I fish standing in my canoe.
Set your self up for a drift and go with the flow. The wind is not always a bad thing.
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"Nick's heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling" ...Ernest Hemingway
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I fish standing in my canoe.
Set your self up for a drift and go with the flow. The wind is not always a bad thing.
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"Nick's heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling" ...Ernest Hemingway
Has Jim Hatch ever given bad info or advice?
A pontoon craft will suit all your needs except adding the ability to carry a second person would require a two man, some of which are also convertible from one to two. Those however, are much more expensive.
A decent one man pontoon is very reasonable in cost and will provide, what I consider, the ultimate fishing platform. You'll have the ability to navigate very shallow water. You can row or use fins. You can fish and maneuver at the same time because you don't have to paddle or anchor to compensate for wind. You can fish while moving with you fins. You can't fish while paddling a canoe or kayak. A pontoon is a very stable, very comfortable, easy to get in or out of and easy to transport fishing craft..
It will be great for drifts down the Owens, ideal for fishing the small lakes in the Valley, terrific at Crowley and the other lakes around Mammoth. With a wheeled device, even a luggage cart you can easily take it up to Pleasant Valley. It's perfect for Intake II and the lakes above Bishop.
Only one important thing to remember, the altitude change will burst an inflatable. Don't travel out of the valley with the pontoons inflated to pressure. Even a seemingly deflated pontoon will inflate on the way up. The difference is dramatic!
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Joe
two words:
ki yak
(is that george washington standing in that canoe? or chris chin?)
tyflier
How is your health? Lugging around a 75 lb canoe while not really heavy is awkward.
My idea is to have both, you set the price at 1000.00 I'll bet you could find a really nice canoe used for 500.00 and then buy yourself a nice belly boat. Then if your fishing requires the canoe you have it, if you want to take someone along to help lug the canoe and the 100 to 200 lbs of junk we carry. Then you have it. If you buy the canoe get outriggers for it. They are cheap or you can build them yourself. But it only takes once for the kids to dump you and all the gear. I have a friend that has a gallon jug in the canoe with a long rope on it with a heavy weight at the end. If the canoe flips all his stuff that sinks is near the jug.
I would love to use a canoe, but my big butt and my health just does not encourage the canoe. I will just have to keep wading and when I retire to freshwater I will have a nice freshwater boat that the wife and I can use.
Think outside the box and since you are describing different types of fishing see if you can be happy with two cheaper solutions instead of one expensive solution. What ever make sure it is sea worthy for down here..... Canoes work fine on the flats. Do like D. Micus canoe out (he yaks) and wade the area.
Harold
eponymousufusfs (or something like that), to answer your question regarding Jim Hatch's advice....a resounding NOPE. His advice is always good and sound. I wasn't disputing his comments..I was only adding some thoughts of my own from the negative side of canoes...you'll note I threw in a couple negatives about 'toons too.
All in all, I think Chris will make his own mind up...he was asking for the pros and cons to double check that he has considered all options.
It'll be interesting to see what he eventually does.
As to the various choices, that's why cars come in so many different colors, something that Henry Ford finally learned about "choices". People need them.
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Snow on the roof but with fire still in the hearth
Micus, RW here
Two more words:
Can oe!
DANG!! This saves time and a lot of words.
Don't' ya just luv brevity..must be the writer in us.
Go Yankees!! RW
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"We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours." -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-
CANOE!
Hey Epony and Silvertop,
I appreciate the kind words.*G* Fact is, I've been there, done that, numerous
times in fact. IMHO, every craft you can
name is a compromise. Some excell in one
area, and others, well they excell in other
areas. Then some are just not worth the
powder to blow them to...Well, you know what
I mean. You've just gotta weigh the pro's
and con's and see which one best suits your
needs. Actually, no single craft will
probably do so. Pick your major use for the
boat, single, double, pond, bays, whatever,
and pick the boat that does it best. The
rest will be a compromise. No way around it
other than a garage full of boats.*G*
Warm regards, Jim
Two sportsmen model plastic Kayaks from someplace like GI Joes, a sporting good store out here in the West. You can get two sportsmans models and add rod holders and anchors for both for under $800 including tax. Then take one when by yourself and two when with someone else and let them row their own weight around. Easy to carry if needed and easy to store, mine both weight under 35 LBS each. I know I have to carry mine up and down stairs every time I use them since I live in a condo and its stored out on the deck. I also fish night time at some lakes and have to carry out the kayak after the park closes which is as much as a 1/2 mile. You can be on the lake after dark fishing but any trucks or cars parked inside of the park will be towed. I leave the kayaks in the sun without worries and do not have to air up and down and it takes longer to set up my rod then it does to get the kayak on the water and ready to go. Also its nice to be completely out of the water when fishing lakes in the middle of winter and when fishing around Seals in the salt. Also I do not have to wear wadders to fish lakes and such saving set up time and giving me more time to fish. Most of the time I do not even wear wadders in the salt since I do not even bother getting out of it till I am done fishing. I never been bothered by not being able to stand up to cast from because with the kayak because I never had to make a cast longer then 60ft even when coming on schools a fish with birds above. Sixty feet even sitting is not hard to do. As for going to the bathroom only twice have I been to far from shore to get back in time and since I am a guy I took care of it trucker style. As for seeing into the water, the low to the water position really lets me see whats going on in the water including what insects and bait fish are swimming around under the boat. Watching a mayfly hatch from emerger to adult from up close is pretty darn cool.
The draw backs. I stand out in a crowd out here because most fishermen and women use pontoons or belly boats and if using the kayak for trolling flies you have to learn to set the hook with your oars rather then the rod. This takes some getting use to and even now at times I start to grab the rod when a big fish hits.
I have nothing against Canoes, belly boats or pontoons but for my uses which include salt water, lakes both big and small, rivers and ponds the kayak was the best compermise and since I live in a condo I can not own alot of boats due to storage issues.