Hi guys, I was wondering what suggestions can you give me to buy a belly boat for a kid, he is 7 but is as tall as some 10 yr kids, he is quite strong swims everyday so I guess propulsion is no problem, but what features should I look for, should I buy an O or a U type?? what kind of fins do uyou recomend?? bootfoot or stocking foot wader???
thanks guys
Xavier
Do not buy an “O” boat…fins? …many variables…at that age just be very sure you are in controlled situations,
I just asked my friend …whom I had just fished with today in belly boats… what he thought about this post…response=be careful!!!..there are dangers out there…
make sure he wears a PFD and stay glued to him. heck, tie some rope from his tube to yours.
Thanks for the response guys, I was thinking about really tying ghis BB to mine, and of course the PFD, I’m planning on fishing a private small pond whic is pretty free of dangers, it is lovcated in my parents ranch, and there are plenty of trout, BG, LMB and of course big carp, I want to take him there so he gets the experience to fish other places when he grows up a little.
So you think its better a U boat than an O one? mine is a U, but I was thinking that maybe the O one would make him feel safer.
Or would you think that it would be a better option one of those little pontoons?? but here I see a problem with the rowing thing
Xavier
Carpcrazy, what I would do, besides all the precautions mentioned, PFD, etc., is get him a small O tube and have a piece of nylon webbing sewn in between the front of the seat and the inside front of the tube. He can then sit with one leg on each side of the webbing which will keep him from sliding off the seat. If the seat does not have a non slip surface, sew on a piece of the non slip rubber mesh used for drawer liners.
Keeping him tethered to your tube, is a good idea.
Joe
Xavier,
You’re on the right track…also, I say…negative on the pontoon for now…[see below]
Joe, Sorry but I have to disagree with you …the industry is going away from O tubes for a number of reasons…the most important of which is safety…people have tipped over in an O boat and not being able to get free = death…can you picture a 7 year old trying to get a fly hooked to the undersurface of his tube free…or his fins…waders or whatever… and tipping?
Hey, I don’t even like most of tubes on the market today because they have a cross bar…making getting out harder…that 's why I like my Wood’s tube.
[This message has been edited by ducksterman (edited 08 June 2005).]
I think it would be very difficult to tip over a tube, especially a smaller person. I think the greatest risk is slipping out of the seat or falling forward out of the tube. An O tube with the strap sewn in would make that harder to do. O tubes are not very popular any more because of the difficulty getting in and out of them so manufacturers are making less of them. I haven’t used one in a long time. I rarely use U tubes anymore except for hard to get to places. I mainly use pontoons or the raft type kickboats. I think a pontoon would be too easy for a 7 year old to fall out of the seat.
Joe