fishing from a canoe

[loki]

I have a 17foot aluminium canoe that is as stable as they get. I have fished and crabbed from it in Nehelam bay, but I was wondering if there are any drifts on any coastal rivers that I would be able to take it on. (such as The Wilson, below the guide shop....or The Trask, below Loren's Drift)? I'm just wondering, because a whitewater kayaking buddy has offered to take me on a trial run...but you know those guys!

[Hard Ball]

Im not sure about in a canoe, but from the guide shop down is a pretty easy drift. I bet you could give that a try. might get some gunny looks on a crowded weekend, but who cares. At least your fishing.

[Ryan Pultz]

Wile not on the coast i have always thought the clack from carver to river bend could be done an a Canoe

[Paddlefish]

Yep, several of those lower river stretches are canoeable. I've done that stretch of the Wilson several times myself.

The real trick is canoeing and fishing at the same time. A capable paddler can reliably control the canoe well enough to pull plugs, but that wouldn't give him any available hands to fish. Canoes don't typically anchor well, (although I've designed a couple of yoke systems which minimize the typical wild yaw motion,) so anchoring to fish is pretty much out of the question. If you're willing to spend 100% of your time handling the canoe while your partner fishes, you could manage but, otherwise, you're pretty much faced with taking the canoe ashore so that you can climb out and fish. That's not all bad: it makes you a bankie again, but a bankie with a bunch of new places to fish, at least. (Of course, then you're facing the private property ownership issues, so you may not want to go ashore. I've used a light anchor on a six-foot-long anchor line so that I could anchor the empty canoe in shallow water.)

Then, unless you're fishing in summertime "tennies & shorts" conditions, you'll probably want to be in hip boots or waders. I wouldn't even want to think about canoeing in hip boots. Waders could be manageable, with a tightly cinched belt around your waist to keep the water out and a good PFD firmly n place.

The overriding condition, or course, is that even though a canoe can go almost anywhere in the proper experienced hands, it's always a small boat in a big world, so safety has to be your overriding concern. The standard for whitewater canoeing is to go with three or more boats. Unless you're commanding a flotilla, you're automatically violating that rule. How good is your experience level? I've rescued people (canoeists) in those conditions. How do you say "REAL-L-L-Ly COLD!?"

Personally, I've mostly limited my canoe fishing excursions on the coastal rivers to the times when it's optimal for me and almost impossible for the "competition," (the drift boaters, etc.)

I've seen a batch of late winter steelhead kegged up in low water, downriver pools when most steelheaders had given up for the season and the lower flows are more forgiving.

And best of all are the summer conditions, when there are both steelhead and cutthroats available and you literally have the river to yourself because it's impossible to float or fit a driftboat and oars down the available depths and channel widths.

Have fun, good luck, and be safe.

[jimh]

Remember that you don't have to worry just about the water. If sleds run it, you should avoid it. They may not have a chance to no wake, and you may not be able to take the wake! Technically, if they swamp you, it will be their fault. But somehow, I don't think that will be much consolation for you by the time you get out of the cold water and notice that you lost your equipment.