I, and a fishing buddy, fished in tubes from summer 1965 through summer 1969. I moved away and bought my first boat, stopped using the tube. Last year, due to age, my boat became to tiring to be fun, so I sold it. I still fish in a boat with my younger fishing buddy, but this summer I bought another float tube and I enjoy fishing in it. I named it The Independence because it allows me to fish any time I want to go. I've only found one lake so far where I can use it and stay away from boat traffic and get to an area that holds fish, so it has limitations. But, as someone mentioned, it is so quite that you can be right on top of the fish and not spook them, and is very relaxing. I'm never as tired when fishing in the tube as I am when fishing in my buddy's boat. Seems strange, but true. I've been thinking I might get a ten foot plastic pontoon boat and trolling motor only so I can range out a little further, but I seriously doubt that I ever will. I will be age 80 in December, so the tube may be about all I need at this point, especially since my friend still takes me with him in his boat. If you think you might want to get a tube, the primary thing you need to do is consider carefully where you would use it. If you have good places to fish from a tube, go fit it.