Float Tubing, Back to Nature

Ahhhh, float tubing. Nothing more relaxing than a day spent on the water in the ole belly boat pursuing the elusive green beast we call the largemouth bass. Let me take you back. I have been float tubing for bass for about the past 15-20 years and I still to this day enjoy catching them from my tube despite the fact that I have a Fully rigged, Tournament ready Champion Bass Boat. There are days that I will take along my tube and leave the boat at home or put the tube in the boat, take it out on the water with me, get back into the sticks, beach my boat and get in the water in my tube.

Then there have been times that I get to the lake with boat on tow and the wind is blowing 800mph, maybe I’m exaggerating a little here but the wind is blowing very hard and there are white caps everywhere with waves 3 foot high and the thought of fighting the wind all day long don’t seem very appealing My local lake sits in a canyon so it is very prone to extreme winds. Its times like these I’m glad that I packed the float tube in the bed of the Chevy. I can drive to one of the lakes marinas, which are protected from the wind and put the tube in and fish the docks.

My first tube was a Jobe. Friends told me I was crazy for spending over $100.00 on it back then but too this day I still have it and it is still fully functional, unlike my friends that have gone through at least a half dozen different tubes since then. Yes I have had to replace the inner tube more than once and she has acquired some “battle scars” over the years but other than that she has served me well. I have since upgraded to a Caddis Pro Line, which by the way is like fishing out of a Lazy Boy, with a functional backrest and more storage pockets than one could ever need. I still have the ole reliable Jobe that I use for a spare or if someone wants to go out with me for a day of tubing. To this day I have caught my largest bass ever, 15.7 out of my tube, the ole Jobe, back in the early 80’s, which I told you about in another post.

Now days they have all kinds of different tube configurations. You’ve got your round tubes, which I prefer because if the inner tube gets old and dry rots all you have to do is go to your local tire shop and buy a truck inner tube. Then you have your U-Boat type for easy entrance and exit. The down side in my opinion is if the inner tube dry rots they can be expensive to replace. Next there are the kick boats, basically a seat that sits on a frame which sits on couple pontoon tubes. These are nice because in most of them you don’t get wet at all and they are very stable to fish out of.

You can modify any of the above mentioned items with all kinds of options. My Caddis tube for example has Velcro rod tie down straps so you can fish with one rod and secure another. You can purchase PVC type rod holders to strap on the tube or you can make your own with some PVC and web straps. Companies how have portable fish finders that run on several D cell batteries and strap directly to your tube. I have seen people that have mounted trolling motors to their tubes and let me tell you what, those thing moved very quickly. Seeing a float tube get up on plane is quite impressive. Just watch out for the prop because it has the possibility to bite you pretty good.

I’ve also seen people that have made portable sun shades as well by building a frame and attaching cloth. Kind of like a miniature bimini top.

If your tube didn’t come with enough storage space you can easily add extra storage by taking a basic clear Plano storage box. Heating up a wide blade knife, inserting 4 evenly spaced slits into the bottom. Then take some webbing straps, run it through the bottom and wrap it around your tube.

You can also make a live well out of a mesh laundry bag with the draw string type top and some Styrofoam or a small inner tube and some zip ties, which you would attach to your tube via a short piece of rope and let it float behind you.

Just about all of the above mentioned items, including the actual tubes can be purchased at Bass Pro Shops, just click the link on the right side of my page. If you want to do some home made mods just go to your local hardware store and build away. Once again, its up to you, the sky is the limit.

Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!