YUM Vibra King Tube Scores Victory
"The secret's going to be out," Alabama pro angler Tim Horton said. "That's two major B.A.S.S. tournaments I've won in Florida on the same bait. It's just phenomenal."
Horton's latest win came Sunday on Lake Okeechobee at the 2024 CITGO Bassmaster Southern Open. The bait that Horton used to sack 65 pounds, 14 ounces? The 4 1/4-inch YUM Vibra King Tube.
"Every fish that I weighed in I caught on that Vibra King Tube," Horton said. "I've got so much confidence in that bait for big fish. With those ribs, it's bulkier than any other tube on the market. You can fish heavy cover with it because of the solid head."
Horton was fishing a patch of water that featured several types of vegetation. In addition to the lake's normal growth, the recent hurricanes had blown in additional growth, which matted together to make some exceptional bass cover.
"Just that combination of bulk and the solid head which is excellent for rigging in that heavy matted cover or vegetation or wood makes it second to none as far as a flipping bait goes," Horton added.
"I was using a 1-ounce Excalibur Tungsten Tg weight and occasionally a 1 1/2-ounce weight," Horton said. "I flipped it to the heavy matted cover and once the bait got through, I would lift it up and down. It was about four feet deep from the top of the mat to the bottom. I would just bring it up and tap the bottom of that mat with the Vibra King and those ribs really caused a lot of action and vibration in the water and allowed those fish to find it."
Horton's go-to bait, the Black and Blue YUM Vibra King Tube, also netted Horton a victory at the Lake Toho Bassmaster Tour event in December 2024. Horton also uses the Red Shad Chartreuse color when fishing in Florida, and has been known to throw a Green Pumpkin at Lake Guntersville, but is quick to point out it's not so much the color of bait -- it's the size.
"For whatever reason, people flip really small baits at Okeechobee -- craws and stuff like that," Horton said. "But that big Vibra King Tube, the fish can just really find it. It's a confidence thing."
"I use the Black and Blue in Florida, but the water was a little more colored, so I wanted to go with more black, and the red glitter just gave it a little something extra," Horton said. "The first couple of fish I caught on it were seven- and eight-pounders and they really were taking it good. So I knew I was on the right color."
After a blazing first two days, the bite for Horton slowed down on the last day. But he stuck with his strategy. Horton's last sack weighed just 6 pounds, 10 ounces.
After you catch almost sixty pounds in two days you feel like you just caught too many of them," Horton said. "Either that or the fish just moved. That place had been so good to me I felt like I would either win it or lose it right there. And the Vibra King Tube did it again."
