Boat fishing with a canoe

During a long career I’ve spent some happy hours shore fishing.

Sometimes that fishing was a walk around on a farm pond casting for bass and bluegill, sometimes night fishing for channel cats, sometimes for other pursuits.

But I learned early that while sitting on a bank can produce fish, spending time in a boat will produce ten times more.

Using something that floats on the water will let you cover a lake thoroughly, fishing areas that no bank walker can reach, or see you upstream to where no other anglers can be found.

But I could never afford a serious boat, and didn’t even want a 26-foot Chris Craft with a built in bar and all the accompanying bells and whistles.

My choice for most of my life was a little canoe.

It was nothing like the usual canoe livery craft, being just 12 feet long and weighing about 35 pounds. It was broad and pointed at each end, which made it very stable, and had splash protectors, oar locks, foam rubber bottom and two foam rubber seats.

I carried it in the back of a six-cylinder full bed pickup truck with cap, and it fit nicely in the back with the tail gate up.

I could carry that little craft with one hand using the other for tackle box and rod, and go almost anywhere with no need for a launch ramp, and the oarlocks allowed me total maneuverability.

I could turn completely around with a stroke or two, dodge among upthrusts in a stump bed, work around weed beds, do almost anything, and for movement to more distant places like upstream in a river it had a wooden apparatus on the stern for my little 1.2 outboard motor.

It got me into places like the farm pond that a farmer told me about saying “I’ve got a one-acre pond back in my north field that hardly anyone ever fishes. I stocked it years ago and it should have some good bass. You ought to try it.”

I did, hoisting my canoe over a barbed wire fence, then towing it over pasture grass to the pond which was almost completely surrounded by cattails.

I slid the canoe in, hopped aboard, and almost immediately started catching bass to five pounds. Then eventually I switched to a float and waxworms and gleaned a dozen or so lunker, thick bodied bluegills.

Without a canoe that pond would have been unfishable.

On another trip a friend and I took two canoes down the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania.

We used one with paddles and towed a second with a tent, sleeping bags, and other gear.

Then for three days we floated the idyllic life of Huckleberry Finn, fishing our way downriver, camping at night along shore, and feasting each evening on fresh fish fillets.

I used that canoe for nearly 40 years, taking it to Michigan and catching northern pike, bass, and panfish at Houghton Lake.

Or hauling it to the Upper Peninsula seeking smallmouth bass in little lakes that had no boat docks or cabin complexes.

I took it to Kelleys Island State Park with my son time and again, staying at a shoreside campsite and chasing smallmouths, white bass, and channel cats. Good times.

I found a light canoe to be ideal for hunting, too. Mine had camouflaged paint, and I routinely floated down small rivers after waterfowl and squirrels.

I could launch almost anywhere, cover the front of my boat with hand stitched burlap bags, then pull a little grass to cover the front top, and float silently downstream.

The squirrels apparently expected no danger from water and ignored me to their peril, and small flocks of wood ducks and sometimes teal might appear around any bend.

On rare occasion I would load a half dozen decoys and place them on a straight stretch for lazy hunting and good pass shooting.

There are several companies that make such canoes — Sportspal, Radigan,and several more that are often seen at sports shows and they cost a lot less than that Cris Craft.

If you like boat fishing, a canoe or even a kayak could be your answer. I used one almost exclusively, and I bet you will, too.

Hooks & Bullets — Fishing on Lake Erie is steadily improving as waters continue to cool. Yellow perch action is generally good and will get better with popular spots being west of Kelleys Island, around the Camp Perry cans, and around the Toledo Harbor light. Walleye fishing is a bit slower, though limits are still being caught. Best catches are by anglers trolling Bandits in 15 feet of water.

— Every winter boat thieves work their skills on craft sitting in backyards, garages, barns, and other easily accessible places. Boatus suggests that owners (1) take home any electronics that can be removed easily. (2) Bring home fishing tackle, watersports equipment, life jackets, and other gear. (3) Thieves love boats stored on a trailer since they need only hook it up and go. If you must do so, arrange the tongue so it does not face the street, and better yet, remove one wheel from the trailer. (4) If possible, remove your small outboard motor and store in a safe place, (5) On stern drive powered motor boats, remove these too if possible, and store in a safe location.

— Looking for a good place to fish? The all-access fishing pier a Caesar Creek Lake near Waynesville is now ADA accessible and features an underwater light that attracts baitfish and thus bigger fish. There’s also well marked underwater habitat to enhance angler success.

Winners were recently crowned in the Shelby Fall Baseball League. Above, Team Caudill captured the coach-pirtch division. Members include: front row, from left, Mason Elliott, Dillon Barnhart, Conner Wright, Logan Foust and Landen Moore. Middle, Paxton Collins, Kolton Parsons, Colton Elliott, Bentley Adkins, Levi Ramsey and Cruz Caudill. Back, coaches Josh Collins and Ronnie Caudill. Right, Team Bates won the major division. Members include: Raylin Francis, Adam Edwards, Emmett Bates, Dylin Cyrus, Corbin Carmichael and Gavin Garrett. Back, assistant Terry Garrett, Jaxen Haynes, Gage Cyrus, Bryce Booker, Bryson Smith and coach Matt Bates.