For many of you, owning a boat is not practical since you do not have the storage space or the vehicle capable of towing. An alternative to a boat is a canoe. A canoe stores in a small space along the side of your garage or house, may be carried on the top of even the smallest economy car, and also costs much less than a boat.
You have your canoe; so now how do you effectively use it for fishing? The best use of a canoe is for trolling hard baits a long distance behind. My favorite lure for trolling is the RapalaTM. I like the Original Floating RapalaTM for several reasons: It does not twist the line, it may be weighted to travel at any distance down to about 8 ft or fished only a foot or two below the surface, and it catches lots of fish in just about any body of water there is. My favorite colors are black and white or blue and white, followed by gold and white. For very early morning, late evening, or after dark, I will sometimes fish the floating Rapala TM with no weight. Cast the lure out, leave a lot of line between you and the lure, and simply start paddling. Keep as quiet as possible since you are fishing for fish only a foot under the surface and these fish may be easily spooked. Watch the end of the rod tip. It should wiggle back and forth uniformly – if it does not, then your lure may have become fouled with weeds. A weeded-up lure will not catch fish so you better retrieve your lure and cast again. For most other occasions, I will weight down my Rapala TM with one or more split shots 20″ ahead of the lure. This will get the lure down to where the fish are. Are you in a weedy lake? If so, you can also troll a weedless spoon like the Johnson Silver MinnowTM. I have fished this effectively tipped with a twister tail in the back.
Use the features of the canoe to your advantage. On small lakes, you can sneak up on fish more effectively than a large noisy boat. Also, look for secluded lakes and rivers that are only accessible by canoe. If you find some nice out-of-the way “fishing hotspots” only accessible with your canoe, you may find it difficult to ever upgrade to the full boat and motor!
For a lot more information on fishing from a canoe, visit my site Canoe Camp Fish.
© 2006, Scott Gaines. All rights reserved.