New member & first report - Severn River

[Fishtank]

fil - You and I are in the same boat.

The only boats I’ve owned during my 50 years of boating have been canoes. My current canoe is a 16’ Oldtown Camper, weighs 60#. I use it heavily on all freshwater and frequently take it out on several side rivers to the Bay like the Patapsco and Magothy. I’ve been fishing the Susky Flats for years from my canoe but I don’t consider the Flats to be the main part of the Bay.

There are a lot of advantages to a canoe:
- Very easy to attach a 40# trolling motor to the side of the canoe, takes 3-4 minutes tops to install. I use my troller when ever possible. An unintended benefit of adding a trolling motor is that the trolling motor hanging down increases stability by a noticeable degree.
- Don’t have to worry about where/how to attach a FF transducer. Just permanently strap it to the bottom of the trolling motor.
- Lots more room. Don’t have to worry about how to hold fish I intend to keep. I just put a medium-sized cooler behind the seat.
- I stay completely dry unless it rains. During 50 years of fishing from my canoe, maybe 1500 launches, I have never turned-turtle while fishing.
- Rods lay across the thwarts for very easy access.

Disadvantages:
- Dang wind can be a major issue for canoes, much more than it is for kayaks. This can be a big problem, so much so that I pick my days and locations very carefully. I’m probably over cautious, but it seems to work for me.

BTW, I’m sure you are well aware that when paddling solo in a 2-seat canoe, you should sit in what is normally the front seat but face the other way. So in essences you are paddling the canoe backwards. Sitting this way better centers your weight in the canoe and makes it more stable.

fishtank - Nice looking Mad River. Can the seats/backrests be reversed when you want to paddle solo?

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No the seat/backrests cannot be reversed. My canoe is 16 ft-85lbs. If I do go solo, (which I usually don’t) I actually take a 45lb dumbbell, place it in a dry bag and stow in the bow. It's all I need to keep the canoe relatively level even with me being 200lbs. I paddle the canoe with a 250 cm kayak paddle. I find it more efficient than the traditional single blade canoe paddle.

[kevinfry]

solo canoe paddle, 260-270cm works even better. Spendy though.