mreed81 Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 So I broke out of my comfort zone with fishing for Trout today as I grew up pretty much solely doing that with my Grandpa. I have maybe fished bass streams 2 or 3 times back when I was a kid, so this was pretty much my first time in 20 years of being on this kind of water, which I am rather unfamiliar with how to approach and fish on. I purchased and Old Town Discovery 119 several weeks ago and it arrived at the store on Friday. Picked it up and set forth with a plan to hit water immediately. I accessed the river at about 6 a.m. Started fishing near the slab with WTD lure(first time). I can now say I learned how to walk the dog! Fun baits to fish with for sure, and I was able to get a lot of action at that hole. Biggest fish was a 10" Smallie. Nothing to call home about or take pics of but man, those little guys put up a HUGE fight! Can't imagine the fight of a 20" Smallie. I made my way down stream for some time. In the riffles and shallow water(which there is not a lot of on the Bourbeuse) I was able to latch onto several fish every time, but the deeper water along bluffs and with fallen trees just didn't produce for me. I would have thought that was perfect habitat for Largemouth and Spotted Bass. I threw a number of different types of lures, crankbaits, top water, spinnerbaits, etc. and different retrieval methods at those holes and runs but absolutely nothing produced in the deep water. Maybe it was operator error. I'm really not sure, but I suppose it is part of the learning experience which does make it very fun whenever the results produce in the future. Lord knows I didn't become the Trout fisherman I am without a lot of practice and grit. Overall it was a great day. I was the only person on that section of the river and the quiet, country atmosphere was a great break from the city life. The canoe works great for my needs. I did learn the lesson of the size of this boat is not what the outfitter rentals are. Made it a little hard on myself with a big cooler right in front of my knees! I also learned a lot in regards to how the fish were holding in the shallower water which is a little different from my Trout tactics. Despite not catching anything in the deeper water I never gave up, kept trying something different and continued to move down stream until I hit my turnaround point. I'll definitely be back and hitting other water now that I have this canoe! Matt Daryk Campbell Sr, Pat Magee, Greasy B and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSBreth Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 You'll learn what you can take and what you can't pretty quick - I have the Pack which is more or less the same size. You will love your solo - trust me. Only thing I can add is rods sticking up like that will get broken. Ditch the big cooler and put them forward from beside your seat across the center thwart with the tips inside the front like this - much better. My seat-backer is off for this shot but you get the idea. Good report and hope to see more. mreed81 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreed81 Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 5 hours ago, RSBreth said: You'll learn what you can ask and what you can't pretty quick - I have the Pack which is more or less the same size. You will love your solo - trust me. Only thing I can add is rods sticking up like that will get broken. Ditch the big cooler and put them forward from beside your seat across the center thwart with the tips inside the front like this - much better. My seat-backer is off for this shot but you get the idea. Good report and hope to see more. Thanks for the tips regarding placing the rods flat, I didn't think of breakage. My other two rods were lying down because I was mainly using those two. Once I got to the stream I quickly realized the cooler was to big! Shame on me for not mocking it up the night before. The one in back was just dry storage, but could also be much smaller. You'll definitely see more from me, heck, I might even run into you on a stream. P.S. not sure I follow your first sentence with what I can and can't ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Agnew Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Yep, if you are doing overnight trips out of a solo canoe, especially one that size, it pays to do some measuring and planning. I generally do two coolers as well if I'm going for more than two days. One holds the cold stuff I'll be eating and drinking that day, the other holds a lot more (solid block--actually large frozen bottles) ice and the stuff I won't get to until the second or third evening. But both coolers are the size that will fit either behind my seat or in front of the thwart in front of my feet, I keep the space between the seat and that thwart completely clear. Then two good sized dry bags--one holds tent, ground cloth, sleeping pad, the other holds clothing, sleeping bag, and any dry food or other dry stuff, flashlights, etc. I don't bother to take anything to cook during the summer--who needs hot food in hot weather? If it's a cool weather trip, though, I can still fit some cooking utensils and a little stove in a smaller dry bag that can be stuffed in any space I can find. If it's more than three days, a water purifier goes along, too, but on two or three day trips my water comes from the frozen bottles as they thaw. Daryk Campbell Sr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 The big cooler was to big and not in the right place. two smaller. One fore, one aft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreed81 Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 Yes, the cooler being too big and in the wrong place has been covered and acknowledged LOL. It was only a day trip, just got excited since I got the canoe the day before and just went straight to the stream without much planning. It all worked out great, and despite the cooler being too big it didn't ruin the day. Daryk Campbell Sr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 As long as you are floating;). Glad you had fun! Isn't any wrong or right, just gotta figure out your kit. Still refining a few. Way extra mostly. mreed81 and Coosa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSBreth Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 "Ask" was supposed to be "take" - bloody autocomplete. mreed81 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkbying89 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Good to hear from you, Matt. Awesome canoe and post. You will have a blast with that canoe it opens a lot of water to you. mreed81 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreed81 Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 26 minutes ago, bkbying89 said: Good to hear from you, Matt. Awesome canoe and post. You will have a blast with that canoe it opens a lot of water to you. Same here, Bill. Now I just need to find more time to take this canoe out. My summer has been pretty busy with traveling for racing, and will continue until mid September. I'll get a lot of use with this in the fall for sure. I'll pm you with some dates (most likely Saturdays for the immediate future) to see if we can both hit the water wade fishing somewhere for either Trout or Smallmouth. bkbying89 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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