Belly Boats On The Bow

[ruffsranger]

Did a little walk & wade fishing today on the Bow ( me & a ton of other people ) & actually saw 2 guys ( idiots ) in belly boats cruising down the river.

Belly boats on the Bow : are you kidding me!!

I doubt if their combined IQ would exceed 150.

 

[RussC]

Did a little walk & wade fishing today on the Bow ( me & a ton of other people ) & actually saw 2 guys ( idiots ) in belly boats cruising down the river.

Belly boats on the Bow : are you kidding me!!

I doubt if their combined IQ would exceed 150.

 

I agree with you belly boats are not a good idea on a river like the Bow. Unless of course your looking to drown. I would say that their combined IQ's would be closer to 50.

Russ C

[birchy]

I'm guessing these were the type of belly boats where your legs are underwater from the waist down? Versus something like the Outcast float tubes where you're sitting up out of the water just like a pontoon?

[ericlin0122]

those two people started under deerfoot bridge (bow bottom tr). Very brave and crazy.

[Taco]

Probably safer than floatin' it in a $39 inflatable raft from wally world

[Brookie2]

Probably safer than floatin' it in a $39 inflatable raft from wally world

 

........or sittin in a tire tube drinkin beer!

 

[birchy]

Exactly what I was thinking Taco and GLshooter..

 

Unless you're in one of those bellyboats where you stick your legs through leg holes and your whole bottom half is in the water.. I can't see it being any more dangerous than the drunken rafting.. especially if you're wearing a PFD.

[ffconvert]

Exactly what I was thinking Taco and GLshooter..

 

Unless you're in one of those bellyboats where you stick your legs through leg holes and your whole bottom half is in the water.. I can't see it being any more dangerous than the drunken rafting.. especially if you're wearing a PFD.

 

Have floated the Bow in my pontoon boat often. Have seen/felt the big rocks nudge the bottom of pontoons in the rapids.

And that's with my feet up and out of the water.

For those few seconds, the river is in charge, and you are flotsam.

I would not hop in my belly boat and expose my lower half under any circumstances.

But then my voice is already fairly high.

 

 

[Weedy1]

Exactly what I was thinking Taco and GLshooter..

 

Unless you're in one of those bellyboats where you stick your legs through leg holes and your whole bottom half is in the water.. I can't see it being any more dangerous than the drunken rafting.. especially if you're wearing a PFD.

 

 

I have a sneaky suspicion you are thinking of taking your new Outcast Fish Cat 4 down the Bow?

 

[birchy]

I have a sneaky suspicion you are thinking of taking your new Outcast Fish Cat 4 down the Bow?

 

I don't think I would, no. I'm hoping to get a pontoon eventually as well.

[Weedy1]

I don't think I would, no. I'm hoping to get a pontoon eventually as well.

 

Good. I'm glad to hear that.

[Nick0Danger]

Was it not Ralph Klein that used to do that all the time? I also know some pretty smart people that have done it, that said i would not do it.

[trailhead]

I saw one guy doing that last summer, he hooked into a beauty of a rainbow just downstream of the #22 bridge.

[bigbowtrout]

Was it not Ralph Klein that used to do that all the time? I also know some pretty smart people that have done it, that said i would not do it.

 

No

 

It was a story about him going to a friends pothole and the air running out of is bellyboat. Somehow over the years it turned into him floating the Bow with it.

[ruffsranger]

I saw one guy doing that last summer, he hooked into a beauty of a rainbow just downstream of the #22 bridge.

 

 

Not saying it's impossible to catch a fish from them, I just don't think it's worth the risk.

There is a lot of fast, rocky, shallow water in the Bow.

I sure don't want my legs hanging down from a belly boat in that river!

[bigalcal]

A few years ago in November, I was in Los Barilles in the East Cape area of Baja California Sur Mexico. The hotel i stayed at was a fishing resort and also had an RV court for seasonal"Snowbirds" that were starting to arrive when I was there. One night i was sitting at the small bar and a guy walked in. He was welcomed by everyone and was a regular "Snowbird" and had just arrived for the winter. The guys told me about when this guy arrived a few years earlier, They were sitting at the palapa bar beside the beach and the watched the "new guy" walking down to the beach and getting in his belly boat and started to fish. He hooked into something big enough to drag him down the water in front of the bar. He was tipping over, then righting himself, sputtering....then tipping, righting..sputtering as the fish dragged him down the coast. Finally the fish got off and he has been mocked incessantly ever since.!!!!

