Big tube update:
Cliff's Notes version - The tube catches fish. Lots of fish. Lots of BIG fish!
Full version:
This last weekend was planned to be two full days in the Sierra Nevada hiking into remote fishing spots to test out the two most recent prototypes of the SUL tube. Fish the blue tube on Saturday for some giant brookies and Sunday for some smaller but plentiful cutts. 3 miles each way Saturday across open high plains, 2 miles through the trees Sunday.
Drive out on Friday night to a way-station in South Lake Tahoe, then up well before the crack of dawn and drive south an hour and a half to the trailhead.
At the trailhead, my pack included the tube, standard breathable waders, fins, lunch, 1.5 liters of water, 2 fly outfits, net, flybox and all other fishing gear, and extra layering clothing. Total weight was just north of 12 pounds. Hardly felt the weight, and it was compact as you can see in the photo. My friend packed in his ODC420 Lightweight (with inflatable seats) which isn't a half-bad option from the existing choices, but just the tube is 8+ pounds and it took up a huge chunk of his 80 liter pack. All my gear, BTW, fit in or on my 28 liter pack.
So three miles later we show up to the lake and have the place to ourselves. Nobody shows up until after 2:00 in the afternoon. Not a puff of breeze, clear skies, mild temperatures, birds singing, fish jumping. Nirvana!
Setting up:
...and then it was on like Donkey Kong!
It was pretty much bendo all day long. Sight fishing to cruising and holding fish until later in the morning when the wind came up, but even with the chop the catching never let up.
The blue boat floated and fished like a champ. I caught about 50% more fish than my partner, clearly due to the float tube design.
Has there ever been a better view that this?
Funny thing - I'm generally a 100% catch and release kind of guy, but it is actually encouraged to take the limit of two larger fish (minimum 16" - the biologists say that the super rich diet these fish enjoy not only make them mutant-looking footballs but it kills them once they reach a certain size due to heart failure!) and my friend has been bugging me let him cook up my catch. So, this trip I did harvest one 19"er and one 21"er for the grill. When it comes time to clean and bag the fish it was only then that I realized how much these things weigh! I must have put 5 pounds or more of cleaned brook trout into the pack, and at the end of the day my waders had to be strapped to the outside for the hike out! Heh...
On day two, we slept in a bit (up "late" at 5:00) and headed towards the trailhead at 8400'. Forty-five minutes later as we neared the destination, we were rudely met by a gate across the road. WHAT!? Dammit!!
Oh well, there is always somwhere else to go in the Sierra so off we trek to a lake that I had visited before but never fished.
Looks like the blue boat is better than the black as all I caught at this lake were these:
At any rate, the small mod I did to the seat of this one for development seemed to achieve the desired result so it goes on the latest rev.
Since this lake was a bust, we moved on to another drive-up lake and put in. It was windy, but we had an unlimited number of these guys to play with. The ones in the other lake would have been bigger than these, but the tug was better than nothing:
At this point I let my partner take a test drive with the tube and fins:
Looks like he likes it!
I did borrow his tube and fins (Outcast clipboard fins) and I found that the tube handles pretty much just like my Fish Cat IV Dx but the fins were way too rigid to kick effectively and they were pretty hard on the calves and ankles. Pretty light (both my fins weigh just over what one of these do, BTW), but I would not be happy using these full time even if they were as light as the ones I built.
So, it couldn't have been all good, right? Well, these shakedown tests are for highlighting improvements and weaknesses.
For one, on the Saturday, the lake was ringed by a wide edge of tules, so there was very limited shore access. Of course I managed to put a small hole in the seat and over the morning I started to sag a bit into the water. Wouldn't you know it I'm halfway down the lake from the launch, my buddy is starting to nail them in quick succession, and I have to kick upwind to shore so I can top off the seat! I was prepared as I had taken a roll of repair tape, and I did find the hole, but it took me out of the game when there was serious catching being done. GRR!! Yes, I will be making a top-off tube for this very situation. Also it's definitely a good idea to have tape with you any time you venture out with a tube made out of such lightweight material. You can always Aquaseal it when you get home.
In addition, on Sunday as my friend was kicking the tires, one main spar on one of the fins gave way as he was fighting the chop and wind. I'm pretty sure I understand the failure mechanism so there will be a design update to address this issue. Of course I had a spare set of spars in the pack so I was able to do a quick field repair and be back in business. Interesting thing was he could make similar if not better time into the wind with his one fin as I could on his ride with the two Outcast units.
One thing that I put to rest was that with the extra foam in the foot pocked these fins float pretty well:
Finally, overall the boats were stable and comfortable. The slightly wider and thinner seat on the black boat seemed to add a bit more stability at the cost of riding a bit lower in the water. I feel that this tradeoff was definitely worth it.
Overall a very gratifying weekend. Great fishing with a good friend and solid progress on the project. I'm pretty much satisfied with the design of the tube and making headway with the fins. I'd like a few more people to take a spin in the tube, especially heavier guys. Even with my utter lack of physical conditioning, eight hours of fishing and six miles of hiking did not leave me with an aching back or flipper-leg cramps though I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't welcome a nice backrest on the tube. Definitely not a deal breaker, but I'd consider packing the extra four or five ounces for a bit more comfort...
Getting closer every day...
_SHig
Bookmarks