first time float tubing

[teflon_jones]

I took out my new float tube for its first float yesterday. I gotta say, I had a heck of a time turning the boat at first! I was fighting an onshore wind too, which really didn't help me get out into the deeper water where I could "fin" easily! :) But I eventually made my way out and got to fishing. I have a couple of questions for any fellow float tubers out there. I was constantly being turned directly into the wind, which made casting a royal pain for a couple of reasons. First of all, trying to punch your fly into the wind every cast is never fun. Secondly, that put the shore I was trying to fish directly behind me. I was thinking that having a drift sock trailing off the back of the tube when you're in conditions like this would be perfect since it would keep your back to the wind. Of course I could see how it could get you in trouble though since there's no tie-on points below the water line, so it would pull the tube under. You could get around this with some creative rigging though.

The next thing I'm wondering about is what size bodies of water people usually fish with a float tube. I was on a lake that covers a couple hundred acres, and even if conditions were calm, I wouldn't have been able to make it too far from where I launched since it just takes so long to get anywhere, and then you have to get back. I think I could cover maybe the nearest 1/4 of the lake. If it's calm, that doesn't necessarily help because a tailing wind can get you home in a hurry.

[MKDeceiver]

What style tube did you get? If you got a round one your going to have problems in difficult conditions. Some people like the simplicity of the round ones, but I hate them. The best from a maneuverablity standpoint are the V-boats. Also comparable are the U-boats. I'm not sure when you got it, but if it's round I would return it for a U or V boat if your want to be able to turn faster ect...

I wouldnt' say the U or V boats are super faster straight line speed, but they do cut wind better, are easier to get in and out of, and turn much faster...


That being said if you do have one of the more maneuverable models, well I can tell you I'm confident in putting them anywhere. I've put mine in the ocean, I've put mine in 150 acre lakes. Now do I try to kick across 150 acre lakes directly into the wind with the tube? No. What I do when I'm fishing a lake that big, is try to focus on specific coves and either drive, or walk around the lake with my tube to get to the spot I want to fish...I would say 50 acre ponds are about the max where you may kick the whole pond on a day of fishing...

But about Float tubes in general. Well I can tell you they're almost a must to flyfish lakes in the spring. The water is usally high, leaving limited shore to wade, and the fish are usually father from shore. In the fall you can get away with wading on some ponds, mainly because the fish come in close to spawn.

Lake fishing is all about covering water. The tube should be helping you cover water...

[pwfish1]

i stopped using my tube a few years ago....the same troubles never went away.....i'm thinking of the pontoon boat now, stay dryer and more movement, maybe....some are less than 300 now

[teflon_jones]

Thanks for the reply MK. I have a U style tube. What about the issue of always turning into the wind? Is that just me, or my particular tube maybe? What do you think about my drift sock idea?

[Fly Deacon]

I used my float tube (U style) once - any flyfishing I did from it was only incidental as I kicked like a Rockette to stop from being blown to the opposing shore - all on a relatively calm day. I opted for a lightweight canoe instead.

I was a great leg workout - flyfishing from it was not so great. Just my opinion.

[MKDeceiver]

I can't believe I'm hearing negativity about float tubes!!

Teflon-I first had a U boat. I loved it until I bought a circle boat. The U boat I had was a stearns and not very stable. It had some cheesy pole that went across the front to help keep it from caving in... So I bought a donut Stearns boat from MVP sports...That was a little better becaus eI didn't have to deal with that pole and the problems of it caving in and stuff...

I was happy, but thought the experience could be much better. A leaky tube was the catalyst to find a better tube...I searched and searched and then found the Wood river company. Believe it or not this company is now out of business. I think he was charging too much for his tubes, but these things are incredible...You can see a wide range of tubes at www.thefloattubestore.com...what's amazing is the tubes don't even need a bar to go across the front...

As far as the sock idea, you shouldn't have to do it. The only thing you should be hanging is maybe a float tube anchor...That's probably a better idea, just you a short rope so it doens't catch bottom. But in reality no matter what tube you use, if the wind is blowing 30, your going to struggle...

What tube do you have, if you don't mind me asking?

One other thing. Are you using fins? Fins make a difference. And good fins make an even bigger difference....


Miscellaneous tube thoughts::

These are my observations from using various styles both cheap and expensive...


You don't sit high enough on the water, the tube constricts or expands too much depending on material used for inner tube, the inner tube punctures too easy, the tube isn't stable when air is lost, there aren't enough pockets and your forced to wear a vest...


These all matter in the whole experience. Why?

If your not high enough on the water your backcasts will hit the water.

If the tube changes too much with water temp, you will not be stable. These things need full pressure all the time...If the tube isn't fully blown you will barely be able to move...

If the tube punctures easy, you could drown...

Wearing a vest while tubing is horrible. You shouldn't have too...


I've had friends try to tube without fins, I've had friends struggle with donut tubes. I've heard people complain about getting wet, I've seen people constantly kick in to shore and have to blow up the tube in cold water conditions...

In my opinion, nothing compares to float tube fishing in freshwater. Your free to go where you want, it doesn't matter how many bait guys are lined on the shores, water elvels don't matter...nothing. It's the ultimate experience...

Kayaks and canoes aren't the same. I've never had a trout jump 2 feet from me in a canoe. But plenty of times I've had trout do it when I'm in the tube and I've caught those fish on a number of occasions!...

