Float Tube Fishing on Easter Weekend

Easter is without question one of my favorite times of each year. I love the fact that the Dogwoods bloom at just the right time…almost like they know something about the holiday? Some would call this an environmental coincidence but I tend to think it has a certain plan; winter for all purposes is the ending of a year and at times can be dirty, messy and for sure gloomy when you are an outdoor person. Spring comes along and all feels better and it reaches its pinnacle at Easter, I feel rejuvenated and usually I know this means no more snow and for me…perfect weather, as I love it in the 50’s and 60’s. Oh and this also means that the fishing is great and will be for a while.

This past weekend was no different; in fact I fished often and with some real purpose. My good friend Frank arrived in my drive promptly at 5:50am on Friday morning for a day of fishing. With only minimal griping about the early hour, we pulled away for a day on Bass Lake and Island Pit just west of Dugger, Indiana. I have written many times about this area of our state but if you are not taking advantage of these beautiful waters then you are missing out on something special.

As you can see from the photo …Frank and I had to pack into Bass Lake. This is the real beauty of these float tubes; they are light and with minimal equipment you can get into any water and be functional. Recently while fishing one of the lakes in the Dugger Unit, I had a couple guys on the shore and they were discussing me and my little tube…or belly boat as they called it; now let’s get this point straight we are fishing from a float tube and not a belly boat. Many folks that have tried the latter still think that they are all uncomfortable and dangerous…but our float tubes are comfortable in that you are sitting on a comfy pad and are very safe in that they have two separate bladders that keep you afloat. Anyway…Frank and I fished Bass for about an hour and then moved to Island Pit in Minnehaha to try our hands at some trout and bass fishing.

The wind was pushing hard from the east making for a pretty choppy day on the water but by moving to the far eastern end of the lake we both could sit unscathed by the wind and fish for trout. I won’t say the action was fast or furious but there was enough action to keep us busy for most of the morning. Frank was busy trying out a new Versa line system that he had purchased the week before and I was using my 6 weight with a heavy type 4 line. We both figured out that by allowing the fly to sink for about 5 to 10 seconds, that would put the bug down deep in front of these pesky little critters. The difficult part was hooking one and by the end of the morning we had caught 8 total, along with a nice passel of bass. No matter how many fish we had caught it was a great day as the weather was gorgeous, the company was incredible and the Amish restaurant was just a few miles down the road!

Saturday morning found me up early and on my way to Hillenbrand FWA and one of my favorite lakes…I would be fishing from my new boat…yes a boat. I have purchased an all-electric boat designed in North Carolina and the beauty is that it is a zero turn boat; more about my purchase later this month as I will do a review for those interested in finding an incredible way to fish our small waters. I pushed off from the shore and filled the hulls up with water and eased my way down the shore to one of my top spots. I had my 8 weight rod with floating line and a big bass popper attached and was making long casts, retrieving the popper both slowly and noisily. My 3^rd cast was special…I could see that there was a big fish following and I did what I knew I needed to do, leave the popper alone. In a few seconds (it felt like a minute) I noticed a big bulge come up under my bug and slurp in the fly. I set the hook and gave it a good pop with my right hand and could tell this was not a normal 14 incher. The fish gave a quick breach and I could see a big head on this bass. I knew immediately that I had to be cautious with this fish as I still had 4X tippet on from the day before and didn’t want to push my luck. A few minutes passed and I was still being towed…closer and closer to the structure that I knew she wanted to get me into; I sat down and used my foot pedals to back my boat up away from any potential break off points and then adjusted the drag on my rod…and waited. What seemed like hours was only about 5 minutes and I lipped and landed a 5.7 pound bass that was 21 inches long. It was a great fish and capped off an incredible weekend. Yes…Easter was in full bloom, what a weekend to Enjoy the Great Outdoors!