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I have finally turned to the dark side. I got rid of my pontoon boat, and aluminum boat and bought a float tube. I took it out to a local pond and I am happy with it. I love how fast I can set it up and be out on the water and how light everything is.
Here is my craft with some mods I made. I borrowed the mods from the internet because I am not creative enough to think of these things myself. Now I just need to get it back on the water and see what adjustments are going to be made.
I do know I will be making some kind of frame for the foam seat. They seemed to sag after a little time on the water. And I cant figure out if I want to keep the fish finder battery in a pocket or leave it where it is.
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Nice mods! My wife has a foam seat on her FC4. To
Cure the sag try using a plastic deck chair with the legs cut off. It gives a little more back support and he sag is gone. I use a bungee chord to attach to the tube seat. My wife really likes it.
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I like that. Its looks better than my idea of somehow embeddibg 1 inch PVC frame in the foam.
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[quote fmrusmc]I like that. Its looks better than my idea of somehow embeddibg 1 inch PVC frame in the foam.[/quote]
More comfortable too.[cool]
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[#0000FF]Nice start. I'm sure you will be making modifications as you become more accustomed to tubing...and to your setup. Most of us are continuously looking for the perfect configuration. But since everybody's idea of perfect is different there will always be differences of opinion.
[/#0000FF]
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Evolution and change are the name of the game. I have had to replace a  dle clamp twice this year now for my net holder. Time to come up with a different design, the first one has shown its weakness. Worked well with a short net but the longer handled one I am using now seems to be putting some major torque on it.
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[#0000FF]Basic physics. The longer the lever the greater the torque.
Or as my old uncle Archie meeties once said...give me a long enough lever and I can fulcrum the whole world...or something like that.
[/#0000FF]
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Thanks TD. It is definitely a work in progress but it is fun. A lot better than the "work" I HAVE to do!!
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Nice work on the mods.
I have 6 of the 420's and it is one of the easiest to up grade and personalize, because of the numerous ring tie downs.
Some additional possibilities on the seat, which may or may not be helpful to you:
-buy and install the optional inflatable seat bottom and back which allows almost infinite comfort and support adjustments- no sag, better support, keeps pontoon tips apart, and sit higher/lower in water as adjusted.
-install a one piece board above or under the present foam cushions to improve sinking effect at the split line of the 2 cushions. The board can be cut from plexiglass, thin semi- rigid foam, or semi rigid type mud flaps depending on how much support you want, and where you want it for comfort.
-add an additional foam bottom seat block into the bottom compartment to sit up higher in the water and greatly stiffen the bottom by eliminating split line effect, install I =
The additional foam seat back can be cut smaller to fit either the bottom or back for more cushioning and jammed into the compartments when it is the right size.
-Install a topper cushion on top of seat bottom- cut from an old 1"+ thick pool float and tied down with a rope around the old seat back. This also stops the wicking effect giving you a dryer ride when sitting above water and not using waders in Summer.
-A roll up slat type folding camp seat can also help stiffen the sag. The howda seat if it is still available is the one I have tried.
Hope this helps.
Pon
[quote fmrusmc]I have finally turned to the dark side. I got rid of my pontoon boat, and aluminum boat and bought a float tube. I took it out to a local pond and I am happy with it. I love how fast I can set it up and be out on the water and how light everything is.
Here is my craft with some mods I made. I borrowed the mods from the internet because I am not creative enough to think of these things myself. Now I just need to get it back on the water and see what adjustments are going to be made.
I do know I will be making some kind of frame for the foam seat. They seemed to sag after a little time on the water. And I cant figure out if I want to keep the fish finder battery in a pocket or leave it where it is.[/quote]
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Thanks for all the ideas! They all sound good. I thought about buying the cushions for the seat but i just think that is more bladders that can go flat. I do like the board idea on the foam.
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Once you start it's hard to stop. I'm able to bring 9 rods with me on my tube now. I think I have a problem [crazy]
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[quote gstott]Once you start it's hard to stop. I'm able to bring 9 rods with me on my tube now. I think I have a problem [crazy][/quote]
[laugh]naw not a problem. I can carry 9 rods behind me and still have room for two while using them.[sly]. I can also attach a second rod holder to the outside D rings and add four more if necessary. Haven't had the need to as of yet.
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Ha! Nice. Sometimes I still find myself wishing for more rod options. The problem is getting everything down to the water at some places, especially when the water is low. It always takes me two trips now.
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And I wish I could pack less! Fly fishing I pack two to three because of the sink rate. My brothers tube sprung a leak awhile back and he lost his fly rod, reel and line not to mention flies.
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Ouch that hurts.
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Sometimes I miss those days back before I got bitten by the bass bug. Things were simple, and it was much easier to get my tube and gear down to the water. Now I've got all these specialty rods. Crankbait rods, drop shot rods, jerkbait rods, spinnerbait rods, etc. I've often thought about what would happen if I sprung a leak. I'd be out a lot of gear if I couldn't make it to shore.
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Yes you would. At least you can tie on different lures to one rod and get to many fish. Where fly fishing you need on rod and several sinking lines to get that. I have dropped too many reels trying to change out in the middle of a lake. So, I have it down to three. Floating, slow sink, fast sink. Works on bass, crappie, pike, Musky, Walleye, trout, Carp. Just switch out the lure/fly.
But if you guys wanna haul everything you own on a small inflatable, my hat is off to you.
At least you aren't hauling out 3 $800. each fly rods.[  ]
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No, I try to keep my rods under $200 and the same with my reels. Still, multiply that times 9, plus several boxes of expensive Japanese hard baits, and that's still several thousand dollars.
I've been there done that trying to switch out reels on fly rods in a tube. Definitely a pain with a 9' rod. It's bad enough trying to restring a 7' spinning or casting rod in the tube, but fly rods add a whole new dimension of difficulty to the equation.
Some still water trout fishing is sounding pretty good, maybe I'll have to take a trip to Treasureton with just a fly rod and some flies in November when it's getting too chilly to chase bass.
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That's why I carry several rods so I do t have to restring them or switch baits a lot.
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On my pontoon i carried 4 to 5 rods. I know i would rethink that it i was carrying $800 rods! Even at three thats a lot of cash 5o go to the bottom of the lake! Id br dummy cording those to myself and carrying acuba gear if the cord broke!
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