Fish Cat 4 - Advice Needed

[adams]

Hi All,

 

I've never been a lake fisherman, but with the high water everywhere I went out and bought a Fish Cat 4 and Outcast fins and tried it on a small pond yesterday. I have to say, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, and I'm thinking there are probably some guys on the forum who have experienced the same problems I had?

 

(1) Can you put an anchor on one of these, or would that be totally dangerous/stupid? I found I had to kick constantly to try to counteract the wind/current and stay in place.

 

(2) I had to kick like crazy and got very little movement for it. I have the outcast fins and was wearing my wading boots. I know there are other fins available.....do they really make that big a difference? I have bad knees so the constant kicking was killing me.

 

(3) Do the bladders stretch or something the first time out? I filled both before going out, and when I came in an hour later both were noticeably down. Not enough to be dangerous or anything, but definitely softer.

 

(4) I had about 3 - 4 inches of water in the compartment behind the seat.... is that normal? I only weigh about 190 so I don't think I was overloading it.

 

I saw a guy out in a full-size pontoon boat, and he didn't seem to be having any of these problems. I think he had an anchor, he moved quickly and easily between spots, and seem to be sitting up a lot higher in the water (perhaps making his kicking more efficient?).

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

Thanks

Neil

[monger]

Best to fill the bladders just before going to the water. Changes in temperature can cause pressure changes in the bladders. Warm air to cold water can make bladders soft. Full bladders left in a warm vehicle may expand and rupture. There is a chance you have a leak in your bladders if they went down a lot. There is some history of the welded seams leaking in Fish Cat 4s. Fill the tube at your house and let it stand at a constant temperature for a few hours to see if you have a leak.

Anchors....tie a rope from one side of the boat (off plastic D rings), around behind the seat, and then tie off on the other side. Make it slack enough so that the this rope can stretch back near to the point. Now you can tie off an anchor rope to this rope (I also tie my net off to this rope). I use an 8lb rubberized dumb-bell weight from Walmart. Get some 1/4-5/16" cord for your anchor line (can wrap it around the dumbbell). I tied single knots in the line at 5 ft marks to give me an idea of water depth.

Flippers...go to a dive shop and get some diving fins that slip over your sock foot waders. They move way more water and you can go way faster than with force fins or other fins used over boots.

There will be some water(couple of inches) in the back compartment. I have a wet bag the size of a sleeping bag that I store stuff in.

[CDone]

I have a Scotty anchor lock with the pontoon adapter on mine and use a 5lb dumb bell for an anchor, works like a charm. Position yourself upwind from where you want to fish, drop anchor and let the wind keep you straight.

 

For fins I second the dive fins, but get yourself a pair of neoprene booties to go over your wader feet, will pro-long the life of your waders.

 

Colin

[DonAndersen]

adams,

 

Two thoughts:

 

1] Kick like crazy kinda reminds me of a guy years ago who couldn't figure out how to use fins. He attempted to walk in them rather than just moving the toe up and down. Think of it as a wave. Wading boots make it tough whereas stocking foot waders and dive fins are easy and a whole lot more efficient.

 

2] Scotty systems used to sell a pontoon/float tube anchor system. Got a similar system for Scadden Escape - works great. See: http://www.northforkoutdoors.com/2011catalog/page16.html top left side of page.

 

regards,

 

Don

[Pickles]

hello,

 

some good advice here...

 

as for the fish cat loosing air upon hitting water...i blow my up with a rechargeable pump - cdn tire i think is where i got it...you will have to top up with your lungs.

put your tube in the lake, splash it all over with water, (make sure all compartments are zip closed) tube will deflate a bit which is normal.

then blow it up a bit with your lungs to compensate for the cold water, you might want to repeat this again to get tube firm. you will not be able to over inflate this with your lungs...then you should have no issues with it getting soft...however it it gets really hot out, you might need to let a bit of air out so the seams do not over stress...do this only on shore....treat it right and that tube will last a long time, i have had my super fat cat for 6+ years without issue.

 

 

you can also buy and outcast anchor from bass pro shops, i think they still stock them, give them a call. i think they are $40

 

ps dont forget your sunscreen!

 

good luck...

[EveretteD]

i bought a fish cat 4 last summer and i had a hell of a time with it the first couple of times i went out.

 

I haven't really noticed any deflation in mine after i pumped it up.. im sure there is but i might just over fill mine a tad and then it goes down a bit but not enough to sink the ship.

 

as for the anchor. I went to wholesale bought 50ft of rope 2 carabiners and a 5lb down rigger weight and it works great. the one carabiner is hooked to the weight and the rope with a i guess you could say overhand loop knot. then the other end if overhand looped again and hooked through the carabiner and then do the D ring on the front left or right corner of the tube depending on wind direction. I like using the carabiners because its easy to release and tie a new knot higher or lower as the depth of the water changes.

 

for kicking like crazy. That happened to me to the first couple of times i got out there. I have the waterskeeter fins, they are great and go over your boots. (makes it easy if you have to portage or just want to stand and fish from shore for a while).

I do like what the other guys said about the dive shop. I never thought about that.. might go take a look.

I found that moving the tube kind of cross wind and into it is most effective when its windy. I also found that moving it efficiently comes with time, and finding a rhythm with your fins. I find myself kicking constantly but not very hard. More to keep me in the right direction. With the addition of the anchor i found i kick less and not as hard for sure. However, i have found that with a rocky bottom the anchor doesn't work to well at holding your in position but allows a great slow drift. If you find a good size rock to latch onto on the bottom your in a good spot to hold. Muddy bottoms or weedy bottoms are the best for holding you.

 

And lastly, the water in the back of the tube is normal. I always have water in mine. and i only weight 170.

 

have fun with the tube! its great to use when there are many people fishing from shore and your out in the middle in your own little world.

 

Always thought about bringing it out to dewitts when there are everyone fishing from shore, see if i can't piss a few gear huckers off..haha

 

 

[soggysocks63]

hello,

 

some good advice here...

 

as for the fish cat loosing air upon hitting water...i blow my up with a rechargeable pump - cdn tire i think is where i got it...you will have to top up with your lungs.

put your tube in the lake, splash it all over with water, (make sure all compartments are zip closed) tube will deflate a bit which is normal.

then blow it up a bit with your lungs to compensate for the cold water, you might want to repeat this again to get tube firm. you will not be able to over inflate this with your lungs...then you should have no issues with it getting soft...however it it gets really hot out, you might need to let a bit of air out so the seams do not over stress...do this only on shore....treat it right and that tube will last a long time, i have had my super fat cat for 6+ years without issue.

 

 

you can also buy and outcast anchor from bass pro shops, i think they still stock them, give them a call. i think they are $40

 

ps dont forget your sunscreen!

 

good luck...

 

I don't have a Cat 4 but they air pressure change really caught me off guard in my belly boat. I thought I let out more then enough air in my boat while I went for lunch. Was rather soft to the touch but, an hour later it had expanded enough to rupture all the seams. I am going to go out and probably buy the cat 4 to replace it now...It was a little cheapy I got when I was a kid so...time for an upgrade.

 

Really keep an eye on it out in the sun though...30 degree weather can really expand air apparently. I'm just going to tie the thing off in the water next time I am on break...