Kayaking/canoeing

[Daveboone]

I used to do quite a bit of canoe camping, many trips in the ADKS. I haven't had a chance to in years. Early may before the blackflies and late September are my favorite times. My wife even enjoyed it. We still have our old Grumman battleship, but it hasn't been moved in years. 

I really would like to get a solo canoe that I can easily handle myself for day tripping, light overnights.

[genesee_mohican]

8 minutes ago, Daveboone said:

I used to do quite a bit of canoe camping, many trips in the ADKS. I haven't had a chance to in years. Early may before the blackflies and late September are my favorite times. My wife even enjoyed it. We still have our old Grumman battleship, but it hasn't been moved in years. 

I really would like to get a solo canoe that I can easily handle myself for day tripping, light overnights.

Check out Hornbeck canoes. Pricey but top of the line and only weigh 20 lbs. I'm saving up for one.

https://www.hornbeckboats.com/custom_fishing.php

[JJBat150]

Grew up boating & canoeing the Finger Lakes and other local waters.

Got into Kayak fishing about 10 years ago, and the past 4 have been riding a Hobie Outback.  Most of the fishing I do is trolling for salmonid on the Finger Lakes, so the mirage peddle drive was a very good investment.  Have also had it out on a few Lake Ontario bays and tribs, as well as the open lake (weather dependent) 

My dry suit that came back from getting the zipper and neoprene gaskets repaired,  so plan on breaking out the yak and hitting water within the next week or so. 

Some pics :

 

 

[Daveboone]

Doh! or rather, dough!

Beautiful boats, but far beyond my considerations right now. What I would ideally love would be a lightweight Adk Guide boat. I have seen a few models that come in around 35 lbs, which would be great...at about a hundred bucks a pound!

[Bionic]

On 3/6/2020 at 8:57 PM, biggamefish said:

I have been canoeing and kayaking since I was young. I did some white water kayaking but my shoulders didnt like the roll.  My father and i have been white water canoeing since i was in high school. That stuff is fun but nothing better than taking a morning or evening cruise on a calm day.

Thanks for sharing.

We stay on flat water, lakes, and ponds, we like to just relax, and watch for animals.  If we are in Maine, the water is bathtub clear, so its fun seeing the fish, and sometimes turtles underneath.

[Bionic]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:14 PM, BowmanMike said:

We had three kayaks growing up and my dad would take us out to paddle a small river several times a year. That was great fun. 

Last year was the first year in a long time i went canoeing,caught my biggest brown ever.

That’s great.  We haven’t been on the water in a couple of years.  We live near quite a bit of ponds/lakes too, but we mostly enjoy paddling in Maine.  I had bought us an ATV for trail riding, and street riding up there on our vacations.  The kayak has had to stay home because I use a 4x7 trailer, and I don’t want to put the kayak on the roof of my Escape.  This summer, I will be adding square stock to the trailer, so I can strap the kayak over the top of the ATV, like a ladder rack.  This way we can do it all.

[Bionic]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:37 PM, ATbuckhunter said:

I just got a kayak a month ago, but I cant wait to get started. If you want to karak the wallkill sometime let me know 

Nice, that’s an idea, I work pretty close to the wallkill near Middletown.  

[Bionic]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:46 PM, Engraver99 said:

Wavewalk fishing kayak. Super stable, can stand up and fish, can sit normal-not bent into an "L", comfortable, can take 4' waves, has rod holders, etc.

Looks like a nice setup for you.  
We never fish out of ours, but if we were more into fishing I would have something different than what we have now.

[Bionic]

On 3/7/2020 at 4:56 AM, wolc123 said:

I traded my old Starcraft 14 ft rowboat for a 17 ft Wenonah Spirit canoe about 20 year ago.  When our girls were younger, I often took them out on the Erie canal and Tonawanda creek.    It was always fun.  On the canal, when power boats passed by, we would sometimes give that universal "slowdown-wave" as they passed us, making a wake.  I always got a kick out of it when folks on shore give me that wave when I am cruising along in the canal or lakeshores in my own powerboat.  I usually give them a standard wave in return.   The look on their face is always priceless, when they think that I think they are waving at me and not telling me to "slow down".  Sometimes that is followed by high-pitched yells, threats to call the police and turn me in for violating "no wake" laws, etc..

Patience is a virtue, which I often find myself lacking, so the canoe don't suit me so well for fishing.  I have only fished out of it three times, and they were all memorable.   The first time was on Goose bay, for largemouth bass, up on the ST Lawrence river.   That was the first time I used it and I ended up capsizing and loosing my tackle box.   I did not realize how tippy those things were, and the importance of keeping a low center of gravity.  I was sitting in the center of the canoe, on a swivel chair that was mounted on top of a cooler that I planned to use as a "live-well" (I am not a catch-and release guy).   Fortunately the water was warm and I was close to shore when the accident occurred.

It took me a few years to work up the courage to fish out of it again, but one year we took a week vacation to Long lake.  We drove up to a rented cabin, with the canoe strapped to the top of our mini-van.   Every morning, sleek bass-boats with big motors on back, would work the shorelines for bass.  I tried that a little from the canoe, with limited success.   If there was anything above a slight breeze, it was very difficult to manuver, especially against the wind.  