 

I laughed, and laughed just picturing this guy getting dragged down the beach!!!!

[Brad29]

What about submerged trees that someones legs could get entangled in. Get pulled under and game over.

[cgyguy]

I may be mistaken, but seems to me that there was someone who drowned in a belly boat down by Carseland quite a few years ago. I recall that i was heading home from the river and an ambulance and police car went whizzing by heading to the river. This must have been 10 - 15 years ago.

[skearns]

I floated the Bow twice in a b-boat when I first started fly fishing 15 yrs ago. Was blind to the dangers at the time . Biggest issue for me was the 4 feet of legs banging through sometimes six inches of water and the fact that whenever you wanted to head to shore you need to start kicking about 1/2 a mile upstream. Once layed my rod across the boat while i struggled to stand in fast water, got my balance but by then there was my rod....gone. Have been pontooning the Bow now for about 10 yrs and love it...sk

[ironfly]

Me and every friend of mine has gone tubing down the Pembina many, many times. Different river, but similar enough for the purposes of this conversation. To the best of my knowledge, none of us were drunk. Worst accident that ever occurred was my broken toe. I think the perception of danger is a little inflated. Even in a pontoon boat, most people put their feet in the water once in a while. After all, if you're hooked into a fish you still need to avoid obstacles, right?

 

Are these the same guys that claim that you'll drown without a wading belt?

[ruffsranger]

Me and every friend of mine has gone tubing down the Pembina many, many times. Different river, but similar enough for the purposes of this conversation. To the best of my knowledge, none of us were drunk. Worst accident that ever occurred was my broken toe. I think the perception of danger is a little inflated. Even in a pontoon boat, most people put their feet in the water once in a while. After all, if you're hooked into a fish you still need to avoid obstacles, right?

 

Are these the same guys that claim that you'll drown without a wading belt?

 

 

When you say tubing, I assume you are talking about large truck tire or tractor tubes that are popular for floating rivers: that is not a belly boat.

I have never seen anyone fly fishing from a tire tube.

As to the lack of a wading belt, no one says you will drown if you don't wear one. but you certainly increase your chances of doing so if you fall into the water.

[cgyguy]

Me and every friend of mine has gone tubing down the Pembina many, many times. Different river, but similar enough for the purposes of this conversation. To the best of my knowledge, none of us were drunk. Worst accident that ever occurred was my broken toe. I think the perception of danger is a little inflated. Even in a pontoon boat, most people put their feet in the water once in a while. After all, if you're hooked into a fish you still need to avoid obstacles, right?

 

Are these the same guys that claim that you'll drown without a wading belt?

 

Wow! You must have short legs! And personally, I would not fish WITHOUT a wading belt. I have been in for a swim a time or two before and if not for a wading belt, those waders had filled up, i could have drowned. I totally disagree with using bboats on the Bow. You need to be prepared for an emergency, plan for it, and think about the what if's?. If anything, please think about a wading belt for your waders if you ARE seriously thinking about doing this.

 

Safest regards!

[ÜberFly]

x2 (+1)

 

P

 

And personally, I would not fish WITHOUT a wading belt. I have been in for a swim a time or two before and if not for a wading belt, those waders had filled up, i could have drowned. I totally disagree with using bboats on the Bow. You need to be prepared for an emergency, plan for it, and think about the what if's?. If anything, please think about a wading belt for your waders if you ARE seriously thinking about doing this.

 

Safest regards!

 

[Jayhad]

Wading belt...... hmmm water in your waders weighs more than the water surrounding your waders?

[trailhead]

The water weighs the same, but the waders are heavier than water. That being said what the wading belt helps achieve is the air it traps, giving more bouyancy. Though the one time I fell into water over my head the waders did kind of flip me onto my face, had to struggle real hard to get air. Thank god for PFD's. I still wouldn't bellyboat the Bow, even with a PFD.