Goose52

For those reading this thread, that is an excellent point for prospective canoe purchasers to consider if they are thinking about motoring their boat. I briefly considered getting a square-stern boat because I knew for certain that I was going to motor the boat 99.5% of the time. However, as mentioned above, the stern-mounted TM or gas engine limits your seating position to the rear seat, and it is difficult to steer with the tiller directly behind you and also difficult or not possible to tilt the motor when getting in skinny water or to clear weeds from the prop. After thinking everything through, I opted for a double-ended boat, with a side-mount for the TM (which is actually part of a crossbar that also accommodates the outriggers, rod holders, and anchor lock). This gave me the option of moving the motor to where I would be sitting (rear seat facing forward or front seat facing aft), it puts the tiller right next to my right elbow, and allows me to easily tilt the motor. The only down side is the off-center thrust (just add some steering correction) and off-center weight (sit or stand a little bit to the opposite side of the boat. The first photo below shows the mounting. The second photo shows how close/convenient the motor is to my standing position (I stand 100% of the time to fish). Lots to think about when considering the desired boat configuration and how to rig it...

It's a solo boat ... but there is room for company on occasion ...

Canoes are like a blank canvas - there's lots of things that can be done to them. Below are photos of my boat... Have fun !

For solo fishing, I have a Radisson 12' (11'6" actually) aluminum boat. The hull weight is 34 pounds but that is due to some very thin aluminum. Some folks move over to the similar Sportspal canoe line which uses thicker gage aluminum if they have a concern about rocks and such (at the expense of about 10 more pounds of weight). I specifically bought this boat for that light hull weight, and I wanted aluminum instead of a kevlar or similar hull as I sometimes have to launch from concrete ramps. For a family outing boat, the previous poster gave excellent advice...

That is a 2500CDL in teal color. It was part of a limited run commissioned by Simmons Sporting Goods in 2012 - 200 reels total - 100 right-hand, 100 left-hand. Yep - as you well know - the 2600Cs are the pinnacle of the small Ambassadeurs. Mine will be worth a bit less at some point in the future as I will eventually fish it ...

Good luck on your project...when it comes to canoes, the are a tremendous number of options...;)

Yeah - the luggage scales are AMAZINGLY accurate...and I am not checking them with a gallon of water or whatever, but with laboratory-quality calibration weights. Here's one of my posts on these scales And, as mentioned by Blue, these are NOT waterproof...but inexpensive enough to buy several. I have them in the boat, in my bank fishing gear, and even in my house - I use them to weight packages that I am shipping...

Ah - the REEL handles. The one with the Daiwa-type knobs is a ZPI - the other with the EVA knobs is from Mike's Reel Repair in Canada.

Late 60s, early 70s Garcia Conolon. The details are in the first post of this thread. Search on eBay - they are on there all the time.

Nifty little reels - I have three...plus a 1600C IAR...

I fish solo so I can do what I need to with a light (34lb base weight before mods) and short (11'6") canoe. Being so light, I don't have a problem with cartopping it using foam blocks. The advantage of having a smaller vehicle and using the foam blocks is that I can pull into my garage with the boat on the roof of the car. No unpacking to do or unhitching/storing a trailer. All I have to do is recharge my TM battery, replenish tackle if needed, and that rig is ready to go the next morning. I think my record is going out 5 days straight so not having to unpack and repack each day saves a lot of time. Then, I don't have to worry about where to store the trailer - the boat stores in what my wife calls my "canoe hutch" on a sidewall of the garage and I can still fit the wagon in that bay. I guess it depends on how much room you have, the size/weight of the boat, how often you go out, and other factors. I did almost buy the trailer that A-Jay uses - it's a nice, light unit that is really slick. But at the end of the day when I thought through my own needs/wants, I just ended up cartopping.

Mine is only 12ft - but it has enough room for all the gear I need...

Thanks ! I still fish the 1500/1600/2500/2600 reels from time to time. On modern rods: On '60s vintage rods: And on a couple hybrid 60s Conolon/modern Veracity rods that I talked about here:

AND, I still have a couple older round reels:

This is what I said nearly 4 years ago and I still feel the same way. Round reels work - catch fish. I still have a couple modern round reels: They still get out in the boat:

Are there any reels in that photo? All I see is a BIG HONKIN' HEALTHY 'ZILLA SMALLMOUTH !

Regarding Edge rods in general, and the Edge 705-1, I described my experience in the 2nd post of the above linked 2016 thread on Edge rods. Now, I have both an NRX MBR843C and what was the equivalent Edge Black Widow a couple years ago - the MagBass 705-1. I prefer the Edge, mainly due to the better balance of that rod (tip light). Sensitivity is subjective but I think the blanks are comparable with perhaps the Edge having the "edge". The Edge is also spiral wrapped and has the Weibe-type reel seat - both of which are nifty so those are pluses as well (keep in mind that the current Edge rods are not spiral wrapped AFAIK). I'm not sure the Edge 705-1 (or the current equivalent Edge model) is enough better to warrant selling the NRX 843C to get the Edge, but those $280 prices on the Black Widow rods are certainly temping. Finally - I would encourage you to read my post in the linked thread about the changing specifications on Edge rods - it was hard for me to find out exactly what I was getting. AND, as I mentioned in the other thread, the Tackle Tour review linked above is no longer valid as the rod that was reviewed is no longer the standard offering.

We have many users of Bass Raider type boats on this board but it looks like none of them have used them in salt water! Anyway - welcome to Bass Resource - sorry you're not getting much help on your first post...

Hey John - those Swiss-made Abu round reels are probably REALLY rare. However, you can still find the Swedish-made reels at reasonable prices... (just yankin' your chain - I know it was just a slip of the keyboard...)

