11-15-2005, 03:45 AM
Hey Zonker,
Not all of us here are exclusively hardware geeks - most of my tube fishing has been with a fly rod.
I've had my tube for about 3 years now. I've had my pontoon boat for about 5 years. Before that, I had another pontoon boat, and before that, for many years, I had a couple of river rafts and a 16 foot aluminum boat(not too unlike your own). All of my watercraft have been for different fishing applications. I had my pontoon boat before I got a float tube - kind of backwards compared to most folks.
My tube was originally and exclusively for fly fishing on small lakes for most of the time I've had it. The gear I customarily take along would be about half of what you have indicated that you bring. I only take 1 fly rod and a small fanny pack(as small as the one in your photo) that holds all of my flies(2 small boxes), tools, flotant, leader and tippet material, and micro weights (to sink nymphs) for the body of water I am fishing at that specific time. The only tools I bring are a pair of forceps, a line clipper, a pocket knife, small wire cutters, and debarbing pliers which all fit handily in the small pack that I wear around my waist and sit in my lap while on the tube. When I'm sitting down, I like it lower rather than up on my chest. If I forsee any kind of shore fishing on that lake, I might also bring my fishing vest and it only has a few other items in it that I usually don't need on my tube. The pockets on my tube only hold my lunch, a small fold up wind breaker, a bug net, spare sun glasses, a bottle of water, a small pair of binoculars and a PFD and small landing net are stuffed in the bow. It wasn't until recently that I adapted it to fishing with hardware for warm water species and added the rod/tool holders and sonar modifications. TubeDude is to blame for the new application. You can check out a photo of it on this board as it appears in the newly modified configuration.
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Not all of us here are exclusively hardware geeks - most of my tube fishing has been with a fly rod.
I've had my tube for about 3 years now. I've had my pontoon boat for about 5 years. Before that, I had another pontoon boat, and before that, for many years, I had a couple of river rafts and a 16 foot aluminum boat(not too unlike your own). All of my watercraft have been for different fishing applications. I had my pontoon boat before I got a float tube - kind of backwards compared to most folks.
My tube was originally and exclusively for fly fishing on small lakes for most of the time I've had it. The gear I customarily take along would be about half of what you have indicated that you bring. I only take 1 fly rod and a small fanny pack(as small as the one in your photo) that holds all of my flies(2 small boxes), tools, flotant, leader and tippet material, and micro weights (to sink nymphs) for the body of water I am fishing at that specific time. The only tools I bring are a pair of forceps, a line clipper, a pocket knife, small wire cutters, and debarbing pliers which all fit handily in the small pack that I wear around my waist and sit in my lap while on the tube. When I'm sitting down, I like it lower rather than up on my chest. If I forsee any kind of shore fishing on that lake, I might also bring my fishing vest and it only has a few other items in it that I usually don't need on my tube. The pockets on my tube only hold my lunch, a small fold up wind breaker, a bug net, spare sun glasses, a bottle of water, a small pair of binoculars and a PFD and small landing net are stuffed in the bow. It wasn't until recently that I adapted it to fishing with hardware for warm water species and added the rod/tool holders and sonar modifications. TubeDude is to blame for the new application. You can check out a photo of it on this board as it appears in the newly modified configuration.
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