How To Use A Drogue With Your Float Tube To Get A Perfect Drift

In my previous post, I discussed one of the challenges of using a float tube: getting it to drift correctly in the wind.

The issue is that a float tube will naturally drift bow-downwind but you want to drift stern-first so you can cast with the wind and into undisturbed water. Paddling with your fins to maintain a stern-first orientation often slows you down to a standstill and I suggested that a solution might be to use a drogue (also known as a drift chute or wind anchor) to solve the problem.

Well, I'm pleased to report that I have since tried a drogue and I found it worked really well so I want to share my experience with you.

My drogue in use

In this guide, I’ll explain how to use a drogue with a float tube, what equipment to buy, and how to rig it up.

Using the Drogue

What is a Drogue?

A drogue is a simple device, typically a rectangular sheet or a sock, that is attached to the windward side of a boat by ropes. It creates drag in the water, which helps to keep the boat oriented with the wind and slows down the drift.

Drogues come in various sizes. For float tubing, I used a small drogue designed for a kayak attached to the bow of my boat with about 5 feet of rope. 

The float attached to the rope in the picture is not essential but it means you will be able to find and recover the drogue if it becomes detached.

How to Use the Drogue

Deploying and Drifting

When deploying the drogue, ensure you are on the desired drift line. Unlike a boat with an engine, a float tube relies on fin paddling, making it difficult to adjust your course once the drogue is out due to the added resistance. While small adjustments are possible with effort, it’s much easier to align your drift correctly from the start.

Once the drogue is in the water, it will take a short while to open up and start working, depending on the wind strength. During this time, your boat will naturally start to turn into the wind. 

The boat will turn into the wind at first

Resist the urge to correct this, as moving backwards will prevent the drogue from opening. Instead, let the boat turn, and as it reaches about 90 degrees to the wind, the drogue will take effect, rotating the boat back onto the drift line.

The boat will come back into line as the drogue opens up

The boat will sway from side to side as you drift, but only by a small amount. Just allow this to happen, or else you'll slow to standstill.  

If the swaying is bothersome, you can reduce it by adjusting the length of the cord between the boat and the drogue, as explained later.

The boat will sway from side to side a little as you drift

If you need to slow down, for example, to cover a promising area, you can push backwards with the fins to take tension off the drogue. When you’re ready to drift again, let the tension back onto the drogue as you did when first deploying it.

Retrieving the Drogue

To bring the drogue in, back-pedal and turn away slightly to come alongside it. You can haul it in using the cord if necessary. The drogue will be heavy and full of water, so the easiest way to retrieve it is by grabbing the end and pulling it in point-first, allowing the water to drain out.

You can place the drogue in your lap if you’re moving a short distance or stow it away if you’re travelling further or don’t need it immediately.

Adjusting the Drogue

One useful tip I learned from Cornish Fishing and Air Rifle Shooting on YouTube is that the drogue’s effect increases the further it is from the boat. In other words, lengthen the cord to slow down and shorten it to go faster.

You can also use a longer cord in strong winds and a shorter one in light winds. I found that the boat wiggles less with a shorter cord, so this is another way to reduce unwanted movement.

Drogue rope in long, medium and short configurations

My setup allows me to adjust the cord length to long, medium, or just behind the boat. I found the medium setting to be ideal in a moderate wind of around 10 mph.

Safety

Please excuse the interuption, but before I explain how to set up a drogue for your float tube, I must point out that this post (and everything I write on this blog) is based on my own opinion and limited experience. If you try these ideas at your own risk and I do not take any responsibility or liability for any injuries, deaths or other mishaps relating to any material I have written here.

However, I think it's helpful to explain my thought process in setting up a drogue in a way that is as safe as I can think of.  If you have any experiences you would like to share or you spot any gaps then please do (respectfully and constructively please) leave them in the comments below so that I and others can get better and stay safer on the water.

With any boat, there is a risk that the drogue could catch or get tangled around something in the water and drag the boat down with it.  This is probably less of a problem with a float tube because it is easy to reverse back and fix the tangle or unclip the drogue.  

With a heavy traditional boat, another way and accident can occur is when the drogue is taken in close to shore causing the boat to lurch forward into rocks or the shoreline.  I can't see this being much of a problem with a float tube though unless you are in an area with some very sharp rocks or something else on the shore that could puncture your tube.

A more serious problem could occur if the drogue or the rope gets tangled around your legs.   I found one story in where someone drowned once when this happened to them but I can't verify the accuracy or find much info on what happened beyond what is in the post.

No matter what, I would always recommend taking a knife with you and keeping it easily to hand so you can cut the ropes if something unexpected happens.

