I tubed Grisolm Island in LB harbor tonight from 4:30-9:00 w/ a couple guys from Floattuber. It was pretty cold, but really fun. I wore a 3/4 wetsuit and 3mm booties, a longsleaved shirt, shortsleaved shirt, polar fleece vest, and wind breaker. By the time I hit the beach I was chattering w/ totally numb fingers and toes. My feet are still cold and it's been 2 1/2 hrs.

The fishing was really fun though, especially for Jan. I ended up w/ 7 legal sandies, biggest was maybe 2#, and a ton of shorts. I fished from 5:00-9:00 w/ an Owner jighead w/ an offset hook, and lots of Robo Worm Zippers and Powerpulse worms. I didn't find any one color to be super hot, but Emerald, Bluegill, and Black Bass were all stood out. I guess this Island does well at night on a regular basis.

I also tried out my new finder. It's a Fishin' Buddy 1200 bought w/ the money I won last week. The only problem was that I used some batteries that my mom gave me the other day. They lasted about 15 min. So, after a week of waiting to use it, it became dead wieght. I'll post a report as soon as I try it for a whole trip.

Amish Ed

Gnarly! That sounds real spooky to me. was there boat traffic? what about the oil crew boats? how long of a kick to get out there?

Very little boat traffic overall. There was a little just before sunset, but after that nothing by us. The crew boats must come less frequently at night because they only came twice all night. Grisolm is close to shore so it isn't that bad of a kick to get to the closest part. We fished the backside though so we had to kick around through the marina. Luckily the HP didn't come around, then we would have had to go around the long way by going all the way around the outside. So, it was about a 30min. kick to the area where we started. Then we went out to this little break wall that's out about 150 yards. Did a circle around that with good action all the way around, and headed to the true backside. We worked over a section of the island that was probably 100 yards long. We spent a good 2 hrs there w/ a very steady bite until the end. We'd just slowly kick back and forth along the rocks. It was nice because w/ 3 tubes it could of been a problem, but we just fell into a pattern. We would go past each other close enough to shake hands yet never hung up on each other. One guy hooked a solid 4lb fish that eventually took him to the rocks for good. We finished up by kicking around to the docks where the crew boats pull up, luckily none came. One of the guys had 6 or 7 fish off the dock in like 10 min. Then we kicked in w/ a few shorts along the way.

Sounds fun, night time float tubin is really cool.
-Brian

Ed
That's a clutch trip. I have night tubed in the SB Harbor a couple times with my old buddy Jamon. One night in the fog we saw several boats hit the sandbar on the inside of the harbor. That was nuts but we stayed really close to the bait barge.
This guy I used to know, Scott Volan went night tubing at Goleta one night. He said after a few hours it was just too spooky out there and he never did it again.
I think staying in the harbors is the way to go.

Night tubibg is awesome, but only in the harbors. I've night surfed many times and always got spooked. Harbors only for me at night.

Amish Ed

Yeah, being in the open ocean during the day is bad enough in a float tube. And being in my skiff in dense fog is sketchy enough for me. Even when you're in the harbors, you should always have a light on hand, not just cause harbor patrol checks for it (at least in SB), but if you're not sure a boat knows you're there or whatever, just give a couple blinks. I think next year I'm going to fashion a light onto my float tube, just for good measure.
-Brian

I use a headlamp that I make sure is on when there are boats around. That, and I always have my whistle. It never gets taken off so that in an emergency I can reach for it w/out looking. One of the guys I fished w/ last night uses a glow stick on a piece on string. If a boat starts pointing towards him he spins the stick in a circle. It makes a big halo that's easy to spot.

Can't wait to go again,
Amish Ed

Ed,
I too have a whistle at the ready, and sometimes I carry an airhorn in my backrest (on weekends, or holidays, when boaters are drinkin a little too much...). The glow stick is a good idea. I was gonna clamp one of those battery powered stern lights onto my rod rack. It will not only be functional, but will also look cool. Speaking of safety equipment, have you seen those auxilary automatic inflating bladder deals that caddis makes? They cost like 40 bucks, but look like a good idea.
-Brian

Haven't seen those yet. Though I should probably get some of those SOSpenders, as I don't wear anything now. I have a Nav II, so I don't worry about sinking. If I manage to pop all three bladders (the small backrest is storage now) at once I figure my time must be up. That would have to take an act of God, or an acident so bad that the emergency bladder would be worthless. But for those of you who use the U-tubes and Round tubes I would get one. I have a U-tube, I used it once and am going to sell it. I'm just too damn big for it. After my Nav, I felt like I was going to roll over at any time in it. It's my spare until I buy a replacement. Though I think it might be bought by a freinds friend before then. The one time I used it I kept thinking of what a blow out would mean, w/ only that tiny little backrest to hold up all my gear. I can swim, but the rods and plastic can't.

Where did you see these new devices? Are they Caddis' response to their leaking valves?
Amish Ed

Bass pro had em on their site I believe. They look like a good safety device (or auxilary floatation for lifting tuna...) but for 40 bucks, I'll strap some styrofoam around my float tube, and I'm good to go.
-Brian