My uncle Carlos Guinn from Heavener, OK built one in the '50's using a truck tube, canvas and Aunt Vi's treadle powered singer sewing machine. He used it from Wister lake to the Poteau river and later on Tenkiller. Never knew where he got the idea but that was a time in history when people just did things like that.
In the late '60's I saw a man in a belly boat at Elephant Butte, NM who had hooked himself a very large catfish on a very short but stout pole. Dang fish dragged him all over the lake. He was rescued and the fish was landed when some folks drug him to shore with their boat.
Fast forward to the '80's. I was fishing at Little Virginia Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Several folks were tubing and catching a lot more fish than me. I went to the nearest K-mart and bought a belly boat. No waders... But I had to try it. I froze but caught fishes and have been doing it ever since. Now I have a Caddis, a Creek Co. U-boat, a Fish Cat and now a 9' pontoon. I still wade the creeks and lake shores. But if I want to get out there I can. Jim