Float Tubing in the sea

[Sportsman]

There seems to be a lot of negative advice. I don't know how much of it is based on experience of float tubing and how much on supposition. I have had problems persuading some fisheries to allow me to tube as the owners perceive it to be dangerous.

These are usually the same fisheries that ban the wearing of waders in boats because if you fall in they fill with water and drag you down

I was discussing this with the moderator of a US float tubing site. This guy "wrote the book" (several books actually) on float tubing, and his opinion carries a lot of weight with me. This is what he said

 

"Good luck in your quest to "educate" the authorities on the safety and fishing potential of float tubes. As one of the early pioneers of tubing in "the colonies", I have encounterd just about every kind of nonsense regulation and overbearing official you could imagine.

 

One of the more classic "encounters" occured on a small lake in Colorado. It required that you stop at an entrance gate and purchase a permit to enter and fish. When the gatekeeper spied my aired-up float tube he almost had a stroke. He blustered that I could not fish from that thing in his lake. But, he allowed that I could use it as long as I stayed within the roped off swimming area. The only restriction would be that I could not use hooks. They might constitute a hazard to any swimmers who might want to take a dip (in the cold late fall waters).

 

I have fished from float tubes along much of the Pacific Coast of California and down into Mexico. I have also tubed the Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico, along Louisiana and Texas. While I lived in southern Arizona, I also took my tube south to the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. Several models of my past float tubes have tasted a lot of salt water.

 

As long as you do not foolishly tempt fate, by putting yourself at risk of high waves or strong currents, it is no different fishing salt water than fresh water. There are many protected areas (harbors, marinas, bays, etc.) in salt water that are just as safe to fish as small lakes. However, until float tubing is better recognized as a safe pastime, the authorities may be a bit of a challenge."