How to Hypercharge Tube Baits

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week, we'll discuss how you can use wimpy tackle to take more snapper. Small, light-line tackle can and will produce more and bigger snapper than heavier tackle will. Let's look at what Pure Fishing learned in the summer of 2000 while fishing off Alabama's Gulf Coast with John Prochnow, new-products manager for Pure Fishing, on Captain George Pfeiffer's charter boat, the C.A.T., based in Orange Beach, Alabama.

No lure ever completely satisfies John Prochnow, Berkley's new-product developer. He always looks for ways to make fish bite better and faster or to attract bigger fish. Day 2 has explained how you can use Berkley's Sparkle Nuggets and Sparkle Nibbles to create an illusion of baitfish getting their scales knocked-off.

"I tried putting the Sparkle Nibbles and Sparkle Nuggets in the open end of a Power Tube and forcing them forward, but this process took a long time and wasn't nearly as efficient as cutting a slit in the tube and putting the Nuggets and Nuggets in the slit," Prochnow explained.

Prochnow also put Berkley's Saltwater Formula Power Jelly, in the tubes with the Sparkles. The Sparkles then could pick up the active ingredient from the Power Jelly. As the tubes descended, the tubes left a scent trail as well as a sparkle trail down to the bottom. Adding these two products to the Power Tubes definitely increased the number of strikes the anglers fishing with Prochnow on the C.A.T. had and the number of fish they caught.

To make the baits appear even more natural, we would take tubes loaded with Sparkles and Power Jelly and put them up the hooks. Below the tubes, we would attach a live pinfish on each. As the pinfish and the tube fell to the bottom, the bait looked like a small jellyfish or baitfish trying to escape an attacking pinfish. Once the bait reached the proper water depth where the angler held the line steady, the pinfish would jerk and twitch trying to release itself from the hook. Every time the pinfish moved, the hook released more Sparkles and more Power Jelly. Therefore, the pinfish appeared to feed on the tentacles of the Power Tube. One of the anglers used this bait -- the pinfish, the Power Tube, Power Jelly and Sparkles -- to catch a 28-pound red snapper.

For more information locating Berkley's products, including the Inshore Power Tubes, Sparkles Nibbles and Sparkles Nuggets, call (800) BERKLEY, or check out their website at www.berkley-fishing.com.

For more information on fishing Alabama's Gulf Coast with Captain George Pfeiffer, call (888) 558-3889. Or, call the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau to learn more about attractions, hotels, accommodations and restaurants in the Orange Beach area at (800) 745-SAND.

Tomorrow: Doubling Down With Dead Bait