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I was fishing Clear Lake near Buhl Idaho last weekend. I borrowed a Fish Cat 4 from my brother. I usually fish from "round" tubes but this was only my second or third time in one of these "pon-tubes" I am 51 and started out in an old canvas "Tucker Tube" when I was 10 so I have been float tubing a long time.
Anyway, I was fly fishing, a little fatigued and overextended my right arm on the forward cast. I lost balance & flipped the boat forward onto my face. I was trapped between the stripping apron & the boat. The boat wanted to force my face under the water & I could NOT get free from the apron as my weight prevented me from unfastening the front hooks & I could not reach the Velcro straps in the back.
I could not breathe & my waders were filling with water. Fortunately I was about 20 feet from the shore & my buddy was near. He heard my thrashing and towed me closer to the shore were & could stand up. If I had been close to the shore & my friend I may have drowned.
Has this ever happened to any one else out there? Needless to say I am getting a pontoon boat and sticking with round tubes from now on.
Looking at the fish cat designs (in retrospect) it looks like there is a lot of pontoon in the back and very little in the front. I also notice that the new ones have a break away stripping apron.
I wonder if this has happened before to anyone?
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Holy COW that's frickin' scary! Must've really freaked you out. Thanks for sharing.
My FC IV has the newer type stripping apron, but I can see how even that one may keep you trapped.
You're right about the floatation percentage though. The Fat Cat has more, eh, coneage out front to prevent the end-over. Was the tube fully inflated / rigid?
Are you a big guy? Under the capacity of the tube I assume?
Glad to still have you around!
_SHig
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By the way, when I first read the subject I assumed you got a killer deal on it on CL and sold it for a profit <LOL>!
_SHig
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It was freaky that's for sure.
I checked after the fact and it turns out I am right at the weight limit for the FC-4. It looked big enough but it was a borrowed rig & I did not check the weight limit. It was properly inflated & the seat adjusted correctly.
My buddy was in a Super Fat Cat and he was riding higher that me and he is about 310lbs. Even the SFC seemed to be a little short in the front. I wonder if the should have another 6" - 12" of pontoon out front?
Anyway...... I have never flipped a round tube in 41 years!! Been blown across in some pretty rough water and the low center of gravity has always kept me up right!
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That IS SCARY!! Certainly glad to see that your incident did NOT turn into a tragedy! The H3 that I use has quite a lot of tube that extends outward from the seat so I hopefully won't ever have the problem you did. The apron is also just fastened with velcro front and back and is pretty easy to undo. Once again, SUPER glad the accidental swim you took wasn't anymore serious than it ended up!!!
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Wow, I absolutely see how that could happen, and wouldn't be surprised at all if that's why they changed the design of the stripping apron on the FC4. Good thing you weren't out there alone.
I have a newer FC4 with the "adjustable" stripping apron, and it's totally worthless so I don't even use it. On the plus side though, if I somehow managed to flip like you did, Id just be dumped right out into the water.
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Again, so glad you are safe and still with us. I am sure this has happened before, but seems these things aren't reported ENOUGH. Maybe embarrassment or whatever, but I have always said...THESE THINGS NEED TO BE POSTED! The PROS and the CONS.
I have a friend that was on a lake in his pontoon. He fell asleep and fell head first into the water. He woke up fast, but tried to get back on from the side. The boat kept rolling. We shouted to him to try from the middle/front of the pontoon. He finally worked his way to just in front of the seat and did pull himself up.
I know that is WHY NFO made the H3 longer. He made them safe for white water which means very safe on still water.
I do feel allot of people are out on lakes in TOO small of vessel. In fact I have seen four large adults in a 12' aluminum boat before.
KNOW your limitations.
I remember Larry Tullis pointing out, they made the H3 LARGER with new comers in mind. They can feel safer.
BIG IS BEAUTIFUL in flotation devises[  ]
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Praise the Lord I was near my buddy & the shore.
Yes it was embarassing when it happened and a little embarassing even posting it here but I want people to remember that things can & do happen out there on the water.
