Fishing from a tube has long been a pleasant and rewarding experience. It can also be fun. Whether you go all out and dress up your tube with all the essentials for comfort or fish light and easy, getting where the fish are can happen a lot more when you're close to the cover.
Texas is loaded with small farm ponds, tanks and creeks and even small bodies of water like city park lakes where fishing from a tube is the best way to enjoy a day on the water. Adding a few simple things like swim fins to help kick you along, a nice afternoon or morning of fishing can offer respite from crowded public bodies of water, especially on weekends and holidays.
If tube fishing doesn't trip your trigger, places like those offered by Bill Whitfield - a 4,000- acre high-fence ranch at Palo Pinto that has seven secluded lakes, from two to 30 acres, loaded with bass, also offer small two-man boats for use for the day. The best thing a trip like this offers is fishing away from the maddening crowds.
Many such places also offer you the opportunity to hunt and fish all in the same day, which can mean fishing in the morning and hunting in the afternoon, or vice versa to get the best of both worlds.
Fishing from a tube offers an economical, convenient and highly adaptable way to fish for not only bass but other species as well. You are free from the headaches of launch ramps and there is something about the absence of gadgets and hassles normally found in big boat fishing that make a tube trip special. No one would ever give up their big boat for good to fish from a tube most likely, but every now and then it can sure make for a nice break from the regular trip to a busy impoundment where hundreds of others are lining up to catch the same fish, launch at the same ramps and speed across the same lake all day.
You can keep it simple fishing from a tube or small boat, or even from the bank. It doesn't take every lure you own to enjoy a good day of fishing. Smaller baits are usually the order of the day, and it never hurts to have a little of each of spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and small crankbaits. Soft plastics will also work well fished in smaller lakes, again very often smaller baits will draw more attention from the fish.
And of course you can get as fancy as you like with your tube fishing as well. There are nice canvas covers with pockets and pouches for holding the items you need and even rod holders for that lazy slide down the shoreline fishing you might want to do after a busy week at work.
Tube fishing isn't for everyone, but if you haven't tried it you'll never know how pleasant it can be. The fishing can be extraordinary, the scenery and surroundings will usually be quiet countryside so you can't beat the view, and best of all again - you may have the whole place to yourself. So take along the family or make a day with friends and spend some time getting close to the fish. Belly up to the bass!
