Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire CANOE ADVICE

Been there before!!

I like my mad river. Have had it for 20 years. Have been on trips all over Canada with it. Have done class III in it but I put bags in the front and back

BTW Bowsinger - this isn't all theory or watching internet videos for me. I spend a lot of time in a tandem canoe (several different canoes, actually) and use all these techniques where they apply.

The only thing left after the nuclear armageddon will be cockroaches and Grumman canoes.

A lotta truth in that!

OK, maybe compromise is the wrong word.
What I meant was, the Adirondak is not a full blown racing or lake canoe, and it's not a full rockered whitewater type canoe.
Does that make more sense? I guess I should have said it's a great all around design that does most things well enough to be enjoyable. How's dat?

You nailed it.

Thank you all!

This has been an educational thread for me. In my reading and looking I fell in lust for a totally different canoe. Yup, a small wooden canoe that I can paddle the wife around the lake on but is sufficient enough for me to do a weekend backcountry trip solo. I'll have to sell some stuff to actually buy it but I'm wanting to sell my Ducati anyway.

Biker

Mad River for white water, and Old Towne for a good lake canoe...

Thanks for the input Dave, much appreciated

Solo?

http://www.hornbeckboats.com/

My floating aluminum log handles best solo with me in the rear seat and some weight just forward of the center. I use a heavy deep cycle battery. It balances the weight so I just have to sit back and run the electric motor.

Those are purdy and look quite useful. It seems they combined the best attributes of a canoe and a kayak.

Biker

For the $$, an Old Town Penobscot 164 is one heckuva canoe. I've spent a good deal of time in one and not only are they versatile, they're a lot lighter than many other royalex canoes too.

Another vote for the Penobscot. I bought mine before they made different lengths, so mine is a 16'. In the past 27 years, I've had it on waters from Alberta to Lake Powell. It's a mighty fine hunting rig:



I even use it on hard water, to drag my spread out for ice hunts:





It fishes fine, I've even bottom bounced with it, and caught walleye over 7# in it. As an all around boat, it leaves little to be desired.

I'm not much of a white water paddler, but get where I'm going. It's probably been my single best outdoor investment. Thanks a bunch for the information, FreeMe. I'll be looking into those sources soon.

Do you guys know how making love in a canoe is just like lite beer?

They're both f---ing close to water.

Hey, I like Lite Beer! Maybe because I like being close to the water???



For some reason I hear a 'Splash' in someone's future...

When things get tipsy in a canoe, do NOT put your hands on the gunnel to catch your balance or it's all over(board)! Instead, learn to drop down very quickly. Either to your knees or slip out of your seat and put your butt down on the floor of the canoe. The canoe will right itself, and you and your gear will not go for a swim. It goes against your natural instincts but it works.



I lengthened my motor mount so I could put it where the front passenger would usually have his knees, turned the 18' double-ender Grumman around and did most everything else the same except maybe some gear and/or about 3-5 gallons of ballast water in a bucket close to where the passenger's feet would be (now facing backwards to travel) of the 'new' front seat. Keeps the boats attitude perfect for good tracking on lakes.

I can lead-line bottom drag for Togue (Lakers) with big spinners in over 60 feet of water without a problem with either my 1.2HP Johnson Colt or my Motorguide 30# electric. If all I want to do is paddle around smaller streams, I put a seat, a tall bucket or a milk crate closer to the middle and leave most of the other gear at camp. The seat/crate can also be a third person's seat if there's that many of us in one craft.

Biker,
Have fun with whatever you choose.

I did that once. Damn canoe got heavy as [bleep]. Then I used a blue tarp: rolled it up like a cigar with the dekes inside, and tied a line to it. Much easier!
Unfurled, the tarp doubled as an optical illusion pond.
Worked good both times we did this just inland from Lake Michigan.

While I recognize their utility, economy, flexibility and certain pleasing aesthetic, twice I have come to within a hair's breadth of dying on the water. Both were in canoes. In winter. Never, ever again.

Thank you.

That was very enjoyable.

Biker

Has anyone tried an Old Town Pack canoe? I have very little canoe experience but would like something I could carry easily on some solo fishing/hunting trips.