I assume your talking about macks. I always tip my tube jigs with a piece of smelly baitfish meat, preferrably fresh sucker or carp, all the better from a small one too because the entrails are often in the bait too. If I can't get fresh ones, frozen anchovies work pretty good too. Would never not tip my tubes. Never.
For most lakers I like smaller tubes, but not too small. Two and half inches is perfect. The tentacles must be lively and not stiff. White, chartreuse, or glow work best. I usually fish for them with a 1/8 to 1/4 ounce head on light line, 6 - 10 pound mono or fluorocarbon. I add a small stinger treble to the main hook as well to nab short strikers.
In Colorado, aggressively jigging for macks almost always sends them running away. I generally do one, small and slow lift fall ever 30 seconds to a minute or so. Other than that, slowly jiggling and wiggling the tentacles with long pauses seems to be the trick in this state. I know people in other states have good success aggressively jigging, but it does not work in Colorado. The bite almost always occurs during the pause here.
Tyler
