Canoe Fishing Tips- Share the Load
The single best piece of advice while fishing from a canoe with a partner…
When fishing with two or more people in a single canoe, you’ll be wise to always have an individual (most likely the stern paddler) designated to controlling the position of the canoe. This doesn’t mean that this person can’t also fish, but it is wise for this individual to primarily focus on the canoe positioning and correcting the position constantly with their paddle. Fishing can be secondary, and depending on the fishing presentation being used, can also be productive.
You will be asking for trouble however if both fishermen in the canoe are both casting and retrieving lures. In order to do this, it requires two hands on your fishing pole, and this leaves no hands to be doing the paddling and positioning of the canoe. Depending on the wind situation, it won’t be but a few seconds before your canoe is out of position, and this reduces the chances for even the person focusing on fishing of catching the fish.
Canoe fishing teaches a lesson in servitude and sacrifice. Be a team player and take turns being the one controlling the canoe. It will increase your chances of catching more fish, and it will also keep the frustration levels under control and maintain everyone’s level of patience at the appropriate levels.
I’ve seen too many canoe fishermen both be trying to focus on fishing, and too much time is spent trying to get the canoe back into position, and patience grows thin and valuable time is lost.
You’ll be most productive if one person in each canoe is always focused on the canoe maneuvering and positioning. If you think of this responsibility as the “fishing guide”, you’ll enjoy in the successes of your partner fisherman. Because without your canoe maneuvering, their fish wouldn’t have been able to be caught in most cases.
Go in with the mindset that canoe fishing is a team activity, and the success of the team relies on the sacrifices of the individual team members.
I understand that it’s easier to fish from a canoe when you’re being protected from the wind. But I also understand that that’s not where the fish are. Fish follow the wind, because that’s where the baitfish are.
If you’re not prepared to canoe fish in the wind and deal with the inconveniences and challenges of controlling the canoe in the wind, you should also be prepared not to catch any fish. There is a strong correlation between catching fish and wind direction. They go hand in hand, and the wind direction will always dictate where you should be fishing. Convenience is one thing, catching fish is another.
If you want to catch the fish, resign to the idea that you’ll need to sacrifice a little to put yourself in position and deal with the wind. If you’re not willing to make this sacrifice and man up to the challenge, then you’ll be better off fishing from shore…the windward shore.