A newbie and his first canoe

[NewEnglandCanoe]

I am a fishing guy first, and a boating guy second. Getting tired of having to "wait my turn" to go out fishing with my buddy in his boat, I decided to venture out and get a canoe for myself. It's been a long time since I've been in a canoe, but it's like riding a bike. Here I will chronicle my journey transforming a 15yo canoe into a fishing vessel.

 

[snapper]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like you've done some nice work to get this canoe to serve you in the way you want to go; fishing! Nothing wrong with that. Great too that your kids are on board. Now you'll always have a partner whenever you want to head out.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

PS - My daughter lives in Bristol. If you're willing to share any freshwater locations you enjoy fishing, I'd love to hear about them.

 

[Guest]

The important thing is getting out there, even more so with the kids. If it proves enjoyable the Pelican Explorer won’t be your last canoe.

How is the stability with those high mounted fishing seats?

I am pretty wimpy when it comes to initial stability, especially without an active paddle in the water, and most of my canoe seats are set at least a couple or three inches below the gunwales.

I can be inattentive sloppy, and having a low mounted seat helps keep my head inside the gunwales; at worst I have this | / |

Without a paddle in the water and a ready brace head-outside-the-gunwales is often swimming.

 

[NewEnglandCanoe]

Mike McCrea, I am in the process of lowering the seats. While I didn't have much trouble with them on the first test, the canoe was a bit more tippy with them at that height. My buddy that was with me is 6 feet tall, so we were already at a disadvantage. My Lowes didn't have any aluminum angle bigger than 1 inch. I just picked up 3 inch from another buddy of mine, so that will drop them below the gunwales. When I get caught up in fishing, I can be sloppy, so I feel safer being a bit lower.

Snapper, I have mainly been to the Blackstone River up here in Woonsocket, RI with the canoe. My buddy that was with me has a 14 ft V hull, so we take that to Stump Pond in Smithfield as well as the Scituate Reservoir, both a far cry from Bristol though.

 

[snapper]

Thanks for the info on RI hotspots!

Until next time....be well.

snapper