opener

[reelemin]

where is everyone going and are you gonna use your canoe or yak or are ya hitching a ride with a motorized buddie?

I'm headed south, probably to Madison lake.

[Duffman]

reelemin....

I'm still up in the air on my decision, take the 60hp 4-stroke up and play bumper boats on the St. Louis River, or hang out in the cities and paddle my new little honey;

I guess a person could call this a hybrid canoe. It's slightly used Souris River Tranquility that I picked up last weekend. I plan on getting a spray skirt made for it, and I will probably try using a kayak paddle, but I still consider it a canoe.

If I hang in town, I'll for sure find a place to avoid the real boat traffic and get some paddlin in. I've already got a couple of weekends planned coming up that'll burn plenty of gas, both getting to and on the lake. So I might hang and save some gas $.

Good luck girl.

[Sandmannd]

That's a nice looking boat Duffman. I can see ripples and it's not even on the water.

[HuskerBen]

That's a beaut of a canoe!

I'll be hitting one of the city lakes in my canoe. I just got a trolling motor for her last week, and a fish finder today. I've taken her out a couple times to make sure everything is in working order, now I just can't wait to get her out for some serious fishing.

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: Duffman

reelemin....

I'm still up in the air on my decision, take the 60hp 4-stroke up and play bumper boats on the St. Louis River, or hang out in the cities and paddle my new little honey;

I guess a person could call this a hybrid canoe. It's slightly used Souris River Tranquility that I picked up last weekend. I plan on getting a spray skirt made for it, and I will probably try using a kayak paddle, but I still consider it a canoe.

If I hang in town, I'll for sure find a place to avoid the real boat traffic and get some paddlin in. I've already got a couple of weekends planned coming up that'll burn plenty of gas, both getting to and on the lake. So I might hang and save some gas $.

Good luck girl.

Duffman - very sweet canoe. Are you use primarely for fishing ? If so how are you going to deck it out?

Good luck wherever you end up.

Stories and pics on Monday

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: HuskerBen

That's a beaut of a canoe!

I'll be hitting one of the city lakes in my canoe. I just got a trolling motor for her last week, and a fish finder today. I've taken her out a couple times to make sure everything is in working order, now I just can't wait to get her out for some serious fishing.

Husker would love to see how you rigged up the canoe. I love seeing everyones ideas.

Gooh luck

[HuskerBen]

I'm going to put the fish finder in tomorrow (anyone have hints on installing a skimmer transducer on a Coleman canoe?), and I'll take some pics once she's all done. Features include a clamp-in yoke that doubles as an accessory rack, a backrest, and a homebuilt motor mount.

[Chode2235]

Thats a beautiful boat. I will be going out in with a friend in his motorized craft.

I was out this past weekend canoeing in SE MN for some trout. After getting dumped by my inexperienced partner, I will probably wait before the water gets a little warmer to get back into a paddle craft

I need a good solo canoe....

[Duffman]

Husker...

Most transducers signals will shoot right thru a variety of canoe hulls. When I've done it, I've added a little water to the floor of the canoe and made sure there was good contact. I'm not sure about the skimmer ducer, but give it a try.

[HuskerBen]

Duffman - I was thinking about that. I would rather make some type of clamp-on deal, so that it's removable (I will want to use the finder during ice season as well), and I've got a couple ideas. If all else fails, I'll just do a shoot-thru install with silicone so I can eventually peel it off if necessary.

We'll see how it all works out.

[reelemin]

husker - what i did in my yak was - I took a thick piece of closed cell foam, about 3" thick. Cut a piece about 5" by 4" and then cut out the middle the same size as the transducer. I then glued the foam to the hule and put the transducer in its nicely cutout hole. Make sure its a tight fit.

Works great.

Every so often I check to make sure its still tight against the bottom.

This way you can easly remove the transducer when needed elsewhere.

[Powerstroke]

OMG Duffman that is one BEAUTIFUL canoe. I've got the SR Quetico17 in the red tiger and I LOVE IT. I would really like to try your tranquility sometime if we're ever at a GTG. I can't wait to get a solo boat and I think having a keel is a great option.

The dealer I bought from in Ely says the SR Tranq's are what the DNR or NFWS uses on their BWCA trips.

[Flaco651]

I'll be fishing in the metro tomorrow in my canoe too. Planning on hitting the water early, rain or shine...most likely rain. Either way its gonna be a lot of fun, not having to deal with a lot of boats and crowds.

[tedl]

I'm leaving the motor boat in the garage and taking the canoe out. I don't like playing bumper boats with everybody on opener. If you have to portage a canoe you leave alot of the crowd behind.

It sure is nice to see canoes on top of cars in Ely again, after this long winter we had!!

[Cyberfish]

Nice lookin canoe Duffman! I sure would like to take that on my bwca trip this summer!

[HuskerBen]

Here's my canoe, all rigged up and ready to fish. When I'm by myself, I put some ballast buckets (filled with water) in the bow. And here's a dolly I made out of an old bike trailer:

It really helps to have the dolly when I'm fishing alone. I can get it all to the water's edge in one trip.

I got out on a couple city lakes last night. Wound up putting two walleyes in the boat just before dark.

[reelemin]

sweet - great rig - Husker !!!! Maybe we'll cannect up on the city lakes sometime.

Keep an eye in here for an FM GTG soon.

[RiverRat101189]

Hey Husker could you please go into some more detail on how you made the dolly for your canoe I am looking to make or buy something similiar. Thanks Rat.

[HuskerBen]

RiverRat-

I'll have to take some pics tonight and post them. It's the chassis from a "Tot Tote" brand bike trailer. I got it for $5 at a yard sale. I took the body off of it, and found that the chassis itself was too weak to support any weight (the molded plastic body bore most of the load), so I reinforced the axle with a couple 1x3's (making a 2x3). Then I cut a Vee in the center of the cart, to accomodate the keel. Then I attached a couple 2x4s running parallel to the keel, and covered them with closed-cell foam to pad it and provide some grip. I used pipe insulation, but I'm sure other stuff would be fine. I built it good n' sturdy, so it's not exactly light weight, and it's covered in duct tape, so it ain't pretty. But hey, it works.

[Duffman]

reelemin....

No major plans for the canoe, rod-holder and a place to mount the MarCum. It won't be as nearly tricked out as your kayak is. I might have a couple sleeves sewn into the spray cover to be able to slide the tips of my rods in, plus some velcro straps to hold the handles.

Powerstroke....

Sure, you can take her for a spin at the next GTG.

Opener results....

I fished a metro lake for couple hours before the rain set in, it was nice being the only one on the lake. Couple of pike and some out of season bass. A couple of things about the new canoe; one is that the fish on the end of the line are more in control of the situation than I'd prefer, and secondly - I'm going to have to start carrying a landing net. It's a little tippy trying to reach over and hand land the fish.

[Iambjm]

where is everyone going and are you gonna use your canoe or yak or are ya hitching a ride with a motorized buddie?

I'm headed south, probably to Madison lake.

Well how did ya do Tami?

[Powerstroke]

Duffman,

solos are always tough for fishing, but I'm thinking you should buy some of the cheap drybags and fill htem with water at the landing. You can use them to trim your canoe out and provide some extra ballast to get you lower in the water. The SR boats are really designed to carry a load.

[reelemin]

It was a crappy day, but decided I had to get out. so I headed to a small lake by Montgomery. Only one other boat on the water. I spent about 3 hrs on the water and didn't even get a nibble!!!!! - O well -

How about Barb - did you get out ?