Bass and tubes

[crankbait09]

I am new to the whole soft plastic baits for bass fishing. i am mainly sold on hard baits like crankbaits.

This coming year, i am going to jump out on a ledge and try tubes. I have fished worms and things of that sort with no luck at all so i kinda gave up on them. I have thrown small panfish tubes with great luck but have never thrown a bass tube in hopes of targeting bass.

I hear a lot of anglers fishing with tubes and they have great success.

can anyone offer any advice on how to make bassin' tubes effective? and what are some techniques you use to do so?

i have craw colored, shad colored, icicle colored and white colored tubes. I recently bought a flat tire tube kit from cabelas for $15. those look really cool but they are not saltednor scented. that what i have so far. now i just need to use them

[rocfish]

I too love to fish crankbaits more than any other lure if given the choice and right conditions. My favorite fishing hole is the huge TVA reservoir called Kentucky Lake (even though I live a 7 hour drive from it), and deep fast cranking is often the ticket for the big old bucket mouths that haunt it's ledges and rocky shorelines. But, I too have learned to mix it up with soft plastics when the fish are acting tight-lipped. I've had varying success throughout the spring, summer, and fall with all types of soft plastics (even tubes). I have become partial to the bio-plastic types (Powerbait, Gulp, Trigger-X, etc), but have found that regular old plastics work too (impregnated ones having a slight advantage). What works for me is traditional rigged tubes, Carolina, and Texas rigged worms. I'm trying to commit myself to learning how to dropshot this year, I've had fishing friends sing its praises. My one piece of advice to you would be "Slow Down", especially if you're used to cranking. You want to be able to feel and read the bottom structure as you work the bait. Another adjustment I've made that helps me is to use braid or superline (Berkley Fireline Crystal) with soft plastic fishing. I find its lack of stretch transmits the information to the angler better than mono or even fluoro.
By the way, "Welcome to the 'Nation"!!!