I am interested in getting a canoe and using a trolling motor to go upriver. I will use the canoe solely for fishing and I will be solo 99% fo the time. Has anyone used the side motor mount and motor on a double end canoe? Pros/Cons?
How about square sterns? Looking for as much stability as I can get
weight distribution a key
I have a dagger reflection 16 and the smallest minnkota trolling motor. One of my winter projects is to add on some wire to the battery cable (you need a fairly heavy gauge) so I can put the battery in the bow to balance the canoe. The wind tends to bother you alot. My canoe has no keel so it tracks only fair. It works for small/medium lakes and smooth rivers. I do sit in the stern seat and turn around to help balance the canoe.
canoe info
I would shy away from square sterns as they are hydrodynamicly unsound. Use a standard double ender and there is no need for the side mount addition. Just clamp the motor to the side and spin the motor into position.Try and get at least 35lb of thrust. A good addition is a small solar panel to constantly charge the battery while fishing.
Agree
don’t get a square-ended canoe because you have to twist your body a lot. It is very uncomfortable in a long run. If you do solo exclusively, get a canoe that is 14 feet or shorter. I had a 17 footer canoe and got blown all over when we were not paddling.
Weight is important, too. Get something that is light enough to handle (load/unload) by yourself and you will go fishing more often. I had a 14.5 footer that has a kneel with flat bottom. It has everything I want except the weight. Good luck on your search and let us know what you get.
Another way to do it…
I occasionally use a trolling motor on my Penobscot 16. I made a simple side mount out of a piece of treated 2X6 lumber, by simply cutting notches in it so that it fits over and onto the gunwales on both sides, with a length extending outward from the right-side gunwale to mount the motor on. I place it on the FRONT of the canoe, as near the front end as I could and still reach it easily to operate it while sitting in the bow seat. I too extended the length of cable (simple to do with some electric wire and electrical tape) so that I can place the battery in the stern to balance the weight somewhat, and I also place extra weight in the stern, so that when I’m sitting solo in the front seat, the canoe is fairly level. To operate a trolling motor most efficiently, the canoe must be balanced well.
Why in the front? I fish shallow rivers with lots of riffles that are too shallow to run with the trolling motor (when going upstream you have to wade and drag the canoe, when going downstream you have to raise the motor and paddle.) It is possible, when sitting in the bow seat of the Penobscot, to raise the motor and spin your body around so that you are facing backwards, then turn the canoe to go through riffles, as you’re in much better paddling position on the bow seat facing backwards than you do in the stern seat. If the riffle is a simple, straight run, I don’t bother to turn around, but just paddle it from the bow seat facing forward, but if the riffle requires so tricky maneuvering, I’d much rather be facing backward in the bow seat than be in the stern seat.
Plus, on some of the small, tight quarter streams I fish, I’d rather be up in the front of the canoe while fishing, so that there isn’t a long length of canoe in front of me and possibly scaring fish before I “get there”. And, it’s simply a little more efficient for the motor to pull the canoe than to push it. The tricky part can be turning your body around in the seat, however, so if you think this idea might work for you, try it, but don’t mount anything on the canoe permanently until you are sure doing it this way will work.
I too don’t like square-stern canoes, by the way.
motor mount…
Go with the double ended. I made my own motor mount that can lock into either end depending if I am solo or not. The one thing I built into it is I used a spring loaded adjustable tension hinge to attach the board that the motor clamps to. It is actually a gate hinge. This is real nice if you are cruising along and see a log or rock, just lean on the motor and it pivots as far up or out of the water as you want. And if you don’t see it coming, it wont mess up your motor shaft, it will pivot on it’s own. Battery at the other end and stabilizers keep it pretty level and steady.