Wigged out... (a vent session)

[DrCreek]

I 'm sitting at work (really, just sitting here) thinking about my inaugural SD Bay adventure on Wednesday with Richard Cullip and my new baby, Miss Outcast Trinity float tube.

I've NEVER had a float tube before. In fact, I've always said that I would NEVER be caught in one. There are reasons for this. The first (and biggest) reason is because I could never think of a worse way to die other than drowning. That's right. I've always been afraid of drowning.

Back in 2005 I gave a small lecture on the Golden Trout Wilderness to a bunch of fellow fly casters up at the Kern River. As payment, I got a day trip on the Kern, guided by our dear friend Barrie Mann. "Okay, what will I need to bring?" Barrie told me that my SPL ultralight collection wasn't going to be of any help on the Kern and that he would gift me the use of one of his Kern River set-ups. I've never "borrowed" anyones gear in my life, and this jaunt was to be no different. I jumped on eBay and bought a nice little Orv...Orv...(I cant even come to terms with saying it much less admitting it) 5wt and Orv...Orv... (damm !!) reel. I was also told that I had better have some chest-highs to go along with it, so I bought some nice Cabelas boot-foot chest waders with felt soles. Look, I'd always wet-waded wherever I fly fished; Sierras, Montana, wherever. This was NOT cool with me.

In no time I was up to my neck in cold Kern water. I was literally boulder-hopping huge rocks that were submerged maybe four feet under the water - oh ya, slick with algae, too. So I'm guessing the water there was actually 7 or 8 feet deep without the assistance of the boulders. Anyway, I slipped. I knew to tighten the heck out of my waist belt so no water could fill up my waders. Scared dipless, I somehow I made it to the preferred spot in the middle of the river. I also remember how nauseated I was thinking that I could have easily gone under - or downstream - or both. Now the question - how was I going to get back?

Trauma freaks me out. Death by drowning is a bad way to go. I'm not a good player in this game. So I'm sitting here at work (again - and by the way, I work in 911) and I have all these awful scenarios playing out in my head because I get to HEAR and watch so many water scenarios go down every day.

Why am I thinking about all this? Maybe because I want to have a game plan for anything that could happen. Mr. Safety, that's me !! That's not a bad thing is it? But what if I lose my prescription sunglasses (I have no idea where my cool, multi-colored glasses retaining strap is). What if some boat comes zipping along and takes me off at the head? What if a big bad shark (Sharknado - I NEVER go small) has unknowingly entered SD Bay and has honed-in on my fat, tasty-sounding black flippers (that remarkably resemble the flippers of a seal)? What if I get hung-up in a huge cluster of grass or seaweed and cant get out? I know... I'll use my knife to cut myself free!... But what if I accidentally drop my knife in the drink then my legs become entangled even more? I know... I'll use my whistle - the one that's attached to my camera lanyard specifically for this trip? Then I'm totally screwed, right? Here's the big one... What if my tube springs a leak and I have to use the manual pull my expensive new MIT 100 vest that a brother Addict turned me on to...but the cartridge fails to fire and I slowly get dragged into the inky depths by water weight - AND no one can see my strobe light flashing (yes, I bought a strobe to attach to my tube for greater visibility to vessels)? Worse yet, what if my partner is so busy catching fish that he doesn't see that I'm in trouble?

Good swimmer or not - and I am a really good swimmer (water polo, lifeguard, paramedic services and all that jazz), there's something to be said about bouncing around in an air-filled bladder on water deeper than a few feet - that has gotten the best of my psyche.

So please Lord, just let my first cast get banged by something SO BIG that it takes my mind off all the (horrible) possibilities. Has anyone else ever experienced this mind game with their first float experience or is it just me?

[DarkShadow]

I can attest to the first float tube session being a bit, weird.

And quite frankly, all I have to thank is this:



The first time I fished Newport Harbor, and a seal came up 5 feet in front of me, the inside of my waders became 10 degrees warmer.

Even in freshwater, I imagine a freshwater Jaws chewing on my feet. And if not Jaws, then I imagine a tiny leak in my waders that I notice when it's too late.

I think it's natural for us to feel weird in an environment that isn't ours, being connected to a flotation device that could give way. Heck, even in my local creek, I envision jumping over the creek onto a slippery rock, and the worse happening, and having friends and family asking how on earth I drowned in a foot deep creek.

Then I realized that the ulcer I have in my stomach is probably due to all these thoughts, so I really stopped caring. I have a higher probability of dying from stomach bleeding than from fishing, which ended up being ironic.

[NorcalBob]

<<<Has anyone else ever experienced this mind game with their first float experience or is it just me>>>
Not just you good DR. There's a very good reason why I fish out of a 20' boat and I haven't a clue as to where my float tube is (and I think I've used it only twice my entire life!).

[fly addict]

Hah, good stuff to think about while on the water in a rubber boat. I sold mine years ago, but for different reasons, I get cramps in my left hamstring. It hurts like * and there is no way to stretch it out or make it stop. It is also sucks because when you can only use one leg to propel yourself along you end up going in circles.

I have seen big fish in the ocean, including makos, and great whites, also blue and killer whales. You feel real small when a 90’ blue whale swims by your boat. And killer whales will look you right in eye as if to say “ I dare you to jump in”!

So if you ask me if I want to fish the ocean in a Kayak or float tube, the answer is NO WAY.

[RichardCullip]

It might be hard to dial up something BIG for you on Wednesday. I test fished an area I like (Tidelands Park in Coronado) this morning. It was a quantity not quality type of day. I did have 41 fish to hand in a 3.5hr session but the biggest was 10-12" and the distribution was skewed to the 6-7" range. I felt like I was fishing in the kindergarten area not the high school/college area.

