ratherfish
Well-known member
I don't really see people fishing out of tubes much anymore... are they still a good rig or has other technologies kinda run them out? I have a tube, have had it for years, just have never used it....
tubes
- Thread starter ratherfish
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dillon
Well-known member
If you are referring to the old donut style float tubes, they are not used much now because they have been replaced by v-shaped float tubes. They are nice because you are sitting in a seat with your butt out of the water. However, float tubes are nice for floating some slow moving rivers. The angler can more easily stop and stand in shallow water to cast. There is one section of a large western spring creek where the donut style tubes are the preferred floating/fishing floating device.
ratherfish
Well-known member
That is what I have, is the donut deal. I was thinking mostly for small lakes and ponds. Good or bad?
chechem
Well-known member
People die in the donut-style tubes. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU USE ONE.
The new inflatable boats with 2 pontoons are much safer and afforable. That's what I use. Try them.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
I had a donut tube for years.
I never came close to dying
, but it wasn't the most convenient thing to get in and out of.
Now I have a regular "U" shaped tube and use it a lot.
The remote trout ponds where we fish are often a mile or more off the logging roads.
You're not carrying pontoon boats into these kind of places and carrying in a canoe, just for the day, is out of the question
Tubes are the way to go.
I never came close to dying
, but it wasn't the most convenient thing to get in and out of.Now I have a regular "U" shaped tube and use it a lot.
The remote trout ponds where we fish are often a mile or more off the logging roads.
You're not carrying pontoon boats into these kind of places and carrying in a canoe, just for the day, is out of the question
Tubes are the way to go.
trout trekker
Well-known member
Rips got it. If you're hitting drive up fisheries or places where you can roll a pontoon a short distance to gain access, then pontoons are common. But in places where we have mixed access, drive up and a lot of pack ins, then float tubes are more common.
We fished a few larger lakes & reservoirs this year that offered drive up access, in a region filled with pack in locales. In those drive ups you'd see maybe 2-4 pontoon and well over a dozen float tubes of every make and model. Obvisouly when we hit the trails to the upper elevations lakes, we saw 0 - 2 others on those lakes most days and it was of course all float tubes.
I've owned several and still prefer the U over a V.
After 27 years of relaible service, I've been testing out other rides to replace my Bullet for 2018.
We don't stop for a little snow....
We fished a few larger lakes & reservoirs this year that offered drive up access, in a region filled with pack in locales. In those drive ups you'd see maybe 2-4 pontoon and well over a dozen float tubes of every make and model. Obvisouly when we hit the trails to the upper elevations lakes, we saw 0 - 2 others on those lakes most days and it was of course all float tubes.
I've owned several and still prefer the U over a V.
After 27 years of relaible service, I've been testing out other rides to replace my Bullet for 2018.
We don't stop for a little snow....
sparsegraystubble
Well-known member
I don't know how my Outcast Fat Cat is rated, but I find it to be much better in the wind than my older tubes. The most danger I ever was in with my tube was when I pushed the season on an Idaho lake and sort of lost it because of hypothermia. I'm still not too sure how I got out of the lake and into my van with the motor running, but the launch area where I was planning to get out had an ice shelf that prevented me from getting up on it.
I think I used a small dock to climb out of the tube, but I was pretty much down to instinct at that point. Like most dangerous situations a direct result of my own stupidity.
That same year we lost an angler in a different lake who was walking his tube into the shallows and tripped face forward. His feet and fins were stuck in the tube and the leverage held him under so he drowned in around 18 inches of water.
Tubes are still usable, but make sure you have a good inner tube or bladder. And the quality of the experience will depend a lot on having really good fins. Bad ones are a lot of work and can cause all sorts of problems with your feet and toenails. Force fins are worth the money as far as I'm concerned.
Funny, but even with a good modern craft, I seem to enjoy fishing more in the Wyoming lakes just wading out at the edges. And I have never messed with anything but a drift boat in moving water.
SGS
I think I used a small dock to climb out of the tube, but I was pretty much down to instinct at that point. Like most dangerous situations a direct result of my own stupidity.
That same year we lost an angler in a different lake who was walking his tube into the shallows and tripped face forward. His feet and fins were stuck in the tube and the leverage held him under so he drowned in around 18 inches of water.
