This is my new toy:
This is my new toy in the water:
While I loved the tube my brother gave me for Christmas a few years ago, I didn’t like that my butt sat in the water. In this new tube, I sit above the water. It has an all vinyl bottom, so it gets pushed in the water a bit more, but I think it’s just a matter of getting used to it. I broke it in at a new lake not far from my house.
I started with my go to bait while on a tube: a green watermelon jig and pig. That didn’t yield anything, so I switched to a speckled blue jig and pig. That didn’t entice any bites either, so I then tried a green/yellow horny toad. Still nothing.
I decided to try some other bottom bouncing lures and switched to a Texas rigged Slurpie worm. Being weedless, I tossed it into the lily pads near shore. Somehow, it still got hung up and I pulled on it to get it loose. I thought I felt the weed fight back with three thunks, so I set the hook just in case. Then it stopped. I yanked some more to try to get it free from the pads and when I got it into open water, I still felt a weight on the line like I pulled some weeds with the worm. Imagine my surprise when I found no weeds, but this guy at the end of the line:
Species: Largemouth Bass
Size: 13.5″
Lure used: Texas rigged Slurpie worm
While it was great to land a fish, it was rather unsatisfying. I didn’t get the rush of feeling the tug on the line, or the adrenaline of the fight.
A few casts later, I thought I got hung up again and when it came loose, I saw a swirl behind where I thought the worm was. I don’t know if it was a fish or not.
Being unsure what I was feeling with the worm in the pads, I switched to a watermelon speed craw. I was able to feel the bottom and pads more easily with it, but it never enticed a bite.
I was running short of time, so I made my final lure change to paddle away from the pads and head in. I put on a white rattling jig with white grub trailer, but it didn’t get a strike either.
When I first got in the water, I saw something white on the shore. After some staring, I figured out it was a sleeping bird.
Shortly after I took the first picture, it woke up and swam out into the lily pads. A minute or two after the second picture, it flew away. Being out on the water has its rewards even if the fish aren’t biting. Being out on the water without a motor connects you to nature more than you would expect.
I am impressed with the look of the new tube. If I might ask, who is the manufacturer? I haven’t used a tube in over (5) years now, but, this tube peaked my interest.
It’s a Fish Cat 4 made by Outcast. You can buy it at Cabela’s and BassProShops. My version comes with styrofoam that is inserted into the seat and back. If you can afford it, I would recommend the deluxe version that comes with inflatable seats. It’s easier to store. I got mine off craigslist and am looking to see if I can buy the inflatable seats for it.
Thank you, my friend, I am seriously considering this. Have a birthday coming up. Cross my fingers!
I miss fishing out of a tube. It was a great way to sneak up on fish and you could put it anywhere. I gave my tubes to my cousin before I moved to Florida. Something about trying to float tube with gators….just doesn’t make sense to me. Have fun with the tube!
I think you made the right move, Tyler. Tubing with the gators would just be too scary.
That’s some fine look’n fish’n rig yer running there dude. I like the looks of yer blog too. Bend some rods. 🙂 lb
Thanx for stopping by, Larry. It’s an honor to have you as a reader.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Larry Bourgeois, MNAngler. MNAngler said: A largemouth bass fooled me into thinking he was a weed: http://bit.ly/bXDEag . Pics of my new float tube enclosed within. […]