Float Tubing On Wild Lochs
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November 2009 09:34
- Written by Fred Carrie
Let's be honest, compared to skydiving, extreme solo rock climbing or wearing a Celtic scarf in the vicinity of Ibrox – float tubing is, probably, a reasonably safe pastime. However, these are litigious times in which we live,
so it is perhaps safer for the writer of an article like this to make the following statement at the off.
Never float tube on wild lochs. In doing so you risk any or all of the following: drowning, hypothermia, having your legs bitten off by a monster pike, breaking a leg during the walk-in, getting all hot and sweaty with the exertion, cardiac arrest, attracting millions of midgies and clegs, suffer humiliation and verbal abuse from non-float tubers and being unable to carry enough sandwiches because of weight considerations.
Hopefully, that should just about cover it.
OK, by now I hope I have managed to put you off the idea completely, so it should be safe enough for both myself and my sons' meagre inheritance to continue. Always bear this in mind though – don't do it! Ever!
I have only been float tubing for a few years, but in that short space of time I have become a bit of an addict. I have to admit I am not so keen on tubing larger lochs – they are a bit daunting and boat fishing, with a good outboard engine, is both less exhausting and, I believe, more productive. On small lochs however, especially those with no boats, float tubing comes into its own. Many of the lochs I have fished over the years fall into this category; more still feature very rough, arduous terrain with high banks that make casting very difficult and wading is often dangerous with steep drop-offs very close in. On these lochs there are often areas that cannot be fished at all from the bank. Not surprisingly these areas, more often than not, are where the best fish – well out of reach – are observed.
Float tubing is not rocket science. Yes, it certainly pays to get some basic instruction from an already tube-wise angler – or at the very least - a few hints and tips, but anyone can do it. Just remember that you have to travel backwards and watch where you're going! A few years ago I was out on a wild loch with a chap who was tubing for the first time ever. He just blew up the tube, got the gear on, got into the loch and was tubing like an old hand in 10 minutes flat. Like I say, it's not rocket science.
But this article is not about learning to float tube. It's about float tubing on wild lochs and more especially my own experience of it and the gear I use.
There is a wee hill loch I know that lies about 2500 feet above sea level and is around 1 ½ hours walk and climb from the car. No, I’m not going to tell you where it is, so don’t even ask! Frankly, it's a real bugger of a climb and you would probably hate it – 1000 feet of ascent with a 20KG pack on your back containing all the float tubing paraphernalia and fishing gear, but it was this loch that sold me wild loch float tubing. I had fished the loch many times before from the bank and caught a few nice fish, but it always struck me that it would be a perfect place to float tube. One bank is unfishable due to a dangerous soft bottom and reed beds. 
That's where all the best fish seemed to rise; there or out in the middle, way out of range for even casting super-heros because of high banks and no space for a back cast. A few seasons ago I climbed to this loch 3 times and float tubed it on each occasion.
This was the best fishing I had in that year. It was simply fantastic. I silently floated around, catching some nice trout from these hard to get to places, I watched golden eagles being mobbed by peregrine falcons and generally seemed to blend in with the surroundings in a way I could not have from bank or boat. The experience on each occasion was one of feeling (cliché alert! cliché alert!) "at one with nature".
But as I said at the start – don't do it, you'll regret it if you do - that's only if you don't die of course – and you probably will.
I have also tried float tubing on much bigger lochs, but have to say I did not find that experience so intimate. It was OK but psychologically it was more difficult to come to terms with, seemed to take a long time to get anywhere at all and it was very hard on the legs finning against the wind. No, float tubing is a small water pursuit. For me anyway.
I have tried 3 different makes and models of float tube on wild lochs. On the big lochs I used a Caddis Navigator 2. This is a large pontoon style tube – the three piece suite of the tubing world - and is, frankly, designed for anglers of greater physical stature than myself, i.e. very big blokes and fat chaps. It's also very heavy to carry and is really only suited to out of car use. Carrying this beast uphill or for any distance is just not on. I also tended to get soaked in this tube because, being a classic short arsed Scot, I do not possess sufficient weight to make it sit low enough in the water and the two pontoons act as wave guides, channelling the water right up my back and over my arms. Not nice any day, let alone a cold one.
The Mighty Caddis had to go. I flogged it.
