I just got a float tube!

[BlakeMolone]

I got a float tube for 10$ yesterday at a garage sale and it works great ;D Im finaly not a bank fisher lol. Ill be fishing a small lake with some realy nice bass in it. I can only bring one setup so im thinking about bringing a nice mh rod and a 6:3:1 reel. I think all I realy need is to be able to throw worms,jigs, and spinnerbaits and I think that will do it. What setup would you bring if you were in my position?

[Redsyn]

I dont know which setups you should get but I know they make a rod holder for float tubes.

[OkobojiEagle]

Congrats on the tube.  I've been fishing from a tube for several years and enjoy it very much on smaller ponds and sheltered lake bays.  I hope your tube came with a life jacket and fins, if not PLEASE invest in them.  Your mobility may be better than from shore but still is not what a boat is.  You will be sitting in the water and won't be able to deal with snags nearly as well as you probably have been.  For this reason I usually throw baits that I can "swim" above the snags.  My "tubing" arsenal includes grubs, tubes, small spinnerbaits and top water poppers.  Although not essential, I think you will find a landing net with a medium length handle to be useful.  A struggling bass with sharp hooks hanging out of it's mouth can be a formidable opponent when you are sitting in an inflated craft over deep water.  Enjoy!

[ghost]

Here's the pontoon boat I bought last year, Outcast Fishcat IR9:

Here's the float tube Outcast Fat Cat, I had the previous year, sold it so I could get the one on top:

[Redsyn]

Hey ghost!

How come you use those floaters on the setups on the float tube but not on the pontoon?

[CWB]

Enjoy! Nothing like close quarters hand to fin combat.

I use mine whenever I can.

[paragon]

Heres a shot from last weekend, what a blast.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/paragonfish/pike.jpg

All you need is some PVC and you can take along as many rods as you think you can handle. I will try to take a better picture of my rod holders to give you an idea how to get started.

[ghost]

Redsyn,

I first used the rod floaters when I started using the float tube, I wasn't sure if I'll end up losing 1 or 2 rods in the water.  Sooooo....when I upgraded to the pontoon boat I started not to use the rod floaters cuz I feel that I won't be losing a rod in the water....knock on wood!

Also the rod floats somewhat got in the way using spinning rods, like the line would slap on the rod float & diminish casting distance.  Also on the b/c rods the rod floats would twist & the line would get caught in the cut in the foam tube & tangle up the b/c reel.

[Jeff H]

I am hoping to get a nice float tube sometime this summer.  Sure looks like a lot of fun and a great way to fish small lakes.  Actually, I'll have to get 2 of them, one that will fit my young son too.  Gotta be good leg exercise too I bet.

[ghost]

Float tube fishing is fun if you are fishing small lakes.  What I didn't like about float tubes is the leg cramps I got after some time kicking around.  Now I was float tubing on some big lakes & went quite far & after awhile I started geting leg cramps....IT SUCKED!  I did like that it was small enough to keep half inflated in my jeep.

So I sold that & got the pontoon boat.  Only major disadvantage or 2 is transporting it...I have a van w/ roof racks so that's not a problem.  Other is it weighs almost 80+ lbs, so lugging that beast any farther than 50 yds is a chore; you'll need another person to help you get it to the side of the water.

What I do like about the pontoon boat is I can go much farther in bigger bodies of water especially getting a trolling motor for it.  I can row, kick around w/ my fins or move far w/ the trolling motor.  With the float tube you are limited to how far you can go.

Overall both water crafts are great if you don't own a boat.....yet.....

[Jeff H]

Well, I have a boat but this seems like a really fun alternative. just somthing different, ya know?   We do a bit of wading on our shoreline but the tubes would expand this a bit.

[Quitlimpin]

ur gonna love it.  I fish my tube about 50% of the time just b/c of the convenience.  I am in South OKC, pm some time and we can meet up somewhere in the middle.