I recently bought my first canoe a esquif
mallard square stern canoe 12’ long for two
people.I’ve only taken it out one time before
but took it out on a small 40-50 acre local
lake friday.The first thing i noticed was that
going along side a bank i could not cast more
than twice without having to grab the paddle
to correct the thing from blowing everywhere
and the wind was only 5-10mph!Does this always
happen on short canoes or does the square
stern cause more of this to happen?Back started
hurting after two hours also,i have cane seats
with the backrest also,maybe i’m just use to
17’ bassboats with 150hp motors and casting
decks!
rocker…
might be contributing. Also, if you have no hard chines, the hull will turn easier.
Shorter waterline will do it as you eluded to.
Hi Thomas.
Jem covered it but I thought I would add too.
Think on the half submerged branch that drifts by and the leaf that skitters across the water. The branch is the bass boat with some weight in it and the leaf is the canoe. Canoes have two hull sides for the wind to hit. The outer hull and the inner hull side. canoes are light. They are susceptible to winds.
There are many things you can do to enhance your canoe fishing. Drift socks for controlled drifting while casting. Anchoring (and it doesn’t take much. A 3 or 5 pound mushroom anchor works well). Trolling motor. Tying your painter to a branch extending out over the water. Anchor poles. Running the bow or stern onto the shore. I sail my canoe too so I have a leeboard and rudder. When it’s windy I have my rudder and leeboard mounted for the extra “keel” it provides. That lateral resistance that board provides when used for sailing makes my canoe that much more wind-proof when fishing. Spring Creek advertises it as a fishing option too.
Your opening yourself up to a fun new fishing platform where you can paddle into the spots no one else can get to. Your going to get there quietly too. Enjoy!
Small canoes
My little Old Town Pack at 12’ gets whipped around by the lightest winds. She only weighs 33 lbs and it doesn’t take much to get her moving in the direction I don’t want her to go. A small anchor like a 3 lb. rubber coated dumbell works well for me. I also like the brush anchor that clamps on to tree branches, grass, weeds, etc. Sometimes getting blown around is okay. Especially if I just want to drift fish.
Wind and canoe fishing…
As Obeonecanobe says… be as one with the wind…
No, really just use an anchor, if you want to stay parallel to the bank use two… a small one (couple pounds) that you can easily pull up from the back, and another small one in the back by you… or as suggested above… fish with the wind at your back moving you down the bank… then back sculling will slow you down if you get to moving too fast… Good luck have fun…