Don't worry, we will find you some nice quiet back water (5mph no-wake zone) part of the bay for your inaugural trip. I'll save the triple black diamond parts for when you've got a little more experience/confidence under your belt. I've been tubing the bay since 2008 and have yet to experience any of your fears. No sinking, no fast boats running me over, no sharks, no tips overs due to big wakes, no panic attacks in 3ft of water........you get the picture.

Relax, we will do fine. If not, you can always post your gear for sale on Craig's List.......

p.s. We can stay within a decent cast or two from shore until you get comfortable.

[DrCreek]

Not really sweating the session, Mentor... just thinking about all the possibilities. Not worried about the size of the quarry, either. I would though LOVE to feel another one of those tugs that broke me off a couple months ago regardless of where we go.

PS... I'm good float tubing anywhere as long as I have a great partner. So lets rock !!

[Wildman]

Mike-

You'll do just fine. Several documentaries informed me that the waters I surfed for 30 was a breeding ground for immature Great Whites. I was always glad the water was murky and I couldn't see what lurked below. Looking forward to your voyage. Once you get dialed in, I'll bring my pontoon down and fish with the San Diego contingent.

[briansII]

It's natural to be a little nervous on your first trip, but there's nothing to be worried about. If I'm not mistaken, you'll have a PFD on, so there's even less to worry about. A float tube is a very stable fishing platform. You'd have to do something extraordinarily crazy to flip one. Even in waves, they're stable. I've had a bladder leak all but about 25% of it's air, and I still made it back to shore without much problems. After you get some seat time, you'll find it a relaxing way to fish. I've taken quick snoozes on the water in a tube. Like wading, it gives you a sense of being "connected". Enjoy.

Oh, and if something bumps into your fin, it's ok to scream like a girl.

briansII

[Benny]

You'll be fine. Try and not over think it and enjoy the peace you get while bobbing around the bay.

[DrCreek]

I can attest to the first float tube session being a bit, weird.

And quite frankly, all I have to thank is this:

Well, that helped.

[DrCreek]

Mike-

You'll do just fine. Several documentaries informed me that the waters I surfed for 30 was a breeding ground for immature Great Whites. I was always glad the water was murky and I couldn't see what lurked below. Looking forward to your voyage. Once you get dialed in, I'll bring my pontoon down and fish with the San Diego contingent.

I love it, Captain... cant wait for that. You, Richard, me, and anyone else that wants to come out and play on the bay... it could be a little like the original "9-Man'er" that we had years ago up at the SAR south end. Maybe we could have a little salt get-together like that once a year or so.

Brians... thanks for the vote of confidence...and I have no problem screaming like a little girl, so I got that going for me.

[Jason]

So if you ask me if I want to fish the ocean in a Kayak or float tube, the answer is NO WAY.

Agreed! And wearing fins that look like flippers! If the opportunity presented itself and I saw others catching fish, my irrational fear would probably be overcome by excitement and I'd hop in, but just sitting here at my desk it's not high on my list of things to do.

That being said, I guarantee I've done dumber stuff........ like taking a 12ft aluminum rowboat with an old 5hp motor about a mile out into San Francisco Bay. It wouldn't even get up on plane with that motor, and when the wind came up that day, and it came up fast, the rolling waves were going faster than we were as we headed back to Emeryville. I still cringe when I think about it, but I like to think I learned something that day.

[DrCreek]

Good thing is that's it's (technically) not the ocean - its the bay. I'm in agreement however that if it was the true "ocean" we were talking about float tubing, I most likely wouldn't be participating. The other good thing is that I've got a fantastic, seasoned partner and mentor keeping me in his sights while showing me the ropes.

[BrownBear]

Don't just think in terms of warm waters.

A few years back I was using my 9' pontoon boat on the bay we live on for coho and chum salmon. Had a dandy day and released a bunch, coming back to shore with two of each over 10# hanging from the side of my boat.

Snagged a friend and went back out on the right tide next day for more of the same. We launched and found the big schools I fished had vanished, as we meanwhile saw whole schools of salmon pressed up so close to shore their bellies were scraping and their backs were dry.

Huh, that's weird....

Moments later a salmon shark loomed up right next to the boat so close I could have dropped the oar and touched it. It rolled up onto its side and looked right at me then dove back down with a flick of its tail. Could have been adrenaline, but that sucker seemed as long as my boat. I'm really, really glad I wasn't hanging tasty salmon off that air filled pontoon. Now I strap a cooler on the back of the boat if I want to keep a few salmon.

I doubt we have great whites up here feeding on seals and sea lions, but you haven't lived till an Orca surfaces within a couple of rod lengths. Seals are their favorite snack, and you won't catch me using black swim fins in the ocean up here.

Then last year my wife and I had a grand 6 weeks catching oversize king salmon offshore, most of which were over 30# and six that topped 40#. Best ever in a lifetime of salmon fishing. Brought a couple of friends out to enjoy the fun, and we produced right on cue, one buddy boating two 30+ in the first hour while the other hoped for his turn.

That came shortly after with a king that probably nudged 40#. Fought the crazy fight and brought it right up to the side of the boat, where my wife leaned out to net it. Egads! A gigantic male Stellar sea lion zoomed out from under the boat and grabbed it. Easy to imagine what would have happened if the king was already in the net. Got ourselves reassembled and resumed fishing, hooking another king in just a few minutes. The big bull didn't even wait for the fish to tire, snatching it off the line when it was still 100 yards from the boat.

Whatever you're catching in the ocean, there's usually something bigger that makes it living feeding on it.

[DrCreek]

Sounds like an entirely new topic is coming to light.