How To Rig A Drogue On A Float Tube

The following instructions are for my Savage Gear High Rider V2, which has two D-rings at the bow for attaching a drag handle. I used these to attach my drogue. Your float tube may differ, so you may need to adapt these instructions, but the basic idea will remain the same.

What You’ll Need

• A kayak drogue: I bought this one
• A rope and float set: like this
• Two swivelling carabiners: like these
• A lighter

Total price; just under £45.

There are many similar drogues available on Amazon, and some come with a rope and float set included. I bought mine separately because they were available more quickly, but it’s easier to buy a set. Just ensure it includes at least 15 feet (around 4.5 metres) of rope, a float, and two carabiners (you’ll need four in total).

The Rigging

Boat End

First, create a fixed point in the middle of the bow to attach the drogue. 

Clip the end of the rope that does not have the float on it to one of the D-rings at the front of the boat (“Carabiner A”).

Remove the carabiner from the end of the rope with the float on it and hang it the other D-ring at the front of the boat (“Carabiner B”).

Thread the rope through Carabiner B and pull it forward between the two carabiners to form a V-shape with a point on. the ground just in front of the bow.  Bringing it to the ground is a rough measurement that ensures it is long enough for the drogue rope to be clear of the boat when attached so you don't have any metal components rubbing against the tube's bladders.

Tie a small figure of eight knot to make a loop and at the point where the rope goes through Carabiner B and then clip it to the boat. 

Re-form the V-shape in front of the bow and tie another figure-eight knot at the point to fix it in place. 

Ensure that the two strands of rope going to the D-rings are the same length, so the knot is on the centre line of the boat and both strands are under equal tension when you pull. 

This may require some adjustment, but it’s crucial for keeping the boat balanced on the drift.

Finally, cut the rope an inch or so beyond the knot and melt the new rope ends with the lighter to prevent fraying.

Drogue End

Measure 5 feet of rope from the end with the float. This section will attach the drogue to the boat’s rigging. Cut and seal the rope with the lighter as before.

You’ll have some surplus rope left over; store it for another project.

Tie the opposite end of the rope to the D-ring of a swivel carabiner using a re-threaded figure-eight knot (“Carabiner C”). 

Do the same at the float end (“Carabiner D”) and add an overhand knot on the boat-wards side of the float to stop it sliding up the rope.

A rethreaded figure of eight through the D-ring on the swivel carabiner
and a stopper knot to prevent the float from sliding up the rope

Tie a final figure-eight knot in the middle of the rope to create a loop that you can use to shorten the rope when needed.

With all knots tied, you should have about 5 feet of rope with carabiners at each end, a float at one end, and a loop in the middle. 

Attach Carabiner C to the boat end and Carabiner D to the drogue. You’re now ready to use it.

The finished rig at full length

As mentioned earlier, you can shorten the drogue rope by clipping the loop in the middle through Carabiner C for a half-length rope, or clip Carabiner D onto Carabiner C if you want the drogue directly behind the boat.

Medium length configuration for moderate winds

Short configuration for light winds

Footnotes

If you have read this far, you are probably interested in trying this for yourself so here are a few additional notes about the choices I made and why I made them so you can decide if you want to change anything.

• I started off with the idea of a 5 foot rope based on the video I linked in the article above but the eventual length is a bit longer once you add the anchor point.  It seems to work fine but I've not tried it in many different conditions so I wouldn't want to say it's the best length to choose.
• I used swivel carabiners because I was worried that the drogue might spin and twist the ropes up.  One swivel carabiner would have been fine, I think, but there were two in the pack so I decided to use them both anyway.  You may find you don't need swivel carabiners at all but I can't say for sure without trying.
• The figure of eight knots I recommend and the equalised "anchor" at the bow of the boat all come from rock climbing and I have literally trusted my life to them on many occasions so I know they are bomber.
• That said, technically, an alpine butterfly (aka cavers knot) would be a better choice for the loop in the middle of the drogue rope because it can be loaded in 3 different directions. However, we're not putting this system under any serious load and the consequences of the knot failing are low so I stuck with the figure of eight to keep things simple.
• For the same reasons, I didn't go for expensive "rated" carabiners suitable for climbing and work at height but I did choose reasonably sturdy carabiners because I'd prefer not to spend my free time recovering detached drogues because I used cheap accessory clips.

I hope this is useful information and you are inspired to try rigging up a drogue for your own float tube fishing.  If you do so, I would be really interested to hear how you get on and if you hit any problems or come up with any improvements or new ideas to make the system work better.

Good luck and happy drifting!