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Had so much fun tubing Rockcliffs last Wed. I went back for more. Glad you guys reminded me how much fun tubing is.Launched my old [30 years] Fishmaster at about 6:00pm and paddled over to the southside. Ran into Jedburton in his new outfit and he had fish in his basket. Said he was looking for larger perch and maybe one big smallmouth. Easy to tell a BFT tuber = rod rack and sonar. Drifted away from Jed and fished w/2" chartruse single tail with little luck [ lots of small hits and few hookups]. Put on a roadrunner [chartruse head w/white single tail] and layed my rod over the front of the tube while playing with my tackle box. When I picked up my rod there was a 15" smallmouth attached to the jig. Sure fire way to catch a big fish, lay your rod down. After a few more perch the wind and my old tube got to me [hello, super fat cat] and I paddled back in. Ever notice how hard on your plumbing those old round tubes are? Anyway, HA69 thanks for the tip on roadrunners and Jedburton good luck with your studies.
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Thanks for the great post. I'll be up there for the perch party Sept. 6 in the morning with my tube. What I need is a rod rack for my tube. I can't yet afford the fishfinder, but I'd like to rig up something, especially since I want to bring my fly rod, and probably both of my spinning rods. In the past I've just layed it across my lap and velcroed it down, but it gets in the way of casting and such. What's a good way to do it? I'm sure this question has been posted here before, but I'm ignorant. I imagine something out of PVC pipe would work, but not sure.
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Go to the float tubing forum. Tube dude can hook you up with instrutions and diagrams.
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[cool]Here's a link to the thread I showed some pics of my Super Fat Cat tricked out with rod rack and sonar.
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=31974;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=31974;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[/url]
Also, I am attaching a diagram, at the bottom, that shows how I use wood and PVC for my setup. There have been some very creative adaptations from the Utah guys. I think most of us are always looking for new ways to play with PVC.
Shoot me a PM or email if you need any "technical stupidvision"
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Hey cat_man , I use a fishing buddy finder holder for a rod holder for my spinning rod . I pick one up at Sportsmans for 6 or 7 bucks . I have 2 on my float tube . One for finder and spinning rod . Fly rod would be a different story with this kind of holder with out modifing it .
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Is a setup like this possible on a round style tube?[unsure]
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[cool]YEP. I worked through a whole series of different types of rod racks for round tubes before I ever got my first Uboat. The designs can be anything you want. The determining factor is the number and placement of the D rings, for attaching them. Heck, my first few models were simply lashed on to the tube, with that plastic coated clotheline wire/cord. As long as I cut the lengths slightly shorter than the aired up circumference, the expanding tube held everything in place. If I got a leak, or a little shrinkage in the air chamber from cold water, however, my rod rack slipped.
Here's a pic of an old Caddis donut, with rod rack and sonar combined. Oh yeah, there is also a nice flathead hanging off my rope stringer, because it was too big to go in the basket...with the crappies I was fishing for when the stupid catfish hit my crappie jig...on 6# line. Weighed about 27#.
![[Image: SCOU1712CustomImage0067200.jpg]](http://web.ecomplanet.com/SCOU1712/ServerContent/MyCustomImages/SCOU1712CustomImage0067200.jpg)
Below is another pic of the wood frame system I developed for keeping my reels up higher, for fishing in salt water. The frame is permanently lashed to the tube, and the rack slips down in when you launch. It worked well, but it is heavier.
![[Image: SCOU1712CustomImage0578827.jpg]](http://web.ecomplanet.com/SCOU1712/ServerContent/MyCustomImages/SCOU1712CustomImage0578827.jpg)
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Nice flathead !!!!!!!!!! I bet that pulled the old tube just fine .
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[cool] THERE IS NOTHING LIKE COMBINING TUBING AND WATER SKIING IN THE SAME DAY WITH THE SAME RIG. HA HA.[laugh]
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[cool]Can you say "ROOSTERTAIL"?
That was one of several I caught over a two week period several yaars ago, when the "brillieant" water management group for the Verde River decided to dump the rest of Horseshoe Reservoir so that the water could help maintain a higher level on Bartlett Reservoir, several miles downstream. Horsexhoe was an ideal float tubing water. Unpaved road, to keep out the nonserious. No big motors allowed on the lake, and beautiful surroundings. Oh yeah, the lake was full of big crappies, largies, smallies and both channel and flathead cats.
After a couple of years of intense drought, the minimum pool on Horseshoe was not sufficient to keep the vast fish population alive. There ware fish dieoffs. So, they flushed it. That meant a whole lotta fish in the deep "scour hole" below the dam...including flatheads up to 50 pounds.
When the word got out, my private preserve became a fish harvesting factory. People were coming down with their whole families and catching and keeping everything they could hook. Many of the big flatheads simply broke off, but there were enough knowledgeable flatheaders, who fished at night with live sunfish, that the big ones didn't last long.
Horseshoe Lake has been empty over three years now, and it has been ruled that it cannot be refilled. Seems there is a little species of tweety bird that has started nesting in the vegetation that grew up in the muddy lake bottom and it cannot be disturbed. Duh. Where did it nest before.
A better story is one that happened the same day I got the flathead in the pic. A guy was out paddling around near me, in a nice pontoon rig, waving his "fairy wand" (fly rod) for some of the big crappies that had washed down. As you can see in the pic, I scored a few, and that is what I was fishing for, with light tackle. The guy with the fly rod was using trout flies and catching only the occasional dink crappie. I kicked over and handed off a couple of my blue backed over and under shad flies and he immediately began going bendo on some bigger crappies...and a couple of largies too.
I heard his reel screaming, as something hauled line off against his drag. His eyes were wide open and his rod was bent over far more than it would with a crappie. At first, I thought carp. Lots of them in there. As the fight wore on, I decided it was a flathead. Two hours later, I helped him maneuver it into shallower water, where I scooped the head into my large net and dragged it up onto the bank. Over 40 pounds of flathead on six pound tippet and a six weight flyrod. That was the first trip he had ever made for non-trout species and what a way to start it off. He was still talking to himself as I headed for home later.
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Nice flathead TD. Once I get ready to rig something like this ill shoot ya a pm and get some more info or diargams on the construction of a setup like this. I appreciate the info, Thankyou[  ]
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