Beginners - Let's talk about the T&W essentials

[DarkSkies]

How to set up a tutorial thread in this beginners forum:

There are a ton of tutorials out there to help the new guys getting started. Some of the best ones I found have been from Ocean Kayaks. I could use some help putting these up and laying out some new threads here.

What I'm asking you folks for help is in kind of illustrating these threads for the beginners, and labeling it in the title with some reference to beginners, or you could copy exactly the format in the title line above.

All you have to do is:

go to you-tube,

C&P the link,

and put it in the brackets so it shows up here.

Here's a tutorial:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=7

Simply putting up the you-tube link as shown above and the thread title for "Beginners" would be very helpful.

If you can post up any more than that, that would be awesome as well.

Thanks for any help you can give people, as I'm busier now and could really use the assistance.

Feel free to post up links as well. Links are decided on a case-by-case basis here.

For the most part, I'm pretty liberal about posting up links here, unless the person putting them up has a financial interest, is trying to spam the site, or is not a contributing member to these forums. Thanks.

[DarkSkies]

This came from the t-man's site, they have all kinds of T&W stuff there.

http://www.tmancustomtackle.com/

Tube Fishing FAQ's

1. Can I fish my T-Man Striper Tube without any weight?

Yes, you can rig your T-Man Striper Tube without any weight to troll in shallow waters. Tie a quality swivel on the end of your main line and attach a

3ft piece of fluorocarbon leader from the swivel to the tube. Or better yet, tie a T-Man Quick Change Weighted Keel "in-line" with your tube and simply remove the weight. Now your fishing weightless but also ready to add weight back on the frame when needed.


2. How much weight should I use to reach the depths I want to fish?

How much weight to use varies from trip to trip and area to area. It is dependent upon tides, currents, wind conditions, boat speed, line out behind the boat and boat direction. Below is a chart which will give you a good idea where to start!



Note: Use a bit more weight than the chart below describes when trolling our Tube Tail Spoons!!


3. How fast should I troll the tube and worm rig?

Slow, slow, slow!!! 2mph or less is ideal!



4. What should I use as bait to add to my T-Man Striper Tube?

Fresh sandworms, thinly cut squid strips, nightcrawlers, eels or artificial plastic worms

5. What type of line should I use when trolling the Tube & Worm?

Braided Spectra fiber lines from 30-50 pound test work very well with the T-Man Striper Tube and Quick Change Weighted Keel system.

6. Will other fish besides stripers hit the tube and worm rig?

Yes! Bluefish and other gamefish will hit the tube and worm rig readily!

Here's a list of fish caught on T-Man Striper Tubes ove the last few years...

Striped Bass, Bluefish, Blackfish, Fluke, Scup, Sea Bass, Sand Shark, Barracuda, Cobia, False Albacore Tuna and Weakfish.


7. Does the tube color really matter?

Absolutely. The scarlet tubes are consistently effective in almost all conditions. However, when fishing in murky or stained waters, try the hot pink or Hi-Vis bubblegum tube. The ebony tube can also be very productive just about anytime. Don't be afraid to troll a couple of different colors to help get a feel for what's hot on a given day!!

[DarkSkies]

Just some pics to illustrate the most basic of the T&W rigs.







Remember the following....

1. The T&W without a sandworm is like a store bought fish rig without the hook.

2. You can use other choices besides sandworms. Will they work?...sandworms are like crack to most fish. Wanna use something else?... be my guest, catch less fish.

3. Remember that a T&W setup will catch not only bass and blues, but other bottom fish as welll. Most of the online discussions speak about targeting bass and blues. We'll try to touch on other examples here.

4. There are a lot of technical things to remember for people who really get into this type of fishing. You can make it as complicated or simple as you want. I prefer simple, that's just me.

5. Try to follow the basic presentation and methods, but don't be afraid to experiment with different styles based on the water you're fishing.

6. Color? ...Use any color ya want, as long as it's wine red!






and I'll try to add to this when I have time, or you guys feel free to add to it as well.

[albiealert]

http://kayakcarl.com/

This guy is becoming pretty popular. A lot of kayakers fishing the islands of the Eastern Sound seem to be talking about his tubes because they have memory, and the wire lets you mold it however you want.

[DarkSkies]

Thanks Albie, Kayak Carl has grown in popularity, and it's easy to see why. He puts a lot of thought into the tubes he makes and how they will present in the water.

