Creek Co 420 Kick Start

[cpierce]

I went over to Winder Friday night and stayed until Saturday afternoon. I was hoping for a bunch of perch and bluegills for dinner. Two years ago they were just thick in there....Smaller, but lots of them.

Friday night was stormy with a fair amount of lightning, so a little shore fishing, but no catching. Saturday dawned calm and beautiful.

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I was also testing out a Creek Co 420 float tube. I have others, and I prefer my NFO Renegade or my Fish Cat. But I got this one and put air seats in it so that it would pack up small and light. That way I could leave it and some backpack fins in my camper. Along with a spare pump, pfd, and some old waders, it makes a good spur of the moment lake kit.

The tube was okay, but I need to do a little "adjusting" on its seat back. To be fair I feel this tube is a great lightweight alternative to the heavier more rugged V tubes. I think that you need to treat it more gently, and it will preform great for many years.

There are a few design features that I don't care for, but they aren't really deal breakers. I dislike that the air valves are in the bottom of the pockets, and that they aren't attached to the cover. As you inflate you have to push and pull the inner bladder around to make sure that the valve stays lined up with the hole. It also makes it so that I can't use the pocket easily for the base of my fish finder. And I don't really care for the divided pockets. Not really a design flaw, just not my personal preference.

Then there is the seat back issue I was having. I can't keep the seat back from slipping over the back of the bottom seat cushion. That makes the back very short. I tried all kinds of configurations on the straps. I think I will try putting a strap around the bottom of the back so that it will pull the seat back bottom forward enough to stay put.

My initial rating for the tube is 4 out of 5 stars. It does what I wanted very well. It's light, packs small, and as a v tube, it's responsive and moves through the water easily. The lake I was on is "no motors" so I got lots of kicking experience in.

Back to the more important stuff....fishing.

The lake has about 5 feet to go before it's full. Clarity wasn't too bad, I could see down to about 10 feet. It's a little hard to see in this picture, but the circle of rocks and trash in the middle is a fire ring that is about 10 feet down. All the more reason to not burn trash or leave it in a fire ring for the next person!


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I started out checking the waters close to the trees and brush...nada. So I zigzagged in and out a bit. Nothing on the fish finder or on my line. I worked one side for awhile then I moved over to the other side for a bit. Still nothing. Moved back… nothing. But it was a nice calm morning to be out on the lake. There were tons of birds out. Red Wing Blackbirds, loons, grebes, ducks, ospreys, two blue herons, a flock of cormorants, and of course our friends the pelicans. None of my pictures of the birds turned out.

I know that the lake has been low for the last two years, but I hadn’t heard anything about them draining it. Plus I know of some others that had caught some fish in here not too long ago. So I kept at it. I think the fish were all hiding from both the birds and me!
I finally got a couple of beeps on the fish finder, and started catching a few…. Fresh planter trout. Cute little guys, but they need a little more growing time.

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I did catch some bass also, but I never did find any perch or bluegills. They either hide really good, or they were the main course at an avian lunch buffet!

This little bass must have recently escaped someone’s dinner menu.

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The day stayed good until about 1pm when the wind started to kick up a bit. The wind even played relatively nice for a change and didn't ever get too boisterous. I left at about 2ish. I had gotten plenty of exercise by then.

Just guessing from the track I left, plus all of the area I was in that isn’t shown, I covered about 2 and a half miles. The dots are not secret spots or even where I caught fish. They are just an automatic point marked about every 10 or so minutes. They don't show all the in between ins and outs etc. It just gives you a rough idea of some of the area I fish. I have now established where NOT to catch fish on Winder.[laugh] [crazy]

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Altogether I caught enough fish to smell sufficiently fishy for the day, but no panfish dinner this week.They are safe from me! [:p]
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[flygoddess]

Great report! Thanks. We have bee4n getting out and have been catching, just more Picture shy. Some movies of the new Fuzion. Pretty cool being able to sit on a chair for site fishing.
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[cpierce]

Would love to see the movies of the Fusion. Posted anywhere?
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[flygoddess]

No not yet.
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[pontoonman]

Good report and pics, CP. How did you get the air seats and how much did they cost, as they are not listed on the site anymore?
Hope my comments below are of some help.

Pon

[quote cpierce]

I was also testing out a Creek Co 420 float tube. I have others, and I prefer my NFO Renegade or my Fish Cat. But I got this one and put air seats in it so that it would pack up small and light. That way I could leave it and some backpack fins in my camper. Along with a spare pump, pfd, and some old waders, it makes a good spur of the moment lake kit.

