Fishing Forum

Thanks TubeN2 for my invite!

Just joined the forum and would like to introduce myself. I have been researching this fine website for the last several days. You folks really do have a great site and I have already learned a great deal and I don't even have my tube yet.

I live in Texas and have been bass fishing for the last ten years. My neighbor introduced it to me. Since he had a bass boat we fished in many of Texas's famous lakes. I fell in love with the sport. I started buying rod & reel combos and eventually bought a "Pond Prowler" bass boat.

When I got my little pond prowler, I fished lots of ponds, small lakes, and even big lakes. I always loved the ponds. Something about fishing in a boat in these waters where they only normally received bank fishing pressure was cool.

As the years progressed, I learned more, bought better gear and eventually bought a 17' Triton bass boat. I had my boat nicely equipped for both tournament and pleasure fishing. It was cool and I thought I would always own a boat. But last year, I had two power-head failures in the same year. The first one insurance covered half and the second one they covered all of it. The second one was $3000 to fix and if I had to pay for it, I would have kept it in the garage most likely forever![mad]

I also like to play golf, my other passion. Last year when my boat was in the shop I decided to take my golfing to the next level and have been putting a lot of time into my game. As a result I have not used my boat since last December. I normally used my boat any where from 1 to 3 times per week.

I decided to sell my boat a couple of weeks ago. Well this past week it sold so I'm boatless and happy! But I still love to fish even though my engine problems and golf kept me from using my boat. So, now I'm here looking at tubes. I have tubed fished with one of my customers in an AWESOME private pond. It is really cool. I have to say to you folks how excited I am about buying my tube.

I plan on really fixing it up with lots of mods. Remember, I had a loaded bassboat and I'm going to try to make my tube able to efficiently hold as much tackle, rod & reels, and sonar as possible. The pics that I have seen on this website for modifying float tubes are soooo cool! I have gotten the excitement for fishing all over agian. Here are my thoughts on my craft....

ODC 420...I had it narrowed down to the FC4, ODC 420, & the Super Fat Cat

Lowrance X67C.... I had 332C's on my boat and the color graphs are well worth the extra money. It helps determine grass from other types of structure. You can see the screen easily in the sun. It just feels like my boat.

I plan to use the ideas that you folks have shared so kindly. Tool rack on one side and rod holder/sonar on the other side.

What I'm trying to figure out is should I use a horizontal rod mount or the vertical style. Also I have only seen rigs for 4 rods. Anybody use more. I can carry less rods, but I have a system that I have put together for my fishing style so just wondering.

I'm also going to try to come up with a storage system for my tackle maybe using the wet bow storage area or something else.

A lot of info, but just wanted to give you folks a quick history of how I got here, to say thanks, and ask a few questions!![]
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Hey Trane,

A very hearty welcome! Sounds like you've already found some of the good stuff on the forum. Fishing from a float tube is as addicting as fishing from a boat - and a lot cheaper.

Sounds like you're making a good choice with your first tube. I look forward to seeing how you trick it out.

zonker
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Welcome aboard Trane and thanks for taking the time to register. I hope you grow to like this forum as much as the rest of us here.

Feel free to browse the "Best of the Best" Thread. It is filled with lots of ideas and engineering that the rest of us have already sweat over. You may have some ideas of your own that could be submitted as well.

We welcome your fishing reports as well as your questions and comments. After all, we all learn from each other.

I see you narrowed down your choice of tubes as well. You can read the pros and cons of each of the models. Some have size constraints and others have budgetary constraints.

If you need help with making your final answer, just tell us what the bathroom scale reads and compare that to your checkbook or credit card limit and we can point you in the right direction.

Don't worry, we don't charge for information and you won't have to give us any confidential information or give up any of your secret fishing spots.

Texas has a lot of good fishing spots and some good Bass as well. Feel free to post some of your Bass pics on the Bass board too. Whether it be Large Mouth, Small Mouth, Stripers, Wipers or even Peacock Bass (not in TX) we like to see pictures of them all. Don't forget, we will even accept pics of Bugle Mouth Bass.

Please remember that the picture posting requirements are limited to 450 pixels wide.

Thanks Pardner[cool]
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... I plan to use the ideas that you folks have shared so kindly. Tool rack on one side and rod holder/sonar on the other side.
..... should I use a horizontal rod mount or the vertical style. .... [/reply]

Hi Trane. Welcome to the forum.

On the rod rack and sonar mounts. Consider whether you are right or left handed, and which side of your tube must be kept with "empty" space allocated for casting activity, rod movement and so on.

On the "side rack" versus the "upright rack". Either is good.
If you baitcast in trees and brush, with a cluttered bank behind you, to catch up lowered rod tips, the upright rack has advantages.
However if you flyfish frequently, you might want to "keep the sky clear of obstructions" which could catch the aerialised line during a "quick change of direction" cast to a rising fish. In this case the horizontal side or angled side rod rack begins to look attractive.
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[cool][#0000ff]Add my personal welcome to the others. Glad you decided to pull up a chair and stay awhile.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As you can see in going back through the archive pictures, I have tried just about every kind of rod rack configuration you can imagine. Some work better than others, depending upon what kind of rods you use and what kind of fishing you do.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have always favored having the rods upright, on the side opposite my casting arm. Just a personal preference.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And, I just arbitrarily rig with 4 tubes. There is no reason why you can't carry six or eight if you want to. The difference will be in the spacing of the tubes. Depending upon how wide your reels are, you can space them as close as the T fittings for the tubes if you want to. After that, all you need to figure out is how you are going to attach the rod holder to the tube. The two D rings on the outside of the pockets give you lots of options.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hope this helps. Come on back if you bog down and need to brainstorm your setup a bit more.[/#0000ff]
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[cool]My two cents here. I have the x67c on my toon if I was to buy one today I'd get something bigger. I do like the color screen. But would like a bigger screen. I know 1/2 inch isn't much but that what I would do. Of coarse the larger models are a little more money. Good luck!
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[cool]My two cents here. I have the x67c on my toon if I was to buy one today I'd get something bigger. I do like the color screen. But would like a bigger screen. I know 1/2 inch isn't much but that what I would do. Of coarse the larger models are a little more money. Good luck! [/reply]
hmmmmmmmm I say the last part is from the Gunslinger series by Stephen King.. but that is just me...
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