*************


Some people sent me some PMs and e-mails asking about the T&W. I'll preface this by saying there are quite a few guys out there who are amazingly talented at this. They're certifiable maniacs when it comes to T&W fishing. That probably happens once you start to use this and see how it produces. It's addictive as hell.

Others out there have a lot more experience doing this. To some of them, as mentioned, I have a deep gratitude for their generosity and patience in showing me.

I'll try to list here some of the things that have worked for me.....

Remember the techniques I describe below are best suited to trolling shallow areas with structure. If you want to try other areas, such as bridges, etc, you'll have to decide how to modify the techniques accordingly.






********************
Tube and Worm techniques for shallow water with structure:

1. Depth: I'm fishing 5-15' of water, any deeper and it seems they won't hit. (That could have a lot to do with the weight, as mentioned in point #2) This T&W advice is tailored to fishing rocky shoreline and shallow flats with rocky areas.

2. Weight: Weight is anywhere from 3/4 - 1 oz, depending on the tide and area. This is an important factor. You want to be touching bottom at times without hitting it constantly and picking up a lot of weeds. One thing I learned is you have to be flexible enough to know when to change the weight at the different tide stages. If you're fishing low tide, you need to adjust, but you still need to troll structure and rocky shoreline, or points off those areas.


Variations: You would have to adapt differently in deeper water or when fishing different structure like bridges. For example, when fishing bridge areas, you might need 1-3oz in weight to get you down where the bass are holding. This would all depend on stage of tide, moon phase (which determines curent flow and strength), and where the fish are feeding on that particular night.


As for weights, some who have a better handle on it than me fit the weight right in the top body of the tube. This allows the T&W to move more naturally under water and makes it less susceptible to snagging.

If you don't want to do that, I would recommend you place a very short length of 100# leader right before the top swivel, and tie your egg sinker into that 4" length so it's as close to the swivel as possible.

Pics of the ones I use are in this thread:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...?t=6408&page=5

3. Sandworms: if you think of a T&W as a "sandworm delivery system" you're already thinking better than most anglers. The tube and the action is what brings the fish in, the blood from the sandworm is what seals the deal and provokes the aggressive strikes.

Some people recommend a whole sandworm. I'm on a budget and can't afford to burn through 12 dozen each time out there. Also, bait stealers like porgies will peck at your offering without getting hooked when you have worm pieces dangling everywhere. I use a 1-2" piece, only enough to get the blood scent in the water, and change frequently. If you go 5-10 minutes without a hit, you're doing something wrong trolling, or you need to swap for a fresh worm piece. I generally get 3 baits out of each sandworm.

4. Tube size: different people have different theories on this. What has worked for me is 15-23". A good friend made me up some with #5 circle hooks. The hookup rate with these is great as they are all hooked in the mouth corners.

5. Colors: black and red are great colors. Others have done well using bubblegum color in murky or deeper water. I'm still experimenting and will be trying some smaller ones in bright primary colors with smaller hooks, for porgies.

The problem with smaller tubes is figuring the weight and kayak trolling speed combinations needed to keep them consistently near the bottom. The fish are always there when there is bait around. If you don't keep in contact with the bottom, you would never know that.

6. Trolling speed: Many recommend about 1mph. I don't have electronics right now, so my speed estimates are subjective. I try to keep in contact with the bottom. If the wind or current is pushing me faster than that, I have found it better to troll against either of those so I can better control the speed. In fact, when I really started paying attention to that and the presentation, I started catching more fish.

7. Presentation: A key mistake I made when I first started this was I didn't have the horizontal rod holders. You can get these "Scotty-type" at many kayak shops, or Cabelas. These allow your rod to be used like they do on the boats, with the T&W moving along the structure in a relatively smooth parallel action. Having the rods placed vertically hurts your hookup chances because the T&W will dance up and down too much, and the fish will miss it.

I compensate for this lack of proper holders by holding both rods tightly in a vice-like grip in my hands as I pedal along, kind of like Yosemite Sam. The rods are held at a right angle to the kayak and in a perfect horizontal direction from the water. I'll have the holders soon. In the meantime, the hits that come while you're holding the rods like this are like a jolt of lightning, and very addictive.

[DarkSkies]

6. Trolling speed: Many recommend about 1mph. I don't have electronics right now, so my speed estimates are subjective. I try to keep in contact with the bottom. If the wind or current is pushing me faster than that, I have found it better to troll against either of those so I can better control the speed. In fact, when I really started paying attention to that and the presentation, I started catching more fish.

