Fishcat in Utah

[ram4x]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 2]I finally found some time to take the new Fishcat 4 Deluxe out on it’s maiden voyage. After getting an early start and then having to wait for the rest of the guys to pull it together, I eventually made it to Strawberry Reservoir.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 2]After getting bundled up to brave the wind, snow and the 38 degree water, I aired up the tube (it’s very nice to be able to inflate your tube right there at the lake) and loaded it up with tackle and snacks. After watching my friends pull off their contortionist moves to get into their round tubes I sat down strapped in and began kicking out to the depths. I am very pleased with this tube and the ability to maintain position even when the wind isn’t being very cooperative. In my old round tube I’d have been blown half way across the lake.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 2]Well, I kicked over to a couple of friends who had been there since the break of day and they let me know that they were having good luck on a green wooly bugger. That doesn’t lend much help to a guy who likes his spinning rod more than his fly rod, so I selected a ¼ oz. spoon (rainbow daredevil) that I’ve had good luck with before and started chucking. The bite wasn’t very good for anyone at the time, so I wasn’t too discouraged that I wasn’t getting any hits. I switched to a hammered brass and within a couple of casts I had my first fish attack. This 16” cutthroat slammed my spoon about 8’ from my tube, came out of the water and landed at my feet. Not much work involved in playing that fish to the net, but I give the win to the fish as he buried my treble in my net and it took me a solid 10 minutes to get it undone. Caught one more fish before my feet were cold, my legs were cramping and the squall hit, so I called it a day. [/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 2]I love the new tube, but I need TubeDude to tell me again what size and type of hose works good for making an adapter to pump up the seat cushion. [/size][/font]
[signature]

[tubeN2]

Hey there ram4x! It sounds like we have the same tube(almost). I have the fishcat4 with the foam seat. Sorry I can't help you on the seat valve situation. Does your Deluxe have the single air chamber or the dual?? Mine is dual and I hooked up an auto inflator to keep the pressure at the proper level for cold water. I am working on a bleeder valve for the warm water situations that we have here now in So Cali.

I'm sure that TubeDude will be by any minute now. He doesn't like me to warm up his chair for too long.ha ha.

Have a good one and let me know some of the details of your tube. I really like mine but as always, we are constantly looking for improvements.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]Congrats on getting the "maiden voyage" out of the way. Glad you like the way it works for you. I am sure you will come to appreciate it more and more as you have other comparisons to make against the old round boats.[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]The effectiveness of the brass lure is not surprising. My best lures on Strawberry were always gold or brass. Those with red spots sometimes worked even better. Jakes or Goldfish lures with the red spots are standards in a lot of tackle boxes for the berry.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Hey, don't worry about not being a fly guy on the Berry either. Some of the best fishing can be on small tubes and light jig heads. Since a lot of the big fish in there feed heavily on small crawdads, toss some two and three inch tubes or twisters in different shades of greens and browns. The white tubes also work good on occasion, just like for ice fishing.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Since I am a fly tyer, I used big marabou buggers and jigs in the same colors. One of my best all around patterns was a green body and a brown marabou tail. If you fish jigs, you can get them down deeper, faster than the guys with a fly rod and you can maintain better feel of what is going on too.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]The tubing to get for adapting to the valves on your rig is 5/8" clear vinyl tubing. You can find it cheap in the plumbing section of most building supply or well stocked hardware stores. I usually carry a two foot length in the back seat pocket. The attached pic shows how I attach it to the two-way pump.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Good to hear from you again. Have you rigged up sonar yet? Rod racks? We have been having some chatter on some new ideas there, if you haven't been keeping up.[/size][/#0000ff]
[signature]

[EmuScud]

Good to hear that all went well! You would have to pay me alot of money to go back to the old donut. And if you did pay me, I'd take the money and buy a Fatcat anyway. I'm leaning that direction as it is. My old merc topaz (aka my "truck") is going the way of the Dodo here soon and I won't be able to drag my pontoon around on the roof of my wife's car (definitally not a "truck").

Nice report and you even caught fish to boot!
[signature]

[Dryrod]

[cool][#004040][size 2]Hey there ramx4,[/size][/#004040]

[#004040][size 2]Sounds like you had a great experience for your first tubing day. Isn't it more fun fishing from a tube that a boat? Glad that the tube master [TubeDude] got me headed in the right direction. [/size][/#004040]

[#004040][size 2]Can't understand why you were so cold. Were you wearing a double set of socks? ie Polyester under wool socks plus the correct heavy duty polyester long johns and top. Cotton wear just doesn't work under a breathable wader. Having fished the WA. rivers in the dead of winter never felt cold one time. Believe me if my feet are cold so is my whole body. Living in SOCAL now the word cold has been excluded from my vocabulary. Happy tubing.[/size][/#004040]
[signature]

[fishmagnet]

Were you over on the SC side? Just wondering because I saw a guy in a Green Fat Cat over there when I drove past on Sunday.

FM
[signature]

[ram4x]

t2, the deluxe has 2 chambers as well. I think taht with the foam seat your tube probably doesn't want to pull together like mine does, but I'm hopeing that the hose and the pump trick that the TubeMan gave us (kinda glad I remembered that one from a year ago)will fill it full and fix the problem. I was fishing @ Renegade and I rarely make it to the jigs that I want to try out whenever I go fishing for trout. I start with the spoons, because I can usually get em fired up within two or three picks of color or size.

As far as the clothes thing goes, I was well prepared. I had a pair of smartwool socks on. These socks kept my feet warm even when the slush filled my canvas mukluks up with ice-cold water while ice fishing this past winter (that wasn't very smart). Put those underneath my 5mm waders, and i usually don't have any problems, but even the heartiest of our bunch was on the shore doing the early spring boot stomp to restore life to his feet. It may have been cold, but i think I get a bit of a thrill out of that kind of thing.

