Old Town Guide 119

[fishinwrench]

One of these...

...with a few rocks in it makes a dandy anchor too, its weightless until I need it and always in the canoe.

Just add a piece of rope.

[Smalliebigs]

Made from an old paddle, a few bolts and a Anchormate....

Works like a charm but I never did use it as much as I thought I was going to, and now I don't even bother taking it along.

Sweet!!! and brillant

and thanks E...hope ya don't mind my copying your idea a bit

[mic]

Hey Smallie,

Now that you got the rig, when can I borrow it.

[Smalliebigs]

Mic, you can anytime....it's just I go with it.

I intend on rigging this thing to bring out the fishing beast that lies within. I really need to get the seating area right and get this sucker comfortable and fishing friendly........so I can get people like Mitch in a canoe and get them out there with me.

[Guest]

The hardest thing that I have found with my 119 is an efficient way to carry fishing poles. I like to keep the rod tips in the gunwales. Since I have been soloing my longer tandem boats it just isn't the same when I am paddling the 119.

[eric1978]

The hardest thing that I have found with my 119 is an efficient way to carry fishing poles. I like to keep the rod tips in the gunwales. Since I have been soloing my longer tandem boats it just isn't the same when I am paddling the 119.

I don't know how long your river rods are, but mine are all 6'...I rest them on the seat thwart and they easily tuck unter the bow cap. You can forget about that though if you're hauling overnight gear, and assembled fly rods are impossible to keep safely stowed. I haven't used my 119 much since I bought my Penobscot.

[Guest]

I use 6 footers too, and a couple that are 5'6". The problem is that I like to carry at least three rods rigged and ready to go, which is a little tricky in a short boat.

[Stoneroller]

take some pvc pipe and put it up in the bow, that way you can slide the rod tips in the pvc and rest the butts on the seat

[Al Agnew]

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

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

These are links to two of my posts on canoe mods. In my opinion, you only need or want a double bladed paddle if you are planning on paddling upstream and floating back down, or if you are on the lower half of the Gasconade or the Bourbeuse where you have to cover a lot of frog water that isn't worth fishing. Any other stream, the double blade is unnecessary and not nearly as good for using for minor positioning and course adjustments while fishing. Most of my single blade work is with one hand while holding the rod in the other. If you do want a double blade, get a take-apart one that you can stow most of the time.

As far as moving the seat forward, if you were going to keep the seat that comes in that canoe, you might be okay leaving it where it is. The seat is placed a little farther forward on the Guide 119 than it is on the Pack, the Royalex version. But I'd recommend switching it out to a bench seat for several reasons. One, you can either make a seat back yourself to fit on a bench seat a lot easier, or get a Sit Backer and it will strap to the bench seat but it won't that molded seat that comes with the canoe. And if you want to use my battery box under the seat tackle carrying system (which, if I do say so myself, is by far the best tackle carrying system for canoes that I know of), you'll need a bench seat and just measure the battery box and raise the seat just enough that the box will fit under it. And if you are switching to a bench seat anyway (or making a bench seat like Eric's), you might as well move it to the optimum place in the canoe, with is with the front edge of the seat just about in the center of the canoe.

I've designed a couple of anchor systems that worked well, but don't bother using them anymore...just more trouble to fool with than they are worth. But I don't do a whole lot of pounding one spot with slow bottom bumping stuff as some do. If you like to do that sort of thing, or if you want to use this canoe in the winter, you might want the anchoring system. If you opt to use an anchoring system, probably the simplest is an eye bolt in the back end cap as close to the very point of the canoe as you can get it, and one of those anchor cleats where you just weave the rope back and forth through the grooves, placed on the seat thwart beside you right up against the gunwale. That way if you get the anchor hung in fast water, which is a recipe for disaster, you can just yank straight up on the rope and free it from the cleat, then let go of it and it will slide on through the eye bolt and you're free. Or carry a real sharp knife and keep it handy! For an anchor, an 18 inch length of the heaviest log chain you can find, doubled over and encased in some inner tube rubber, works well. You can stop the canoe with it in slow water where it will be safe anyway, let it drag to just slow you down in faster water (more dangerous), or let it dangle so that just two or three inches are in the water and it acts as a rudder and helps keep the canoe straight as you're drifting.

You should be able to carry a couple of rods up to six feet long with handles on the front seat thwarts on either side of you (especially assuming you drop the anchor idea I mentioned earlier) and the tips tucked under the front end cap, and you can probably also carry a couple of 5.5 footers with handles on the back seat thwarts and tips tucked under the rear end cap. But you might have to modify the other stuff you take so it doesn't interfere with the rods...for instance, a cooler that will fit behind you will need to be pretty small...if you like to drink a lot of beer on the river you may be in trouble! Depending upon how long your legs are, you may need to move the thwart in front of you forward to give yourself more leg room, and you might even want to get a longer thwart for the one behind you and move it to where it's as close to the back of your seat as possible to give yourself more room for gear behind you. Those are the only structural modifications I'd recommend...everything else should be very quickly and easily removable. I wouldn't want anything permanently done to the canoe that added weight to it.

[RSBreth]

I use 6 footers too, and a couple that are 5'6". The problem is that I like to carry at least three rods rigged and ready to go, which is a little tricky in a short boat.

Well, maybe in the Guide, but in the Pack I can carry 4 or 5 7' rods easily. I have the seatback off to show how the rods sit on either side.

Not to rub anyone's nose in it - but the Packs stock cane seat is a better set up for longer rods.