Float Tube Accessories

Float tubes are really an extension of the minimalist’s philosophy...KISS. And in that vein nothing can beat a warm evening on calm waters, casting a dry fly to hungry sunfish.  But those conditions are rare and will only commonly be found in our dreams. The real world of fishing includes wind, waves and a disconcerting lack of fish activity. These challenges require us to think about adding equipment to our float tubes; perhaps an anchor, a rod holder for a second rod or even a fish finder. 

A search through the online catalogue of a major sporting goods franchise provided some options: a “float tube anchoring system” at $36.99 and an “Outcast Float Tube Rod Rack” at $89.99. Give me a break, that’s close to 2/3 of what I paid for the float tube for a couple of chunks of plastic, lead, foam and rope. Let’s get back to that KISS philosophy to see where it takes us.

I’ve got a Fish Cat 4 and for the anchor I was able to buy the perfect thing at a local Hardware chain for $9.95. Add to that a retractable dog leash for $9.95 at a local surplus store and I had a serviceable “anchor system”. The leash can be tied to a strap or D-ring; I used a carabineer I had laying around. Although I haven’t tried it out in high winds it has provided yeoman’s service in moderate conditions.

For the spare rod, and I want to keep my rod numbers at 2 just on principle, I used 2 6” pieces of double sided Velcro that I had laying around. No cost for me but others might have to purchase some. These pieces attached to the D rings opposite to my casting arm and held the rod securely in place. A slight negative to this setup is the rod tip will sit in the water if I lean back while propelling my flippers. This could easily be corrected by adding a stick-on piece of Velcro along the side of the zippered compartment and attaching the forward portion of the rod to it.

I have a nice fish finder on my kayak and I’m going to work out a way of attaching that next spring. Since this is an expensive piece of equipment I may go with a commercial solution like: http://www.floattubefanatics.com/ Or I’ll try work out a way that works as well but that would be the subject of another blog post.