I just wanted to repeat what I said here. Today the water was choppy, it was pretty windy, and there were some rollers. I also was fishing deeper water hoping for some surprises. I was using 1 oz egg sinkers all day. This made it a challenge when I trolled rocky areas, snagging was a regular occurrence. However, only by keeping in regular contact with the bottom was I able to get strikes. Whenever I had to speed up, rounding a corner, etc, the tube was not in the strike zone and I got no hits.

Also, I wouldn't say my speed was steady today. I slowed down or speeded up in response to water depth and bottom contour. The best results happened when I really paid attention to that. I'm doing this without electronics, so I kind of do it by "feel".

Others may have different solutions, but this is what works for me.

[DarkSkies]

Having the rods placed vertically hurts your hookup chances because the T&W will dance up and down too much, and the fish will miss it.

I compensate for this lack of proper holders by holding both rods tightly in a vice-like grip in my hands as I pedal along, kind of like Yosemite Sam. The rods are held at a right angle to the kayak and in a perfect horizontal direction from the water. I'll have the holders soon. In the meantime, the hits that come while you're holding the rods like this are like a jolt of lightning, and very addictive.

Again I want to stress the importance of keeping those rods held horizontally. The guy I was fishing with yesterday hooked less bass than I did on the T&W. I was holding the rods horizontally, his were vertical. He's a great fisherman though, a true fanatic and managed to get action going other ways.

But I wanted to try to illustrate the subtle difference that technique can sometimes make in your actual catch ratio.

I haven't had time to get the Scotty holders yet, so I'm still trolling like Yosemite Sam.

Yesterday was more of a challenge as there was lots of seaweed on the bottom where we were. You would have to stop and re-start every time you felt a slight weight on the tube. Otherwise the presentation is a waste of time if not done effectively.

[DarkSkies]

2 day report


Mon PM - yak fished 3 hours in windy conditions, 1 short bass on T&W.
At first I planned to fish a few places, but the first stop proved difficult with the steady wind. I missed the flood tide as well, and had to fight against current for the duration. However, after hearing all the great yak reports for 4 days, I theorized some other places would be holding good bodies of fish for the artificial bite. I was dead wrong on this theory, and spent the 3 hours proving it to myself. In the end, I was able to scratch one small bass on a T&W. The lamemess of that was apparent, as I trolled past lots of structure. If there were a reasonable amount of bass there, I should have had more action.

Slightly discouraged and with a building wind, I bagged if for the night with the yak still on the car.









Tue AM- had a small window before it got snotty this AM. Had 1 hour to fish before work. Got to the party a little late. It seems some of the nicer fish are nailed right around sunrise. Managed 2 short yak bass on artificials. Attachment 13432

They're hitting the plugs hard on the troll. I initially started out much further than I needed to be until I realized the fish are in relatively tight.

I started trolling bombers but got no love with them. Switched to small flashy yo-zuris, and got action within a few minutes. I got 2 short bass after that, and had to stop to get to work. The tide was dropping out anyway, and you could see the action dropped with the dropping tide.... (I believe this is called EBB Tide.... )

Met MSGDan (DannyV) out there and some of the guys he was with. He was giving pointers to a newbie, a younger kid who seemed very appreciative as Danny got him into a few fish. Despite his unselfishness, Danny remained high hook for the morning, getting into 15 fish to 36". 10 of these were 30" and better.

There were also a lot of small fish hooked as well, but the level of activity was the addicting part for me. Although I missed most of it, the little that I did experience will keep me coming me back until those fish spread out.

On the way in, I got a chance to talk with Dan a little more. I'm thinking about nominating this guy for a Kayak outdoorsman of the Year award. In a world where many fishermen, shore, yak, boat, are into it for the numbers and the ego, MSGDan is one of the old-school sportsmen, never too busy to help a new guy out or talk fishing. And he's about as hard-core as they come. Nice to finally meet ya, Dan.

I took some pics of his fish. Maybe if I get his permission, I'll post later. Quality fish, they seem to be eating well.

[DarkSkies]

A few reports:

Sat into Sun,
Fished LIS, lots of hours and pedalling.
Total 19 fish...
15 bass to 28", released.
3 giant porgies to 14".
1 bluefish.


Sun Pm...
Fished LIS, another area, first time fishing it.
Total 10 fish.
6 bass to 27".
4 porgies to 13".

Full report here...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...d-fishing-2011




All on the Finchaser Tube and Worm.

