Anderson Bass Sunday 4/13 (float tube)

      Had a great day on the water with Ken Fish'nfool--I C&R'd 10 LMB with many other missed bites and early releases,  He did a little better--20 C&R'd to 20.5"!! ( Didn't he just catch a 27" monster at Del Valle the other day?), All on senko's in shallow or medium depths.  We had little or no wind but tremendous boat wakes to contend with, the skiiers and ski-doos were relentless!                            Ken ( along with Compa) has been trying to teach me to catch California bass (I came to Nor Cal from upstate NY a short time ago) I think he has finally succeeded!     It got quite warm as noon approached, 95 degrees in Morgan hill.                                                                                                           Ken and Compa have convinced me to buy a float tube which I now see has advantages over the yak in some situations. Thanks for a nice day on the water, Ken!

Yellowboat,

You are on fire now! Not to mention Ken with his mama streak. Way to go guys!

Oh, I was in NY for 4.5 years and never caught a bass there. 

Great report. I was thinking about heading out that way... Coyote... with the boys. But, I was turned off by the heat thinking my boys would roast on the yak. 95 is just too hot for the little ones. Good to hear that you survived the heat and got into the fish.

Freddie

      Ken and Compa have convinced me to buy a float tube which I now see has advantages over the yak in some situations. Thanks for a nice day on the water, Ken!

Blasphemous Heretics!
and I am genuinely interested in learning how the pool toys have advantages over a kayak.
Its clear that you are doing something VERY right.
great work out there

Hydrospider
For those of us who love to pull large bass from the trees and tullies with trout rods there is no subtitude to a float tube. It is a trully outstanding finesse platform. If you had met me out at the State park a couple of weekends ago I would have shown you. I caught 8 on my first ever outing in Clearlake while boaters were getting one or two.

So call me one HAPPY heretic!
My yak is for distance but my tube is for those easy, kickback, don't have to work too hard, catching days!
It was SO much fun watching yelowboat swinging away!!
We finally got into the stuff Anderson is made of and it was a blast!
It was a good mix of males and females still in pre-spawn mode.
I might get a little more serious about it next time...still haven't had a 50 fish day yet, this year. Maybe this week.
Thanks for a fun and entertaining day (if a little hot) yellowboat.
You got it now!

If I had more time I would get a float tube too, I think it's clear that day in, day out, for silli valley bassin' it is the best platform.

the yak is very versatile, but there is always a best tool for a specific job and when it comes to finesse fishing like compa and ken do it, I don't see a way to beat it.

John

The 2 biggest advantages are:
In wind we have much better control over speed of drift, and position.

Yesterday was proof positive of the other advantage...We just bobbed around like corks in the 4 foot, curling, breaking, boat wakes.
If I was out there in a yak, I would have been dumped a dozen times!

The 2 biggest advantages are:
In wind we have much better control over speed of drift, and position.

Yesterday was proof positive of the other advantage...We just bobbed around like corks in the 4 foot, curling, breaking, boat wakes.
If I was out there in a yak, I would have been dumped a dozen times!

Well, I have been out in 10 foot seas on the yak and have yet to fall off, but boat wakes are sneaky!

Overall, I have to agree!

Not to mention you get a lower body workout.

All in all I think that float tubes and kayaks are both great human powered fun fishing vessels!

I will probably get a float tube and hopefully introduce my kids to the idea as well.

John

I want to get a tube one of these days also.  A couple advantages not mentioned yet: transport and storage.  I used to have an inflatable kayak and it was so simple to store and transport.  Plus, I think a float tube would be ideal for an afterwork quickie on the water. 

I will always love having a kayak for fishing, but a tube definitely has some advantages. 

If anyone wants to give me some advice on which brands are good, etc., I would appreciate it. 

I have both and prefer the yak...  but I'm considering mothershipping in to some spots and inflating my tube...

