Float tube action 09'

[Cyberfish]

With the warmer weather comes some good fishin' I met Casey on the lake , he already had a bunch of fish when I got out there and Jack went out too in caseys canoe

The crappies were on the bite, I had good action on the "float and fly" rig, a small float one foot above a 1/80th hair jig. I sweetened it with a couple of red spikes to tempt the occasional big sunfish that would also be in the shallow dark bottomed bays looking for bugs. I caught more fish than I could count. nice crappies and bluegills

Lots of pictures here:

http://mtbucket.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-float-tube-outing-sucess-4-11.html

casey battles a nice slab

nice bluegill for MT

[Cyberfish]

I bought another fishcat tube today, almost new, so if anyone wants to try some tube fishin with me I got everything but waders!

[nate larson]

Hey Cyberfish,

That sounds like a blast! Shoot me an email when you have a chance. larson_nate at hotmail dot com

[Cyberfish]

I went out for the maiden voyage for my semi new fishcat, I have dubbed the great pumpkin, cuz it is so big round and orange.

Andy SBF came out to try some tube fishin, i let him use my ol cat, which held him up great despite being over the size limit!

We got our sunfish on t.h.e. Jig tipped with gulp waxies, i also got fish on a JRs black and chartruse stub grub. The tiny bass and shiners followed me all around. I couldn't keep em off my baits, but we got some nice sunfish just about everywhere we tried. the crappies were in hiding or wouldn't bite, I got a couple.

All in all a fun day. I had fun just having my camers ready for some funny video of Andys first tubing adventure, but he did pretty good for a tube wookie!

All the pics here:

http://mtbucket.blogspot.com/2009/04/great-pumpkin-and-fishing-with-wookie.html

[Cyberfish]

I met andy at the lake for some bluegill and crappie chasing all day. the weather was alot nicer than predicted so we went to "work" looking for those big pannies. I brought my vexilar fl-18 flaher out in my tube for the first time, it worked great! I found weeds on a break from 5 to 7 ft and the nice gills were there and a few perch. unfortunatly tons of hungry yearling largemouth bass too that I cannot seem to keep of my hooks.

We wanted to get some crappies but only got one in the area so we decided to try in the middle while snacking, but no crappies there, didn't even mark one. kicked over to the east shore after snackin and started getting a few in 2 ft of water along with a zillion dinky bass. we went into a bay on the southeast end to get out of the wind and cha ching! found the slabs and lots of bluegills too most real close to shore. Andy had to go, I decided to stick around when fishface showed up with his daughter for the evening bite. Glad I did because the crappies really lit it up with a bite on every cast! Baits I used today Gulp!fishfry, JRs ringin stub grub, t.h.e. jig tipped with a exude microshad, berkley power tube 2"white.

More here, tons of pics:

http://mtbucket.blogspot.com/2009/04/panfish-tubin-action-4-25.html

SBF

MTbucket

Fishface

[Mr. Pike1]

Cyber, The last few years I have really enjoyed getting my kayak on small bodies of water in the metro vs. taking out by boat. I have had some good success on the panfish and bass and really like those calm evenings on a small body of water. After reading some of your posts the float tube also looks like a nice way to enjoy this small bodies of wager. May I ask what areas you target? Are you in the metro area or are many of your ventures outside of the metro. I am always looking for new areas to try my kayak on and new options like the float tube. I am catch and release and have some nice small ponds I can share as well in the metro. I also have seen a few I need to investigate that sure look like they would hold fish I just need to make sure I can gain access via public land or land owner permission.

[Cyberfish]

Mr Pike, you want to try my tube sometime, and we can swap some lake info too! that would be cool!

mtpilgrim at comcast dot net

[Cyberfish]

I got out sunday afternoon to chase some big largies with casey.