I also used the Snowbee float tube. A few pals of mine also have this tube. It packs down really small and is light to carry. It does however only have one main bladder plus two smaller bladders at the back. The valves are similar to what one might expect to find on an air bed and, unless you have lungs like Dolly Parton, you really have to carry a pump to inflate it. Some say this is not the safest tube on the market but I have had no problems with it myself. The valves do not inspire confidence though.
I still have the original Snowbee single bladder tube and would still use it had I not discovered the :
Shakespeare Expedition tube
This tube was designed by the "Father of British Float Tubing" – Steve Parton. It is a remarkable piece of kit and is simply a budget version of Steve's famous V-Boat tube. Multi-bladder, light as a feather, quality valves and inflatable by mouth. 
This remarkable tube has been reviewed in Fish Wild.
I would say use this tube if I was encouraging wild loch float tubing - which of course I am not. As I said above, float tubing on wild lochs is total madness, dangerous to life and limb and should be avoided at all costs.
The control you get is great. I was out on a wee Perthshire loch in the tube. Again a loch I have fished many, many times from boat and bank. With rising fish all around I was able to stay on station and make small adjustments to my position with an ease I could not have hoped to match in a boat. Float tubing really does come into its own on small to medium shallow lochs.
OK then, I am sold on wild loch float tubing. However, to reiterate – I am obviously crazy and don’t appreciate the danger I am putting myself in – sensible people should avoid this activity and be in no way encouraged to emulate this folly, even if I do list the gear I take with me below.
For a day's wild tubing I carry the following, packed into a 100 ltr rucksack:
Shakespeare Expedition tube, fully deflated, folded and packed into the bottom of the sack.
One pair of Snowbee flippers (fins) fitted with ankle straps in case they fall off.
Neoprene chest waders (stocking foot), you might get away with breathable waders on a high loch in late summer but it is a risk. Cramp in the middle of a loch in the middle of nowhere is not desirable.
A life jacket, this is essential, especially if like me you are usually alone because you cannot find anyone daft enough to go with you.
One pair of neoprene wet suit boots. These are very lightweight and are worn in place of wading boots. Much better for tubing than wading boots and available for under a tenner on ebay. - think weight! They are also strong enough to walk along the bank in for reasonable distances.
Fleece tracksuit bottoms, worn under the waders.
Warm clothes, fleece jacket, warm socks, change of clothes in case of a soaking.
A lightweight, breathable shell waterproof jacket
Lightweight, breathable shell waterproof overtrousers(in case it rains while walking)
As much food and liquid as I need and can carry.
A 6 -piece 5 weight travel rod, best to get everything into the sack for ease of carrying but you can always strap a longer rod to the outside of the sack.
One fly reel with a floating line
Spare spool with intermediate line (never used but worth the weight just in case)
One box of wet flies
One box of dry flies
Cutters / forceps, floatant, sinkant
One spool of 6 lb nylon, one of 4lb
Camera (to photograph the vast numbers of fish caught and released)
A map and compass and the ability to use them!
I also carry an extra spare dry t-shirt to change into as soon as I arrive at the loch – the one I am wearing is invariably saturated with sweat and nothing chills you quicker than damp clothes next to the skin. For walking in I wear a tracksuit bottom, thermal vest (that keeps the skin dry by wicking sweat away to the outer garments – the sacrificial t-shirt), strong but lightweight hill walking boots (forget hill walking in wading boots, no matter how good the ads say they are they are not designed for hill walking). I keep a warm pullover, the lightweight shell waterproof jacket and over trousers in an easily accessible rucksack pocket. I also carry a Leki telescopic walking pole – this helps greatly with stability when carrying all that weight – especially coming back downhill!
The whole lot weights in at about 20KG. You really don't want to carry much more than that. Climbing 1000 or more feet with that on your back is exhausting enough.
So that's how I do it and the gear I carry. Don't bother trying it though, you'll hate it, especially on the lochs I fish – they really are dreadful so stay away from them!
Fred Carrie started fishing in the mid 1960's, hillwalking in the 1970's and has been combining the two on and off ever since.
Fred runs the successful Wildfisher web site and Wild Fishing Forum and enjoys the hike up to the wild hill lochs as much as the fishing itself. The more uncharitable members of his family and friends say that is perhaps just as well.