01-04-2003, 01:03 PM
[cool] Hey, Dave, your questions remind me of a demonstration I once saw at a state fair, for a kitchen applieance that chopped vegetables, etc. In response to a question from a (female) onlooker, who asked if you could cut yourself on it, the demonstrator replied "If you want to. All you have to do is put your finger right there, activate the blades, and the "red" comes out right here."
In a regular "donut"...round tube...much of your body sits at or below the water line. The center of gravity is low, so the system is very stable, even in some rough water. I prefer a round tube for launching and beaching through surf conditions. Some pontoons (with oar assist) work well on launching, but can be brutalized when trying to make it back to shore.
That's the worst part of putting in from an open beach...getting back in. Even more than getting out, beaching is a matter of timing, technique, strength and balance. I have a whole section in my book on launching and beaching under different conditions. I had to practice (without tackle) quite a few beachings before I could arrive vertical instead of rolled up in a ball with sand in my shorts.
I have never come close to flipping in a boat wake, but I have taken some serious splash down my back and neck. If you have time to evaluate the size and shape of the bow wake, you can position your craft to either take it from the side or the back. If you are fishing where there are bow wakes large enough to flip you, you need to get out of the shipping channel.
Even worse than bow wakes are water skiers and personal water craft. On a couple of lakes I began taking one rod rigged with a beat up old hardbait, with a full set of trebles. Hauled one guy right off his PWC after a masterful cast wrapped a wrist. When he threatened to report me to the rangers I just asked him how he was going to explain getting close enough to be tangled in my line. Lost that plug. Left the hooks in him so he could go to the doctor. Shoulda ripped them out and released him "unharmed".
Carried a wrist rocket for a few trips on Willard Bay Reservoir in Utah, back in the days when float tubes were more of a novelty. Water skiers thought I made a great pylon for slalom moves. After I hit one of them in the butt with a marble from my wrist rocket I got in trouble. The ranger couldn't stop laughing long enough to finish writing my ticket, but I was "sternly warned".
I have a 4-tube rod rack on my craft. Once had a downed water skier ask what it was, and I told him it was a surface to surface missile launcher for shooting down skiers that got too close. Didn't work. As with most of those idiots, he still chose to "dump" every time he got close to the point I was working for bass.
Final answer? Flotation fishing is inherently safer than most boating...if you excercise proper precautions and wear your required devices.
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In a regular "donut"...round tube...much of your body sits at or below the water line. The center of gravity is low, so the system is very stable, even in some rough water. I prefer a round tube for launching and beaching through surf conditions. Some pontoons (with oar assist) work well on launching, but can be brutalized when trying to make it back to shore.
That's the worst part of putting in from an open beach...getting back in. Even more than getting out, beaching is a matter of timing, technique, strength and balance. I have a whole section in my book on launching and beaching under different conditions. I had to practice (without tackle) quite a few beachings before I could arrive vertical instead of rolled up in a ball with sand in my shorts.
I have never come close to flipping in a boat wake, but I have taken some serious splash down my back and neck. If you have time to evaluate the size and shape of the bow wake, you can position your craft to either take it from the side or the back. If you are fishing where there are bow wakes large enough to flip you, you need to get out of the shipping channel.
Even worse than bow wakes are water skiers and personal water craft. On a couple of lakes I began taking one rod rigged with a beat up old hardbait, with a full set of trebles. Hauled one guy right off his PWC after a masterful cast wrapped a wrist. When he threatened to report me to the rangers I just asked him how he was going to explain getting close enough to be tangled in my line. Lost that plug. Left the hooks in him so he could go to the doctor. Shoulda ripped them out and released him "unharmed".
Carried a wrist rocket for a few trips on Willard Bay Reservoir in Utah, back in the days when float tubes were more of a novelty. Water skiers thought I made a great pylon for slalom moves. After I hit one of them in the butt with a marble from my wrist rocket I got in trouble. The ranger couldn't stop laughing long enough to finish writing my ticket, but I was "sternly warned".
I have a 4-tube rod rack on my craft. Once had a downed water skier ask what it was, and I told him it was a surface to surface missile launcher for shooting down skiers that got too close. Didn't work. As with most of those idiots, he still chose to "dump" every time he got close to the point I was working for bass.
Final answer? Flotation fishing is inherently safer than most boating...if you excercise proper precautions and wear your required devices.
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