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Canoe

2K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  Dupher 
#1 ·
One of my favorite things about the fishing around here is the diversity of moving water. Large freestone rivers, tailwaters, small rivers, creeks, spring creeks...we are fortunate to have it all.

Today we took my canoe out and explored one of the smaller rivers in the valley. While I fish it often, I don't normally float it. The canoe is perfect for this piece of water and a great way to find solitude. Here is a report.



I picked this thing up for $100 5 years ago. I think it was a good purchase.



My buddy started off nymphing with a size 16 hare's ear dropped off the back of a size 14 lightening bug. He got into fish right away. The hare's ear was the ticket.



As the river winds through the valley, you pass some awesome little cabins. Just give me one of these and I'm set.





Back to fishing. I started off with a black articulated streamer. First run I hooked into a really nice brown but after a couple head shakes it spit me. Checked my hooks and they were dull. So I sharpened the hooks (thanks @Irafly for the tip) and got back in the game. But the streamer bite was slow and I didn't move another fish for several hours...typical.

So I decided to change my tactic. The water was really cold as we've been having winter like weather this week. I decided to fish a white zonker under an indicator and slow things down a bit. Good call as I immediately landed a brownie. About average for this river.





Then came a humble rainbow a couple bends later.



I thought I was on to something but those were the only two fish I got to hand. Weird how that works. Oh well, what a view.



And just a great day for a paddle.



Canoes are fun.
 
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#8 ·
When are you coming out to Washington?
I'm kicking around January or February for steelhead. Would you be interested in meeting out on the OP for a day or two?

Gorgeous, Swimmy! I love canoes and have two in my boat shed. I was just thinking of getting one out when the fall winds die down.

BTW, I will take one of those cabins! Either one will do but I am partial to the rusty roof one. Hey, I just figured it out: all the fabulous fishing reports, the beautiful scenery, the big fish - you're a MT realtor, aren't you?! ;)
We were talking yesterday about how fun canoeing is. I mostly canoe rivers. Also in the fall...not sure why?

And I'm not a realtor but there are no shortage of 'em around here. Seems everyone is either a realtor, fishing guide, or financial planner. I prefer to play with color and hip design ;)

I have this romantic notion surrounding canoes, gliding along, until I get in one...
Everytime I get out either canoeing, snowshoeing, or x-country skiing I feel like I could be in a ll bean catalog. And I agree there is something romantic about the idea of paddling an aluminum canoe around a perfectly still lake at dawn.

But to your second point, are you not comfortable in a canoe?

At first when you tagged me, I thought maybe you were taking the canoe up to the end of that lake we passed on our way to fish so you could fish that slow water. I really want to vertical indicator that stuff! White Zonker indicator action... heck yeah!
Negative. But next year if you make it back over, let's go hit that for sure.
 
#5 ·
Gorgeous, Swimmy! I love canoes and have two in my boat shed. I was just thinking of getting one out when the fall winds die down.

BTW, I will take one of those cabins! Either one will do but I am partial to the rusty roof one. Hey, I just figured it out: all the fabulous fishing reports, the beautiful scenery, the big fish - you're a MT realtor, aren't you?! ;)
 
#7 ·
At first when you tagged me, I thought maybe you were taking the canoe up to the end of that lake we passed on our way to fish so you could fish that slow water. I really want to vertical indicator that stuff! White Zonker indicator action... heck yeah!
 
#10 ·
Wow, excellent photos! I love those cabins, but the McCastles being built along that river... people should go to jail for that. I snuck out for two hours about 15 miles upstream of where you guys floated. The snowmelt has definitely put the fish down, I got one little bow on a worm. Not sure I can get out today, helping a friend work on an old Dodge Dart, and I have a feeling that means watching football and having beers. I'm definitely feeling that seasonal transition of fishing less and daydreaming about fishing more.
Water Sky Cloud Plant Nature
Water Vertebrate Salmon-like fish Fisherman Fin
Water Sky Cloud Plant Branch
 
#11 ·
My brother bought a canoe once. We put it on his car and headed to a local lake to try it out. It was a good thing it was summer and the lake we choose was a little warmer than most is Washington. We put it in the water and got on the dock to get in. I got in and got settled in and then he got in and it tipped over just as quick as a wink. We both got wet. So we tried it again and the same thing happened.

