Looking For Solo Canoe Modifications For Fishing

[creek wader]

I just traded my 8' 2-man bass boat, for an Old Town guide solo canoe.I;m upgrdig from my inflatable kayak. My back needs a break.

Anyway, for the past several years I've seen pics of modifications that some of you have done to your solo and tandem canoes. I mainly will be using the solo canoe on small Ozark streams while fishing for smallies and sunnies.

I would like to see pics of adjustments that others have made to thier canoes. So, please post some pics. Such as pole holders, paddle holders, milk crates, anything that would help me modify the canoe. I'm open to any and all ideas that would help hold more gear securely and convenently.

Thanks, .... wader

[eric1978]

I've posted these pics a hundred times, but people keep asking... This is also a Guide 119.

[Al Agnew]

Here's a link to an old thread I started on canoe outfitting:

http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/index.php?showtopic=24313&hl=%2Bsolo+%2Bcanoes&fromsearch=1

Here's an earlier one:

http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/index.php?showtopic=12552&hl=%2Bsolo+%2Bcanoes&fromsearch=1

[Wayne SW/MO]

I didn't do anything to my my Mohawk but lower the seats to their lowest level. If I hadn't been able to do that with the factory hangers I would have made new ones.

I think the seating is the most important thing to address first.

[eric1978]

I didn't do anything to my my Mohawk but lower the seats to their lowest level. If I hadn't been able to do that with the factory hangers I would have made new ones.

I think the seating is the most important thing to address first.

I agree, especially with the Guide 119. You're gonna wanna get rid of that molded plastic piece of uncomfortable junk (trust me...I resisted at first, too). Move your seat forward several inches and up a couple.

[creek wader]

Thanks for the info guys. I searched the site and didn't find much. You've given me a few ideas to go along with with a few I got from you tube. I'll probably change the seat, too.

wader

[Al Agnew]

I'm a firm believer in avoiding modifications that are really permanent, other than the change in seat placement. I've gone through so many different permutations of tackle storage, seat backs, and such that I would have hated to have had to change it all if it was permanently re-done. I like all my extraneous stuff, such as my tackle storage system, seat backs, cup holders, rod holders, or whatever, to be easily attached and removed. It's a whole lot easier to carry an empty, unadorned canoe to and from the river at difficult accesses than one with screwed on and molded in gee-gaws all over the place. It's one of the things I dislike about the hybrid craft like the Natives and Jacksons...all that molded in stuff might NOT be the way I'd personally want it, but it's there permanently and adds a lot of excess weight that you have to carry.

Oh, and listen to Eric...the most important thing you can do to make handling a solo canoe like the Guide 119 a lot better is to move the seat forward. You want the front edge of the seat to be very close to the center of the canoe from front to back. I still haven't figured out why so many solo recreational canoes have the seat about 6 inches to a foot too far back. It makes it so much more difficult to keep the canoe tracking straight with ordinary paddle strokes, it makes it more difficult to keep trim (level), and it makes the canoe feel a lot more tippy. You want your weight to be very close the center of the canoe, and in the widest part of the canoe to keep it feeling more stable. The height of the seat is somewhat personal preference. If you have good balance, you can put the seat up higher and it will be more comfortable to sit on, easier to get up and out of the canoe, and give you a better vantage point while fishing. I also put my seat up high enough to be able to fit my battery box tackle storage system under it; the seat may be too low for it to fit. But if feeling a little less stable in the canoe makes you uncomfortable, you can even place the seat lower than it comes from the factory to give you more stability. At any rate, seat placement and height is the one modification that WILL make a big difference in the handling of your canoe. Guys who do some whitewater and do a lot of kneeling will even tilt their seat forward so they can rest their butts on it with their knees of the floor of the canoe, but for a fishing canoe I wouldn't think that would be any good at all.

[creek wader]

Thanks guys, for your thoughts. I want to make my floats as comfortable as possible. I think the seat will be the only major modification that I'll make.

[Gavin]

A couple ideas here..

http://riverbassin.com/forum/showthread.php?8701-Reborn-Ultimate-119-baby!

[Moswimb8slinger]

Eric... that canoe is almost to pretty to fish with, the finish on the wood work is awesome