Image by heathzib via Flickr

We’ve had a beautiful white winter this year, haven’t seen one of those in a long time. Not always much fun shovelling as it gets higher and higher but sure looked like a wonderland looking out my office window into our backyard. Sadly the weight of all that snow on some of our shrubs and bushes was just too much after it started raining and broke the branches off of them.

That’s going to require a lot of extra work come spring, might even have to replace them all. I would much rather be spending that money on fly fishing gear, hope my wife didn’t hear me type that.

On a happier note fishing season’s not far off and that always lifts my spirits, so today I’m bringing my fly fishing gear up from the basement for another season.

Fly Fishing For Chain Pickerel And Smallmouth Bass

Fishing buddy Casey emailed me the other day asking if I had flies for pickerel and bass, which I thought was curious because he doesn’t fly fish, well not yet. As I read on he said he wants to give it a try this year and my excitement level went through the roof.

I told Casey I had some that have been torn up pretty good but would be tying some before fishing season starts. Now I will tie enough so that Jamie, Casey and myself will have enough to tie into some wacky and wild pickerel in our favourite spots. My first pickerel ever was on a fly rod and it’s a lot of fun, especially from my float tube.

I have been fly fishing for smallmouth bass as well and they are a blast on the fly rod. A great fish to watch jumping all over the place. So you can well imagine I am already dreaming of our days on the water in 2011.

White River Fly Shop Lost Lake Open Front Float Tube - Line/term/acc/boats Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 109.99 Get more tube for your buck with the Lost Lake Open Front Float Tube from White River Fly Shop. The Lost Lake Open Front Float Tube is constructed from durable 420 denier nylon with rugged PVC bladders, and features tackle storage pouches with dual zippers, removable fly patch, comfortable quick-release seating, hi-vis back safety panel, mesh casting apron with ruler, hook 'n loop rod holder, carrying handles, multiple D-rings for tools and accessories, and a reliable and easy access Boston valve for quick inflation and deflation. Plus, all of the Lost Lake Tube's critical seams have been triple stitched, so you don't have to worry about anything except hooking your next fish! Imported. White River Fly Shop Replacement Open Front Float Tube Bladder sold separately. Get more tube for your buck with the Lost Lake Open Front Float Tube from White River Fly Shop. The Lost Lake Open Front Float Tube is constructed from durable 420 denier nylon with rugged PVC bladders, and features tackle storage pouches with dual z

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I do a lot of fishing from my float tube and there isn’t much room like there is in a canoe or boat so I have to pay attention to what I bring along. That’s why I am interested in the Humminbird Smartcast RF35 Wrist Mount Fish Finder.

Fishing from my float tube is very relaxing yet, at the same, quite explosive and exciting however it’s quite a bit slower getting around so it’s important to make the best use of the water around me and that’s where a fish finder comes in very handy. That was a little joke about a wrist mount fish finder, ha ha.

I have had a couple of portable fish finders from Humminbird but they are even too big for my float tube. The one I had at the time I took my fly in fishing trip to northern Quebec worked perfectly and I caught many more fish than the rest of the group. But I need a much smaller fish finder and the Wrist mounted Smartcast RF35 sounds perfect.

Dear if you are reading this my birthday is just a month and half away, so get your order in today.

Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

I remember fishing Lake George New Brunswick with a friend. We both had float tubes and we had a blast catching smallmouth bass on the fly rod. But I think the day would have been much different if I didn’t know where the fish were as I have fished the lake many times from my boat where we had a Humminbird fish finder.

If we had hit this lake in our float tubes with that knowledge I am sure we would have been hunting bass all day long instead of catching and releasing bass all day long.

A fish finder is invaluable when it comes to new water and the slower you go, like me and my float tube, the better you want to be at finding the fish.

I have fished enough new lakes over the years, without a fish finder, and it takes a lot more work, which isn’t such a problem from a boat but I don’t want to be wasting time when I am only able to about mile an hour.

Humminbird Smartcast RF 35 Fish Finder Specs

• Fully functional watch with date and time capability.
• High visibility 1 1/4″ diagonal display with 48V x 32H resolution.
• Water surface temperature and digital depth readout.
• 75 ft. remote operating range, 100 ft. depth capability.

Wireless Technology

Your Smartcaster rf35 uses wireless technologies so there’s no need for a long messy cable or wire going to the sensor.  All you need to do is attach a length of line so you don’t lose it and then just give it a toss in any direction.

I can’t throw far from my float tube so I would use a spare fishing rod to cast it out.

Lithium Battery – 3 year life

The Remote Sonar Sensor has a separate, lithium battery that is non-replaceable , that has a lifespan of three years and will work for somewhere around five-hundred hours in the water.

Like any of your tools you need to keep them clean after a day of fishing to make sure they last as long as possible.

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I love to get out fishing from my float tube. It’s so relaxing and at the same time exciting. Back when I had a canoe and a boat I had a nice little Humminbird portable fishfinder but found it too big for my float tube so I sold it with my boat.

I have looked for a nice portable fish-finder since but never saw anything that I really liked, until this morning.

It’s getting close to Christmas so I was looking through Amazon to see what was there and found this cool little wrist mounted fish finder, perfect for float tube fishing adventures.

Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

I remember fishing Lake George New Brunswick, along with a few other larger lakes in the area, from both my canoe and boat. It was nice to have a fishfinder so we could located active spots we could come back to. We must have fished Lake George a hundred times and always seemed to hook into a lot of smallmouth bass.

I’d say it was mostly because of the Humminbird fish finder keeping us on the right locations.

