INOVA Blu-Tube – 4 Hook Mackerel Rig

Overview

The INOVA Blu-Tube is a tube-style mackerel and flasher rig built as a heavier, ready-tied alternative to a standard Sabiki. Identified by INOVA's product code 200090, it carries 4 size 1/0 hooks rigged on 50lb mainline with 30lb snoods, giving anglers a robust setup for general sea fishing.

What sets the Blu-Tube apart from INOVA's other mackerel strings is its distinctive dressing — a blue silicone tube combined with white/silver reflective tinsel on each hook. This creates plenty of flash and movement in the water, helping to draw in fish as the rig is worked or retrieved.

Unlike lighter Sabiki-style baitfish rigs, the Blu-Tube's heavier construction (4 hooks rather than 6, on stronger line) positions it firmly in the Mackerel Feathers/Rigs category rather than the Sabiki category, making it suited to anglers wanting a durable, general-purpose feathering rig.

Perfect For

The Blu-Tube is primarily aimed at mackerel and pollack fishing, cast and retrieved through the water column from beaches, rock marks and piers, or worked vertically and jigged from a boat over shoaling fish.

Its versatility extends further — the rig can also be baited and fished closer to the seabed, opening up additional species such as gurnard, cod and bream. INOVA's own catalogue also lists the wider Blu-Tube range as suitable for cod, haddock, wrasse, gurnards and ling, giving anglers scope beyond straightforward mackerel feathering.

Technical Insight

The combination of a blue silicone tube and reflective white/silver tinsel dressing on each 1/0 hook is designed to mimic small baitfish, giving the rig genuine flash and movement to trigger reaction strikes from mackerel and pollack. The 50lb mainline and 30lb snoods provide a strong, dependable backbone that can handle both fast-paced shore feathering and boat jigging over structure.

The typical shore setup runs reel line through to the Blu-Tube rig and then down to a lead, allowing it to be cast out and retrieved with the four lures fluttering through the water. From a boat, the same rig can be dropped and worked vertically through shoals, making it a flexible option for anglers fishing both marks.