Most people already believe that I am not fishing with a full tackle box. When I tell them that I go float tubing in salt water, one of the first questions is always “What about sharks?” My response is usually “I believe in live and let live. They can look out for themselves.”
**Seriously, in my chapter on fishing different waters, I spend more than a few words on the subject of sharks. I strongly advise against tubing in any waters or under any conditions where there is any chance of a shark encounter. **
Great White Sharks get all of the bad press…thanks to “Jaws”. But, there are other smaller species that can be just as hazardous to swimmers, divers, wading fishermen and tubers. Bull sharks are probably the worst. These are the ones that are most often the cause of shark bites along most swimming beaches around the world. They are small relatives of the great white, and they are very aggressive. What’s more, they have been known to run well up into fresh water rivers and even live in freshwater lakes. The Zambezi shark in Africa is a bull shark. And, there are lots of them in a lake in Nicaragua where they not infrequently munch people.
**Tiger sharks scare me the most. They are big and they eat anything that doesn’t eat them first. While they are mostly nocturnal, they do come into the shallows during the daytime in some warm waters. **
Then, there are both the lemon and blacktip sharks of the southeastern coast. They come in very shallow to feed and have been known to bite people.
**I do not launch my tube in waters where there is a chance of sharkbite. I have fished for small species of sharks and some of the more harmless varieties. I have hooked a few larger ones, and some stingrays, while fishing for other species. But, I have never had any potentially dangerous encounters. **
I can’t say the same for driving on the freeways. Somehow I always feel safer in my float tube than in my car.
There are many species of stingrays. The ones I have caught most often are the small “round rays”. They have small stingers and cannot whip them very far. Still, it is not a good idea to bring them aboard a float tube. But, you can control them with a net to remove the hook, without getting zapped.
Same with the larger bat rays. They are big, but they still do not have very long stingers and the stingers are located near the base of the tail. Since they are often too big to handle with an average size float tubing net, it is best to get the fight out of them and cut them loose.
The biggest and most dangerous are the “southern rays” like the one in this picture.
**I have hooked a few while fishing in the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. I usually just pop them off, since they are usually even bigger than this one and take forever to land on the medium spinning or baitcast gear I usually use. The one in the picture was hooked in shallow water and I kicked in to the beach and got out to fight him in to shore. **
**A larger model of this type was the type that killed Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. The stinger on one even this small is about six inches long and is located far down the tail. They can whip it around a cover a lot of area near them. **
**With the exception of California bat rays, I have never fished for sting rays from a floatation device. The ones I have hooked have taken bait meant for other species or have been foul hooked on lures. **
They are actually more dangerous to float tubers while you are launching from shallow water along the beach. They sometimes come into very shallow warm water and lie on the sand. If you step on one while launching or beaching your tube or toon, your next venue will be the hospital.
I never ceased to be amazed at your fishing stories and experiences, TD! Unbelievable. Sharks, stingrays, fishing salt water, bayous, lakes, rivers. How absolutely cool, and that you come here and share all that is awesome.
I wish I had been coming here prior to a trip I made to Belize a couple of years ago, and Bora Bora for that matter. There was a lot of shallow, shark-free water that would have been fantastic in a tube. Though Bora Bora was my honeymoon, and even though wifey let me snorkel for hours on end, somehow I don’t think she would have been as agreeable to me fishing
Glad to share. Helps me relive some of my cherished past trips.
A couple of (TubeDude original) quotes for you:
“Work is the single greatest interruption of a man’s fishing pleasure.”
“Wives are second…but sometimes only barely.”
I am fortunate to have a wife that enjoys tubing and fishing almost (if not more) than I do. That makes life much more endurable…and enjoyable. I had one of “the other” and her objection to my passion (fishing) was largely to blame for the brief duration of that “awful wedded bliss”. Don’t know why people seem to marry others with bad habits, thinking that they can change them after the ceremony.
From what I have heard of your “better half”, I don’t think you have a problem. People tend to worry about the unknown and tubing is definitely an unknown for a lot of spouses. They have trouble “wrapping around” the concept of their husband risking his life in a flimsy shred of nylon and rubber…just to do something silly like fishing. It is a matter of patient education. Your understanding wife will soon realize that your being able to unwind and enjoy a “brain broom” while in your tube will only make you a more relaxed and openminded husband when you get home. As some of us know, on-the-water therapy is better than paying a professional for on-the-couch time. More fun too.
If that is not good enough, you need to be a man and admit your mistakes. Call a lawyer and put some ads in the online dating services. (Just kidding)
LOL. You’re right–she is a keeper. Hopefully, if you guys make it up here this spring/summer, she will be able to meet Tube Babe and gain some interest in tubing herself. She has alread acquiesced to trying fishing, and when she saw me making lures, she thought she might be interested in that as well. I encouraged her, especially regarding jig tying, affirming how her small fingers and superior dexterity would make it a snap. However, I think she saw through my subtle attempt to manipulate her into tying my jigs .
I too had a previous experiment in cohabitation. One of our only trip on the water was in a canoe, what we refer to here as a “divorce boat.” I couldn’t convince her to let ME steer through the rapid, she dug her paddle in and took charge, and we dumped. Fortunately the sheriff’s dept. was already on the river, dragging for someone who had succumbed to the same rapid only WITHOUT life jackets. They pulled us from the river, and even helped us retrieve our canoe from a log jam about a half mile downstream. That little adventure was a prelude to what was to come, so I’m glad to have found someone who is so sweet and willing to try things [:)]
Yea my wife does a little fishing as well, and it is pretty fun. After i bought my tube i took her up and took my buddy’s Toone with us and let her paddle around in that and fish a bit. Than i let her take my Tube for a ride and she said that she wants one now. We will not be able to get out a lot together as i have a future tuber (the one in my avatar) but should be able to get out at least once a month.
Most people already believe that I am not fishing with a full tackle box. When I tell them that I go float tubing in salt water, one of the first questions is always “What about sharks?” My response is usually “I believe in live and let live. They can look out for themselves.”