I remember so many times I wished I had a fishfinder for my float tube so I could find those great spots again.

Here are a few specs for the Humminbird Smartcast RF 35 fishfinder.

First, Humminbird is using wireless technologies to the Smartcaster rf35 so you don’t require a wire going to the sensor. Just attach a length of fishing line and give it a toss out on the water and you’re ready to go fish finding.

The Remote Sonar Sensor has a separate, lithium battery that is non-replaceable , that has a lifespan of three years and will work for somewhere around five-hundred hours in the water.

Note: It’s always good advice to clean your equipment after a day on the water and it goes the same for your remote sensor. Keep it cleaned and it will keep going on keeping on.

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Headed out yesterday for a day on the water, just me, my float tube and the pickerel. I forgot how long it takes to get anywhere in the float tube unless you have turbo legs and big flippers, but it’s so relaxing and you are so close to the water. And that makes it really exciting when one of those pickerel explodes right at the float tube, which is often.

The thing with the float tube is that there isn’t a lot of room to bring along extras. I have a zipped pocket on each side where I can store a few things but it’s limited space so for my fishing vest is indispensable. I can get so much extra stuff in all the pockets I have in my vest. Sunscreen, bug spray, extra hooks, weights, extra fishing line. Even bandages for those times the pickerel gets me instead of the other way around.

When I am fishing from a boat or a canoe I don’t usually think about what I bring with me. I bring everything I have basically, but I have to do some thinking before going in my float tube.

What I didn’t bring with me yesterday was rain gear and as it turned out I really needed to. That darn weather guy lied again, it’s getting so I don’t trust those weather people.

I started fishing in the Salmon River at Redbank and had some good fun, well until the wind picked up and then I had to head to another spot that was more protected from the wind. So I headed to the other side of the road where I knew there were lots of spots that I might be able to get out of the wind and yet still fish. It was much faster in the canoe.

One thing that was likely a funny site was me in my neoprene waders carrying my float tube and fishing rod while still wearing my flippers. They are hard to get on and tied right when I have all my gear on so I figured it would be easier to walk to the other side of the road. Not sure if it was or not as it’s some hard to pick my feet high enough to walk with the flippers on and it was hot, very hot.

Even though the side of the road I was on was less windy I still had to paddle a ways to get to a protected area.

I saw some heavy dark clouds that looked like they might be heading my way. They seem to have moved off a bit so I kept fishing. A few minutes later it started to rain, just a few drops so I continued fishing. I don’t mind the rain as long as it’s not windy as well.

Then I heard thunder and I do not like being on the water when there is a chance to get hit by lightening. I was in a small pond fishing bass about 20 years ago and lighting hit a hill on the bank of the pond right beside me and scared the crap out of me, glad I was in the water. I made record time getting out of there.

Well when the thunder started, even though it was a long ways off I was about to wait for it to reach me and headed back to the safety of my car.

The closer I got to the shore the harder it rained. It seemed the hard I was kicking the harder it came down. Then the skies opened, and I mean really opened. The rain came down so hard it hurt and I all but lost sight of the shore, which wasn’t far off at all.

All I could do was laugh and keep on kicking. It reminded me of the first time I took my son Steve fishing trout in a small pond. We were of course at the farthest point away from our truck when it started coming down like Steve had never seen before. It scared him but then all we could do was laugh as I paddled the canoe as fast as I could. We were both completely drenched to the skin. But it only lasted a few minutes and it was over.

The rain yesterday didn’t want to let up.

I packed up and headed home only to find that once I left Chipman the roads were completely dry. It had not even rained a little just a couple of miles away from where I was fishing. But the rain soon caught up with me and I was hit with the torrential down pour at least 4 times on the way home. It followed me all the way home. When I was driving up Mountain Road it was coming down so hard I was surprised there weren’t accidents everywhere.

Even though I got rained out and headed home about 5 hours early I still had 7 hours of good fun fishing pickerel.

Have you ever done any fishing from a float tube. I’m not talking about a tire tube you float down stream in. I mean one that was designed to fish from, with a seat and back-rest?

If you have fished from a float tube I am sure you will agree that there is a lot of fun to be had fishing from a float tube and if you haven’t you need to give it a try.

My first trip was with my fly rod. It was for chain pickerel and we had our spinning gear that day. That day is for another post.

The first place I took my float tube fishing trout was to a spot that I have carried my canoe into. I was a rough go with the canoe and by the time I would get in there I was exhausted from fighting my way through the trees. Plus I always had to make at least two trips in order to have all my fishing gear, paddles and life-vest.

When I first started fishing this trout pond I walked in and fished only from the shore. I always caught my dinner but wondered just what it would be like to fish away from the shore.

Some of these ponds I fish used to have rafts that had been constructed from downed trees. They were great but after a few years they would sink to the bottom during spring flooding.

The float tube is so light I can carry it on my back which freed up my hands to carry the rest of what I need to fish for the day. That shorted my time getting on the water and I wasn’t the slightest bit exhausted once I got there.

I immediately saw that I could catch more trout and bigger trout fishing toward the bank instead of fishing from the bank.

My fishing buddies would come fishing with me and of course they would bring their canoes. I would be at the water fishing long before they ever reached the water with their canoes and then they still had to go back for the rest of there gear.

After a few trips like that I got a phone call. Both the buddies I am referring to have now purchased their own float tubes and now they are fishing the same time I am. I haven’t seen them use their canoe since.

So if you haven’t tried float tube fishing yet you are in for a real treat.