06-20-2007, 12:13 AM
[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe and I just got our red (rojo) H3 float tubes and wanted to take them on a shakedown cruise. Invited road along and we were all on the water at Rock Cliffs by 6:30. Air temp 43 and water temp 64. Lots of tiddlers (planters and chubs) popping the surface, with an occasional larger trout squirting into the air. Water is still way up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All three of us went different directions. TubeBabe tried the flats between the ramp and the south side. Road headed for the far SE corner and I wandered up the north bank to some structure that often holds fish this time of year. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe scored first, nailing a chub right off the ramp, before road or I even got launched. Yahoo. She got a lot more of them before we left at 2. So did I. They were playful.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I started by casting plastics along the steep banks and whacked a few small smallies. Biggest might have been 15". Nothing fast and nothing big. I decided to try for some perch. Found some fish on the bottom in 26 feet of water and sent down some small jigs tipped with worm. Turns out they were mixed perch and chubs. Got a lot more chubs than perch, but did get a few decent perchies. I did get one little planter rainbow too...about 10 inches. A "finless Freddie".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was a busy morning at RC. Several tubers and tooners joined us, as well as several boats. A couple of the boats came and left WIDE OPEN...in flagrant violation of the no wake zone. Saw a few small trout taken but nothing outstanding by anybody on the water this morning.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The breeze started out from the east, as usual. And, as usual, it switched to te west wind about mid morning and got gusty at times. Had to work to maintain position when I found a few fish on sonar.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just as I got into a good school, a large group of canoe fans hit the water. Most of them were kids and they really beat the sides of the canoes with their paddles...bangety, bangety bang. The fish marks disappeared from my sonar. Several of the canoes ran right over the top of where I was fishing. One even went between me and the bank to which I was casting. One of the kids inquired "Are you casting at us?"[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Game over for me. I fished for a while longer but because of a poorly adjusted seat on my new ride my back was bothering me. I need to rig up a PVC support like I have had on other tubes. They just don't make backrests for big guys like me.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Road and TubeBabe finished up along the south shoreline, each catching a few more perch. TubeBabe kept molesting the chubs with regularity too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All in all, I was happy with the slightly larger size of the the H3, and the extra stability of the elongated design. It rides well, with little "rock and roll"...and tracks well in the breezes. My only complaint at this point is the lousy twist valves on the inflatable seats (not pressure activated) and a couple of other seat ralated issues. I will work on it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All three of us went different directions. TubeBabe tried the flats between the ramp and the south side. Road headed for the far SE corner and I wandered up the north bank to some structure that often holds fish this time of year. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]TubeBabe scored first, nailing a chub right off the ramp, before road or I even got launched. Yahoo. She got a lot more of them before we left at 2. So did I. They were playful.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I started by casting plastics along the steep banks and whacked a few small smallies. Biggest might have been 15". Nothing fast and nothing big. I decided to try for some perch. Found some fish on the bottom in 26 feet of water and sent down some small jigs tipped with worm. Turns out they were mixed perch and chubs. Got a lot more chubs than perch, but did get a few decent perchies. I did get one little planter rainbow too...about 10 inches. A "finless Freddie".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It was a busy morning at RC. Several tubers and tooners joined us, as well as several boats. A couple of the boats came and left WIDE OPEN...in flagrant violation of the no wake zone. Saw a few small trout taken but nothing outstanding by anybody on the water this morning.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The breeze started out from the east, as usual. And, as usual, it switched to te west wind about mid morning and got gusty at times. Had to work to maintain position when I found a few fish on sonar.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Just as I got into a good school, a large group of canoe fans hit the water. Most of them were kids and they really beat the sides of the canoes with their paddles...bangety, bangety bang. The fish marks disappeared from my sonar. Several of the canoes ran right over the top of where I was fishing. One even went between me and the bank to which I was casting. One of the kids inquired "Are you casting at us?"[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Game over for me. I fished for a while longer but because of a poorly adjusted seat on my new ride my back was bothering me. I need to rig up a PVC support like I have had on other tubes. They just don't make backrests for big guys like me.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Road and TubeBabe finished up along the south shoreline, each catching a few more perch. TubeBabe kept molesting the chubs with regularity too.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All in all, I was happy with the slightly larger size of the the H3, and the extra stability of the elongated design. It rides well, with little "rock and roll"...and tracks well in the breezes. My only complaint at this point is the lousy twist valves on the inflatable seats (not pressure activated) and a couple of other seat ralated issues. I will work on it.[/#0000ff]
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