PON: Yep,small and light. I can pack 2 of the ODCs in an airline carry on bag.

PON:The maximum pressure for good firmness is well within mouth inflation limits for the ODC. I use a tiny high volume electric pump first and then a mouth tube.

The tube was okay, but I need to do a little "adjusting" on its seat back. To be fair I feel this tube is a great lightweight alternative to the heavier more rugged V tubes. I think that you need to treat it more gently, and it will preform great for many years.


PON: I have used the same one an average of once a week for around 4 years and it is faded compared to the new ones. There have been a couple of seam leaks at the floor straps due to chafing stress, that were easy to repair. I keep it inflated and adjusted perfectly, stored in my garage with sorted parts packed in pockets.

There are a few design features that I don't care for, but they aren't really deal breakers. I dislike that the air valves are in the bottom of the pockets, and that they aren't attached to the cover.

PON: Yep, pocket air valves are a negative for 99% of people. But I can reach and adjust pressure of the 2 pontoons and my reversed bottom cushion with my mouth tube for cold water shrinkage and comfort.

As you inflate you have to push and pull the inner bladder around to make sure that the valve stays lined up with the hole.

PON: The newer designs have too small, flimsy collars around the pontoon valves for stress relief which have to line up right near the center of the square opening. I replaced them with large stiff collars cut from thin plastic dinner place mats that are very flexible and strong, giving more leeway. I also mark the zipper line on the inside bladders to make this adjustment faster and easier to line up.

It also makes it so that I can't use the pocket easily for the base of my fish finder. And I don't really care for the divided pockets. Not really a design flaw, just not my personal preference.

Then there is the seat back issue I was having. I can't keep the seat back from slipping over the back of the bottom seat cushion. That makes the back very short. I tried all kinds of configurations on the straps. I think I will try putting a strap around the bottom of the back so that it will pull the seat back bottom forward enough to stay put.

PON: I use a 2nd bottom cushion for the seat back instead of the thin one which works for me, also more comfortable than the thin.

My initial rating for the tube is 4 out of 5 stars. It does what I wanted very well. It's light, packs small, and as a v tube, it's responsive and moves through the water easily.

PON: Good summary. It rates a 5 for me, but only because this includes all the mods I've done over the years to correct some bad issues...

The lake I was on is "no motors" so I got lots of kicking experience in.

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[cpierce]

Actually I had picked up the 420 and the air cushion seats sometime late last year. I too noticed that they aren't listed anymore. I wonder why not? Opps, I just rechecked their site and the air cushions are back.

I hadn't tried the tube out last year because it is my packed backup and the few times I went to lakes since then I use one of my others. I don't fish lakes as often anymore. I usually fish more high mountain streams.

This outing was one where I was in my camper, and the stars were aligned for a lake trip, so I used my packed tube.



Thanks for your comments. Very helpful.

By the way for anyone with a Fish Cat, the ODC 420 inflatable seats do fit it also.

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[pontoonman]

Yep, and there's more on the site: http://creekcompany.com/product.php?productid=16151
The new tube versions are using a better valve that doesn't seem to pop up in the compartment like the older Boston and they are locked to the fabric to stop the shifting issues (see pics). Also there is mention of bigger storage and and insulated drink holder. The weight has gone up by 0.5 # though. They also mention about being able to inflate on the water as I have done for years. I wonder if the replacement bladders will be back compatible with the square openings on the older versions. OTOH, the price of a whole tube during a good sale is often less than the cost of bladders by themselves...

I forgot to mention that on the older multi compartment pockets, you can custom cut holes between the dividers as desired or remove them to make fewer larger ones, even just one large one.. I would seal the cuts with aquaseal or heat seal with a cig lighter to prevent runs. Personally, I like the many compartments intact since I can quickly get to everything that has been pre sorted and stored in an organized manner.

Pon

[quote cpierce]Actually I had picked up the 420 and the air cushion seats sometime late last year. I too noticed that they aren't listed anymore. I wonder why not? Opps, I just rechecked their site and the air cushions are back.

I hadn't tried the tube out last year because it is my packed backup and the few times I went to lakes since then I use one of my others. I don't fish lakes as often anymore. I usually fish more high mountain streams.

This outing was one where I was in my camper, and the stars were aligned for a lake trip, so I used my packed tube.



Thanks for your comments. Very helpful.

By the way for anyone with a Fish Cat, the ODC 420 inflatable seats do fit it also.

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[flygoddess]

They look like Bravo 2 valves. Interesting.
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