07-23-2009, 01:34 AM
Hello Everyone!
Thought I'd intro myself. Michael, 59 years old. I used to be an avid fisherman, tied my own flies, operated a commercial salmon and albacore boat on the Pacific ocean. Last time I was on the ocean was a pretty frightening experience (25' boat, out 80nm, wind came up nasty, almost 12 hours of getting hammered by blue water waves to get home). Scared me so bad I never went on the ocean again (this was about 15 years ago), and never went back to fly fishing either.
But lately I have been wanting to get back up in the mountains and doing some fishing. Bought a nice used Orvis fly rod and reel today, and have been investigating float tubing.
My first and only float tube was about 20 years or more ago, a basic Caddis model that used a truck innertube. I had a lot of fun in it and caught some nice trout in Sierra lakes. My preference was always for fly fishing, catch & release since I don't particularly enjoy eating fish and don't like to hurt them much.
So... current float tubes sure have changed! I remember mine was pretty uncomfortable, with the tube pretty much up by my armpits and my body pretty submerged. I have been doing my research on the net, and I'm thinking at this stage in my life that Freestyle H3 looks pretty good.
I was all set to order today and called them to make sure the stuff was in stock. The nice guy I talked to said that they are out of H3 right now because they have sold out of the 2009 models and the 2010 ones are just starting to come in.
He said the 2010 no longer uses a separate bladder inside the cover, and that the cover itself is now the bladder.
Anyone seen one of the new H3s yet? He said he would honor the 2009 price on a 2010 model for me when they come in and was going to call me back today or tomorrow morning with the story on availability.
So, here I am. Hope to learn from y'all and contribute when I can.
[signature]
Thought I'd intro myself. Michael, 59 years old. I used to be an avid fisherman, tied my own flies, operated a commercial salmon and albacore boat on the Pacific ocean. Last time I was on the ocean was a pretty frightening experience (25' boat, out 80nm, wind came up nasty, almost 12 hours of getting hammered by blue water waves to get home). Scared me so bad I never went on the ocean again (this was about 15 years ago), and never went back to fly fishing either.
But lately I have been wanting to get back up in the mountains and doing some fishing. Bought a nice used Orvis fly rod and reel today, and have been investigating float tubing.
My first and only float tube was about 20 years or more ago, a basic Caddis model that used a truck innertube. I had a lot of fun in it and caught some nice trout in Sierra lakes. My preference was always for fly fishing, catch & release since I don't particularly enjoy eating fish and don't like to hurt them much.
So... current float tubes sure have changed! I remember mine was pretty uncomfortable, with the tube pretty much up by my armpits and my body pretty submerged. I have been doing my research on the net, and I'm thinking at this stage in my life that Freestyle H3 looks pretty good.
I was all set to order today and called them to make sure the stuff was in stock. The nice guy I talked to said that they are out of H3 right now because they have sold out of the 2009 models and the 2010 ones are just starting to come in.
He said the 2010 no longer uses a separate bladder inside the cover, and that the cover itself is now the bladder.
Anyone seen one of the new H3s yet? He said he would honor the 2009 price on a 2010 model for me when they come in and was going to call me back today or tomorrow morning with the story on availability.
So, here I am. Hope to learn from y'all and contribute when I can.
[signature]