Canoe Modification’s

I know that IDO has some guys that love to fish out of a canoe. Fishing all sorts of water to educate more fish and to just get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
So what have you done to make your canoe more fishing friendly?

Ron

I’ve got an old town, Penobscott canoe. I haven’t done anything to it, but I’ve certainly thought of just putting a small pair of outriggers toward the rear to steady it a bit to allow more freedom of motion…

trolling motor and depth finder had to build brackets for both. but they sure are nice trolling motor is great for going back up small steams or for trolling cranks in areas where you can only get a canoe and depth finder works great in lake situations.

Two words “rod holders”

I have a Gruman Sport Canoe that has a 6 hp motor. I had a mounting plate made for a bow mount trolling motor. The bow mount has greatly aided in canoe control and makes it easy to slip with the current. The motor handle extension allows me to move forward in the canoe to get on plain. The canoe will top out at 18 MPH when I’m traveling alone. I love the Croix above the high bridge. The canoe hardly leaves a ripple in the water when it is traveling full speed.

We are looking to buy a second canoe for gear stowage. Remote camping has it’s limitations.

Take care,

Tom

We have a old town rogue river canoe that was modified. I built a mounting bracket in the back to hold 1 rod holder, trolling motor, and depth finder. The depth finder has a suction cup mount for easy removal. You can see a little of it in these pictures.

We have been able to manage any water in this setup. We are able to stand and cast, troll, and anchor up. Biggest fish out of the canoe so far was a 30 lb flat (pictured).

I love canoe fishing! Lets hear some more mods!

I go into the BWCA a few times every year, and after flipping a canoe i can say I will be looking to make something to secure my extra rods. I got lucky, I had 3 rods; all compre’s, 2 with Stradic reels, one with a Symetre and i didn’t lose one! The only thing i lost was a 31 plus inch walleye i was reaching for, and a symetre i let my buddy use on his rod.

I dont know how they stayed in there, because we had to drag the canoe upside down about 500 yards to shore, but somehow they got wedged in there lol!

Another thing to remember is to buy a life jacket with a lot of pockets! I was lucky, i had my H2o, camera, letherman etc in my pockets of the life jacket. You never think of these things until you actually flip a canoe lol! I had never come close to tipping one before, but we sure did this time! lol. Was pretty scary too, very early in the year, and water was in the low 40’s with the air temp in the high 30’s. We had to get to shore, strip down and get a fire going asap.