Tubes are still usable, but make sure you have a good inner tube or bladder. And the quality of the experience will depend a lot on having really good fins. Bad ones are a lot of work and can cause all sorts of problems with your feet and toenails. Force fins are worth the money as far as I'm concerned.
Funny, but even with a good modern craft, I seem to enjoy fishing more in the Wyoming lakes just wading out at the edges. And I have never messed with anything but a drift boat in moving water.
SGS
rangerrich99
Well-known member
Tubes? My buddies and I use 'em now and again . . .
ratherfish
Well-known member
whatchutalknboutwillis! Dying..I have never used mine yet, old garage-sale find... how do the kill a guy?
---------- Post added at 09:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:29 PM ----------
Nice.... very niceTubes? My buddies and I use 'em now and again . . .
fredaevans
Well-known member
Only sat in one once .. maybe 60 seconds ... helped out of the thing, never again. I guess 'old men' know when their not supposed too.
Bullets flying over my head didn't make me blink ... that 60 seconds made me blink.:shades:
fae
Bullets flying over my head didn't make me blink ... that 60 seconds made me blink.:shades:
fae
chechem
Well-known member
Donuts are round; not U-shaped or V-shaped. The older round tubes are very dangerous.
Google "drowning in float tube" and you'll see LOTS of examples. Just trying to help.
Google "drowning in float tube" and you'll see LOTS of examples. Just trying to help.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
I used a "'donut" tube, the kind with a truck tire tube bladder, for nearly 20 years and in my experience, they're extremely stable.Donuts are round; not U-shaped or V-shaped. The older round tubes are very dangerous.
Google "drowning in float tube" and you'll see LOTS of examples. Just trying to help.
As I said earlier, the issue with them is getting in and out.
I could see how you could easily "face plant" doing that, but I've done the same in my "U" shaped tube.
The biggest issue that I had with my donut tube was the rubber of the tire tube deteriorated over time, right along the zipper line.
I "sank" one day from a slow leak without even realizing it was happening.
But even then I wasn't really in any danger. Just a bit surprised, that's all.
smarty140
Well-known member
I guess I’m glad I’m not the only one with an unused float tube... bought one on clearance a couple years ago and just haven’t ever used it. It seems like anywhere I would take the tube also works with my solo canoe, so I stick to the canoe.
There are some small, remote lakes just southwest of where I live that are begging for me to try them out in the tube, though!
ryan
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There are some small, remote lakes just southwest of where I live that are begging for me to try them out in the tube, though!
ryan
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
trout trekker
Well-known member
I took you up on that and didn't see "lots" or anything close to it.Donuts are round; not U-shaped or V-shaped. The older round tubes are very dangerous.
Google "drowning in float tube" and you'll see LOTS of examples. Just trying to help.
In the few that are documented, I read no reference to what type of float tube was used. Maybe my results using your term and google is different than yours.
What I did read was unsupported inferences and second or third hand stories, mostly by non-users who are looking for reassurance before making a purchase or a maiden voyage.
In every case of death I read, it was the use of a float tube in a river that was the culprit, which most manufacturers warn of. But I really couldn't find a documented instance of a round float tube being in use at the time of a death.
What does come up often in that search, is deaths while Tubing. That being flopping ones butt across an inner tube and drifting aimless with the current down river, which has nothing to do with float tubing.
In fairness, one should run the same search and substitute the words canoe, kayak, drift boat, boat, skiff, jet ski, raft for float tube...then do the same for shower or bath tube. Doing that may breath a little reality back into this thread.
Here's the same young lady shown in our early posts with her round float tube back before some here were likely born, certainly long before most fly fished.
...and me risking life and limb in a round float tube. Oh the horror !
But then I also rode a bike when I was kid without a helmet and ate beef, along with foods loaded with gluten and gmo's.
Dave
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chechem
Well-known member
I'm not trying to win an argument about tube safety, just warning others that they can be unsafe. If you choose to disagree, then disagree. But lots of people have died in them.
Here is a thread (as an example) recounting some flipped tubes in lakes explaining why they're dangerous:
Kennewick Man Drowns in Lenice Lake | Washington Fly Fishing
Hope this helps save one life. I dealt with a death at a lake last summer; not a pleasant experience.