[teflon_jones]

I have one of the U tubes with the bar across the front. I didn't have any issues with cave in at all, and it seemed to be rock solid. Each end of the bar was covered with cordura, and fit into a cordura slot on the tube. Then there's a big snap buckle on each side to attach it to the tube so it can't come out of the slot. It worked like a charm. In fact, even without the bar, it was still ok and didn't cave in and I think I could have gone without it.

I'm 6'4 260, plus the weight of all of my gear, waders, boots, etc. I was frankly a bit worried about the tube supporting me well, but it proved to be extremely stable and kept me pretty high out of the water. The only complaint I have is that the seat is too far back for someone my size. I had to pull myself up occassionally because I'd slide down to where the seat was about halfway up the back of my thigh. At best, about 1/3 of my leg would hang over the edge of the seat.

I picked up a pair of Caddis fins to use with it. I think I could use something with more surface area since I have a size 15 wading boot which covers a decent portion of the fin, hurting its effectiveness.

Last thing, the brand. I don't remember off hand, but I bought it off eBay from a random seller that had sold quite a few of them (40+), all will very positive feedback. He only had a couple left, so was starting bidding at $40 plus shipping ($12?). The previous ones had mostly sold for $60. It's some no-name brand that looks exactly like a Caddis tube, so I think it's one of those cases where it's probably made in the same factory but not sold under the same brand name. The I'm very happy with the quality of the tube and everything about it seems to be well made, double stitched seams and things like that. It looks almost exactly like this Caddis tube, but different colors.

[Plastics Galore]

I just recently bought a float tube and am still waiting to use it for the first time this year. I was just wondering what is good to wear under one's waders when float-tubing this early in the season in order to combat the frigid water. Also... are float tubes allowed in walden pond?

[eshuang]

I used my FishCat 4 for the first time this season today. I was at Horn Pond, surface temperature 55. Under my 3.5 mm neoprenes I wore polyester thermals and a light nylon shell.

Nice day on the water, though I wish had some fish to show for my efforts. ;)

[haguebrook]

I just recently bought a float tube and am still waiting to use it for the first time this year. I was just wondering what is good to wear under one's waders when float-tubing this early in the season in order to combat the frigid water. Also... are float tubes allowed in walden pond?

To answer your question, yes, float tubing is allowed at Walden.

I do not like fishing at Walden. Too many whackos. One time I was minding my own business waiting for my lure to sink after a cast when a swimmer surfaced out of NOWHERE next to my lure. Mind you, I was tossing a metal spoon and was a good 50 yards off shore, far away from the beach area. I do not know if this dude was swimming underwater for minutes, but one second it was still and the next he popped up. I do not know who was more surprised, him or me. (#$119)

[dlangan]

Pre-kids - so say 15+ yars ago we used float tubes all the time walking back into Adirondack ponds (the inner tube kind - that's all they had then). We could not cover much distance with them relative to a canoe or yak, but really l liked them. Because we had a lot of our body under water, we found we held our position much better than those in canoes same time, same conditions. Fly casting was very stable with a longer rod preferred. Light weight waders made it impossible not to detect springs :brow which for brook trout was a plus. We had many great afternoons fishing struture with damselfly nymphs and midge hatches w/ "gulpers" in the evening. Perhaps now that the kids are older I can get this back on our agenda :rolleyes:

[teflon_jones]

UPDATE: Yesterday was my 2nd time float tubing, and it was a much different experience! First of all, there was less wind. It came and went over the course of 2 hours, and came out of pretty much every direction, but never very fast. I really learned an important lesson about how much the wind really affects you when float tubing, especially on a large open lake. On a smaller pond it would be much easier on a windy day due to the shelter of the trees.

I didn't bring the fly rod out with me this time though since I had such a tough time in the wind the last time since it's tough to keep the tube pointed where you want while false casting and keeping the wind in a position where it doesn't blow your cast into your head (and I can cast in the wind, I had no problems in the Bahamas in Dec!). I brought a bait casting and a spinning rod, but I only ended up using the bait caster. I only ended up using one bait too, a black spinnerbait. The last lesson I learned was that sometimes the fish aren't at all where you expect. I ended up in a random spot in the middle of the lake when I stopped paddling, figuring that since I was roughly in the middle, wherever the wind pushed me wouldn't really make a difference. This lake is pretty much the same depth throughout its 200 acres, roughly 5-6 ft. I didn't really end up going anywhere and ended up getting pushed around in circles by the wind. I was happy I did because not long into my trip I hooked into a monster bass! I realized it was big when it started pulling me towards it rather than the other way around! :eek: It turned out to be a fat 20.5" lunker, and though I didn't have a scale, according to the weight/length tables I've found on the web, it weighed 4.5-5.0 pds. :brow I only got 2 more fish after that, one a small pickerel, the other an 18+ incher that managed to do a little pulling of the tube too!

Of course, there was the one that got away too. :mad: At the end of the day, I hooked into a HUGE fish. I set the hook and tried pulling it towards me, but it didn't budge, just went back and forth a little, then went into the weeds and got off to fight another day...

Overall, I'm much happier non-fly fishing from the tube when I'm on a lake. Fly fishing is honestly just too much of a pain on a lake when you've got a wind to constantly battle and a lot of water to cover. While I really enjoy fly fishing, I much prefer to do it from somewhere other than a float tube when I'm on a lake. On a small pond, I'll definitely bring the fly rod though.