Trying Out the New Float Tube

[gstott]

After my float tube's untimely demise on my last trip, I quickly ordered a new one. I really wanted a Fish Cat 4, but decided it was just too small for my sasquatchian physique and oodles of gear. I just couldn't afford a Fat Cat, as much as I wanted one. So against my better judgement, I ordered another Classic Accessories tube, though this time I upgraded to the Cumberland. Overall I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. For a little more than half the price of the Fat Cat I got a tube that can carry 350 lbs. The Boston valves are a vast improvement over the milkshake straws on my old Togiak. It takes a few seconds to inflate and deflate the pontoons as opposed to several minutes. The zippers feel a whole lot more substantial as well. Once I got used to it, I really like how high I am out of the water. From the knees up I'm high and dry. The only real complaint I have is that the bar that keeps the tube from imploding (or exploding when you stand up), doesn't have anything holding it in place except the weight of my body. Once I stand up, the pontoons roll outward and the bar falls out. I also don't like that the handles are on the proximal part of the tube instead of the lateral side. It makes it tough to sling it over your shoulder to carry, plus the bar not staying put adds one more thing to carry in the other hand. It's a bit heavier too, but that's because of the pvc underside, a fair trade in my book. Anyway, on to the fishing.

I arrived at my favorite bass pond to find blustery winds and choppy water. It was even worse than the last couple of times I fished there. The whole time I was setting up my gear, the wind kept ripping my shirt halfway up my back and I had to chase down junk that was whisked out of my trunk several times. I noticed the water was down several more feet, and had turned from a beautiful blue green color to a murky greenish brown. I had a feeling that an algae bloom may have occurred in the past week and a half, so I brought a few brighter colored lures. I'm glad I did.

I sailed over to my favorite wind blown point and quickly caught a decent fish on a Damiki DC 100.

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It was a lot harder to fish around the weed beds this trip as I couldn't see them through the murk. Things were definitely slower this time. After a while, I hooked a 17" largemouth on a Rapala DT-6 in bluegill. She put up a great fight before coming to the net.

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More time went by with a whole lot of casting and not a lot of catching. I ditched the Damiki for a River2sea Biggie Smalls squarebill as the Damiki wasn't running well after that first fish nailed it. Surprisingly nothing hit the new crank either. The wind had pushed me up onto a flat adjacent to a point. I tried burning a Lucky Craft LVR D-7 across the flat, and I nearly had the rod ripped out of my hand. Thankfully the fish stayed hooked as I grappled for the handle. As I got the fish closer I thought I saw a bronzie brown instead of the usual green. It was certainly pulling like a smallie. After a few minutes my suspicions were confirmed as I lipped this pretty smallmouth.

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That was a fun surprise. I caught one more dink off the flat before a very foreboding storm to the north began blowing me away from the point. I was feeling done with the point anyway, so I went with it. I drifted to the other shoreline and the wind propelled me along parallel to shore. Nothing was hitting my cranks, so I decided to try a River2sea Bling spinnerbait I had just gotten. I wasn't feeling optimistic as I'd never done well with spinnerbaits at this particular reservoir, but it turned out to be a good call. I caught several fish tight to the bank side weedbeds as the storm intensified.

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The weather was getting pretty ridiculous. The rain wasn't too heavy, and there wasn't much lightning to speak of, so I rode it out. The wind however was a different story. Some of the swells were a good two feet high. I felt like I was fishing in the ocean. I kept catching fish though, so I kept at it. Most were around 12-14", but they fought hard. I reached a main lake point as the storm was easing up. I cast the spinnerbait to the sheltered side. As I was bringing it in, I felt the blades just stop. I set the hook and was into another bulldogging 17"er.

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After the storm blew by, the sun came back out and the fishing slowed way down. I didn't have a strike for some time. The sun went behind the trees right as I decided to tie on a portly little crankbait made by a crazy French guy in gold. Once again the rod was nearly removed from my hands by this little fatty.

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As I worked down the shoreline I caught several more.

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This guy looks like he's seen better days.

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I also managed this 17.5" fellow who put my 8lb line to the test.

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I was going to move back toward the first point, but some kids in kayaks got there first, so I headed for the flat near the boat launch to finish the night. I caught a chubby 16"er right near the ramp on the crank.

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Darned low light conditions, I didn't realize it wasn't focusing on the fish. I was excited for a good topwater bite, but it never happened. I had a few smaller fish swipe at a popper, but I only landed one that was around 12". I had one decent fish roll on a Lucky Craft Sammy 85, but we didn't hook up. After that, nothing was happening. I decided to bulge the spinnerbait under the surface up super shallow and caught 3 or 4 right after another, until the last guy broke my spinnerbait in half. Hopefully I can entice them to send me a replacement because that kind of sucks. I tried a different spinnerbait and got a dink or two, but that was it. I ended up with 32 bass for the trip. Though I was disappointed about the lack of topwater action, the number of quality fish that pummeled my cranks made up for it, and it was nice to finally get out on my new ride.
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[fish_or_die]

Seems like a great trip! Lots of chunky bucket mouths, thanks for the pictures! too windy to fish plastics or do you find you do better on cranks in that pond?
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[gstott]

I've done well with plastics there before, but when it's that windy I usually try cranks first. They were hitting them aggressively enough that I stuck with it. I did try throwing a stick worm up into the pockets in the shoreline weeds, but the wind made that too difficult, it would just whisk the worm across the surface. I put it on a shaky head and tried that for a bit during that lull after the storm, but I only had one light tap on that.

