first of all, welcome to the forum.<BR>as for the fish problem, i don't know what i'd do if i caught a ling cod in my float tube, to be honest. i usually carry one of those metal stringers. what i'd probably wind up doing with a ling is putting one stringer loop through the gills, like how i would normally do it, and then take the next loop above it and push it up through the bottom of his jaw and out the top (like baiting a sardine). that way it would deter him from getting any teeth snagged in my float tube, or biting at me legs or something (i wouldn't be surprised). you could also probably bind his jaws shut with mono if you had to. i don't think there's too much of a chance that a fish would actually puncture your float tube if that's what you're asking, but with a fish like a ling or a cuda or something, it's probably better safe than sorry. <BR>pete-<BR>instead of using a burlap bag, try one of those mesh laundy bags with a drawstring top. rob used to use one for BNT tournaments until we fashioned our chicken wire (poultry netting..=).) livewells. but, yeah, you can get them at like k mart for around 5 bucks or so. they work pretty well, i'm sure you could find one big enough for just about any size butt you're gonna catch in the harbor, but i'd bring a stringer just in case. <BR>rob-<BR>as for your slammer obliteration yesterday, all i can say is you are insane. maybe i should consider switching out the split rings on my slammer... anyway, looking forward to this weekend, i'll check out the stairs and see if they're still barracaded off. if not, maybe we'll be in luck and be able to fish for some goleta halibut. later on.<BR> -Brian