No more canoes for this old fart. We found out that you had to get down in this canoe to keep it from rolling. He got the hang of it after a few more spills. I haven't been in one since then. I learned my lesson right quick. No canoes.
 
#12 ·
Old Man that is funny. Canoes are extremely dangerous.

In 2006 I had an accident on the Yellowstone in the same canoe and it about cost me my life. Was wearing waders with no belt, swamped, waders filled up, and I about drowned. It was an eye opener for sure.

This is where the boat ended up. Just by looking at the photo you'd think it would be easy to salvage. But the suction to the river was unbelievably strong. Plus, just the little bit over water going over the top was so heavy. It took us hours to get this thing free.

 
#14 ·
I've had a canoe for most of my life and used to use it all the time to float rivers and lakes for fishing. I'd still be using it if it weren't for the convenience of my Watermaster. Plus the WM allows me to float a bit rougher water. That looks like a fun river to take a canoe on Swimmy.

Sg
 
#15 ·
I am a big fan of using a canoe for fly fishing. Kayaks were never seen when I was growing up, so the "recent" trend to using them has not impacted me as I know nothing about their use. I suspect that many more kayaks are sold today in comparison to canoes (which are not "cool"). I have made some accommodation to age though. My favorite fishing canoe was a Great Canadian which had a wide beam. It weighed about 80 pounds and since I fish alone 95% of the time it got awkward getting onto the top of my truck as I have aged. I traded to an Old Town Osprey which was a good, but not great platform for fly fishing, but at about 50 pounds was much easier to heft. It was a little "tippy" but only seemed to be a problem when I had a second person in the front. I now have a Sportspal aluminum canoe. It only weighs about 38 pounds and can be lifted with one hand. It is very stable and I use a small trolling motor with it. It has 3 small keel bumps and tracks well too. I only use it on still water and moving water of class 1 or light class 2.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Hey, where are you located? I have some custom accessories that I made for mine that I no longer need. You may be interested in them. I concocted a wooden bow attachment with an anchor lift that makes it easy to drop and pull a bow anchor (I had a small mushroom) with one arm. I also have a plywood mounting plate for a folding swivel seat. It clamps onto the bench seat, and has a custom support strut. Free for the taking!

Water Sky Vehicle Cloud Boat
Here's the anchor bracket. It slips on to the bow and is held on with two ss bolts and wingnuts. It takes a while to checkout the lies behind all those pilings.

Vertebrate Fish Food Rectangle Ray-finned fish
Later, up around the bend, a nice golden lipped 12"er, caught when anchored.
 
#16 ·
I grew up fishing out a canoe in the mid west. We lived on a lake and I took canoe out every day in summer and fall and fished the lake with fly and spinning gear. Every we year made a canoe trip up to Canada, pay some pilot up there to fly us in with our gruman aluminum canoe strapped to his float plane. Flew my Dad and I in 50to 70 miles to some unpressured remote river /lake system and picked us up a week later. Fantastic fishing back then and never saw another soul up there. I remember it was around $250 to fly in and pick up. I was pretty comfortable up to class III in the canoe and of course we emptied canoe of all gear when shooting rapids or we just lined the canoe down the more dangerous rapids.

I did all of my fly fishing in mid west and east coast out of a canoe a mad river explorer. Ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries for striped bass etc. I put float bags in mine. I always thought it was kind weird when I moved out here that few people on the west coast use canoes.

anyway good story thanks for posting
 
#20 ·
My story is similar, Ribka, except it was with a boyfriend not a dad. I fished out of a canoe solo starting about 10. In 8th grade, my first boyfriend and I spent all of our time fishing (well, almost all of our time ;) ) When he got a canoe the next year (he was a few years older and driving by then), we started using it to access more and more stillwater fishing.

