Maiden Voyage

[AdictedBassTard]

Went out this Sunday. It was balmy (60F) and the water 42F and clear.
I cruised around slowly searching for schooling bass. The two schools I found were behaving oddly - holding 2' to 3' in 13' of water, occasionally meandering close to the dock and back again.
They refused to touch anything i tossed ... not even a glance was given.
I did lose my Rapala shallow diver to a swift attack from a large pickerel.
So the wife and I got our first skunk of the year.

I am very happy with the tube. The extra and larger pockets a re wonderful and the extra thigh space is noticeable. The single bladder and the valve system are infinitely superior to the FC4. I love the stiff backrest, but am not throwing a party over the seat foam. I noticed I sat a lot higher and drier in the FC4 Deluxe.
Does anyone know if it is possible to purchase the inflatable seat cushion separately?




Hope the new year is doing wonders for all of you so far.

-ABT-
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[Majja]

Grats on the new tube, I do like the color it is not to bright.
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[tubeN2]

Way to go one your first dip out in your new craft. It looks like you have benefitted from some of the pointers here as well as adding some of your own personal touches.[cool]
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[Fishheiser]

Congrats on the maiden voyage.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Lookin' good. Glad you got out on the water. Also glad to hear that you got the "skunking" out of the way so you can focus on catching some fish now.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After looking at your pics, I have a couple of observations. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]1. How did you manage to attach that tackle box to the rear of your tube so that it appeared to be in danger of falling over...without falling over?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]2. While the sonar display rides up high, nice and visible, I suspect that you will want to change that mount so that is is not as much in your way. All of those things will develop as you work with your new ride.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Inflatable seat cushions can be purchased separately. [url "http://www.riverwire.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=3509"]RIVERWIRE[/url] has them for about $40. You might also try using a cheap "stadium cushion" on your hard foam seats. That's what you get for being so tender.[/#0000ff]
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[AdictedBassTard]

Hey my dad said I was a tenderfoot, not a tenderbutt[sly]!

Anyhow I am reverting my fish finder rig back to its old design, far less clumsy and less prone to snag in overhanging branches which all the lake shores we fish near are bedecked with. With our lures getting snagged, we often find ourselves having to bash crash a little to get at the problem branch and that FC screen is getting in the way.

The tackle boxes are two bolted/glues together, bottoms together. A hole is drilled through the front side of one of the boxes and a rope fed through it. A knot is tied to the end to prevent it slipping back out. The other end is tethered to one of the rear D-rings.

Thanks for the info Pat. Air seems to be far superior in adding fishing height than foam, so I'll invest in one of those babies soon enough.

-ABT-
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[bdn06]

Great pics--thanks for sharing them. As far as getting skunked, I have convinced myself that it is as important to find out what the fish are NOT hitting, as what they are, hehe. TubeDude has seen some of my homemade lures, and can probably attest to that fact. Once I have run the gamut of what they are not hitting, well, then obviously I will know what they ARE biting on, and I will have taken all the guesswork out of it []
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[MT_Pilgrim]

Hey, nice tube there! It must be nice to have open water in January! [cool][cool]
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[AdictedBassTard]

This is the first time I have tried bassin' in the winter. Usually there is at an ice skin on the lakes by this time, but not this year. Because my waders have sprung a leak, I also did not have much time to go through my entire tackle boxes and try many patterns. I'll see what happens next month.

-ABT-
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