One of my favorite items pertaining to fly fishing that I own is my float tube. So much so that I have refused over the years to upgrade to a kick-boat or U-boat even as my venerable “donut” passed into obscurity. So many of the attributes of the old donuts that folks used as reasons to upgrade were lost on me, so why change? I like the fact that you sit lower in the water, as well as the “lounge chair affect” you get when you let your feet float out to the front. I like the quiet finning you can do since you sit so low, and how you can actually use the bottom easier with your fins when fishing obstructed water. All reasons to get away from the donuts for most, but for me they are all endearing qualities, and never more than when I am stalking a flat of lily pads.
I can feel the anticipation and satisfaction of this adventure. 
We are VERY fortunate to have access to many dairy ponds thru our job of hauling hay. Lazyness demands that we dump our canoe in most times when the GF wishes to park on a moving plank. However, rest assured, the “donut” is still quite handy if a “too long” carry necessitates it’s use.
Grand read. 
…lee s.
I have spent many happy hours as a donut’s center, to the point of having two suffer material failure. While I have moved on to a V tube there is a place in my heart for a round tube. I have become mostly a trout fisherman but your article inspires me to get on some warm water. I have yet to catch a trout to match several LMB I have landed, not to mention catfish and grass carp. Swimming around backward in an upholstered inner tube is a great way to spend a day.
One of my AZ friend admits to dozing off in his donut.
Thank you for this piece! I agree wholeheartedly that this is definitive fly fishing in my book, the epitome of the sport. Well, that and floating down a river in a tube, popping the holes as one moseys along.
Haven’t been in the tube in 2 years. You sir have flung a craving on me. But the water is still sooooo cold.
David