I have a float tube. I probably haven’t taken it off it’s hook in the garage in half a dozen years. Maybe more. Lake fishing really isn’t my thing, I guess.
But after watching the video below by Todd Moen, I may need to rethink my perspective on still-water fishing. Granted, I don’t have an old motorcycle to carry me and my tube into the backcountry, and I doubt I’d look nearly as cool as this guy does in the process. But there is something pretty visceral about sitting waist-deep in a cold alpine lake, suspended by an inflated tube and pushed around by a pair of flippers. I mean, you’re actually in the water with the fish you’re after. Throw in some snow and rain, and you have some real fly fishing drama.
And … lake fish get big. Really big.
With run-off swollen river and creeks this spring, thanks to a gluttonous winter here in the Intermountain West, lakes might be our only really dependable fishing option for a while. I think I might have to dust off the tube, dig out the flippers and go chase some still-water trout.
Now, if I just had a motorcycle…
— Chris Hunt