My canoe tripping fishing outfit

[Robin]

I was going through my lures and fishing gear, checking hooks and looking at what to replace so I figured a "here's what I carry" picture or two might be interesting.

I know my choice of lures are not the most up to date, some are reconditioned "finds", I always figure if someone carried this lure into this lake and I found it walking along a beach, hey, it might work, and maybe it even was lost fight a huge fish....wishful thinking, but at the price of today's lures, every little bit helps.

My favorite is the black and silver Floating Original Rapala, I plan on buying a few more for the upcoming season, maybe a little bigger than the one in the picture. This means something else will be left home, cause I only take 3 plastic cases on a canoe trip. I gave up on trying to many lures as fishing is a by product of the trip, a nice meal and some evening fun, but mostly just trolling as I make my way.

Here's my complete tackle kit-
An army surplus bag, I'm not sure what it was used for in it's first life,
2 film canisters, one has matches, the other cotton and Vaseline fire starter,
the strap on the bag has inches marked to measure fish,
a small stone to sharpen hooks and my knife,
a jaw spreader for removing hooks from pike,
needle nose plyers,
small flashlite,
a cut down metal fish stinger, great to hold a small/large fish till an appropriate size fish is caught for a solo meal,
(I never carry a filet knife anymore, sharp pocket knife or folder is good enough for filets)
2 reels, two poles, one pole secured under my gunnel, one reel, (the old Penn) in a pack as spares,


3 plastic trays carry all my lures, since I fish in areas where there are brook trout, I always keep my little spinners handy, the deep divers for trolling down a middle of a lake for Lakers or bass, the floaters for trolling shorelines on my evening paddles or during the day (they seldom snag, a real hassel when your loaded with packs and you have to back track to release a snaggged hook) and just a few jigs for the rare time I sit off a point/bottom of a chute and cast for pickerel.



Everything fits inside the little pack. I secure it in the canoe over a thwart and on portages, I drape it over a pack.

 

[memaquay]

Wowza, that's some serious fishing swag. I carry one small case, like 3 x5 inches that has a bunch of jigs, rubber tails and steel leaders (dang pike). I have one take down rod and reel. It takes up a small space in my day pack. Tripping up here, the fishing is easy, I have used flagging tape and caught pickerel and pike. I have often thought about taking my fly rod, maybe one of these years.

 

[Seeker]

Nice kit Robin. The surplus bag might have been a gas mask carrier in it's former life, probably british, maybe french. either way, it's cool. I love old canvas. i'm a lousy fisherman. my kit is much more limited... a single plastic box, 2-sided. one side is just spinners, 2-3 to a compartment so they don't get ridiculously tangled. the other side is hooks, swivels, jigs, and a nail clipper. mostly, I fish for trout and bass. I only like to eat the trout. the bass I let go.

 

[scoutergriz]

That's a WWII US Army Mk2 Lantern bag- The old peak 1 stove set (square pots) fits perfectly in it. If you want to save a little weight and get a better reach for those swallowed hooks, trade the pliers for a pair of 8" locking haemostats; you can reach way down, lock onto the hook, and gently twist it out the way it went in, you can also lock them on the bottom jaw of those toothy critters instead of gilling them. I keep mine on a key lanyard clipped to my vest, so they're handy all the time for flattening barbs, landing fish, or removing hooks in-water.

 

[Seeker]

I stand corrected. Thank you!

 

[Robin]

If you want to save a little weight and get a better reach for those swallowed hooks, trade the pliers for a pair of 8" locking haemostats; you can reach way down, lock onto the hook, and gently twist it out the way it went in

Good one Scoutergriz, I have a few but they where too short or too long, I will look for the 8" size and add them to the pack..


I always kept the needle nose plyers in case I needed them for repairs on the trail, never have yet, but I get the feeling the first time I leave them home.....

 

[Guest]

Robin,

That's an amazing outfit. Obviously, you have substantial fishing experience. Do you ever use more than one or two lures on a trip? What type of rod do you prefer. What pound test do you prefer?

Frankr

 

[Robin]

Robin,

That's an amazing outfit. Obviously, you have substantial fishing experience. Do you ever use more than one or two lures on a trip? What type of rod do you prefer. What pound test do you prefer?

Frankr

Hi Frank,

I've gone on several trips with guys who carry alot more, and they catch alot more too, but they where more interested in less miles/more fishing, which was ok once in a while.

As far as fishing experience, I started at the end of a dock in Ontario in 1955 with a hook and a piece a bacon my Mom gave me for bait. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those simpler times.

My outfit doesn't make me a great fisherman, it just helps me overcome some of my angling shortcomings by trying different things that have worked over the years for me.

I try many lures on a trip, floating Rapalas either jointed or not when I troll along a shoreline, and the deep divers out in the middle of a lake or along a drop off if I get an idea from the lay of the land it's deep where I am traveling. I tie directly to the hook, sometimes using a heavy shock leader of mono, but most times just 4/6 lb test line to the lure. I have used "invisible leaders" but not much.
I have caught bass deep, then headed up to a river mouth and caught brook trout on spinners in the same lake in Maine, trolled Lake Trout with the deep divers and in the same lake found pickerel (walleyes) off a deep point with the jigs. Evenings are mostly trolling deep bays off the beaten path close to the shorline with any number of my floaters.

Here are my two rods I use most with the reels I use most (I also use a Penn with 8lb test as a spare sometimes)


The top one is a Fenwick 210 reel with 4lb test line and a Shimano Convergence 5'6" (2-6 lb) rod
The bottom is a Libra SA3000 reel with 6lb test line with an Ugly Stick 5'6" lite action (4-8lb) rod