Bought first Canoe and have a few general questions

[Guest]

Hi everyone, I am new here and after years of fishing from the banks on the rivers I bought a canoe. It's not the worlds best but I am new to owning a boat/canoe and thought I would start cheap and maybe one day work my way up to a nicer or even a custom made canoe. So anyway's because it's my first canoe and no experience I wanted something cheap but something to withstand a couple years of river fishing. I went to my local Dick's Sporting Goods store and purchased a Scanoe 14ft Canoe. I must say I don't have a ton of knowledge when it comes to canoe's but it looked to be made of pretty good material and looks like it could withstand some abuse. So for $399 at my local Dick's Sporting Goods store I felt ok with the purchase. Again, it's my first canoe and I want to test the waters before buying something more expensive down the road. Any way's I have a couple questions that have been picking at my brain and so I thought I would jump online and find some friendly people to help me out here. So the river I will be doing 90% of my fishing from is on a family farm and very secluded from others so I have no worries of anything getting stolen. So one of my questions would be is when I am not using the canoe is it ok to cover the canoe with a tarp real good and leave it on the water tied up to the bank? Or should I pull it out of the water and tie it up on the bank? Or should I always store the canoe under a roof of some sort? It would be much easier on me if I could leave the canoe on the water or on the bank out of the water tied up. I am just not sure if this is ok for the boat to be left out in the elements/weather. Again I would be using a tarp to cover the boat from sun, rain and other elements and weather related deals. So otherwise is leaving it in the water tied to the bank or left on the bank out of the water not a good idea with a tarp to protect? Next question is I am looking for a trolling motor for the canoe at it has a transom on the rear for a trolling motor. I am looking at a 30lb Minn Kota trolling motor. Is a 30lb trolling motor big enough? Typically it will be myself, fiancé and a friend or maybe two friends. The boat has seats for three but can hold four and weight it can hold is 770 lbs. If I have four people on the boat I should not exceed 600lbs and a little bit of gear which is about 30lbs or less. *But usually I will be by myself or have one friend come along. So is a 30lb trolling motor big enough or should I get a 40lb, 45lb, 50lb, 55lb or what? I assume a 30lb is big enough. A friend told me to make sure to get a deep cycle battery, any types of deep cycle batteries you guys would recommend? And how long should a deep cycle battery run me on battery time? By the way the river I fish from is not the Mississippi River or anything near that size. This river is just a typical normal flowing river. Good for fishing and that is about it. lol. Last question is does anyone know any sites to look at mods that others have done to their canoes and where to buy extra things for your canoes to customize it? Thanks everyone.

 

[memaquay]

Well, I'll take a shot at this one....The scanoe is similar or perhaps the same canoe that Canadian Tire sold in Canada for years, made by Coleman. In terms of the type of canoeing most folks do on this site, the Scanoe would not be found in many of their stables. It is very heavy and not that friendly to paddle. However, for your intended use, it will be fine. The Scanoe is made out of polyethylene, which is practically indestructible. You can leave it out in the elements without too much concern. I always flip my canoes over on the bank when not using them, so that they don't fill up with rain. I would go for the strongest motor you have listed, probably the 55 pound, especially if you are intending to up river travel. The advertised weight of 770 pounds might be a bit generous for a 14 foot canoe. Two people should be fine, but I think you'll be pushing the limits with three or four.

I wouldn't spend any money modding out that canoe...save it up in case you want to move up. There are some pretty good polyethylene canoes out there that are slightly more expensive than the Coleman, but are actually canoes that can be paddled and used for canoe trips.

Have fun!

 

[memaquay]

Wow, look at that, I just found a site for modding out Scanoes!

http://www.extremeforum.net/how-fast-is-your-scanoe-609119.html

 

[oldie moldy]

Hi Lyric, and welcome! It might be interesting for you to check out some of the threads here; it will give you a better idea of the low crowd you've fall in with. I believe I've seen a Scanoe once. No matter what the manufacturer says I'd call two adults a full load. Nobody from the company will be in the water with you. Lyric, buy two top of the line life vests (PFD) and wear them always. I don't know you but I sure hate to see young people die for no good reason.

Now, we do have a resident expert on Scanoe type craft; he's back from the hospital, had to have his stomach pumped 'cause he ate too much fried venison at one go. If he's feeling better I'm sure he will have some things to say. He's one guy who keeps up on the latest designs and modern materials, in fact I think many of his water craft came from Dick's .

I'm not kidding about the life vest!
Rob

 

[Guest]

I don't know any specifics about your make, model and materials, but most boats and most canoe materials do a lot better out of the sun at least. Sun fades a lot of stuff and weakens them too. Resale value is higher for a boat with more or less fresh color. And of course pretty boats are a lot faster, handle better and find bigger fish.

But again, I don't know anything about poly.

A question I might ask, nevertheless, is exactly this: will this material take a set?

If you leave the craft on the bank in just any old attitude, be it upside down of or one side, if poly is like fiberglass or other canoe materials, gravity in time will warp its perfect shape, often a lot. Handling and speed can suffer. The damage can come on pretty quick. How quick depends on condition and material.

Much better is to support the boat on two deliberately leveled cross bars mounted on something high enough to make drop and pick up convenient. Turn the canoe over and rest its gunwales on the bars. The bars might be spaced at 1/3 and 2/3.

I don't like tarps. Moisture, mold, bugs and vermin make them home if they are on too long. Of course, you could pole and guy a tarp.

If eventually you upgrade you'll find out that learning a little yachtsmanship now will payoff then.

My general feeling is that if something is worth my very good money, then it's worth some very good care.


Anyway. Your very own river. Nice. I have a pond. But a real river?

 

[Robin]

I know the deep cell battery is what you want for a trolling motor. My wife"s uncle (the same guy who helped me build my own website) had this thing he referred to as a Bass Boat, lots of stickers, coolers, rugs on the floor. Well, he had a big gas motor on the back and a small electric motor up front, but the motor up front was to big, he would stand up on his plywood deck with his fancy special bass fishing shirt on with matching basspro sunglasses that could see into the water and spot the fish... (sort of like those glasses Oldie Moldie bought back in the 50's that could see through walls), anyway, since the electric motor was too powerful, every time he tried to sneak up on one of those bass only he could see, the boat would lurch and move too fast, scaring away that bass that only he could see.

So in his case, he claimed that the motor was too powerful and made it hard to fish with, on his next trip to Bass Pro he found a smaller one which made it much easier to control his bass boat.

This is a somewhat true story, but the motor should be matched to the canoe, too big uses alot of power, won't troll slow enough, and drains the battery, too small and you go nowhere.
How do you find the perfect match. It's like marriage, set your goals, do your homework and hope for the best.
I agree with Acer, a nice rack to flip the canoe over hopefully in some shade, and having your own river to explore is just another way of canoetripping!