Here is a thread (as an example) recounting some flipped tubes in lakes explaining why they're dangerous:
Kennewick Man Drowns in Lenice Lake | Washington Fly Fishing
Hope this helps save one life. I dealt with a death at a lake last summer; not a pleasant experience.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
That's a tragic story, but if you read the thread through, the victim was fishing from a V shaped tube, not a donut.
With a donut tube, and many U shaped tubes, a great deal of your weight is below the water line. It would be very difficult to flip one.
With a tube such as this fellow was using, your full weight is up above the water line.
It's speculated that when he leaned over, a gust of wind got underneath and flipped it.
I'm sorry but that just wouldn't happen with a donut.
With a donut tube, and many U shaped tubes, a great deal of your weight is below the water line. It would be very difficult to flip one.
With a tube such as this fellow was using, your full weight is up above the water line.
It's speculated that when he leaned over, a gust of wind got underneath and flipped it.
I'm sorry but that just wouldn't happen with a donut.
As far as safety goes, the deaths I read about were all in moving water, which I could easily see; the hazards change with every rain and run-off cycle. Fortunately, never see fishing tubers on the rivers now with the advent of solo pontoon boats. Recreational tubers greatest risk of drowning is not related to water, but to alcohol.
trout trekker
Well-known member
Chechem,
I too don't wish to belabor the point but your post doesn't come close to backing up your hype.
First off, Fishcat is series name for V style float tubes. A round float tube was not involved.
As far as that posters account goes, while I believe he's relating what he knows and thinks, there are discrepancies in his account.
"His float tube didn't fail, it flipped over probably dumping him suddenly into the water. He was fishing out of a fishcat /fatcat rated for 300 #
We didn't see it happen so we didn't try and rescue the poor fellow. "
They are speculating as to what happened.
If we jump in on every drift boat, canoe, kayak or wade fishing thread with unsubstaniated warnings and exaggerated tales of danger, we might as well shut these boards down right now.
Your post isn't going to save anyones life, because it supplies no safety info, operational tips or balanced reporting and comparisons with a variety of these craft. It's simply one more " the sky is falling " post on the net.
All it serves to do, is potentially scare people away from what can be a very safe and fun way to fish, one that offers access to shore bound anglers.
Dave
I too don't wish to belabor the point but your post doesn't come close to backing up your hype.
First off, Fishcat is series name for V style float tubes. A round float tube was not involved.
As far as that posters account goes, while I believe he's relating what he knows and thinks, there are discrepancies in his account.
"His float tube didn't fail, it flipped over probably dumping him suddenly into the water. He was fishing out of a fishcat /fatcat rated for 300 #
We didn't see it happen so we didn't try and rescue the poor fellow. "
They are speculating as to what happened.
If we jump in on every drift boat, canoe, kayak or wade fishing thread with unsubstaniated warnings and exaggerated tales of danger, we might as well shut these boards down right now.
Your post isn't going to save anyones life, because it supplies no safety info, operational tips or balanced reporting and comparisons with a variety of these craft. It's simply one more " the sky is falling " post on the net.
All it serves to do, is potentially scare people away from what can be a very safe and fun way to fish, one that offers access to shore bound anglers.
Dave
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Joey Bagels
Well-known member
I have a round caddis (old school original from the ‘90’s, but In pristine condition), a u-boat, a Creek Company ODC 420, and a pontoon. I enjoy them all and they all have a purpose for me. The round tube excels for when it’s windy and I can brace my knees under it to really kick with power. Very stable and I’ve never had any problems with it. The u-boat is my workhorse and I travel with it a lot.
The 420 is for when I want to float the local bass lake. Stable, roomy, and comfortable. The pontoon is for when I want to cover a lot of water and it’s not too windy. It’s a bear to travel with, but I’ve done it and enjoy it. But it’s not as portable as the other tubes. Variety is the spice of life!
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The 420 is for when I want to float the local bass lake. Stable, roomy, and comfortable. The pontoon is for when I want to cover a lot of water and it’s not too windy. It’s a bear to travel with, but I’ve done it and enjoy it. But it’s not as portable as the other tubes. Variety is the spice of life!
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ratherfish
Well-known member
Ok - you guys have me both comfortable and scared to smitherings - I have an old vintage big truck style inner tube floater, I just ordered a new tube for it today off Amazon (couldn't find one local) 10.00 - 20. I will go to BPS and get some flippers and practice in our local ponds. I am half scared to death; but in a couple days from now, if I never reply to anything, I probably drowned.