I look forward to customizing the tube in the fashion of all you "experts" and my friend, who has last years model, was waiting till I got mine so that we could experiment together. I'm sure we'll come up with some interesting ideas.

Thanks all for your replies. I'm always looking in and I'll be sure to share my tricks with everyone.
[signature]

[tubeN2]

I have my special hook up for the twin chamber. I run a hose out of my electric pump, into a tee with 5/8 tygon tubing. It is connected to a pressure differential switch that detects 1/2 lb difference in the pressure. 1/2 lb can mean the difference between firm and slushy on a tube that only take 5lbs or psi of pressure. My switch pickes up the difference in pressure and automatically turns on the pump to inflate it back up to the 5psi.

It's one less thing to worry about on cold water. Now that we have warm water I have to put in a different switch that will detect an overpressure to deflate it properly.

That is only a couple of the more expensive extras that I have on my tube. It is fortunate that the switch is only 1/2 oz. But take a look at the big picture and calculate the weight. Tube-30lbs, tackle and rods-14lbs, fish finder and batttery 7lbs, pump and pressure switch-8oz, rod rack 1.5lbs, thats just the basics. Optional car battery to run the other accessories-40lbs, DVD player(for the slow bite hrs) 1lb, RPGs (3) for the PWCs 36lbs, gattlin gun-45lbs, extra ammo-22lbs, the look on everyone elses face when they see you with all that stuff------------weightless.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]Hey RamGuy, I didn't pick up on your problem with the soft seat from your first post. I also have the inflatable seat in my Super Fat Cat, and I also had problems both with the lower seat and backrest when I relied on lung power alone to air them up. Getting them good and firm with the two way pump makes a world of difference.[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]One other little tip. Firm up your two seat chambers before you finish airing up the main flotation chambers. Might seem like a small thing, but it sure does help with the rigid cross-support. There is no stabilizer bar on the Outcast models, so the seat is the primary means of preventing the air chambers from pulling together when you sit down. [/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Even with a firm seat platform...as with the rigid foam models...there is still some inward rotation. This is something you need to account for when installing a vertical rod rack. I set mine up so that the rods lean slightly outward when the tube is not "occupied" by my substantial body. Then, when I sit down and power up, the rods ride in the full upright and locked position.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]When you get ready to add some rod tubes, we can also show you how to lash them on, with a system that will allow for adjustments if necessary. You will usually have to do some on-the-water fine tuning whenever you start hanging new goodies from your dingbat dinghy.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Oh yeah, for all of you guys that pooh pooh the cold feet thing on Strawberry, I been there and done that. I have fished all over the country...fresh water and salt. I feel qualified to observe that there is a strange anomaly in the waters of Strawberry. There seems to be an X factor that makes the cold twice as chilling as any other water of the same temperature. [/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I would like to think that I have a pretty good handle on this float tubing stuff. That includes wearing the right clothing and waders to handle the prevailing water temps. But, I have spent plenty of time on the bank at Strawberry doing the Strawberry Stomp, to try to restore feeling to numb lower extremities.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Truth to tell, any "dedicated" tubaholic who tries to take advantage of the great fishing just prior to iceup and immediately following iceout is voluntarily submitting themselves to the potential for severe chilling. Even with the best 5mm neoprenes and toastiest wool socks, you are gonna develop severe discomfort after awhile in water only a few degrees above freezing.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I can only hope that nobody else ever suffers the same thing that happened to me one iceout trip on Starvation. It was about the end of February and I had been "exercising" some nice browns right along the ice edge. A "call of nature", combined with the aforementioned foot chilling, prompted me to make a shore visit. [/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I chose a stretch of shoreline to get out that was a fairly steep slope. The slope, together with my increasing discomfort, created urgency and frustration. Somehow I twisted and contorted enough to put the final bit of strain on the crotch of my already taxed waders. I was wearing several layers beneath the waders and they were full to the max. [/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]The strain was suddenly relieved as the crotch simply opened up for a foot down each side...just like it came unzipped. You think cold feet are uncomfortable. You have no idea how fast you can forget about cold feet when several gallons of icewater come flooding into your most sensitive areas. I don't even remember how I managed to get out of the water. I suspect I looked like a missile being launched from a submarine. That trip was over. I do not recommend cold water vasectomies.[/size][/#0000ff]
[signature]

[hustler898]

You can get some of the clear tubing TD described at family dollar, I believe it's called, On redwood road and 4800 South. That is if your in this area. It sells for around 30 cents a foot. Good luck with the Fat Cat!
[signature]

[ram4x]

Hey TD, you must think that you are funny or something! Your picture you posted up shows it as ½” vinyl. What are you trying to do, confuse me, or something? I planned on pulling the whole seat out and taking it with me when I went, just to be sure. Thanks for the heads up though. I haven’t made a trip out to the hardware store yet. With the weather we’ve had, this week, I’m just aching to get back out and hit the waters.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]Yeah, I'm funny. But looks ain't everything.[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]If you have the standard Outcast inflatable seat, the 7/8" is the right size. But, if you wanna be 100% certain, it ain't much to deflate the seat and take it with you.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I just checked the pic and you are right. I really "blew" it on the label. That's what happens when you guesstimate something that should be rechecked before labeling and posting. But, it's a guy thing.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Good luck.[/size][/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Jedburton]

just for curiosity sake, how much did you pick up your tube for?

Jed
[signature]

[ram4x]

Right around $172 after taxes
[signature]