As the old saying goes - "you pays your money and you takes your choice"... It's hard to directly compare two items with one twice the price of the other, but: The Wenonah is an outstanding brand of canoe that has been at the top of the game for a long time. The Fisherman model has a nice wide beam, will be stable (for a canoe), will probably paddle better than the Sportspal, and as you said, is lighter in even it's heaviest construction material (Tuf-weave Flex-Core). The Sportspal is probably equally as stable as the Wenonah, will probably not paddle as well, and is heavier, but is HALF the price. Both canoes probably have about the same room, about the same weight capacity, and will both seat two people. So, it basically comes down to what you want to spend and how much value you place on the lighter weight (like if you are car-topping or portaging). The only other thing I can think off off-hand is the construction material - some folks prefer aluminum over other materials if they fish in water with rock hazards (and that might not apply to your water). You could get the Radisson 14' canoe (similar to the Sportspal but made of REALLY thin gauge aluminum) and get the weight down to a manufacturer's stated 41 pounds and still be half the price of the Wenonah. The Sportspal is a better constructed boat than the Radisson - but you pay a 17 pound weight penalty for that thicker aluminum. For me, I fish out of a 12' Radisson right now and if I ever wear it out, the Wenonah Fisherman in kevlar is one of only two candidates I have in mind for a replacement. Wenonah makes great boats, but Sportspals are good too. You pays your money and you takes your choice !

Hi Vanny - the guy you quoted (axeslinger70) last visited Bass Resource in June 2013 so you're not likely to get a response from him. For what it's worth - most people with square sterns mount the trolling motor to the transom - that's why you have a square-back canoe I guess. Yes - it's not easy to operate the motor tiller as it's directly behind you but that's the price you pay to have thrust along the centerline of the boat. A tiller extension might help a bit depending on how far away you are from the motor. On battery location, it's all about whether you are fishing solo or have someone else in the boat. If solo, the best way is to run extension cables up to the bow and locate the battery there. If someone else is in the boat, the the best place for the battery is midships (and again, you might need extension cables to reach the battery. I have a double-ended canoe and run my motor in a side-mount. The disadvantage is the asymmetrical thrust, the advantage is the motor is much easier to steer than having it behind you. ......and, welcome to Bass Resource !

Maybe not the best way based on mathematical efficiency - but a pretty dang good way of making sure you don't have to paddle home. The OP has a canoe - there is no "big" motor to fire up to get you home when your TM battery (batteries) run down...

I don't notice any practical difference between the two since I am usually only on very low power settings and both are MKs with the digital maximizer feature.

I see on another post that you've already decided on a 55lb TM so that decision is out of the way. I will add to this discussion that people often say that a 30lb TM moves a canoe nicely so you don't need any more thrust. BUT, while a 30 will indeed move the boat OK in still water and no wind - it's a different thing when you're trying to cut through slop or get hit with a sudden thunderstorm with 30mph winds and you're headed into the wind to get back to your launch point. I started with a 45lb TM for my 12ft, 34 pound canoe, and still use that for smaller lakes or when I am relatively certain that weather will not be a factor. For larger lakes or when I'm expecting bad weather, I run a 55lb TM which is as big as you can generally go on 12 volts. Regarding your questions about speed, IndianaOutdoors was pointing you to one of the limiting factors. On a displacement hull like a canoe (in other words, a hull that will not generally go "on-plane"), there is a factor called the hull speed. That is the theoretical maximum speed that the hull can make without a CONSIDERABLE increase in power. Just Google "hull speed" and you should find some light reading. The higher the length-to-beam ratio, the higher the theoretical hull speed. That is why long, narrow racing shells, many kayaks, and some long/narrow canoes have considerably higher hull speeds that some of the run-of-the-mill fishing canoes with wide beams.. My boat is only 12 ft (11' 6" actually) with a portly 38" beam and it's theoretical hull speed is probably very low. The other limiting factor in using a TM as your primary propulsion is that they are not made for speed, and the pitch of the propeller is set for lower speeds and for handling wind and cutting through slop. Whether you have a 30lb TM, or a 55lb TM, if both motors have the same prop pitch (and same diameter), and both have about the same maximum RPM, they are going to go about the same speed. The difference is that the 55 has enough thrust (power) to achieve that maximum RPM while going into the wind, but the 30 may not and will thus not be able to achieve the same speeds as the 55 in those conditions. As A-Jay said above, running TMs on canoes is not about speed; it's about not having to paddle, to be able to fish while underway, to have power to hold in the wind, etc. If you want speed on a canoe, you need to consider a gas engine.

Good advice above (and in another post by A-Jay). Generally, you want to get the biggest, highest capacity deep-cycle battery you can, especially since you are using it as your primary motive power source. HOWEVER, unlike other boats, in a canoe you are generally man-handling the battery in and out of the boat every time you launch and recover. You haven't said whether you will be rigging the boat on each outing or whether you are trailering or leaving it in the water all the time so it's up to you to decide whether the weight of a bigger battery is a factor. For me? I have a 55lb MK Traxxis that I run on my canoe and use a Group 24. That battery, in the MK battery box, weighs about 50 pounds and at age 64 that's about all the weight I want to handle each time I rig the boat (the battery actually weighs more than the boat!). I fish smaller lakes, don't run at full speed, and spend nearly all my time on the water at slow speeds (or stopped) fishing and spend hardly any time motoring from place-to-place so a single Group 24 works for me. If I had range anxiety, I would just do what A-Jay mentioned in another post - take two batteries with me - one for going out and fishing all day - another for getting home.