities are that one fish underneath your transducer is but one of a lot of stripers contained in the immediate vicinity.

So when you go forth onto the water, consider cruising in a strategic pattern via many of the local "hot spots" until you start marking striped bass or bait. Now place the tube and worm rigs in the water and troll around for a while. If nothing else shows, carry on hunting around. Consuming several additional gallons of gasoline cruising around will be worth it-have faith in me!

2) Experimenting with different tube colors first, instead of depth and tube size

There's most likely a boat load of individuals that will differ with me about this (that's A-OK) but I don't see a need to hold tube colors aside from black, red and perhaps orange. I feel hot pink, green, purple, brown and other color tubes are built to snatch fishermen-and certainly a couple stripers from time to time. A few years back I carried orange but I do not any longer.

Any time you are not catching any bass, but fishermen surrounding you are catching fish, it may be the depth you set your tubes at, or the tube length, instead of tube color which is hindering your catch.

Unfortunately this happened to me just a couple weeks ago.. The fishing was very hot, but without warning it strangely ceased. I actually first decided the bite had shut off, but I realized that my fishing bud was still hitting them hard. I experimented with switching the quantity of colors I had been trolling and then changing the tube color. I went on hooking not a thing.

It was not until I realized that my friend was fishing an 18 inch red tube, in place of the 24 inch red tubes we had been trolling all trip. Unluckily I only had 18 inch black tubes with me. However it did not matter much to the stripers, and as soon as the striped bass saw that 18 inch black tube they bit it and we commenced landing bass once more. Stripers are often very fickle creatures.

I've also experienced plenty of times during which I had been getting fish fishing with 3 1/2 colors all trip. Then, for some reason, we no longer would entice a bite but go on marking bass. A simple depth alteration to 4 colors was all we needed and we were able to begin catching again. I may likely not fully grasp the impact a half of a color makes to the bass-nonetheless I will certainly not ignore the importance.

If I find myself not catching bass, but I am marking fish on my fish finder I will generally:

1) First experiment with amount of colors (depth)
2) Fiddle with tube length
3) Made adjustments with tube color

3) Fishing only 2 tubes instead of 3

A number of years back I would to troll 4 tube and worm rigs from my 21 foot boat the Miss Loretta. Today when I take people out fishing, I've found that fishing 3 tubes, each one on leadcore, performs somewhat smoother.

Always having that 3rd line in the water is useful for a few reasons.

1) That tube is yet another hook in the water for striped bass to hit, which instantly boosts your bass boating capability. All other variables held constant, the person trolling 3 lines will always catch more fish than the crew fishing just 2.

2) It makes it possible for you to fiddle much more with tube depth, length and color. By doing this you'll be able to rapidly find out what the stripers desire.

3) For some strange reason, most fish come on that tube fishing down the center of the boat.

Quite often once I discover a productive color (depth) and a successful tube color and length, I will go ahead and fish all three lines in the exact same fashion. To paraphrase, all three lines are going to be set at the exact same depth, are going to be the same color, and will be identical in length. As a result of the positioning of rod holders on the Miss Loretta, the third line runs exactly in the middle of the boat and is positioned somewhat closer to the back of the boat than the other rods.

What this produces in the water is a "trolling spread." All 3 tube rigs are running at the exact same depth, but the single tube and worm rig that is being fished off the 3rd line (which is arranged down the center of the spread) is positioned just a little behind the other two tubes. This is because that center rod holder is set a bit closer to the stern of the boat than the port and starboard rod holders. The 3rd tube is trolled just a couple behind the other two tubes.

It's the same principle that goes into squid bars and umbrella rigs. The rule is that you normally position one lure that trails slightly behind the school. With three tube and worms in the water, an angler really is establishing a "school of worms" squiggling through the water column. The middle tube (worm) has fallen a little bit behind the other two tubes (worms). Bass usually focus in on the prey item that stumbles behind the rest of the school. I believe this is the reason why my middle tube rig typically catches more bass the other two rigs.

About the Author

Captain Ryan Collins is a charter and commercial striped bass fisherman from Cape Cod, MA. His fishing blog,myfishingcapecod.com is geared towards helping novice and veteran fishermen learn how to catch striped bass.