Rinsing Your Tube After Using It In The Saltwater

I was wondering if you need to unzip and get freshwater in the bladder area?
I removed the foam cushions, rinsed and dried.
Unzipped the storage pouches to dry
But was uncertain about the bladders?
What do you guys do?

Rjinse? Tube? Do a what? Oh ... ya...sure I do it ...uh every time . Yep just give it a good rinse. I don't go to the extent you do but its probably not a bad idea. I do however, ALWAYS clean my rod and reel. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I just hose off the salt, I've never opened the zipper to wash inside. Like Tom, I clean rod/reel every session.

I didn't think so but I had to ask

Speaking of zippers, Is there a better area than another to have the zipper closer thing-a-ma-jig at?
Mine came in the box with the closers behind the seat on the curved area.
Anyone ever give this much thought?

I hook up carabiner to the zipper, it's easier to open and close. If that's what your asking?

Not really
I'm asking if there's a better area to leave the two closers at for strength wise
I'm probably over thinking this

Ohh ok, I left mine at the end where the two bladders meet.

I bring my zippers together at the tip in back. I connect a biner to both and hang my PFD off that.

Ive never taken the bladder out but might do it next time just in case. There are times i cant hose mine down...but i try to most of the time. Usually i go to a local do it yourself car wash and hose my tube, waiders, booties, net and truck down focusing on the bed to get any sand out of it.

As far as rods/reels...i usually use a product called stop salt...just spray it on with no water and leave it. The stuff dries on its own and is really convenient but doesn't completely work. Its better than water though...sometimes that actually pushes the bad stuff into the reel even when "doing it right."

i just hose everything down, let it sit outside to dry and put it away. sometimes my reels get raised off and other times they dont.

I always rinse my tube(and gear)after every trip out, freshwater and salt.

Removing the bladder is not necessary. Unzipping storage is a good idea.

After rinsing be sure everything dries for your next outing. Many lakes perform vessel/gear inspections, and wet vessels/gear will not pass.

When I did have the Fish Cat with foam I got so tired of taking out the foam and rinsing it and drying it I decided to wrap the foam blocks in saran-wrap then put them inside one of those gigantic zip-lock bags they sell at Target. It actually kept them water tight and dry if you were careful not to tear the zip-lock bag when putting them back in which can be a pain, I had a friend that did the same thing and his tip was to put some baby powder or flour on the outside of the bag and it would slide right in and then rinse it off.

But I am a total gear cleaning addict I wash every thing down when I get home and am actually working on putting a 5 gallon water tank with sprayer on my truck so I can rinse stuff on site or when in the Sierras.

hey guys,
Ok,.. Here's what I know about cleaning your tube especially after a stint in the salt...

Here is the best way I have found to REALLY clean your tube, ( and your waders and fins and rods and reels and everything else you took with you to the harbor)

Clean your tube (and gear) in the shower!!

Seriously!! Warm or hot fresh water is the best way to soften up and rinse those nasty salt crystals out of your gear. I usually had a considerable drive from most of my fishing trips and my tube as well as my gear, was almost always dry and crusty by the time I got home. So I usually dragged all my gear into the shower and,( waders on), cleaned everything in a nice hot shower. Shampoo, especially those designed for swimmers, is a great, mild, and cheap detergent for cleaning salt water. they are designed to dissolve harsh chemicals like chlorine and salt with little or no residue. For your breathables NO DETERGENT! or they won't be breathables for long, just a good rinse in warm water. Then I would leave the whole mess in the shower overnight to dry.

I rarely deflated my tube, or separated the outer shell from the bladder, perhaps once or twice a year for an inspection or cleaning and plastic conditioning.

Zippers? the only thing I would do was (if and when I would unzip my tube) to put a little carpenters wax on the zipper to prevent jamming and seizing.

I no longer have to take my gear in the house because I have a hot water spigot and hose in my garage now, and do all my cleaning outside.

bodfish

I would have to agree on the warm water for cleaning. Its how I do my rod and reels. Another way to keep zippers from jamming is a little dish soap..

Hey guys
An observation that I made a full week after my first session with the fish cat was that water doesn't drain out of the vinyl bottom.
I've noticed that after rinsing and storing it on it's belly for drying(a week later!), there was still water dripping from the tube when I was moving the tube to work on a rod rack for it.
I actually stored it upside down for a few days to let the water drain onto the canvas portion of the tube to dry.

I unzipped the bladder area of my fish cat to give it a really good cleaning before storing it (I now have a red Prowler!)
When I accessed the bladder area, I noticed that there were salt crystals left behind from the one session in the salt

To minimize the salt build up, my plan is to store the tube upside down after rinsing and open up the bladder area now and then to check for salt build up

This may not be necessary for other brands of tubes, but if your tube has a vinyl bottom with no drain holes, this is something to keep in mind

I will be using my old tube for the salt on the
19and older rod setups I just don't want my good gear in the salt

Yes good I deal but if you use anything in the salt and rinse after you use it you should be OK I use my best stuff in both fresh and salt I can not afford to have one for salt and one for fresh so I try to keep everything clean as I go and once you gets system sown for cleaning up after your trip it gets easier to do so

I wouldn't worry about using your good rods and reels in the salt.
I do without issue with rinsing with freshwater.
I've only had one reel (Diawa TD baitcaster) that had the anti-reverse roller bearing get rusted up. This probably would have been avoided had I paid closer attention to maintaining this particular reel.
Haven't had any issues with the Shimanos but you do have to do regular maintenance to prevent issues (open them up to lube and check for water intrusion, especially if it's saltwater)

HEADCASE881 wrote:I will be using my old tube for the salt on the
19and older rod setups I just don't want my good gear in the salt

dont be afaid to use your good stuff in the salt.
your better stuff will last longer in the salt than your cheap stuff.

Yup I only use my good stuff...as long as you take care of it you'll be fine. I've already had to service both of my curado's about 3-4 times because of me being lazy though. Gotta start using that fresh water!

I 99.9% fish in salt, all I do is remove my reels from rods and stick under the sink with warm-hot water light stream of water almost off and spin your reel under it, dry then store.

Vagabond wrote:
But I am a total gear cleaning addict I wash every thing down when I get home and am actually working on putting a 5 gallon water tank with sprayer on my truck so I can rinse stuff on site or when in the Sierras.

Like this?

Nomad2Go.

www(DOT)nomad2go(DOT)com/pressure-washer-washing/nomad-18-volt-cordless(DOT)aspx

My bud has this in his truck and says it's awesome! No more wife b*tch*ng about him and his son dragging sand back home whenever they go surf fishing or kayaking. Seems pricey at $250, but they say it's totally worth it.

Forum won't let me post links yet, cuz I'm a noob!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This might be easier Doc. I NEED one of these for my truck...dont have the money though. Im tired of going to do it yourself car washes in order to clean my tube off.

It's a good idea but for $250 I'll use my hose.

Sunday i was washing the trucks at work after i finshed the truck i washed my tube soaped it all up and rinsed it off waders as well and fin too lol they are the cleanest they have been in a while i do rinse off after fishing but it was nice to use soap this time it seem to get all the salt off a lil better but this is the first time i used soappy water i dont know if it hurt or helped