I got a few on the swimjig and some on a senko.

casey got most of his on a "ribbit'plastic toad bait. it was a slow bite til sunset, then the bite got good for a short bit. We casted around the pads, coontail beds and slop in shallow water. the water is finally warm enough to go without waders!

http://mtbucket.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-tubin-for-bass-with-casey.html

the senko strikes again

casey nabs a nice larry

they were in the shallow cover waiting to ambush their prey

I was just about to the landing and taking the last few casts of the night when I had a bite on my senko. I set the hook and this sea monster started to pull me sideways! I finally wrestled it in and it was this big huge toad! I tried to measure it, but it was hard on a paddle, i couldn't believe it but I couldn't get a 20 inch measurement off it, but I was sure it was 5 pounds! then casey said he had a hand held digital scale, so i gave up on the ruler, and hooked it up...5.1 pounds! Cha ching!

[Cyberfish]

My biggest float tube fish so far!

I thought it was the state record bass! it nabbed a topwater sizmec toad as I buzzed it by some pads, I reared back and held on trying to keep it from wrapping around the pad stems and mabye getting away. The fish was too pwerful though, it just pulled me sideways, it felt like I was going to be pulled down like a bobber!

Then it buried deep into the weeds and I felt no fight! Oh no! I was shaking by now and hoping mr giant bass didn't get away! I slowly worked in line til I was almost right above it, then it finally came up, lots of weeds, but the big fish was still there! only it was a pike. Kind of a let down when I was waiting to see a 8-10pound bass, but still a nice fish anyhow.

[Cyberfish]

I got out for a while in the tube chasing some largemouth bass. I got a few on the outside edge of the milfoil beds earlier on a jig with a ring-N tube, also got some on a swim shad.

Later before dark, I nailed a few in the shallows on a frenzy popper.

More pics here : http://mtbucket.blogspot.com/2009/08/bassin-in-float-tube.html

Float tube fishing can be relaxing... or mabye i was wore out from catchin' so many bass hehe

topwater bass action

I watched this storm form just north of me. it spawned a couple of twisters after I left!!

[Cyberfish]

I got out for a while sunday afternoon. I started for bluegills, but only got a few small ones. I started looking for some bass action on the deep weedline, only one bite rigging a black and blue power lizard.

as the sun went down I moved up shallow and threw a sizmec toad, buzzing it across the grass and letting it sink in the pockets. I connected with a fish on the first cast! It hit on the drop and I didn't even know I had a bite til it started going sideways with it! I pulled its head out of the water on thehookset but didn't get the hook in and it let go. I cast back and let it sink, then hopped it off the bottom a few times and it bit again, got em, about a 2 pounder.

As it got darker they really started busting the toad on top, sometimes coming completly out of the water on the strike! got a few, missed a few, nothing big, just enough for a little action.

http://mtbucket.blogspot.com/2009/08/bass-in-grass.html

[warmwaterflyfisher]

Hey that looks like a lot of fun. I picked up a small inflatable pontoon but none of my fishing buds will go. They want the big boat comfort but I think this would be a ton of fun. How does a person go about finding a nice piece of water to do this in? I live in the south metro and I'm sure we have some good water around here? If your ever looking to get someone into this,I'm willing to make a drive and get out with you and your float tub friends.

[Duffman]

Cyberfish is your guy to go to when it comes to tube fishing the metro. I'm sure he'll chime in soon.

[warmwaterflyfisher]

Sweet, thanks for the heads up on him. Looks like you are a bit of a yak fisher...how do you like it? Do you fish any south metro water?

[Duffman]

Actually, it's a solo canoe with a spray cover. I fished Holland Lake in Eagan a couple of Fridays ago in the canoe. I caught a nice bass on the first cast, then went fishless for the next three hours. My Friday mid-afternoon canoe trips in the metro this summer have not resulted in many fish, but it's still nice to get out and paddle around.

[OnAFly]

Is there an access to Holland in Eagan? Do you have to carry in down by the pier?

[Duffman]

Carrying it down isn't so bad, it's the carrying up that gets to me.

Yea, that's pretty much the only option these days, you used to be able to park on Cliff and access the lake there, but that is no longer allowed.

[OnAFly]

Yeah, I've wanted to get the canoe out to that lake, but I didn't really know where I could launch it. I checked google maps for a better landing, but it only showed the spot off Cliff which looks like it has a no parking sign on it.

[Cyberfish]

ooops I forgot about this thread sorry. don't come here much these days.

Warmwaterflyfisher, you are welcome to come on any of my tubing outings. looks like only a few weeks left though, mabye next year though

MT