Well my son Matt and I finally went on our long awaited first ever tube fishing trip.We used Bill a guide who runs Acme Dam Guided Fishing located in the laurel highlands of SW Pa.He only does tube trips. I have no vested interest in him or his service ,but I must say he provides a hell of a trip at reasonable cost.He give you all the equipment and transportation for 90 bucks adult and 45 for kids like my son[age 14] You pay for a 4 hour trip but it turns into an 8 hour day with at least 4to 6 hours of fishing. Its a great way to try tubing w/o spending a lot of money. He is also patient, knowledgeable, experienced and entertaining. On this trip we fished at a small mountain lake for Pike.Matt and I had our own tubes. He had a Nevada Gold and I had FG's old fat cat that I bought from her a few weeks ago. Boy that tube is in great shape She sure takes good care of her equipment.Matt used neoprene waders and I used breatheables with layering. We were both pretty comfortable the whole day. My son caught on to tubing immediately and was whipping around in no time.I on the other hand was quickly whipping around in circles. The guide actually had to tow me every so often. I later tried a round tube of his and actually didnt mind it other than gettin in and out. I actuallly felt I had more purchase deeper in the water and finned stronger and straghter.Wonder why that was. He also showed me how to anchor and crab walk on my fin tips in the shallow weed beds we fished .Unfortunately we didny catch anything but a few nibbles when it started to rain and we headed in.I was kind of tired,but we learned a lot and plan to go out on our own and with the guide again. We really enjoyed the peace and serenity. I think the whole trip was summed up in the last picture showing my son's contented
. Rich
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Glad to hear you had a good time. I think the reason you felt like you get better purchase power is that you sit deeper in the Round tube and your feet are deeper on the water. If you spend a few days in a round tube than transfer to your factcat you will notice you have to kick a little different as you sit much higher in the water. With the going in circles, I would say try taking it out with out the fishing gear for an hour make a few adjustments and get ral comfy and just see haw kicking differently affects the tube. When I got my first V boat I had the tendancy to veer a little to the left.
Majja
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I think you nailed it Majja. In a round tube you are kicking with you whole leg where in a "V" you are kicking more from the knee down. If you have a dominant leg, you will go in circles.
I guess practice is the answer.
NICE SHOTS! Rich.
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Nice little "towing" tube! Noticed you son's spare rod looking too much it is trying to catch fish by itself with the lure dancing just at the surface!!
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What a nice report. Thanks for sharing with us. It is allways nice to see new inventions hit the market.[cool]
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Majja, I thought you always veered to the left, not just in your tube [
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The tow tube was actually built by the guide. I think he is trying to get a patent. It is actually a lift up measuring/work table that has a landing/storage net attached underneath.There are also rod holders caved on top really diid not have the chance to use it much cause I went fishless . lol.Rich
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[#0000ff]Thanks for the report and pics. Always interesting to get things from the perspective of a newcomer to the sport. Wait until you have a few more trips under your waders, and you are qualified to make experienced assessments.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is not unusual for first trippers to have difficulty in getting the propulsion thing smoothed out. As has been suggested, you have to train your kicking legs to put forth the same amount of effort as you kick.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The only comment I will make about the round tube is that you were deep enough in the water, with more drag, so that it reduced the effects of your uneven kicking. Once you get that squared away, you will move much faster on tomp of the water in your open ended craft.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Too bad you didn't score some fish. That will come. The s tell me that there will be more trips in the future.[/#0000ff]
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