Last year, when the water was really high and clear, I caught a lot of nice ones on a drop shot in about 18-20 feet of water. This year the water is low enough that I'm not even seeing water that deep on the finder. The year before last, there was an algae bloom too, but the fish were a little deeper and I cleaned up with a shaky head.

I figure, as long as the fish are up shallow and aggressive, I'm going to take advantage of that. I think part of it is that every time I've been there lately, it has just been so dang windy.
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[windriver]

Awesome report and pics. I love that particular body of water. I'm just too far away to fish it often.

Windriver
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[gstott]

Thanks, I'd have to say it's become my favorite. I've never seen it this low before though, I'm a little nervous. I hope we get some good heavy rains this fall before it caps.
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[jeremypeace]

How low is it now? Ive scene it pretty low a little lower then it was on the 26th. Of July I think it will survive.. Afterall it survived the drain when they repaird the dam.
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[windriver]

It only survived the drain because they testicles it.

Windriver
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[cpierce]

Good breaking for the new ride!
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[gstott]

It only survived the drain because they testicles it.

I am very intrigued by this technique. [blush] Whatever it is, if it saves the fish, I hope they do it again. [laugh]

Cpierce, I have to agree, it was definitely a good test. I was pretty happy with the way it handled cresting those waves. I even managed to stay pretty dry through it all.
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[gstott]

I'm not sure how low it was on the 26th, I was last there on the 20th, but it was down probably another 6-8 feet.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

You definitely got the dance card filled on them thar bass! Some nice action there!

Sorry to hear about the old ride, but glad to hear about the new one. Sounds like a nice setup. Sure TD cold help PVC-trick it out if you need an assist.

I gotta get pitching more cranks. I've got enough - just really haven't caught many fish on them, mostly more recently. Time and place I guess. But when I flip a fat-headed bass crank and hook up a Musky - that's some fun tugs right there!

Sounds like you gotta hold on to your rods tighter, or attach a leash maybe!

So do you flipper, row, or have a motor?

[IDFishHound]

I recently aquired a Cumberland float tube they had at COSCO ($60 cheeper than Cabellas). I realy like it, the seat pad is so thick a person would probably float without any air in the tubes. I'm about 200 lbs and it holds me up high with my knees out of the water. It's big, real stable for casting with a fly rod and roomy enough I can squerm around and shift positions a bit more than in some other tubes. I like that the bottom is rubberized it realy motors when you put the fins to it and I'm a little more comfortable dragging it around a little when needed.

The 2 things I would cange is I wish the stripping basket was a bit bigger and that it had more pockets. The stripping basket seems a bit small for the size of the tube and is not real tight on the side that is closeset to you. I've lost a pair of hemo's that slid right off it and through the legs. As for the pockets there is plenty of room for my things in the big pockets on either tube but I like compartments to keep things organized.

It costs twice as much $$ as the lower end float tubes but about half the price of the higher end float tubes. Over all I think its a solid V-style tube that looks like it will last. Don't think I'll be packing it to any high mountan lakes though.
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[gstott]

Well thanks. I usually don't have a hard time with holding onto the rod, but those fish were crazy that night. Mostly it was just my left hand popping off the handle.

I already wanted to replace my old one, so it just sped up the process. I actually used some of Tube Dude's threads to make a PVC contraption for my tube. I can bring 6 rods and a fish finder with me now. Oh, and I just use fins. It's not a true pontoon, so there's no place for oars, plus my rods would get in the way.

Cranks are awesome. Jerkbaits too. I love hardbaits. Sometimes they're just what the fish want. I agree about the tigers, they're pretty fun when the crush a crank, I just don't like the crowds of jerks at Newton. I'll probably head over there in the fall.
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[gstott]

Overall I really like the tube. I agree about the stripping apron, but it's ten times better than on the old one. That one wouldn't stay attached at all and would flap around between your legs. Then when you're fly fishing all your stripped line would fall down and get wrapped around your feet. I do agree about the pockets being a little disorganized, but I like how large they are. I'm going to order a waterproof bag and then I can store a couple of Plano boxes in the pocket on the back of the seat.

I really like how high up it keeps you. Not only does it keep you out of the water, (which will be great when it gets cold), but it makes casting easier and greatly improves what you can see.

Overall I'm quite happy with it. I definitely won't be packing it around, but for the little reservoirs in the area, it's great.
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