03-30-2003, 11:23 AM
[cool]I do not seek accolades for doing what comes naturally. Since "discovering" float tubing in the late 50's...at least for myself...I have always enjoyed sharing the sport with others. I am not a zealot, standing on street corners and preaching to the masses. But, it doesn't take much more than a question or a polite request to get me started. Helping kids and di
vantaged anglers...float tubing or not...has always provided me with a great deal of personal pleasure.
One of my successful "projects" was a gentleman from Sandy, Utah, in 1980. As you can see in the two pics combined below, he has only one arm. Due to a congenital deformity, he had only one short and poorly formed arm...with a thumb and two fingers. On his left shoulder, doctors had grafted two of his toes, which functioned only for grasping.
In spite of his "challenges", this man (and his wife) operated a successful printing company...including most of the physical work involved in setting up and running the complicated equipment. They were the ones who talked me into doing first a book on Utah fishing, and then my float tubing book. They published the first one, but have since retired...she going into local politics.
My friend was intrigued by my float tubing and asked if there were some way he might be able to get involved. He was already an avid fisherman, and had a system that incorporated an under-the-rod closed-face spinning reel, which he could cast with the trigger mechanism bail release. I think Daiwa still makes these.
He could tie knots, using the grafted toes on his left side, and the three functional digits on his modified right arm. He would then cast with his right arm and place the butt under his arm pit and reel with the right arm. It was cumbersome, but he made it work.
After observing him, I hatched a plan for a simple harness to go aver his head, to both hold the rod butt and the rod, above the reel. It was suggested by the standup fighting gear I used to use on salt water boats. With it, he had greater control and leverage, both for casting and retrieving.
You will notice the long handle on his rod. I built a special stick for him, both with a long handle and on a long blank, to provide him with extra reach and control. I subsequently built him a couple of rods for trolling...in his boat he launches and skippers too. The rods and harness worked fine for the fish he loved to pursue in Deer Creek and Flaming Gorge.
I'm sorry you can't see the harness in the top pic. It was low light, on a daybreak trip to Willard Bay Reservoir, for catfish, and he is turned away from the camera. However, you can see that it was effective. In the lower pic, he is holding a limit of nice channel cats. He unashamedly tells everyone that he caught them "singlehandedly".
![[Image: SCOU1712CustomImage1328811.jpg]](http://web.ecomplanet.com/SCOU1712/ServerContent/MyCustomImages/SCOU1712CustomImage1328811.jpg)
PS...note the old FishMaster float tubes. These were some of the first commercially made models. They were crude by today's standards, but were better than the old canvas slings I had been rigging for twenty years before they came out.
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vantaged anglers...float tubing or not...has always provided me with a great deal of personal pleasure. One of my successful "projects" was a gentleman from Sandy, Utah, in 1980. As you can see in the two pics combined below, he has only one arm. Due to a congenital deformity, he had only one short and poorly formed arm...with a thumb and two fingers. On his left shoulder, doctors had grafted two of his toes, which functioned only for grasping.
In spite of his "challenges", this man (and his wife) operated a successful printing company...including most of the physical work involved in setting up and running the complicated equipment. They were the ones who talked me into doing first a book on Utah fishing, and then my float tubing book. They published the first one, but have since retired...she going into local politics.
My friend was intrigued by my float tubing and asked if there were some way he might be able to get involved. He was already an avid fisherman, and had a system that incorporated an under-the-rod closed-face spinning reel, which he could cast with the trigger mechanism bail release. I think Daiwa still makes these.
He could tie knots, using the grafted toes on his left side, and the three functional digits on his modified right arm. He would then cast with his right arm and place the butt under his arm pit and reel with the right arm. It was cumbersome, but he made it work.
After observing him, I hatched a plan for a simple harness to go aver his head, to both hold the rod butt and the rod, above the reel. It was suggested by the standup fighting gear I used to use on salt water boats. With it, he had greater control and leverage, both for casting and retrieving.
You will notice the long handle on his rod. I built a special stick for him, both with a long handle and on a long blank, to provide him with extra reach and control. I subsequently built him a couple of rods for trolling...in his boat he launches and skippers too. The rods and harness worked fine for the fish he loved to pursue in Deer Creek and Flaming Gorge.
I'm sorry you can't see the harness in the top pic. It was low light, on a daybreak trip to Willard Bay Reservoir, for catfish, and he is turned away from the camera. However, you can see that it was effective. In the lower pic, he is holding a limit of nice channel cats. He unashamedly tells everyone that he caught them "singlehandedly".
PS...note the old FishMaster float tubes. These were some of the first commercially made models. They were crude by today's standards, but were better than the old canvas slings I had been rigging for twenty years before they came out.
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