I’m posting this in Lakes as I will include some info about my two closest waters also. My Outcast Discovery Trek finally has been retired. I bought this mini pontoon boat used over 15 years ago and used it a lot when I was doing a quick trip to a nearby lake for a few hours or going on a long trip where space was limited. It spent many hours on Lone, Goss and Pass when I lived on the Island and on my two new close waters here in Cody, West & East Newton for the last two year. I had a leak on the seam in one of the bladders and contacted Outcast to see about a replacement. As I suspected, it was so old of a model I was out of luck. Tried patching it and it held for a while but developed another in a different area, so I figured it had just reached it’s life span. Got some inspiration from Wetswinger’s post about float tubes and decided that would be best for a new small, quick trip boat. I was impressed with the Outcast brand and several of my stillwater guru friends ( Roper, Ford Fenders and Ivan, to name a few) seemed to like them. Now to find something in stock!
There are three fly shops here in Cody and one of them told me they carry float tubes but had none in stock when I asked a couple weeks ago. They have Aire rafts and Outcast tubes but had several of the tubes on back order. Just my luck I was downtown a couple days ago and saw one in the window. Went in and found out they had gotten just two of the Cruzer models and the rep told them it might be months before anything else is available. So, I took one home.
First impressions were positive, it is made of heavy quality material and has a very thick foam seat that should keep me up higher out of the water than my Trekker which sat fairly low with a mesh seat. The side pockets are large and deep and can hold a couple rods easily with the zipper closed to secure them. The Trekker had flat style pockets that didn’t work well with rods. It has oars and no foot rest, so my first thought was that’s kind of like tits on a bull. You can just not put them on, but I’ll give them a try and then make a judgment. There is also a flat area behind the seat that you can set things which I think will come in handy as the Trekker didn’t have anything like that. I’ll hit the water tomorrow morning if it’s not to windy, so more to come.
Now for the promised lake info. These two lakes are a 10 minute drive from my house and I think I have got them pretty well figured out after a solid year of fishing them. West & East are connected by a high rock drainage canal that keeps them separated. Between the two of them there is about 60 acres of water. West is a put and take lake with tons of Yellowstone cutthroat and East is a C&R lake with browns, rainbows and tigers. East is a fabulous fishery in the spring and fall but slows down in the summer when temps rise and river runoff raises the level of the lake. The big fish get inactive, go deep and you have to really work for them. It fishes best in the morning and a typical 9am to noon trip will get you over a dozen decent fish in the 18-22 inch range. Summer this number can drop to only a couple hook ups and a much earlier start time. That’s where West Newton shines. If you don’t mind smaller fish (I take my 4wt.) and like big numbers, West can keep you busy most anytime. Morning is better, especially for the occasional carry over in the 17-18 inch range. There are some deeper drop off towards the back of the lake that fish well any time, mostly 10-16 inch fish.
There are three fly shops here in Cody and one of them told me they carry float tubes but had none in stock when I asked a couple weeks ago. They have Aire rafts and Outcast tubes but had several of the tubes on back order. Just my luck I was downtown a couple days ago and saw one in the window. Went in and found out they had gotten just two of the Cruzer models and the rep told them it might be months before anything else is available. So, I took one home.
First impressions were positive, it is made of heavy quality material and has a very thick foam seat that should keep me up higher out of the water than my Trekker which sat fairly low with a mesh seat. The side pockets are large and deep and can hold a couple rods easily with the zipper closed to secure them. The Trekker had flat style pockets that didn’t work well with rods. It has oars and no foot rest, so my first thought was that’s kind of like tits on a bull. You can just not put them on, but I’ll give them a try and then make a judgment. There is also a flat area behind the seat that you can set things which I think will come in handy as the Trekker didn’t have anything like that. I’ll hit the water tomorrow morning if it’s not to windy, so more to come.
Now for the promised lake info. These two lakes are a 10 minute drive from my house and I think I have got them pretty well figured out after a solid year of fishing them. West & East are connected by a high rock drainage canal that keeps them separated. Between the two of them there is about 60 acres of water. West is a put and take lake with tons of Yellowstone cutthroat and East is a C&R lake with browns, rainbows and tigers. East is a fabulous fishery in the spring and fall but slows down in the summer when temps rise and river runoff raises the level of the lake. The big fish get inactive, go deep and you have to really work for them. It fishes best in the morning and a typical 9am to noon trip will get you over a dozen decent fish in the 18-22 inch range. Summer this number can drop to only a couple hook ups and a much earlier start time. That’s where West Newton shines. If you don’t mind smaller fish (I take my 4wt.) and like big numbers, West can keep you busy most anytime. Morning is better, especially for the occasional carry over in the 17-18 inch range. There are some deeper drop off towards the back of the lake that fish well any time, mostly 10-16 inch fish.
