15 Minutes With: Kevin Gould www.falmouthbaitandtackle.com
Location
Cape Cod Bay – Off Sandy Neck Beach
Tides
During a high tide, you will want to troll closer to the beach, generally in 20 to 25 feet of water. On a low tide, fish will hang farther out in deeper water, trolling will be best in 30 to 50 feet.
Approach
Troll east to west following a depth; trolling with the tide is always more productive, as it allows the tube to achieve maximum depth at the slowest speeds.
Look for schools of fish on your fish finder. The Sandy Neck area is pretty barren, so slowly trolling along to locate bait schools or stripers schools is very important.
Rigging
SI Perfect Tubes 19” and 24” sizes, at night the larger tubes are preferred in wine or black. During the day, fishing bright colors like day-glo or bubblegum in the 19” size are very productive. I used to use ball bearing swivels in front of the tube, but the high quality SI tube swivel makes that unnecessary.
Bait Selection
Tip the tube with the biggest, fattest sea worm you can find. Big baits = big fish and these large sea worms excrete a lot of scent into the water.
In the ten years I have been fishing the tube and worm in Cape Cod Bay I have tried a lot of different brands of tubes. I have never really found that the fish have a preference for one brand or another, but I do know quality. From the 4x Mustad hook to the 225-pound test ball bearing swivel these SI Perfect Tubes from Hogy Lures are a great change of pace from the tubes of old. No longer does the angler need to “tune” a tube before putting it in the water. They swim perfectly right out of the package and continue to swim perfectly fish after fish. Over the past week the fishing in Cape Cod Bay has been lights out on eels at night and tubes during the day. However, the fish have shown a preference for orange tubes. Unfortunately I only had one orange Hogy tube on my last outing. In a head to head competition the SI Perfect out-fished the competition 3 to 1.
Tube and worms are a proven way to cover a lot of water and maintain a slow presentation near the bottom. This is a great way to catch fish that are lazy and may not be attracted to other offerings. These fish generally lay low in deep water waiting for the night time to begin hunting along the shore lines.
Retrieve
Trolling the tubes at two miles per hour seems to be the most effective speed and faster than that you are wasting your time. Holding the rod tips low, pointed 90 degrees out from the boat helps cover more ground. When you hold the rod, it’s much easier to feel a subtle pick up by a bass when it eats the sea worm. Remember to let the fish set the hook and begin pulling drag, This way the hook is set perfectly in the fishes’ mouth. I prefer to troll a two-rod spread, this covers a lot of ground but helps you avoid tangling lines and wasting fishing time. The nice part about tubes is their simplicity and the SI Perfect Tubes swim perfectly out of the package and are very effective for new anglers.
Outfit
Rod: Custom Mud Hole Extreme 8’ XHeavy – Moderate action which allows the rod to load up well on the hook set. This prevents fish from pulling the hook during the strike. The St. Croix Mojo Musky Rods in 8’ XH – Moderate action are a good off the rack substitute.
Reel: Altas Kona 400 Conventional 6:1 – Avet LX 6:1 is another good option. Having the high gear ratio while using lead core allows you to pick up line quickly while fighting the fish and prevents dropped fish.
Line: Lead core – 36-pound test Woodstock line is an effective and affordable option for lead core line. It costs about $20 to spool a reel with 100 yards.
Leader: Use an 80-pound test ball bearing swivel to connect lead core to a 12 feet of 40-pound test Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. Use a modified clinch knot for tying lead core and leader to the swivel. From leader to tube, use a uni knot to a snap swivel.
