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I just adopted a cat!
#1
I just had a cat show up at my door! She isn't a stray but she is an outcast, and she is fat...............

OK, my Fat Cat arrived today, Many thank's go out to all of you who helped me when I was doing my "due diligence" on deciding what to get. See you out on the water in a couple of weeks. (I have 1 more ice fishing trip to take, next day off)


Now I need to vaccinate her against skunkitis.
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#2
Congrats on being in the cat family. I know you made a wise decision.

Although there is no known vaccine for "Skunkitis" there is also one more dangerous disease out there. It is called "InTubeItis".

Sometimes you are on a float tubing trip so long that you begin to swell inside of your tube an you won't want to remove the comfort of your tube from your surroundings.

Good luck on getting it tricked out as well. As you can see, there is plenty of advice on getting most of the Bells, Whistles, and Chimes onto your craft.

Feel free to let us know if you did something different as well. There are many ways to accomplish the same feat and everyone is unique.[url "javascript: top.editor_iframe.addTag('cool')"][cool][/url]
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#3
Congratulations on your new addition Doggone. After becoming familiar with the Fat Cat's smaller cousin, the Fish Cat 4, I can see that the upgrade would only get better.

zonker
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#4
[cool][#0000ff]Yahoo. Another Cat owner joins the ranks. Hope you take good care of your new "kitty" and that it takes good care of you too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Some of the great things about these Cats are that you don't have to get them spayed, they don't need a litter box, they don't scratch furniture and the only times they wanna go out at night is when the catfish or walleye are runnin'.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]"Skunkitis"? Once you learn to take full advantage of all the possibilities offered by your new family member, that malady should almost never occur again. Of course, you gotta have basic fishing skills, but the craft will help you take maximum advantage of them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Unfortunately, you are even more likely to suffer periodic bouts of "fishing pox". Whenever you become stressed too badly, from wanting to go fishing, but can't, you develop a twitching in the rod arm and whine a lot. In extreme cases, you might even develop the characteristic rash.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hope you are able to make your new Cat fit into the family soon. I should caution that you do need to be firm with it. No matter how much it wants to be with you, you have to draw the line. Sleeping with it will only make the problem worse, and could lead to another affliction, known as divorce. But, then again, that could make it easier to get a "kitchen pass" when you wanna go fishing. Decisions, decisions.[/#0000ff]
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#5
Hi there,

Congrats on a good choice the first time around. Ain't it puuurrrrrrr dy ! You might get to like this cat more than some others. Build good so she/he should have 9 lives. Thought of a name yet?

JapanRon
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#6

I once had an enormously (real) fat cat named Annabelle that has always been one of my favorites. I will probably go with that. I just hope this one is as productive in acquiring fish meals as she was.
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#7
[cool][#4040ff]Was your REAL fat cat anything like either of these?[/#4040ff]
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#8
Oops! I did it again. Posted without logging in. Guess I'm a slow learner.

zonker
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#9
[cool][#0000ff]Just so ya know, you do not have to log out after finishing a session on BFT. The site puts cookies on your computer so that the next time you open up the site, it recognizes you.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]However, anytime you delete files and cookies, you will have to log on again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just get in the habit of looking at the top of your posts and it will either say zonker or guest.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We love ya man, and we ain't all hung up on whether or not ya log on to post. It merely helps us track the activity of members and keep a count of your activity. Later on, if you want to look at any or all of your own posts (or anybody else), you have that option by clicking on your name to bring up your profile and then clicking on the button that will bring up a list of all of your posts (or anyone else).[/#0000ff]
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#10
Actually, my original "fat cat" looked very much like the one on the bottom , before I put her on a diet. I have a picture here somewhere that is similar to picture 2, but it may have been a casualty of my recent move.

Being the excited new "pet" owner, I put it all together and put in the gear that I would typically want to take to my favorite tubing lake. (Jordanelle) Very nice! It holds an entire tackle store compared to my old Caddis. The only problem I noticed was that the 12 V battery for the finder seemed to be loose and slide around a bit. To solve this, I cut a piece of foam to size, hollowed the center so the battery fit snugly and sewed in velcro to the sides of the pocket and foam. This seems to work well, at least for now. I will continue to work on setting up the sonar this week, following the pattern in the "best-of" section. If my foam mount proves unsatisfactory, is there another way to secure the battery, or do I even need to be concerned?
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#11
[cool][#0000ff]The use of shaped styrofoam as a battery holder and stabilizer is a proven technique. I plan to do the same thing. I have the foam chunk, but just haven't done the necessary cutting.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the olden days, while I was still using the liquid acid filled motorcycle batteries, I fitted and secured a small plastic box inside one pocket to hold the battery. You can find lots of sizes and shapes in the office supply or craft shops. You can also find them cheap at a lot of garage sales. Might even be something in your own "junk boxes".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The good thing about the SLA batteries, compared to the liquid acid kind, is that you can stuff them anywhere and lay them on their side, upside down or whatever. That increases your options for carrying them in your tube.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Glad you are having such a great time trickin' out your new Cat. You will probably be interested in the new project I am working on. It is a PVC framework seat, with a high backrest and with risers on the front to accomodate special "outrigger" rod holders for fishing with two rods...where it is legal to fish with two rods.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am a big/tall guy and the backrests on the Fat Cats have always seemed too short for me. Previous craft had higher backrests and I spent time getting them adjusted just right, so that long days on the water did not become a "pain in the back". My new design for an insert will use the natural seat for form and basic support, but will add additional height, plus the extra rod holding capacity. I am guessing it will add about 2 or 3 pounds of weight, but most of the places I launch (including Jordanelle) allow me to load everything right out onto the launch area without having to carry it too far.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I will keep notes and take pics so that I can post it up when I get it functional.[/#0000ff]
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#12
TD,

