Float Fishing, an Affordable Alternative...

Most bank anglers have their reasons for fishing from the shoreline. Be it the initial sticker shock of the fishing vessel itself, or a myriad of insecurities regarding owning and operating a boat...it's just not on every fisherman's radar. I've found so many wonderful places to fish that don't even allow you to drop any type of vessel into the water...you must really weigh your options and decide if a boat is really for you. Having said that, many a time I have looked out at the weed lines at some of my local lakes and wished I could get just 10 yards closer to the rustling caused by those beauties feeding near the shorline in some fairly unreachable locations. On my best day with the wind at my back and a healthy cry out to the great Almighty, I couldn't accurately and stealthily cast that far. It may as well be in Castaic Lake as unreachable as it appears. Why, oh why can't a boat just fall out of the sky into my lap? My youngest daughter who loves to spend time with me intermittently began fishing with me a few years ago and just loves collecting those beautiful, shiny trinkets to tie on the end of her line. She actually reminds me of myself at a much younger age, how she oogles all of the different lures designed to catch the fisherman...not necessarily the fish. She loves to do just about anything with me outdoors and would get buried up to her chin in gear just to prove it. She has a 20" Specialized Hotrock mountain bike and tears up the trails in front of me on my overpriced leg-powered motocross bike. Her desire for a Chipmunk 22LR was really just a parallel to my hunting and target practicing fetish. I'm quite sure she'd rather just walk around out in the woods taking pictures of animals versus eating them. Without getting too far off topic, I'll admit that her request for a fishing float tube for her birthday this past January caught me a bit off guard. Pondering the thought of the two of us bobbing around on some lake in inner tubes fishing seemed uncomfortable at first, but the more I thought about it...the more I wanted to give it a shot. I pulled the trigger on a tube for her and I decided to put one on my own birthday list which occurs in May. My only regret is that the poor darling had to wait 5 months to use her birthday gift. Any time my wife buys me gear to feed my outdoor passion just makes her that much more of a stone-cold fox in my eyes and she didn't disappoint me on my birthday. In addition to somehow buying me 4 more Rat-L-Traps that I didn't currently own, she was able to secure me a brand new Caddis $150 superfly float tube for a mere $40. (Double bonus!!) Today was the day. The glorious "christening" of our odd-shaped fishing vessels, and we had an absolute ball! Knowing that my kiddo is only 9 years old brought my expectations down to the level of a dining experience at McDonalds, but we were both a little surprised at how much fun it was. She was definitely apprehensive of the possibility of alligators and man-eating carp in our amazonian Missouri fresh water lakes, but I was able to talk her through the jitters and we hit the water with vigor. As I had silently predicted, she didn't care to fish this first time just as her hunting trips to the woods became scenic hikes. I wasn't going to miss a chance to finally reach those unreachable Castaic shores that I had been losing sleep over for a few years, so I brought my brand new rod and reel that my wonderful parents gave me for my very recent 40th birthday. My parents are no slouch when it comes to good gear, mind you. This maiden voyage was complete with a Lew's Tournament LITE strapped to a Falcon Buccoo Micro rod with 12lbs Stren original mono. (my brand of choice) It took us a few minutes to find our stride paddling blind toward our target adorned with flippers and swim trunks, but we soon figured it out and reached that blessed feeding ground where I just knew all of the bass had to be hiding. About five minutes in to working the "Glory Hole", I hooked a pretty nice fish. I hadn't really checked my gear well prior to dropping a line and found myself fighting a reel that had been ejected from the reel seat like a parachute on the back of Pro Mod drag car fueled by a nitro-burning 4.5 pound largemouth. I was able to get the reel locked back in and finished my fight. My first fish on my new rod and reel and my new float tube was a healthy 19.5 inches long with a 13-14 inch girth and I couldn't be happier. Most of the rest of our time on the water was spent hooting and hollering and listening to my little girl laugh at how her float tube makes her farts sound but we couldn't once say we were bored. My daughter never did unstrap her rod and reel from the carrier on the side of my tube on this first trip, but her words to me melted my heart to the core and made this decision beyond worthwhile. "Dad, you make everything more fun. I love doing things like this with you."