Hydrospider
For those of us who love to pull large bass from the trees and tullies with trout rods there is no subtitude to a float tube. It is a trully outstanding finesse platform. If you had met me out at the State park a couple of weekends ago I would have shown you. I caught 8 on my first ever outing in Clearlake while boaters were getting one or two.

I didnt think that there was any doubt that I also enjoy taking the bucketmouth in shallows, if so please click on the little camera and enjoy the show. I still am bewildered how anyone could think that the tube has any advantage over the kayak.
I would have enjoyed fishing with you at the park but AOTY requires that I focus on more than 1 fishery and species when Im able to get on the water. I hope another oppurtunity comes around but I must confess that Ive tried to fish with friends in the float tubes and I found the limited freedom to explore dark bassy waters frustrating.  The kayak allows for easy access to back water sanctuarys that would require hours for a tuber to climb through and at risk of injury.  I really am trying to understand the "advantages" of the tube but still struggling.

The 2 biggest advantages are:
In wind we have much better control over speed of drift, and position.

Yesterday was proof positive of the other advantage...We just bobbed around like corks in the 4 foot, curling, breaking, boat wakes.
If I was out there in a yak, I would have been dumped a dozen times!

I appreciate this input but it seems to factor too much on a lack of kayak skills than actual advantage of the float tube over the kayak.  I have 1 in the garage that never made it out of the box and may give it a go but
bobbing around like a cork just doesnt sound inviting at all.

Again, nice job out there

I didnt think that there was any doubt that I also enjoy taking the bucketmouth in shallows, if so please click on the little camera and enjoy the show. I still am bewildered how anyone could think that the tube has any advantage over the kayak.

I am sure that you enjoy working the shallows for the bucketmouth. But the key words were "from the trees and tullies with trout rods". IE: Using 6#-8# test line and plugging them out from the middle of the obstacles..

Also, like Ken said, controlling drift speed in the wind is much easier on the float tube than in the kayak. Where kayaks would have to use an anchor a float tube can do so easily even using a 2 pole method! 

I am sure you know that we are having 15 knot winds almost every day now everywhere in norcal. Even Clearlake gets affected with the cold fronts and wind and being able to control that drift speed could make or break a good outing. If you say you can do that then you are one up on most of the kayak fishermen I have met. But I have to think that when you were using minnows to get the bass to strike in the cold of the winter there was an outside chance that we could have gotten them with senkos in a float tube. We were catching them in 46* surface temperatures in the south bay.

Here is an example of something we don't have to do.

LOL! Who else saw this discussion coming? I did.
OK compa, first of all, that picture was taken by agarcia. Enough said! 
Second, I kayak fish a lot and I have never used my feet to hold onto a bush in the wind. So, this technique is somewhat exclusive to agarcia. 

We should probably begin a new thread if we want to have this discussion (again) instead of hijacking yellowboat's fishing report.
But, since we're in a jacking-mood. I agree that the tube has distinct advantages over a kayak. Especially when it comes to bass fishing w/artificials, when the angle of you cast, and contact w/your lure is essential to success. Wind is main hinderance in a kayak because you have to put the rod down and pick up a paddle to readjust position. Whereas, you never have to put the rod down while tubing.

A good analogy would be a bassboat without a trolling motor=thats your kayak (Great for getting to the spot and/or run-and-gun type fishing but difficult to operate in windy conditions because you have to "fire-up" the outboard/pick up the paddle each time you want to reposition for the next cast.) In a tube, your feet are the trolling motor (allowing you to position yourself for the most accurate+successful cast while your hands are free to work the magic).
There are plenty of other reasons why one is better than the other. And they're all specific to the type of fishing being done. It just depends on what type of fishing you want to do today.

Of course, everybody has a preference. And everybody is entitled to an opinion. This just happens to be my opinion on tubes vs yaks. And it s/b noted that I prefer kayak fishing to tubing. Think you'd ever see me in Monterey Bay in a tube? Nope!
PK