Joey Bagels
Well-known member
Spurred on by a discussion in another thread with Lewis Chessman, I dug out some of my old magazines and did some investigating into the history of float tubes and belly boats. When I first started fly fishing in 1986, float tubes were already a common sight on the Wyoming lakes I haunted. So I never gave much thought to their origin and evolution. Now that I’ve gone a few decades further down the path to angling enlightenment, I find myself consumed with curiosity about how stuff came to be. Float tubes in particular are a fascination of mine. So...without further ado...here’s what I’ve found.
As early as 1895, float tubes were being manufactured and sold to anglers.
Fish Master (1947) and Tucker Duck and Rubber Fish-n-Float (early to mid ‘40’s) were around since the 1940’s and produced basic, canvas-covered inner tubes used by anglers in the south to chase warm water gamefish.
Earlier, weirder models existed, but none seemed to really catch on.
Trout anglers seemed to discover float tubes in the early 1970’s and by 1980, magazine articles were covering them in some detail even though only a handful of brands and models existed.
Even Bass Pro Shops jumped onto the bandwagon.
Del Canty was making float tubes during the late ‘70’s and selling them, but not being a big operation, they never seem to have taken off. He advertised sparingly and this advert showed up in 1981.
The following year (1982), he introduced a U-shaped tube...possibly the first of its kind and definitely well ahead of its time.
Tubes largely stayed round-ish, with Caddis first appearing in 1982 and having a more square shape.
Other brands kept showing up, but didn’t stick around long.
By 1984, float tubes were big business and full color, full page adverts were appearing.
The ‘80’s were definitely the round boat’s golden years.
Del Canty’s tubes kept evolving and by 1990 had acquired more oblong shapes.
A major leap forward occurred in early 1991, when the first U-boat rolled out of the collective efforts of Wilson Creek and Pete Ross.
Just under 2 years later, something happened and the team split with Creek making the U-boat and Wood River (Pete Ross) making their own version. This advert appear in the December 1992 issue of Fly Fisherman:
Pontoons and kick boats entered the scene by 1987 as seen in this article:
and were gaining popularity slowly, getting lots of coverage by 1994.
Also by 1994, Wood River had introduced its V-shaped boats like the Glide Rider and was directly competing with Creek Company in the same publications. Here are two adverts that are in the same issue of Fly Fisherman (May, 1994).
Sadly, the mid to late 1990’s saw more and more anglers gravitating to pontoons and kick boats. The hybrid pontoon-float tubes like the Creek Company ODC 420 and Outcast Fat Cat put anglers up out of the water, and didn’t use oars like the true pontoons. There’s plenty of information on their evolution too, but I think I’ll leave at this for now. Incidentally, I still really enjoy using my Caddis and U-Boat tubes. Being low on the water keeps me nice and stable and presents less of a profile in the wind. They’re also EXTREMELY easy to travel and hike with making them far superior to hybrid pontoons and kick boats. Happy tubing!
Edited to add: Caddis tubes had originally been made in Oregon, USA. In 2004, Caddis sold its float tube business (now called Caddis Sports Inc) and they are made in China. Likewise, Creek Company has all its tubes manufactured in China, though they are still based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I prefer the original, vintage, made in the good ol’ USA models, but that’s just me.
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As early as 1895, float tubes were being manufactured and sold to anglers.
Fish Master (1947) and Tucker Duck and Rubber Fish-n-Float (early to mid ‘40’s) were around since the 1940’s and produced basic, canvas-covered inner tubes used by anglers in the south to chase warm water gamefish.
Earlier, weirder models existed, but none seemed to really catch on.
Trout anglers seemed to discover float tubes in the early 1970’s and by 1980, magazine articles were covering them in some detail even though only a handful of brands and models existed.
Even Bass Pro Shops jumped onto the bandwagon.
Del Canty was making float tubes during the late ‘70’s and selling them, but not being a big operation, they never seem to have taken off. He advertised sparingly and this advert showed up in 1981.
The following year (1982), he introduced a U-shaped tube...possibly the first of its kind and definitely well ahead of its time.
Tubes largely stayed round-ish, with Caddis first appearing in 1982 and having a more square shape.
Other brands kept showing up, but didn’t stick around long.
By 1984, float tubes were big business and full color, full page adverts were appearing.
The ‘80’s were definitely the round boat’s golden years.
Del Canty’s tubes kept evolving and by 1990 had acquired more oblong shapes.
A major leap forward occurred in early 1991, when the first U-boat rolled out of the collective efforts of Wilson Creek and Pete Ross.
Just under 2 years later, something happened and the team split with Creek making the U-boat and Wood River (Pete Ross) making their own version. This advert appear in the December 1992 issue of Fly Fisherman:
Pontoons and kick boats entered the scene by 1987 as seen in this article:
and were gaining popularity slowly, getting lots of coverage by 1994.
Also by 1994, Wood River had introduced its V-shaped boats like the Glide Rider and was directly competing with Creek Company in the same publications. Here are two adverts that are in the same issue of Fly Fisherman (May, 1994).
Sadly, the mid to late 1990’s saw more and more anglers gravitating to pontoons and kick boats. The hybrid pontoon-float tubes like the Creek Company ODC 420 and Outcast Fat Cat put anglers up out of the water, and didn’t use oars like the true pontoons. There’s plenty of information on their evolution too, but I think I’ll leave at this for now. Incidentally, I still really enjoy using my Caddis and U-Boat tubes. Being low on the water keeps me nice and stable and presents less of a profile in the wind. They’re also EXTREMELY easy to travel and hike with making them far superior to hybrid pontoons and kick boats. Happy tubing!
Edited to add: Caddis tubes had originally been made in Oregon, USA. In 2004, Caddis sold its float tube business (now called Caddis Sports Inc) and they are made in China. Likewise, Creek Company has all its tubes manufactured in China, though they are still based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I prefer the original, vintage, made in the good ol’ USA models, but that’s just me.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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