I think I posted this on another thread but since this one is the official “post what you paddle” …
I’ve been paddling for a few years in an Old Town Guide series 147 canoe. I took up kayaking in the last 2-3 years by purchasing a new WS T-140 and picking up a used WS T-120. (Both Sit On Tops)
I use two anchors instead of a trolley system on the T-120 as it was rigged this way when I bought it. I just need to figure out a way to store all that line while the anchors are in.
I’m thinking about going with the retractable dog leash for the 140 and the trolley system.
The paddles are not “full blade” paddles. I would like to “test drive” the full blade but for now I think the ones I have are easier on my shoulders, both of which have been operated on in the not too distant past.
Location: currently Fresno CA, from MO, moving to Sac
Paddling time: First cannoe trip when I was about 3 mos, cannoing ever since. Recently got a WS Pungo 140 for solo trips, this has proven to be counter-productive as I now have to get a yak for the wife :roll:
Love to fish from the yak, have 2 rod holders, 2 paddle holders, ancor cleats, and extra deck bungees. The Pungo is a great boat for me, stable, fast, and with room for gear and the dog. The best thing about yak fishing is exploring new places and catching fish while doing it.
My names Eric I live in Lewiston Idaho, my paddling started in boy scouts when I was 12, I went through scouts and then skipd the next 30 years or so, Last year I found a 14 foot coleman canoe at a garage sale and picked it up for $125.00 I use it on a local lake (in oregon it would be a pond) and fish for Crappie Bluegill and trout from it. The state record Channel Cat came out of this pond so perhaps one of these days I will get towed around the lake.
thanks for the great tips, Im looking forward someday to finding a yak to go along with the canoe, problem with the canoe is it weighs so much it is hard to get on a car top with out two people to fight it.
I have been canoeing for many years and kayaking for about 5.
My canoe is a Ranger Otter 16’ Fiberglass canoe and my kayak was a Pungo 12’ Classic. I just upgraded to a 12’ Duralite. It weights only 40 lbs which is great.
I do canoeing and kayaking in rivers and lakes and also kayak in the salt.
In the late 1980s some of us were sitting around after a tremendously delicous dinner drinking wine. One of the guys was looking at a hunting magazine with a photo of a guy canoeing back with a dead deer in his canoe. They were glamourizing the deer, I was drooling at the canoe. I let it drop that building a cedar strip was a long time dream. A few months later one of the guys called saying a buddy at work had a strongback he would sell for $25 just to get it out of his garage. I didn’t know what I was getting into, although less than a week later I had purchased the strips and started my first canoe. Took me several long months, and therauputic ones at that, since I lost my job in an ad agency in the middle of the building. My wife and I launched it in 1992 and I’ve been fishing from it since. I’ve since built ten as fundraisers for CURE (curemnriver.org) and for private individuals. Still fishing from the original one although the newer ones are incredibly more sound. I mainly fish alone using a stadium seat against the back thwart. To go places fast I used a long kayak paddle. To manuever I use a traditional canoe paddle. It turns on a dime, and glides through the water with the greatest of ease. I have adapted Joe Hyde’s anchoring system. Wasn’t a bad $400 investment. JGW
One of my fishing buddies and myself got together to buy a 14’ canoe for $100 or so in 1963. It was built by a local guy as a hobby. That was at age 16 in Oklahoma. We capsized in the Illinois River and lost our gear a couple of times in that canoe. We really didn’t know what we were doing. I also took my future wife out in it a few times. Naturally, after we got married, she wouldn’t get in a canoe.
After I joined the Coast Guard and got married, my buddy bought out my half.
It was a lot of fun, though. Now that the family is grown, I guess I’m returning to the things I liked to do a long time ago.
Just wanted to revive this intro post so some of the newer Paddling folks could introduce themselves. Also, if some of the “older” folks on here have changed their rides or anything else, please bring us up to date.
my first fishing craft was a barge of a canoe that my dad made when I was in 3rd or 4th grade it was an orange crate canoe from a plan in popular mechanics. the canoe was coated with fiberglass and weighed a ton. My father was not a fisherman but me and my brothers took that craft all over Utah fishing for trout in the high mt lakes and the for carp in the brackish water where the mountain rivers emptied into the great salt lake.
When we got a little older my brothers and I found a nice old canvas on wood canoe that was in bad shape but we fixed her up and again gave her a coat of fiberglass and had a real nice canoe for the next several years. Since then I have had numerous other canoes and currently have two canoes four kayaks and one pontoon boat. I mostly fish out of a 12 ft sundance kayak. It works great in the rivers here in Arkansas. I usually paddle from place to place and then get out and wade fish, but in high water I fish directly from the kayak
After due diligence(read searching high and low) I have a Necky Santa Cruz SIK. I’ve been out in it only twice because of the water temperature and my ineptness.
Springtime’s a-comin’ and I’m looking forward to getting
much better acquainted with my yak. I haven’t measured her, but have heard 12’and 12’6" both given as the length. I’ll prolly check sometime if it becomes an issue of concern. :roll:
Apparently I missed this before, but that worked out alright because I got to read every post till now!
My name is Erik, and I hail from one of the great canoeing states in this country.
