Float Tube Techniques

For the most part we will be using wet lines and mostly wet fly patterns for our fishing. Grab your 4 - 5 weight rod, attach a 10-foot leader and lets go tubin'.

Searching a new lake

One of the most common problems an angler faces in a new water body is that he or she has no idea how or where to fish it. Lets take a look at a few simple ways to get started on a new lake.

The First thing we will do is examine any insect activity you may see around the lake. Damsel flies, Caddis flies, Chironomids… do you see any fish rising? What I am getting at is pay attention to your environment and what action is happening in and around the water. Even if you have no idea what these insects are you can imitate them in shape, size and color with your tied flies. 

If you are not seeing any surface action or any bugs on the water, a black Doc Spratley or an olive Wooly Bugger is a great way to start off in any lake in Alberta, Western Canada or anywhere for that matter. The Wooly Bugger is a fantastic trout fly that's been tried, tested and true and both of these flies are great searching patterns.

Trolling

Performed pretty much like you would in a regular boat you want to position yourself in about 8 - 10 feet of water (in my local lakes that's about 50 feet off shore) and start off nice and fast. Choose a side of your tube to hold your rod on; you may even want to lay your rod horizontally across you tube (hanging on tight to your rod and ready for that big strike). Troll parallel to the shoreline maintaining your depth and use an "S" shape as you travel. The "S" shape changes the speed of your fly. On your rod side it will speed up and on the opposite side it slows your fly down, causing it to sink deeper. Fish will usually strike the same type of movement so if the fish are hitting the fast side you'll want to increase your trolling speed. If you don't get any hits, move yourself out to a depth of 10 - 12 feet and try again. Continue this ‘til you are in about 16 - 18 feet of water. Hot weather in mid summer will drive the fish down into colder water so a slower, deeper presentation may be necessary. 

Calculating Depth 

Fish finders work amazingly well. Prior to adding one to my float tube, I would use a piece of rope with one-foot increments. This assisted in confirming the depth of the lake but gave me no idea where the fish were holding. Once I would catch a fish I could then estimate the depth the fish were holding at. Note your surroundings and continue fishing this area. Many people leave the active feeding zone looking for more fish. Occasionally you will pick up more fish by moving but more often that not, if you camp yourself in an area and work the fish hard before moving on, you will be more successful. 

Casting

Casting to the weed beds, drop offs, bays and points; produce fish when no other methods seem to work. Position yourself as far back as possible while being able to maintain control of your casts.  Cast your presentation into likely spots and allow your fly to descend while counting. Take note of how many seconds it takes to hit bottom or catch weeds and on your next cast, count one second less. Continue to do this and move along the points and drop offs. Once you have established a general feel for the bottom, you can work the point effectively. Disrupting the fish while casting and calculating depth often means coming back later and trying again but occasionally you will hook a fish while doing your homework on the lake.