Aluminum rods

[The Dutchman]

For all the tube makers, where do you get your alum. rods. I want 1/4", I checked Lowes and my local hardware stores - nothing. Need help. Thanks.

[tubinator]

I couldn't find alum. either so I used 1/4" steel rod that I got from NAPA. Glad I did because it was much easier for me to weld/Solder on 90 degree handles (1/8" welding rod). Also, the steel seems to take longer to absorb the heat, thus allowing the plastic to cool faster IMO. I just wiped the steel rod with steel wool until it was shiny then I keep them coated with silicone spray. Works good!

[bojon]

I get my aluminum rods at local Hobby Stores that sell radio control airplanes.Hobby Town has the 1/4 inch x 12 inch tube for about a dollar.I think that is high,and like the idea of being able to weld on the handle to a stainless rod.Does the steel gather a thicker layer of plastic than aluminum when dipped for the same amount of time?I have been using aluminum for so long that I think I'm bogged down.I have used steel nails,and bolts in the past,but it has been so long ago that I don't recall the results.I know that a bent piece of clothes hanger makes a dandy small tube,but it is first lubed with Pam to remove it more easily.When I was first getting into tube dipping,twenty plus years ago,I had the neihbor weld up a three prong bent fork like thing for me to dip with.It worked,but I prefered the one at a time dip,because it was easier to keep the plastic stired.I think the stainless steel thing will be checked out by me.Thanks

[tubinator]

Bojon, I can only guess that the steel rod would allow the plastic to be thicker because it is denser than the alum. thus not transferring the heat back to the plastic as fast, But since I like fatter tubes, I tend to dip the body a total of 4-5 times, which tends to make it so that you have to push the plastic down a little in order to tie your line to the jighead. I do not t-rig my tubes, I insert a jighead with wire weed guard into the tube, it spirals better, bounces better, and pulls through the trees and rocks better.

[bojon]

Sounds good!Where does the wire come out on the tube?Thru the body,or at the tail filements?

I always insert my jig internally,and I can't see the wire as a help.Does it prevent more snags?Does it tear up the tube body.I'd like to try this method because the lake I fish has a lot of young cottonwoods that grew up when the lake was low.Great cover,but a lot of snags now that they are underwater.

Sorry the rig you use would be new to me,that is why the questions.

[tubinator]

Here is a pict. of the jigheads I use. I prefer the bottom one which is a chompers'. It has a stronger hook. The trick to rigging these is to feed the weedguard into the tube first and push it out thru the tube. You will get different amounts of spiral by not pushing the jighead all the way to the front of the tube. Great for pitching it to trees, because the tube can bang into the trunk or limbs better then a straight fall. Also if I am just dragging the tube along the bottom, I'll push the jighead as far forward in the tube as possible, and it will tend to keep the head down, tentacles up better, which will bounce over the rocks better. The tubes in the pict. are just experimental, I'm playing around with different things like coffee scent, paint, glitter, that sort of thing till my tube plastic comes in.

[bojon]

Thank you,

It is now making sense.Sounds like I could use this setup.I'll buy a few jigs with the weed guard and play with them and figure it out.

Do you pour your own jigs with the guard?

I have never used a weed guard in all my fishing before,but it looks like I will start.

Any luck with the coffee?

Thanks

[tubinator]

No I don't pour my own jig heads. I wish I could find a mold though! Make sure you get the weed guards that are single wire, like I said the chompers are the best that I've found. The ones that wally-world sells are crap, the fish will come off next to the boat every time, lost a major tournament at the beginning of the year because of them. Soon as I would get the fish to the surface, they would shake their head and the hook would pop out. Also, try to get the jigheads that are painted, because a little spit will help them slide into the tube better, and you won't have to worry about lead poisoning by sucking on jigheads.

[BigTimeBuzzer]

On those heads, do you take them up through the bottom of the tube? I make a weedless head similar to that but the way my jig head is tapered, you can put it in from the side. It rigs ALOT faster and ALOT easier than going in from the bottom. It makes about the same size hole in the side of the tube as others but is alot easier to rig. That's my....

[tubinator]

They are "threaded" into the back of the tube. The only holes it makes in the tube are for the hook eye and the weed guard. Maybe you could post a pict. of yours?

[BigTimeBuzzer]

If I posted this right...here is the same head with 3 different weedguard set-ups. I use several weedguard systems and I am always trying something new....I can NEVER leave well enough alone.....:yeah:But they all work VERY WELL!!!!!

[Smallie]

I used to use a head with the double wire like the middle one. It was made by Stanley jigs. I would make a slit with a razor blade at the approximate location my eye said the eye would pop out of the head of the tube.

Then I would fold the wire guard forward, ahead of the lead head and feed the wire up through the slit followed by the hook eye. With the lead head now in the proper location, I would fold the wire guard back to the hook point and secure it under the hook point.

It worked good but I prefer to Texas rig a worm hook with a weight in front of the tube so I don't use this rigging method anymore.

[BigTimeBuzzer]

That's what is good about this head. You don't have to fold and poke and thread. I just come down on the side of the tube about 1/2" and insert the hook point. Thread the hook through the body and out the bottom. When the tapered end of the head meets the tube, push the head body in to the line tie. Then grab the head end of the tube and pull it forward as you push the head through the slot that the tapered end made. It all makes a nice neat package that can be rigged in about 30 seconds.

The first head has a single wire...The second has a looped cable that latches over the hook point...and the third is a double cable system that forms a V.

[bssmstr]

I got aluminum rods at Home Depot

[bojon]

Our Home Depot(Pueblo,Colorado),only has the 1/2 inch.I wanted 1/4 inch.Do they have it in other stores in different areas?I wanted to menton in my book where to get the rod.

Any help guys?

[VANNDALIZER]

I just bought some at Lowe's. 1.47$ for 3' x 1/4". I've also bought some from Fastenal and McMaster-Carr.