Nu Canoe Flint 10'

[tjm]

On 2/10/2026 at 9:23 AM, ollie said:

the ability to hook up a trolling motor

I'm just curious, but when/where would a trolling motor be used on the canoe/kayak?  

[ollie]

Spring River above 10c, Elk river closer to the lake or between low water bridge and Mt Shira. Also on the shoreline of some of the bigger lakes. Most of the time it wouldn't be used, but there are times when I could use it for sure.

[BilletHead]

       Anytime you don't have a shuttle and want to go upstream the motor option would be nice. Every year we see more and more kayaks up there. All padded up there. It's a chore for most of them in the thinner faster water. Then there is the fast narrow slot at the gravel bar.  After that you are good until after the left hand sharp corner. I have only seen one go above that and stop and wade fish at the next fast shoal. I know you are very familiar with that whole stretch Ollie. 

   Just FYI in case you don't know but I'm sure you have done your research when you attach and use that trolling motor it's considered a motorized vessel and you have more rules to follow. 

    Please watch the motor boaters myself included. All of us need to idle by or if there is a wide spot get on plane and stay that way until we clear you. This being said there are way to many boaters that think slowing down  and plowing water is the right thing. Nope. Then some with small motors unmatched with the boat can't get on plane but they think they are become the worst. I'll be looking forward to your posts. 

It's a busy place but fun to fish when the whites are there, crappie come in later and then you have two options. If you go when not many rigs are in the parking lot your vehicle is a target if you are not right there watching that. Myself and @grizwilson know that.😡

[ollie]

Well, it's either the thieves or the black vultures you have to be aware of down there! Not only on the Spring, but I would love to get back down to Texoma and fish the shoreline when the topwater striper bite gets going. There are just plenty of dead or frog water on the streams I fish so a motor would come in handy sometimes.

[tjm]

So for upstream work. Years ago when I was considering such a motor for my canoe, the research I did indicated that other than in  perfectly flat water the trolling motors wouldn't have enough thrust for upstream travel, and that the handling characteristics wouldn't be great. Not sure how that would be with a kayak. I have paddled my 17' aluminum canoe up stream often enough  that I've always wondered that no one else does; but I think that if I were motorizing it, I look at small gas rigs 2-4HP. Don't think that I've ever seen a kayak going upstream, although back when kayaks were a skin over a frame and fitted to the paddler I did see one 17 miles or so off shore in the Delaware/Maryland area of the Atlantic. 

 

[ollie]

14 hours ago, tjm said:

Don't think that I've ever seen a kayak going upstream,

When I first got into kayak fishing, which BTW was around 2002, I saw a guy going upstream in an OT Pack on the lower Elk. He had a custom made piece of wood on the back for a bracket and an older trolling motor with a car battery powering it. He made it upstream to where I wanted to fish like 10-15 minutes before I did. They scoot with power behind them. That was close to mile upstream as well.

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, ollie said:

When I first got into kayak fishing, which BTW was around 2002, I saw a guy going upstream in an OT Pack on the lower Elk. He had a custom made piece of wood on the back for a bracket and an older trolling motor with a car battery powering it. He made it upstream to where I wanted to fish like 10-15 minutes before I did. They scoot with power behind them. That was close to mile upstream as well.

                        If you do decide to power up, you float craft of choice go with a lithium battery. These are getting very reasonable compared to lead acid and last many years longer. Very light weight. You can thank me later 😉.

Amazon.com: RVLithTime 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery BCI Group 24 Lithium Battery Built-in 100A BMS, Up to 15000 Deep Cycles, Perfect for RV, Marine, Home Energy Storage : Health & Household

[ollie]

Oh, I've been doing my homework on this one. Was definitely looking into lithium ion if going that route. It's either going to be trolling motor powered or pedal powered. I really want to take a look at a Vibe Makana, but again, no one around here is offering them for sale so I can't physically get my hands on one to see. The videos out there for the Vibe with the peddle power looks interesting to me. That and the peddles can come out pretty fast if need be, Which I would think around our streams would come in handy dragging it over shoals on skinny water.