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I just have a quick question for everyone in regards to getting outfished while I was in my float tube and my friends were on the shore. We were at Scofield and we were all using minnows. I kicked all over the place trying to find the fish and they regularly pulled in a nice fish every so often. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to fish with a minnow from a float tube that would be more effective. I have just put the hook through their head and dragged them behind me. I remember the info on doing a drop shot rig, sorry I don't remember who it was that was posting about it and their 5 pound fish at Strawberry, and was curious as to how you fish that from a float tube. I have posted this on the Utah board and thought I would pick some brains here as well for more advice. Any hints, tips, etc. on this would be appreciated. Also, any advice on what else to use at Scofield or Strawberry (or anywhere else for that matter) from a tube would be great.
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[cool][blue][size 1]As a fellow tubaholic I will be the first to admit that dunkin' yer donut is not always the most effective way of catching all species, at all times. [/size][/blue]
[#0000ff][size 1]I think before you blame tackle, tube or anything else, you need to assess what the fish are keying in on and how they are feeding. Trout are like bass and other predators. They "pattern" on specific food sources and tend to look for their food to be served up in a natural manner.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]What that means at Scofield and Strawberry is that sometimes the big fish are herding the minnows into shallow water and are waiting in ambush for one to try to break free...or watching for one that is injured or distressed. If you are dragging a dead minnow around in water deeper than the fish are feeding, you are not in the "zone".[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Some fish, at certain times on some days, tend to want their food coming "downslope"...like a crawdad moving from shallow to deep. Then, a cast into shore and hopping the bait out into deeper water will be more effective than casting out from shore and either soaking it or reeling it back "upslope". [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]At other times, the fish are watching for food to come into the shallows at their regular times. They wait for the dinner bell to ring and chow down. On still other occasions, the bait will be cruising at a certain depth, a certain distance away from shore. That is when you want to cast parallel to shore and retrieve your fly or lure to keep in in the "killing zone".\[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]There is no one system that will catch most of the fish, most of the time. You have to be able to watch what is going on and figure out what the fish are feeding on and how they will want a lure, fly or bait served up. That's where you apply a lot of both art and science in your fishing.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]You can fish flies with a spinning rod, drop shot style, by attaching one or two small split shot on the end of your line and then making a dropper a few inches long from 18" to 3' above the sinkers. You can either cast and bottom bounce them or you can drag them behind you as you kick along. If you just want to troll a fly deep...like a streamer or wooly bugger...pinch a small split shot a couple of feet ahead of the fly and then let out enough line to get the fly to whatever depth you want to troll. You can also tie in a short length of fast sinking fly line or even a yard or so of lead core. The latter is a great way to slow troll big flies from both a float tube and a boat.[/size][/#0000ff]
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Hey there fishluvr,
There are lots of trolling techniques for tubes. I have made a number of illustrations. If your state allows you to.... or you possess a 2-rod license, you can coordinate your search for where the fish are suspending to make your 'find' quicker. This is especially effective with both fish in transistion and when you don't have a fish finder.
See attachment below.
JapanRon
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Hey, thanks all for the info. I took a friend out to Scofield again yesterday and it was his first time in a tube. I put him in my wife's tube and he loved it. We caught one fish from shore when we were setting up and then we each caught one from our tubes. While back on shore cleaning up we caught two more fish. I tried about every technique I could think of from my tube including letting my minnow just sit on the bottom in the same area I cast to from shore. Who knows. That's why they call it fishing and not catching and it's the frustration that keeps me coming back some times. Darn addicting sport.
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Hey there fishluvr,
Reminds me of the punch line of the story where the guy died and found himself lake-side with his favorite tackle. Every cast got a fish.
A fellow angler passes by and our hero qips that the fishing is great and he catches a fish every cast and that he knew heaven was just like this. The other angler turns to him and says 'a fish every cast' what makes you think this is heaven.... this is hell.
JapanRon
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