Using boat drift sock on float tube

[1tuber]

Hey i go to a lake that is close to a beach in California it always seems to be windy ALL the time i want a steady drift.

I want to be straight on with the shore so i can FISH.
What do u think any advise would be great.
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[pontoonman]

Tricky to use drift sock. They work best in large, deep, debris free, weedless water, with no other boats around. Wind has to be strong enough so they don't sink down too low where they collapse. I have two of different sizes and have only used one time without success. But maybe someone else with success can chime in.

Pon


[quote 1tuber]Hey i go to a lake that is close to a beach in California it always seems to be windy ALL the time i want a steady drift.

I want to be straight on with the shore so i can FISH.[.img][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/happy.gif[/img]"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/...orum/happy.gif[/img][/url]
What do u think any advise would be great.[/quote]
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[flygoddess]

I know a few that use them on Toons and like them. Haven't heard of them being used on a Tube, but interested to hear.
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[Laroo]

I use one on my pontoon, it works great all you need to do is attach it to a different spot to change your angle to the wind or shore. It is however just another thing to get tangled in while landing a fish or casting and retrieving
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[smallmouth89]

The reason the float tube is my favourite fishing platform is the control afforded by using your fins. It is equivalent to the bass boats foot controlled electric motor. Fins allow you to position yourself and control your drift. If you can't control your drift with fins it is too windy to be out in a tube. A drift sock on a float tube is rather ludicrous in my humble opinion.

God Bless,
Don
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[peter805]

If you need to use drift sock then it is way too
windy to float tube.
If you have good fins like Force Fins then that should be
a nuf to control your drift.
Also you have to remember that if you let the wind to
take you someplace then you may need to get back
somehow as well........................[]


Peter
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[1tuber]

thx for the advise....
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[peter805]

u welcome.[]
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[flygoddess]

[quote peter805]If you need to use drift sock then it is way too
windy to float tube.
If you have good fins like Force Fins then that should be
a nuf to control your drift.
Also you have to remember that if you let the wind to
take you someplace then you may need to get back
somehow as well........................[]


Peter[/quote]


Me personally, I can see the wind sock. Let the wind pull you while you fish. At some points, you can even troll.

I can see them working in a MID wind, which could be great. I admit, in high winds, you don't need one as you will be moving even if you don't want to.

But, I am going to agree 100% on getting back to shore. I have been in some storms that it took everything I had. That was in both my H3 and the Outlaw, but the outlaw, I could also row.....big plus.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]After all the good advice you have been given, I will second the opinion that if it is too windy to fish, then quit fishing and go home.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, if you just want to drift slower than the wind is pushing you, there is another option to the wind sock and not quite as much hassle. Find about six to eight feet of fairly heavy chain. Tie it to the end of a rope and lower it to the bottom. It will drag on the bottom (not good for rocky areas) to slow you down. Let more chain drag for a slower drift. Raise it if you want more speed.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]PS...you can do the same thing with a bag of rocks. Add rocks for more drag, etc.[/#0000ff]
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[michaelnel]

Think about what you're doing to the bottom though when you are dragging chain or a bag of rocks across it. Some areas are pretty fragile, especially on rivers & streams and ocean coastal areas. Even in stillwater you're going to create some destruction.

Personally, I wish people wouldn't do it.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I DON'T do it. But, wherever you are fishing over clean sand or mud bottom you will not impact the ecology.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have not ever...nor will I ever...carry an anchor on my tube. I can hold pretty well even in a fair breeze. But, when the wind is too much for me to hold or to fish with finesse I am headed for shore.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Dragging a chain is a tactic used by driftboaters on some rivers to slow their drift through some holes to allow their bait or lures to work longer before they shoot out the other end. I know a couple of tubers who have also used it on mud bottomed lakes to good effect...without destroying habitat or upsetting the ecology.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Of course that would NEVER be advisable over pristine coral reef...or over spawning beds...etc. But there are times and occasions in which it would be advisable...and the best option to keep an angler fishing. Better than a drift sock that can tangle legs and gear...or sink to the bottom to foul on rocks or other debris.[/#0000ff]
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[pontoonman]

Once I plan a trip and find it is too windy when arriving, most places will have a protected cove or an alternate feeder creek which will be protected, and can be worked. Better than canceling and wasting time and money. Dragging anything to slow you seems counterproductive. Seems like it scares off finicky species, and just sends you randomly where the wind blows, so your advantage of precision control or hovering over a school is lost. Also, what happens if your drag line/wind sock gets snagged besides the potential for loosing your drag setup? Would you get flipped, swamped with waves breaking over, or sink lower because of a downward pull?

Pon
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[tmas]

Good point on it getting stuck. That is the reason while fishing in a drift boat i always have a very sharp knife quickly accessible, while pulling the anchor, or on certain stretches "anchor sliding" it is always possible to get snagged and sometimes the safest thing is to get that line cut quick.
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[1tuber]

Well, the only reason why I posted this question is because i am 12 (years old) and I am somewhat light I weigh about 100 pounds and even in a small breeze i drift FAST.

But, with that being said I obviously don't want to spook the FISH or mess there habitat up...
[teeth]
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[flygoddess]

Not much heavier here. I don't notice me drifting any faster than my twice weight husband though.
I would be concerned about the snagging of the wind sock also. We had a nice 18 1/2 foot Rinker. we were just pulling a tube. A wave crashed over the tube and it went down....IT PULL THE WHOLE BACK OF THE BOAT DOWN.
That has always stuck in my mind.

As far as the chain anchor. I know some use them on rivers to slow down and claim no more damage than blow outs.

I use a chain anchor (on rare occasions that I even use one/ don't like them personally) and my husband uses one - On Stillwater.
Then don't slow drift down, they are ANCHORS, and darn good ones in that we don't get snagged...EVER. I have left a couple of other anchors that I just could not pull up. The Chain or Rock bag are the best!!!.

Last note...I don't see a wind sock question as slowing you down on windy days but, how to catch a free ride on a slightly BREEZY day.[cool]
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[idahoron]

Well lets throw something else in. Lets say a guy is floating a river and your in a stretch where you can't get out. You have to keep floating. The wind picks up just enough to stop your down stream progress. Would a wind sock help pull you down river? Ron
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[flygoddess]

Don't know, but I do know I wouldn't try one on a river...too many snags there.
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[TubeDude]

"Also, what happens if your drag line/wind sock gets snagged besides the potential for loosing your drag setup? Would you get flipped, swamped with waves breaking over, or sink lower because of a downward pull?"

[cool][#0000ff]I don't know about the potential for sustaining damage or submersion if you snagged up in a breeze. It would have to be a pretty stiff breeze with sizeable waves. I personally would not still be on the water in that situation nor would I be trying to use a sock or anchor. I would be boogying for shore.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I think the greatest possible potential for disaster would be to snag an anchor in a fast current. I have see a couple of small boats suffer from capsizing by doing just that. The force of the current pulled down the bow of the boat far enough to allow water to pour in and glub glub. [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Most catastrophes of that kind happen to rookies or folks that just plain don't use good sense. I refer to it as "thinning the herd"...or reinforcement of the Darwin theory.[/#0000ff]
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[flygoddess]

Absolutely. I have heard tale and seen one pontoon boat that the frame folded in half because of an anchor on a river.

In my case, it is simply the fly line that is my concern and reason for NOT using an anchor.
We will travel several 100 miles to fish and because of that, weather is not always cooperative, but we still go.
On some of those, I see a wind sock being an accident waiting to happen. I mean, I would be flying and 9 times out of 10, .....the wrong direction.


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