I started canoeing as a kid, more than 20 years ago, but my love affair with canoeing began in the BWCA. Since going off to college and now, ten years later, I somehow fell into a recreation degree which, thankfully, encourages recreation.
I will never turn down a kayak, but am primary a single blade paddler and an ACA Canoe Instructor. For the last 5 years or so, I have led teenagers on BWCA trips for 8 days every summer. I have had great opportunities to paddle Seligas, Chestnuts and Old Towns and find nothing better than a canvas boat.
I am a traditionalist when it comes to boats, but am in the process now of purchasing a Royalex Bell for tripping.
My most memorable place to paddle beyond the BW was Byron Bay Australia, where dolphins were swimming in and out of our kayaks.
I can see there is a lot of experience here, and I want to say thanks for the wealth of knowledge on this forum.
-Erik
Hey y’all I’m Thomas from the Central Hill Country of Texas. I’m a Damn Yankee that moved here in 1999 from the Western PA. area where I paddled for about 40+ years. I’ve fly fished for more than 50 years and have tied flies for around 12 years. I own a Sports Pal Canoe which I know is a slow mover, but so am I. This canoe meets my needs with it’s square back style (which I can place a electric motor on if I like), foam interior (won’t sink), wide and very stable (meaning I can stand witout worry), and 13 feet long. I purchased this canoe on line from Myer Boat Works of MI. and just love it.
Wife and I paddled tandem whitewater in the 70’s. Had kids in 80’s. Put them in canoes in rivers in 90’s and started smallie fishing. Bought a pair of old town loon 120’s in later 90’s and continued fishing/paddling. 2003 started flyfishing from yaks. 2004 bought a tarpon 120 and continue to chase smallies on a flyrod. Will probably get back to canoe roots with a small solo job shortly. I just hate this stuff.
I’ve kayak/fished/camped since the late 70’s from a River Runner sit in kayak. I have just bought my first ever SOT, the Tarpon 120 for exactly the same reason as this fellow river flyrodder, cbyak from Indiana. We have a lot of good smallmouth waters here in Ontario, Canada
2004 bought a tarpon 120 and continue to chase smallies on a flyrod.
Hi Jim, Nice Walden Yak. They made those right up by me . Too bad the company folded . ( I know the guy who bought allot of their left over stock though).
As for what I’m paddling, a little of everything! I’ve got a fleet of canoes from 11’6" to 18’. I like them all for one purpose or another. However, here is a pic of my latest love. IT’s a sweet Stowe Manfield and it’s sweet. 15’ x 38" and only 56#.
For Yaks, I have settled on two favorites. An origional WS Pungo and a OT Loon 138 ( Two actualy, one with rudder, one without). I also like the protected but roomy interior and storage of the SIK’s. No yak/paddling shots handy but I’ll try to get some as soon as it thaws
Great thread!
Hello all - LONG time lurker - I’m Ron from SW of Chicago and I’ve been stuck on kayaking for a couple years now. I was able to purchase a Pungo 120 from a store called Galyans’ when it was closing/converting to Dick’s sporting goods. That was three years ago. My interests have always been in fishing and the outdoors but I got sick and tired of boats, motors, trailers, oil etc etc etc. My Pungo and I have been in some really interesting places in Illinois and Wisconsin and I actually do much better fishing out of it than I ever did in a boat. The problem is I could care less whether or not I actually catch a fish anymore - just the solitude of paddling along is great therapy to me.
Two of my good friends also bought yaks - One is a Perception America and the other a Dagger Blackwater - which has been rigged with a depthfinder and rod holders, etc. I’ve had enough of that and prefer to just bring along my flyrod or a light spinning rod and troll a small spinner, jig etc.
My daugher and I will be paddling the 50th CanoeMarathon down the DesPlaines river this coming May 20th. Just wondering if any of ya’ll will be there as well. This is my first time but I understand that they have somewhere between 600-800 paddlers that attend this event - really looking forward to it.
Well - if I can ever figure out how to post pictures I will. Got some good ones of me and my buds!
Peace - Happy paddling - and Mr. Hatch - thank you for a wonderful forum - I really enjoy your pictures and articles!
I have been fishing for a very long time but only very very recently have I taken the kayak plunge. Last weekend bought a Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 because I could not beat the price and there it was, just asking to be bought.
Have yet to take her out but plan on doing so really soon.
Double R to bad we live so far from each other, because we two old guys could hook up and go fishing. I hope you enjoy your new top water ride. The Catfish and Bluegills are just starting on their beds here in Central TX. and are running about 3 weeks late. I fish mostly Stillhouse Lake and Belton and have done very well at both.
Hobo
I’ve been paddle fishing since 2000 on a regular basis. I use several different paddle craft. I own an Old Town Penobscot and Pack solo canoe as well as a dust collectiong Loon 138 kayak. My current honey boat is a Wenonah Prism kevlar solo canoe that weighs in at 34 lbs.
I just purchased a Hobie Outback kayak and it is damned awsome!
I look forward to getting an Ultimate 12 canoe shortly for dragging through some rocky mountain streams here… this is just great. I have a big boat but it is hardly getting used.
