I was just curious if anyone has or does use a float tube, to float the rivers? It seems like it would be just about as safe as a pontoon boat, you would just be in the water more? Just curious?
Buck

Buck,

In the float tube, isn't your lower half typically suspended below the level of the water?

Some of that fast moving, shallow water might get a bit painful on the ol' keester..:-)

A bunch of friends and I tried to "raft" Piru Creek one day many, many mooms ago. It had all of a foot of water, and all we had were cheap Target brand 2 man rafts.

Bounced my bootie over so many rocks I swore never to do it again. (Some memories we would like to forget!)

Mike

I thought about that once, too. Then I decided that I was quite fond of my legs and wished to keep them:) The rivers that I drift are too shallow in many areas to make that approach worthwhile. At the least I would be walking/banging my backside A LOT and in the worst case scenario, I would likely tear my legs or something more important off on a snag. Plus if you really get hung up, the current will drag you under and......well you know. I've found something that works better for me. Drop a line if ya wanna know.

Mike B. I hear what you are saying, My float tube is more of the U boat type style and it has a seat to wher my leags aren't really hanging down that much? I was thinking as a method to just get down the river, And then bank fish mostly? New Guy, still curious, I think this would work for what I would like to accomplish, I am jsut wondering if anyone does use one?
Buck

If the water you like to drift is clear of snags and you won't bump bottom too much, then I say go for it. I personally use a sevylor inflatable kayak. Got it for $70 new and it has plenty of room for gear. It weighs less than half of what a pontoon boat does and also packs down much smaller. I can get mine into a medium sized duffle bag. Have hit countless rocks and have yet to pop it. The secret is not over-inflating it. Handles up to class 3 water without trouble (providing the paddler is knowledgable). Works for me. Might not for others:)

That does not sound like a good idea.. almost Darwin award material if it was a river with any kind of riffels or anything like that...

I suggest the Bear Creek drift in the Sol Duc your first time out (hehe).

Bring a life jacket, float tube in a river equals

Due to lack of overall mobility and the potential for tangly-sharp stuff in the river, I would not recommend float tubing. Current, wind and sticks make a dangerous combination when your legs are hanging down below. If you got hung up in deep water, the only way out is to roll over and swim or detach the seat and slide under. If you can't stand up that means swiming.

A buddy of mine was snorkeling the Satsop observing fall kings. As he was free drifting down, his swim-fin buckle snagged on a unseen root wad. He was instantly forced under a cut bank fully extended and couldn't curl up enough to reach his ankle. He would still be there if a companion hadn't seen the whole thing and followed the same drift freeing his leg as he drifted by. Totally lucky!

I have used float tubes for duck hunting and fishing, so far without incedent ( except the time I was duck hunting and a mink-like creature thought I looked like a muskrat den).
However, I am always carefull and never really feel comfortable or safe just one fastex buckle away from swimming.

Good luck!

Bad, bad idea. They're not made for rivers at all.

Pay up your life insurance if you intend to float tube moving water. NOT wise, don't do it.

I have a tendency to be extra conservative, after having seen pontoons and even drift boats get into trouble. Float tubes just don't have the mobility to keep out of trouble. You just can't paddle fast enough. And if you get in trouble, they dramatically reduce your mobility to get back out of trouble.

Pure folly, is the nicest way I know how to say it.

But, if you would care so little for your own safety to float steelhead/salmon rivers in a U-boat then please at least consider the safety of others who would come to your rescue or recovery.

Thank you.

I agree with Mooch. Very dangerous. Have you ever seen anybody do this? What is next, scuba in the rivers?

let me know where and when so I can bring a video recorder. I hear the news pays good money when people kill themselves by being stupid. thats the nices way i can say it.

riverdog, interstingly enough, there are some locals that scuba/float the Gold River on Vancover island all the time. They count fish as a past-time. [Not that I'm avocating float tube or scuba in rivers, just FYI].

Buck has that true steelheader spirit, pioneer, adventurer! Everyone preaches to go out and hike, find their own zipper, honey hole, etc. Give him some credit, I don't think he would just toss a tube in a river and aimlessly go floating along. I'm sure Buck would consider ALL the safety issues, equipment, knowing the stretch of river he intends on drifting, he would even hand deliver a copy of his "Float Plan" to the County Coroner. I don't think he would have any problems drifting the Nasty, in January, Chum fishing in his Speedo bobbing along in a tube through Native Land. Tank Crossing to the Handicap Hole would be a fine drift. I see no problem in his judgement if he picked this float. I'm sure it would be an "interesting" trip.

I know a guy that used his float tube on the Lower Skagit below Mount Vernon. He was fishing for pinks last September. He did fine floating down the slow main current' being able to kick he would slow his progress down river. He then would hitch a ride back up on a back eddy kicking again to go faster. He did this for a few holes down the river. But then again this was the deep, slow, lower Skagit and not the free flowing, fast, boulder garden of say the Sky or Sol Duc.

Fishingjunky, that guy should think about all the snags in the lower Skagit. It's littered with logs and root wads. It would only take one small branch to drag him under.

A u-boat like a Flote-N-Tote with a seating platform and a place to rest your feet out of the water would be suitable for the mellower rivers on the west side.

But trying it in a float tube where your ass is in the water and your feet have no place to rest is just looking to get killed.

Extremely dangerous on ANY moving water. you won't find a manufacturer anywhere that recommends their float tubes for moving water... I know guys do it at the mouth og the Deschutes but umm well thats just dangerous and i think you'd find that many a coast guard patrol would tell you the same thing.
I don't care how many pfd's you wear and how careful you are it's extremely dangerous just get a pontoon boat that keeps your legs out of the water!