When I was 15, someone invited us to run a small creek with a little whitewater. We got cold and wet and were both hooked! After putting a few holes in the glass canoe and briefly paddling a crappy single layer plastic boat, we got an ABS Mad River Explorer when they first came out. We used the heck out of that boat fishing and running up to class IV whitewater. We made some float plane drop-off trips in Maine in late high school and on into college. The funny thing was since I'd grown up camping with my folks, my mom was a lot more comfortable with us heading into the northwoods alone for a couple of weeks than his mom was. The fishing was outstanding and I'll never forget sunset dinners of pan fried trout and fiddleheads. Boy, those were the days!

But by my junior year of college, we'd gone our separate ways. I found it easier to replace a boyfriend then my tandem canoeing partner of so many years, one with whom you paddled so in sync with, you could run class III or IV and barely have to speak. I've had lots of boyfriends since but have never found that replacement tandem partner, LOL!

I bought a replacement Explorer about 10 years ago as I love that all-around boat. Sure, I'd also love to have a sleek Kevlar boat that paddles better but the Explorer captured my heart over 35 years ago so it stays! I also keep hanging on to an 80's Old Town Tripper in case I ever do the Yukon or another big trip up north. I have lots of kayaks and inflatables and they all have their use, but canoes are still my first love!
 
#17 ·
I've got a 16' plastic canoe. It weighs about 80 lbs which is close to my comfort limit for moving it around a whole bunch but I can do it and it's a good size for two people. A foot or two shorter would be nice for solo expeditions. The plastic hull is heavy but I love the toughness. I don't sweat getting it scratched--I just go for it. If I wear it out I guess that just means I had a bunch of good times in it. I can launch it just about anywhere and it hauls ass compared to a pontoon or water master.

I am real selective and careful with it in moving water. I like my fishing gear (and my life) and would like to keep most of it.

Good photos, Swimmy.
 
#22 ·
it hauls ass compared to a pontoon or water master.
That's what I like best about the canoe (I also have a pontoon and love it.) But last night it was getting dark and we still had two miles to the take out. We were there in 20 minutes. Canoes are a very efficient method of travel.

I'm pretty sure mine is a 15'er. Works great for solo overnighters or multiday trips and is adequate for two people with gear on day trips. On slower rivers (like yesterday) I can stand in the bow while my buddy paddles, fish, and feel comfortable doing so.
 
#18 ·
That's a cool story and great bunch of pics. My Native Ultimate 12 is best described as a "low profile hybrid canoe."
Its not really a kayak, although I use a double bladed touring paddle.
I really liked my old square stern 13' Sportspal Canoe, since I could put an electric trolling motor on it. I neglected to consider adding a sacrificial zinc, and after several years of motoring in estuaries and tidal creeks, the corrosion happening unseen underneath that foam matting held down by all those ribs finally ate through to the outside of the hull, alerting me to the problem a bit too late to save the hull. Demoted the hulk to yard decoration, and went with plastic hulls... tough, quiet, and zero maintenance.
 
#28 ·
There are different canoe designs for different purposes, some rather specialized. And the more specialized the design, the less suitable they are for anything else. I too grew up in the midwest. Most rivers were low gradient and rather easy water. Canoe rentals were common, so like most kids drawn to water, we rented them often. Just for the hell of it.
 
#30 ·
I've been paddling a 15' Grumman for maybe 40 years or so. It is a cargo style and not a snap and turn canoe. But it can carry a load and a stable platform.

I built a center rowing seat a few years ago and I could "move" in that configuration. The only problem was the center of gravity was too high. I guess the factory rowing configuration has something to say for it.

When it comes to tripping this is a great canoe. It will carry a lot of weight and still be manageable. I did some week long trips on some still waters and the capacity of load was not an issue. I am sure with the weight of two paddlers and gear we exceeded 550 pounds of load and had no issues. In fact the heavier loads actually stabilized the canoe if properly loaded.

Dave
 
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