Canoe Mods

[NorthWoodsGuy]

I saw Jims43's post and thought a canoe Mod thread would be pretty informative and helpful. So what did you do and how did you do it to make your canoe a more fisher-friendly craft?

Like the old adage goes, "A picture is worth a 1000 words".

I have an Old Town just waiting to be fishified.

[AaronM]

As with Northwoods, I use a canoe instead of a kayak on many of my portaging expeditions. I'm currently trying to figure out a way to make my canoe more fishing-friendly. Anyone have any ideas?

[Blue Kayak]

When I was ten three of us went fishing in a canoe. For an anchor we tied a 15 pound rock to a rope. That worked well until one of us stood up to raise the anchor. Just as the rock got to the surface it fell out of the rope and caused my friend to fall out of the canoe. While the two of still in the canoe were lauging the canoe rolled over in the opposite direction and capsized. So don't tie a rock to a rope for an anchor.

Milk crates and PVC pipe (rod holder) are useful for kayaks and should also work well with canoes. If you check the kayak fishing Web site you'll probably get some ideas that would also work with canoes.

[NorthWoodsGuy]

Sounds like you're a little bitter when it comes to canoes.

That's exactly why I bought one of the widest canoes I could find - 42" beam. A dog to paddle but with my 2hp Honda on the back, I rarely need to. If need be, I can stand up and push-poll it. Very stable.

Excuse my ignorance, but I guess that brings up a question I've always had about kayaks: isn't a kayak easy to tip? It has always disturbed me when I think I could tip and be stuck upside down inside it.

Getting a smaller canoe or kayak does interest me though, especially when I really want to get away from it all and not have the noise of the engine puttering in my ear.

A gentlemen held kayak classes on Waconia twice this summer but both times I went to register, it was already full. So it goes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Jim43]

Having paddled canoes for most of my life before buying a

kayak in 97. I can say this, Canoes are far more tippy then

Kayaks.

Lower center of gravity gives the kayak the advantage over a

canoe. Been dunked many times in a canoe, but never in a

kayak.

[NorthWoodsGuy]

Hey Jim. Thanks for the insight. Having never been in a kayak, I have no basis for comparison.

I've dumped a canoe as well, but I was 10 and it was on purpose. Granted I don't have that many hours in a canoe either.

I have a Kayak question for you: how hard would it be to paddle upsteam on a small, relatively slow river?

"Why would I go upstream when downstream is so much easier?", you may ask. Well, I often fish alone so I can't implement the "two-vehicle system" and I usually motor upstream in my canoe and float back down to my vehicle. I've often wondered how a kayak would handle this.

Thanks for any input.

[Jim43]

Quote:

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Hey Jim. Thanks for the insight. Having never been in a kayak, I have no basis for comparison.

I've dumped a canoe as well, but I was 10 and it was on purpose.

Granted I don't have that many hours in a canoe either.

I have a Kayak question for you: how hard would it be to paddle upsteam on a small, relatively slow river?

"Why would I go upstream when downstream is so much easier?", you may ask. Well, I often fish alone so I can't implement the "two-vehicle system" and I usually motor upstream in my canoe and float back down to my vehicle. I've often wondered how a kayak would handle this.

Thanks for any input.

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Having no experiance paddling a kayak up or down a slow

moving river, I really could not say. But I do know this,

having paddled a canoe a couple 1000 miles in my lifetime.

Mostly on rivers. Paddling my kayak is 100 times easier.

Can get it going faster and keep paddling without tiring

near as fast as a canoe. Been thinking about taking my son

out on the MN river when its running so slow and trying to

paddle up a ways and if its to tough put my trolling motor

to work. Hopefully without running aground with it.

Canoes also act like sails in windy weather if you haven`t

noticed. Wind resistance on a kayak is so much less being

the profile of it so much closer to the water.

I am pretty much in the same boat when it comes to river

fishing, having no help getting back.

BTW, once you have tried a Kayak, a canoe will never feel

the same again. I have not been in a canoe since buying my

kayak.

[Cyberfish]

I paddle both and I can paddle against the flow a lot easier in my Kayak than solo in a canoe...

[Blue Kayak]

Quote:

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Sounds like you're a little bitter when it comes to canoes.

No. I'm not bitter towards canoes. I had a much worse experience when my kayak capsized. I lost my best rod and reel then. Only lost a box of hooks with the tippy canoe. I don't have that much experience with either canoes or kayaks. However, I think either of them can be tippy or stable. I've seen pictures of kayaks stable enough that you can stand in them and pole, but mine sure isn't that stable. I suspect with the hull design of any boat as you gain stability you probably loose speed or manuverability. You have to find what suits you best.