On the second morning, I decided to paddle out to the middle of the lake (actually not really a lake, but a "wide" area on the Raquete river).   The fishing was a lot better out there.  Those "unmolested" smallmouths went for my bucktail jigs, and I ended up catching plenty for a few meals.   I gave some of those jigs to a kayaker in the next cabin (who hadn't been having much luck himself) and he ended up catching a few nice smallies.  

Later in the week, I was floating broadside out in the middle (using a 5-gallon bucket as a drift sock), with 3 or 4 bass on a stringer.  I noted a powerboat coming at me with what looked like a sail up front.  It was an elderly couple, and the "sail" was actually a towel or shirt the woman in front was holding up for shade or something, between a couple of oars.  The old fella in back had the outboard at wide open throttle and the sail was completely blocking his view of me.   With the fish and bucket in the water and attached to the canoe, there was no way I could move out of the way.  I took a deep breath and yelled at the top of my lungs, just in time to avoid being cut in half like JFK on PT 109.   

The last time I fished out of it was about 10 years ago, on Cuba lake.   That is a small lake, ringed with cottages, and usually crowded with powerboats.   We were visiting friends, who had a cabin on the lake.  I brought along the canoe, once again strapped to the top of our mini-van.   I tried a bit of fishing at mid-day, but it was a no-go because all the wakes from power boats made it terribly uncomfortable.  

Towards evening, when the traffic died down, it was ok.   I ended up catching a very large smallmouth on a jig, across the lake from the cabin.  It was cool how that bass was able to spin the canoe around.  It was way to big to eat and I did not have a camera to take a picture.  I tied a string thru its lower jaw and towed it back the the cabin for a photo.   That bass kept pulling the canoe, almost like an electric motor, all the way across the lake (never in the direction that I wanted to go however).  After the picture was taken, I was able to release it relatively unharmed, and it swam away looking perfectly healthy.                       

My most frequent use of the canoe these days, is on those occasions (every other year or so), when mother nature blesses us with "lake-front" property.   When the floods come, The girls and I can paddle from our own deck, to my uncle's "lagoon" next door.   

   

Thanks for sharing. 
 

Funny you mention Long Lake/Raquette River.  This is exactly where I want to take Jenn to paddle.  She has never been up there.  I have paddled out of Axton, and The Crusher launches.  I paddled up Stoney Creek, and a little of Ampersand, I was too late in the day to explore Ampersand at the point of day it was.

[Bionic]

On 3/7/2020 at 6:24 AM, cynthiafu said:

I love it . I don't have one yet . But I am in a raffle for one hope to win it.

Good luck, I hope you win it.

[Bionic]

On 3/7/2020 at 6:33 AM, genesee_mohican said:

My 12' Old Town is my go to bass fishing/camping boat. Not many places I'd rather be than fishing out of this canoe on a fine summer day on an Adirondack lake.

That is what I would I like right there.  I am not sure if yours is a “solo” canoe, or not, but I always find my eye attracted to them.

nice photo by the way.  

[Bionic]

On 3/7/2020 at 7:06 AM, chrisw said:

I do a ton of kayaking/fishing in the spring and summer. I'm actually in the process of rigging mine for trolling. I've got the Big fish 105.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk
 

Nice setup.  If I were more into fishing, this is something I always said I would have.

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Bionic said:

Thanks for sharing. 
 

Funny you mention Long Lake/Raquette River.  This is exactly where I want to take Jenn to paddle.  She has never been up there.  I have paddled out of Axton, and The Crusher launches.  I paddled up Stoney Creek, and a little of Ampersand, I was too late in the day to explore Ampersand at the point of day it was.

There are lots of good places for canoeing up there and the scenery is as good as it gets.  Our girls, who were around 6 years old at the time, lust loved Buttermilk falls.  They liked hopping around on the rocks below the falls.   We took them on a few canoe excursions to nearby spots during the week we were up there.  They "helped" a bit with little paddles in the center of our 17 footer, with my wife in the bow and me in the stern, with the big paddles.  It was late July when we were up there, there were no bugs around that I can recall,  and the weather was nearly perfect.   One day we made a shore dinner of smallmouth fillets in a frying pan over a little one-burner Coleman stove.   

[Bionic]

37 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

There are lots of good places for canoeing up there and the scenery is as good as it gets.  Our girls, who were around 6 years old at the time, lust loved Buttermilk falls.  They liked hopping around on the rocks below the falls.   We took them on a few canoe excursions to nearby spots during the week we were up there.  They "helped" a bit with little paddles in the center of our 17 footer, with my wife in the bow and me in the stern, with the big paddles.  It was late July when we were up there, there were no bugs around that I can recall,  and the weather was nearly perfect.   One day we made a shore dinner of smallmouth fillets in a frying pan over a little one-burner Coleman stove.   

That is what it is all about.

[cynthiafu]

19 hours ago, Bionic said:

Good luck, I hope you win it.

Thank you me too

[cynthiafu]

This is  it . I am also in raffles for crossbows lolol