Thanks for the reassurance. My problem was deleting the cookies, something I do after any extensive web surfing. I do have a question though. I've been on 4 or 5 forums similar to this one and there has always been an easy way to determine whether or not you are logged on. If there is such an easy indicator on this one, I've somehow missed it. I have the tubing forum bookmarked, so I don't usually come in through the bigfishtackle.com front door. I did fiddle with it and found that I could click on the "edit profile" link to check whether I'm logged on but this seems a bit counter intuitive. Also can click the "Preview Post" button and determine, but is there somewhere on the page that says, "You are logged on as..."? What am I missing? (I'll be embarrassed if there is some indicator right there in front of my eyeballs that I've missed. But embarrassment is better than ignorance.)

BTW, I would love to see your new PVC seat thingy that you mentioned above, too, as I also perceived that the back of the Fish Cat seat is rather short.

zonker
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#13
[cool][#0000ff]Chocolate chip cookies (and peanut butter cookies) are good. Website cookies are sometimes not good. I delete cookies regularly too, since I spend a lot of time researching various subjects online. However, the first thing I do after a cookie deletion is to log back in on BFT, even if I am not going to be doing anything else on the site. That way, the next time I drop in, I am already recognized.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The "simple" quick-check I use is to look for the button right in the middle of the top of every page on BFT that says "Private Messages". If it is missing, you ain't logged in...and you cannot send or receive private messages.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I will have prototype pics of the seat enhancement soon. Obviously, I also hope to test it out as soon and as often as possible. I'll be shopping for the stuff I don't already have sometime today. It will go together quickly, once I have the parts.[/#0000ff]
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#14
The "outrigger" sounds perfect for Utah lake. You can toss out some bait, and work lures for eyes and whites at the same time. Very ingenious. Can't wait to see it.
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#15
I just got back from a "shakedown" trip at Utah lake (Lincoln beach) with the fat cat. I guess I will keep it.[Wink] Some observations, First the tube itself isn't that heavy, but when you load up with all of the tackle and sonar equipment, it's weight increases dramatically. I will need to keep that in mind for future trips. The handling is all that was advertised. The sonar worked superbly. (thanks TD) My fishmark 320, that I use for ice fishing, converted nicely and will do great. The speed you can generate also is much faster, even in chop, compared to my old caddis. It also seems that I am not the least bit tired from the trip, unlike my old tube. All good. I did have one problem though.[unsure] The "backrest" seat adjustment clip kept snapping open on one side. I have a tendency to lean back a lot while tubing, and it would snap open. Is there an adjustment I might need to make either on the straps on the bottom of the seat, these straps, or elsewhere, or might I need to send it in for warranty repair or trade?
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#16
[cool][#0000ff]My first thought would be that "whoever" set up the straps might have strung the strap through the adjustment buckle incorrectly. Done that myself a time or two. Check it against the one that works okay.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If it is a bad connector, you should be able to get a replacement where you bought it...or do a complete changeout. That is a pain, once you have your craft set up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most people who have been used to "plowing" the water and dragging a lot of their anatomy underwater (with other model tubes) are pleasantly surprised to find how much more propulsion they get in the Fish Cats. Pushing a shallow draft craft OVER the top of the water definitely gives you more thrust efficiency with every kick of the fins.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And, while being higher on the water also makes you more vulnerable to being pushed around by breezes, it more than makes up for it when you need to power back into the wind to get somewhere. You get more speed and the pointed bow (stern) tracks into the wind and waves a lot better than a rounded surface.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You are definitely right about the weight factor. When I got my new Super Fat Cat a couple of years ago, I was pleasantly surprised at how light it felt when I first aired it up. Now I can't believe how much weight I have to carry when I trudge all of my rods, sonar, battery and tackle down to the water. The crazy things we do for fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One final thought on the strap problem. On other craft in the past, I have been known to get the adjustment "just right" and then to sew or epoxy the connection permanently so that I don't have to keep playing with it. I rely on a backrest too (see the new post on my PVC addition...more weight), so I have always based my evaluation of a craft on how good the backrest is. Outcast tubes are not at the top of the list in the backrest department, but more than make up for it in others. Just like life...always a tradeoff.[/#0000ff]
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