Float tube vs. shore

[fishluvr]

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 will be posting this on the float tube board 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 from a tube would be great.
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[WarmH2O]

Flies-Wooly Buggers; Black, Brown, Olive, Rust. Nymphs; Pheasant Tails, Damselflies and many others. If you dont have a fly rod, just put enough weight to help cast and get you to the proper depth. Alternate retrieves until you find what they are hitting. Fast, Slow, Pausing, Trolling, mix it up.

When you are moving around in your tube sometimes your movements affect the fish around you. Cast away from your wake if you are moving, or try to paddle without making too much disturbance. However, I have fished in my wake and still catch fish

Good Luck.
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[fishluvr]

Thanks for the ideas. Last time I was out I was thinking of putting on some buggers but I don't have sinking line on my fly rod so I don't take it out in my float tube very often. What size of weights do you normally put on your line if you are not using a fly rod? Thanks again for the response and if I haven't welcomed you yet welcome to the boards.
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[PREDATOR]

They way I figure it, if you are getting out fished from shore, bag the tube and hit the shore.

I have a tube, a boat, and many times during the year, I fish from the shore. Some look at you kind of funny and think why would you fish from the shore if you have over $30,000 tied up in a boat?

Well, conditions dictate fish movement, location, and feeding habits. If the fish are shallow, and the effective presentation is from the bank, and your tube is preventing you from making that presentation, bag the tube.

A float tube is not always more effective than fishing from shore, and a boat is not always as efective as fishing from a tube.

Sounds to me like you were pulling your minnow around, and that kept it moving and in deeper water than the guys who were fishing from shore with a very still presentation, likley on or close to the bottom, but in shallower water.

I would bet that something like that was the difference, rather than the way you hook the minnow on your line.
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[Coldfooter]

I do fairly well at Scolfield pulling spinners behind my tube. Also try vertical jigging. Hey, keep this to yourself but,, I do pretty good using small Wedding Rings sporting a 1 1/2" chunk of crawler. I would suggest replacing the standard hook with a size 4. I use a spinning rod and usually weight the line about 3' up from the lure. Try trolling around in 10 - 15' of water.

Hope that helps.
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[pleasantmisery]

Were there any minow schools close to the shore?

I was out there a couple weeks ago and we could huge schools of them with a few bigger fish coming in close.

We tried using minows but couldn't catch anything with them. I have also tried the virtival jigging from my tube and had great sucecess in meduim depth water, 15'-20', about a foot and a half off the bottom. Plain while or peppered with tipped with a piece of crawler. Worked great last year but haven't even got my tube out yet this year.
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[TubeDude]

[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]As Predator so astutely observes, 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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[WarmH2O]

Thanks for the welcome. Predator makes some good points. The fish at Scofield cruise the shallows. You will see minnows going nuts to get away. Presentation based on location of the fish is a key like he mentioned also. As far as the weights question. It depends on where the fish are holding. If you see fish at the surface you can use less. If they are suspended you use more. If they are at the bottom you need more than if they are suspended. If you are unsure get the line deep and as you retreive you will basically cover all three zones. If you are moving your line will retrieve different then if you are still. Moving will have more of a horizontal presentation and still will have more of a vertical presentation. It also depends on how far you cast. Just some ideas!

Tubedude nailed it!
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[Xman]

there is a few things to consider why you got outfished. one is how deep were you fishing? if it was shallow perhaps your kicking to hard and spooking the fish. if your out deep and they are catching them from shore. this tells you the fish are feeding and trolling the shoreline. move location. also technique of fishing the minnow. it seems you were trolling the minnow a bit. if your buddies are on shore it means its sitting still. perhaps the fish wanted a slow or no movement presentaion that day. just some ideas i can think of.
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