If you have a FC4 and you are near the 250lb weight limit in yer skivies you would be wise to look into upsizing to something a little more substantial.
In fairness to Fish Cat I should probably have been in a larger rig. However, I don't know if my wife would have looked at it that way had I drowned.
If anybody is reading this from Fish Cat a recall on the rigs with the old style apron might be a good idea before somebody really gets hurt.
I
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Amen to that! And again, thank you for the warning!
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Were is a good place to look at the H3? Sportsmans, Cabelas, etc?
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Good question. I know Cabela's isn't carrying them anymore, Sportsmens never did as far as I know.
Sportsmen's Shows you can probably see them there and they usually have special show prices.
Where do you live? Never mind, I see you are in Idaho. Can you make it to the IF Fly Tying Expo in about three weeks? I will be tying both days and love to meet you, and NFO will be there for sure.
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Thanks for the invite. I'm in the Boise area. Idaho Falls is about 6 hours away so I won't be there. I gotta save those vacation days for fishing ya know.
I'll google H3 and see what I come up with.
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Right On. I grew up in Glenns Ferry.
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Why I got the nickname "Cadillac" when I'm out on Upper Otay:o)
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[quote flygoddess]Right On. I grew up in Glenns Ferry.[/quote]
An Idaho Girl! No wonder you like to fish!
We raise 'em right out here boys. My wife & I went flyfishing on our second date... really!
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Nice Rig Bassamatic. How do you like that H3?
After the "flip" I am thinking about going back to a round tube to throw in the car trunk but the H3 looks a lot safer.
Their website says the load capacity is 500 lbs and the whole thing is 6" long stem to stern. Pretty tempting. Wish I could see one up close. I don't know if there is a dealer in the Boise area.
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Forgiven: I absolutely LOVE the H3!!! In fact, I love it SO MUCH that when I damaged the one in the picture last July (my OWN fault - inside seam ripped open due to excessive pressure buildup - something I knew about and should have been monitoring since it was a HOT July day and I was on the water for over 5 hours), I ordered another one to use this year! Now I know they are a little more expensive than some of the other pon-tubes BUT an H3 is "the Cat's Whiskers", IMO!! Every single tuber I met on Upper Otay complimented me on my "Cadillac" of rigs! The H3 is superb. I use diving model Force Fins (that I had stored away for years) and they propel me along fine and give me great maneuverability! I am looking forward to receiving my new H3 in a few weeks and getting back on the water in mid-March!!
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I feel pretty much, word for word as you Bass. They are awesome tubes, but if yours is the Cadillac, then what is my Navigator II? SEMI?!! LOL
H3 on the left Navi on the right:
![[Image: NavigatorII006450.jpg]](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/FlyGoddess/Navigator%20II/NavigatorII006450.jpg)
And look at the trunk:
![[Image: IMG_1721450.jpg]](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/FlyGoddess/Navigator%20II/IMG_1721450.jpg)
LOL[laugh][laugh][laugh]
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How many boats do you have flygoddess? I think I have seen 3 so far a Cardiac Canyon, a H3 & now the navigator II. You must have a friend at the factory!
So I looked on Dave's website and see he does not list a navigator II or a Cardiac Canyon any more. I read somewere that the Cardiac would all fit ito a airline sized suitcase as long as you used thier pack seat.
I sure like the looks of that navagator II. Is it pretty much the same thing as the Outlaw?
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It is a little smaller than the Outlaw and a little bigger than the H3. It is 9' long and fits in that backpack in the background. The metal shelf goes on the back and there is a zipper to slide the motor through.
But you are right, they are discontinued. I am guessing because of how similar they are the the Outlaw.
Now the Cardiac does fit in a 24" X24" x 12" rolling bag, but we added the aluminum deck to them so they don't break down anymore. (actually they will but you have to remove the deck) And I do have the cloth seat.
Yup, those three plus a 4' Pontoon by Venture Outdoors called the Echo, so four total. They all get used[ ]
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