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.

A Fishing Tale...

We fisher folk plan, scheme and build tantalizing visions of hard takes, slashing runs, monster fish. But the fishing muses often have different plans for us. This was one of those days. We arrived at Anton Lake near Minnedosa around 10:30 and meandered down to the water for a tactical inspection. Swirls on the calm waters betrayed vigorous takes just beneath the surface and waterboatmen were in evidence everywhere. No insect shucks were visible on the water; just a profusion of goose feathers littered the surface. My wife set up her spinning rod with a slip bobber while I tied a small waterboatman to my 5 wt floating line. And just in case, I set up my 6 wt with a brown leech, you know...the kind that brown trout can’t resist once the fall colours appear. I slipped into my float tube while Bobbie slipped into her lawn chair and the serious job of tracking down some nice trout began.

Fast forward to 5:00. Despite trying every fly and retrieve my weary mind came up with I could only account for ½ dozen strikes with no hook-ups. Bobbie’s slip bobber had remained motionless, a perfect subject for a still life painting. She had also tried several things; several baits and different depths and locations. The perfect day had somehow become less perfect but after a brief discussion we decided to stay for one hour longer. Bobbie took a break to refresh herself at the rest stop and I clambered out of my float tube and waders to stretch my legs. Thirty seconds after she disappeared down the trail, her bobber vanished and by the time she returned I had netted a nice hen rainbow. After releasing the fish, I returned to the water in my float tube, amid a fall of flying ants but none were being taken by the trout. They were still interested in something just beneath the surface which I still assumed to be waterboatmen. In the next hour Bobbie saw her bobber go down once but missed the fish and I had a solid take that I missed.
  

Despite all our planning, scheming and positive affirmations the fish had just not co-operated as we had hoped. Then again, a day on the water, with perfect conditions in the company of your best friend is a combination pretty hard to beat. And in the end, Bobbie had posed with the rainbow before it was released, despite her assertions the fish was mine. But it couldn’t have been mine...I don’t fish with bait anymore.

Two NEW Manitoba Species

I finally made it out to Lake Minnewasta and as they say "better late than never". The word was out that pumpkinseeds could be found in the lake and I hoped they weren't of the vegetable type.  There was also a hint that creek chubs were being caught by some of the guys that targeted pumpkinseeds. My first few fish were nice crappies but I wasn't targeting  them and they were quickly released. After the obligatory photo.

Next up was the 4 wt. with a #14 weighted pheasant tail nymph on a fairly long leader and a sink tip line. It wasn't long before I had my first pumpkinseed and during the day I managed about 20 of them. The first was the smallest at about 3" and they went up to about 6 1/2". I missed a lot and there were more than the usual LDRs.

They were all caught in the same area and right on the bottom. They would hit just as the different coloured sink tip entered the rod tip; about 20 feet out including the leader. I would watch for the that part of the line and sure enough, on every second or third cast a fish would take.

An added bonus was the creek chub. I only caught one and it hammered my fly in the same area I was catching the pumpkinseeds.

The creek chub can be easily identified by the dark spot on the leading edge of the dorsal fin.

As fall closes in these days on the water are getting more special. I know a lot of Manitobans love that cold, hard water but I'm not one of them so I cherish these nice, warm fall days. After the serious work was over I let my greedy nature take over. I put a leech pattern on my 5 wt and took a couple home for the candy jar. Yummy!

A New Float Tube and a Barren Lake Largie

FISH CAT 4 float tube on the Barren Lake boat launch ramp

As fishing reclaims large portions of my life and thoughts I'm slowly accumulating various water craft; last year a fishing kayak and a few weeks ago a float tube. I'd owned one before but passed it on to my nephew when I stopped using it. Yesterday was the official baptism despite a low front and temperatures in the mid-teens.

14" Large-mouth Bass

Fishing was slow, as expected but I did manage a surprise catch. On my third cast, a fish took my rabbit streamer near the surface and after a brief tussle I had it on the apron of the float tube. A nice, healthy looking large-mouth bass posed for a picture before being released. Back in the 80s when I often fished this lake, all it held were walleyes, pike and perch although I do remember losing a fish right at the boat that I swore was a musky. Now the majority of fish caught seem to be small-mouth bass and crappies along with the the occasional large-mouth bass, it seems. I also managed a few small small-mouths and perch on this trip. Oh yeah, loved the float tube! They've sure come a long way since my old, round Buck's Bag. I'd like it even more if I could turn with any kind of authority but hopefully that will come with time.