[DarkSkies]

48 hour trip to the Sound -
Got back last night, marathon trip, low budget. Slept in the car and lived like a nomad. Fished hard but it took time to learn the area. Fishing was honestly slow, but I still managed to eke out about a dozen fish. Nothing notable except for the 14" scupzillas I got in the morning yesterday. Otherwise, a total of 4 short bass and 9 porgies up to 14". All on the T&W.

Full report in the nomad fishing 2011 thread.

[DarkSkies]

Kayak marathon 8-12 LI Sound

The brief outline...
Went back to the place of current with a better plan to fish different areas at different parts of the tide.

The wind and weather made me re-evaluate my plan.
Some funny stories about that.
Fished hard all night in swells that were mostly 1', but at times up to 3' and causing me concern. Therefore, I stuck to shore even though I was in open water, and believe me, in the dark of night with those swells, it was big water. Even beached the yak for a 15 minute period as I re-evaluated how to deal with the raging current.

Went back out and fished hard, not much to show for it.

Total 2 big porgies on the T&W & one small bluefish on a NB Bottle darter I was trolling.
Not one indication of any bass, big or small.

Pretty disappointed in myself and at those results, I drove a long distance to another location to fish the flood tide, almost all of it. Met up with another yakker from KFS-NY, and we talked about the Nissy incident and safety issues. Good talks.

We were both out there fishin hard, but the weeds were all over and a problem for presentation. I managed 2 monster porgies right before sunset and one small bass on Finchaser's T&W with the circle hook. The circle hook was key here because the other guy, definitely an experienced angler and good yak fisherman, was having trouble with the porgies stealing his bait. Together with the weeds and warm water, he took his leave and said good-bye before the top of the tide.

I continued to fish that warm and weedy water, just looking for that one quality fish. Tried all sorts of different presentations to deal with the weeds, some worked.

Didn't want to leave without getting a nice fish, so kept at it.
Managed some more giant porgies, no small ones (but many small ones acting as a nuisance stealing the worm).

Finally got into some feeding bass 1 hour after the tide turned, into the ebb. They were turned on at that time, and I believed I could have got more if I didn't have to make it home in time for a trip with Pebbles.



Total for the entire trip:
9 porgies to 14", T&W
1 small bluefish, NB Darter
2 bass--- 28", and the one that made me smile, 37" and about 15#.
Both released.

The first time in a long time that I "left the fish biting".









Full report and pics in the nomad fishing thread.

[DarkSkies]

Fished the RB Fri morning, last 2 hours of flood, first 2 of ebb.

Perfect conditions, water was like a lake.

2 short bass, 3 blues.
Bass on T&W.
Blues trolling small diving swimmer.

I know the area I was fishing, so I was confident I would catch a fish or 2.
The most disturbing thing to me was all the shoreline I trolled that was "dead water", with only small pockets of bait and snappers here and there.

Previously productive areas of structure were a vast wasteland of warm water and an all-encompassing algae bloom.

No action in shore area except for small hits on the T&W, nothing on different swimmers.

All the fish I got were concentrated in one area of structure, minimum of 15-20' of water. They were only there for the top of the tide. By 7:30am the action was completely done.

Pedalled back through green scum algae. It was prevalent through at least the top foot of the water column.

I felt like I was fishing in a toilet.





The waters of LI Sound have really spoiled me.
Also, I knew weakfish, kingfish, bass and other creatures were packed into JBay, and was wistfully looking over there across as I dealt with the scum-saturated water where I was.

(the bite in Jbay did slow down that day, but lucky Eli, the human fishfinder, fishing a live eel in deep water, hooked into a 6' dusky shark he fought for a 1/2 hour. Fantastic fight, bro, wish I was there with you guys.


Calm pre-dawn launch
Attachment 14068



The water was so calm you could see the mirror reflection of the T&W in the water.
Attachment 14066



Sunrise on the water

Attachment 14067



Bass aggressive on the Finchaser T&W. The bass action only lasted for 15 minutes.

Attachment 14065




This was the scum that was in the water along the shoreline. Hopefully the storms will break up some of this organic growth. It's nasty.

Attachment 14064

[fishinmission78]

By John Skinner, this guy is amazing.

[rockhopper]

He's also a good sport. I read on another site where they guys in the boat mugged him. You can hear him asking them to give him some space in the video. Then after asking the guys to take a pic of him with the bass, he ended up giving it to them. Must have really made their day, and it shows what a stand up guy John Skinner is. Great fish, I need to get a kayak!