Conquering the Float Tube

The merchant of death.

Thanks to the encouraging...and demeaning post comment of Chris Huelsebusch (one of my best friends that also reads this blog) I hit the water in my float tube the other night.  I wish I could say that I approached the event with confidence and vigor, but to be more accurate, I was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I was anxious and scared mainly because of the simple fact that float tubes have a little inherent danger and that I had never used one before or received any one on one instruction. I did take a spotter along with me just in case and thank you to my good buddy Pat for snapping some pictures and ready to call in the first responders in case things went south.

To defend my statement that float tubes are a little on the sketchy side, apparently the great state of Missouri also feels the same way.  I was surprised to find out that many lakes in the area do not allow the use of float tubes as a means of conveyance on the water.  On the big lakes, all tubes need to be associated with boat traffic and are not allowed independently in coves or the main channels.  I don’t know what the fine would be if I got caught, but I figured it was more than I wanted to spend.  On small lakes that are managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation, float tubes are usually outlawed as well.  I checked the regulations of three lakes and found that while inflatable boats were allowed on the water, the use of waders and tubes were not permitted.  The only conclusion that I can draw from these regulations is that enough people have died (probably during their maiden voyage) that they are tired of dredging the lakes and recovering bodies.  That’s a joke by the way, but might be accurate.  I don’t know.

So I found a private lake nearby that had a nice and steady decline that would allow me a gradual entry on my first float.  Of course, I did a dry run in my driveway so I knew what to expect.

The dry run...get it!

So after my son laughed at me, Pat laughed at me, and I laughed at myself, it was time to hit the water…lightly…and gradually.  I slipped on my waders at the truck, picked the tube up over my head, and put my flippers on at the water’s edge.  I also accidentally stuck my right hand in fresh goose poop while reaching for a flipper.  I don’t like poop.

Easy.  Keep it together.  The merpeople can smell fear and the goose poop on your hand.

I figured the best way to get in the water was to put my feet through the front of the tube and in front of the saddle.  This is where your feet are supposed to go anyway when you are in the water and I could walk while holding the tube up around my waist.  Yes, it both looks and sounds like I am hiking up a skirt.  Looks like I beat the internet trolls (Chris Huelsebusch) to that observation.

I expected to walk out to waste deep water and then do some sort of improvised hop/scooch onto the float tube.  It dawned on me when I was in about three feet of water that I could just crouch down and sit on the raft at that point which made things much easier.  At this point all I had to do was turn around and start kicking away from the shore.  It was easier than saving money on my car insurance.  That’s called product placement baby!  Look for a an advertisement banner on this blog next week from a major insurance company. 

So there I was, in my float tube in about eight feet of water, and praying to Poseidon to not send his merpeople after me to drag me to the bottom.  Actually it was really relaxing after I scooted around a little and got comfortable.  I just sat there for a while and enjoyed feeling the sun on my face and the breeze on my back.  After about ten seconds of that, I was ready to see how fast this baby could move and how it handled.

I was shocked at how fast I could move if I got my flippers really moving.  I hadn’t worn flippers since I was a kid in a swimming pool and I had forgotten how much power they add to your kicking.  I covered about a hundred feet in a few seconds and started to head to a corner of the lake that usually holds some bluegill.  You might be wondering at this point if I actually brought a fly rod on the first float.  You’re darn right I did.  You don’t become a fly fishing blogger by just floating around in a lake like an idiot.

I pulled the fly rod out of the Velcro straps that hold the rod across your lap and prepared for my first cast.  Prior to this, I had tried to picture what it would look like and feel like while casting in a seated position and slightly above water level.  I thought that my backcast would come really close to hitting the water and that my casting would be pretty inaccurate.  With that in mind, I decided to use a nine foot, fast action rod.  That way it would load quickly and be well above the water level.  I will give my seven and a half foot fiberglass rod a try sometime to see how it works, but I really liked how the nine footer performed.  My casts were pretty accurate (by accurate, I mean as accurate as I can be) and without really thinking about it, my casting motion came mostly from my wrists.  There is an arm rest that prevents good arm positioning and puts your elbow at a funny angle.  It didn’t take long before I caught a bluegill and finished up the evening by catching a small bass and a second bluegill.  I was happy that things had gone so well and that I had some great casting and landing practice.

However, there were a couple of downsides to the float tube that I noticed during the evening.  The first thing I don’t like is that the tube has one gear and that is reverse.  You can’t see where you are going and if you want to get closer to structure or cover, then you have to turn around, kick to it, and turn around again.  The other thing I don’t like is that if you were kicking parallel to a bank, then you have to cast right handed over your left shoulder or with a backhand cast if you were going to your right.  Casting right in front of the tube was great, but then it was hard to hold your position in the water.  I think that will get better with a little practice though.  The final thing I noticed is that it is harder to watch for movement or “ticks” in your fly line since you are just slightly above the water level.  When you are standing on a bank or even in knee keep water, you can see when your fly line moves because of a strike.  This is harder than I expected but I also blame part of it on the glare on the water (no sunglasses) and that I was going after small fish so the hits were gentle.  I was fishing a wooly bugger and set the hook on two fish when I was going into a backcast.  Who knows how long they had the bugger in their mouths.  I think fishing dry flies or poppers would be a great way to fish out of a float tube though and would eliminate the problem of watching your line.

Finally, getting out of the water was the easiest part.  I just kicked to my entry point until I felt the bottom.  I then picked up the tube and backed my way up the incline.  That was it.  I don’t know what everyone was so scared about.  Some people just overreact sometime and are wound a little too tight I guess.