Bassin' in Los Angeles Harbor
I recently went to Los Angeles Harbor for some bass fishing and I had a pretty good day. It was interesting because I saw a lot of fishermen in "real boats" and they were all heading out to open water. I completely understand.
But I have a different way of fishing and the beauty of it is that not only do you catch a lot of fish, it's really cheap and easy and because of that, you can pretty much do it as much as you want. If parking is free, fishing is free.
Getting my boat and all my gear together takes 15 minutes. Two trips to the car from my apartment and I'm on the road. The only prep I do the night before is charge the camera batteries.
I stopped on the way to the marina to "gas up my outboard"… with coffee and a donut.
Once I got to the ramp, I paid $6 for parking. Single length spot.
Then it's on the water and make no mistake about it, tube fishing is bass fishing. It's hunting. Even in saltwater marinas, it's exploring the terrain and looking for structure and cover and trying different places and techniques. Cast and retrieve, trolling, drop-shot, sleeper rod, jigging, you name it, whatever suits your situation, whatever gets the action, you'll do it all from the tube. And you'll be able to sneak into tight spots and be ultra stealthy and quiet. Seeing fish below you cruise by and not be spooked is common.
I ended up catching about 25 fish for the five hour session, which isn't an unusual number. Calicos and Barred Sand Bass mostly and while none were legal keepers, all were fun on light tackle and all give you the drug of the tug. Even the ones you miss get you going. But you don't need me to tell you that catching fish is fun. And catching a fish every few minutes for hours on end is even more fun.
If catching lunkers is your thing, head for open water. But if you’re looking for easy, cheap and seriously fun entertainment, get a tube. Who knows, you just might run into a lunker or two while you’re at it.
But here's the thing that really makes me smile as I'm driving home… I'm tired. I've exerted myself and that means that my boat's motor got serviced. Running my boat's motor makes it wear out slower, not faster! I've literally improved my health by going fishing. Ain't that a kick in the head!
So I think float tubing is cool for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it's fun to catch fish and float tubing puts you on the fish!
https://youtu.be/Sgj9YisDnoQ
