Who Fishes From A Square Stern Canoe ?

[Jim Mac]

I don't know if you got something yet but I bought the Old Town Square stern saranac 15.4 long canoe from Dicks and is working out great. Is very stable even with 3 people though we normally only fish with 2 and a dog. I added some swivel seats on removable mounts, a 55 lb thrust Minn Kota and transport on my roof rack

Does your canoe from Dick's have a drain plug? I saw it last season at Dick's, but I can't remember. If it doesn't, it wouldn't work for me. It would be sitting outside on a trailer. Thanks.

[mikeg]

Jim Mac, Get a little bilge pump or flip it over.  I keep mine in the garage but bought a hand powered bilge pump after some waves washed over the canoe.  It's only happened once and it was only an inch or two of water but it was a pain none the less.  I tested the pump with a 5 gallon bucket of water and it works surprisingly quick and did a good job of getting darn near all of the water.

 

I love my square back canoe, I do offset the TM as far to the side on the transom as possible to make it a bit more comfortable when I twist around and I do put the battery in the front of the canoe.  Being a 12' Raddisson, it's ony about 40# empty but it is only rated for 450#, 500 with gear.  I'm 210#, the battery, motor and gear is probably another 100#, so I'd be pushing my luck with another person my size.  It's fine with my wife, daughter or 150# son though.  It's a piece of cake for 2 of us to launch from the back of my truck.  It's not even bad just by myself but I have to take out more of the gear before moving it.

 

mikeg

[new2BC4bass]

I fish from a 14' Gheenoe when visiting Florida.  Think that is the correct name.  Made in Georgia.  Fiberglass, square stern, 3 bench seats with water in the center for keeping your fish.  These boats aren't that wide so aren't what I would call stable.

 

Look into a Porta-Bote....the 12.5' model.  Hull weight (minus seats) is 87 pounds.  60" beam.  3 seats give more leg room than the 14 footer (has 4 seats) which is also a lot heavier (108 lbs) because it needs to be reinforced.  Stability is a lot better than the Gheenoe.

 

Max gas motor weight is 56 lbs.  Check out the specs here: http://www.porta-bote.com/dimension.php

 

Drafts 4".  Youtube videos show it moving right along with the required small motors.  Should do real well with one person on board.

 

I bought it because I would have to leave a trailer in my yard.  This boat hangs on my garage wall.  Now that I am looking at putting a gas motor on it, I will also have to look at getting a trailer.  A trailer would eliminate you needing to pick it up and assembling and disassembling every time you wanted to use it.  The portability and ease of assembly sounds good until you have been fishing for 8 hours in the heat, and just want to go home.  Takes my daughter and me longer than the 15 minutes the 2 guys in a youtube video take to assemble.

 

In my case the cost of a trailer and having to leave it in the yard is not going to fly well with the wife. 

[bluezed]

My dad and I got a 14' Scanoe.  We have a 45lb Minn Kota on it and Spring Creek stabilizers.  It's a good, inexpensive setup that is easy to throw on top of his SUV and get in/out of the water quickly.  Very stable with the stabilizers.  I stand and fish most of the time.  For a cheap canoe it tracks pretty well and moves along nicely with the 45.  

 

The only tough part about it is the trolling motor is quite a ways back from the rear seat.  Even at full reach it's still a little uncomfortable to operate for long periods.  

 

We did look into the Porta Bote but ultimately decided we didn't need it.  For the cost of a basic Porta Bote we could equip the Scanoe with everything we wanted and still end up spending a bit less.  I would still love to have one, though.  They are pretty nifty.  

[new2BC4bass]

My dad and I got a 14' Scanoe.  We have a 45lb Minn Kota on it and Spring Creek stabilizers.  It's a good, inexpensive setup that is easy to throw on top of his SUV and get in/out of the water quickly.  Very stable with the stabilizers.  I stand and fish most of the time.  For a cheap canoe it tracks pretty well and moves along nicely with the 45.  

 

The only tough part about it is the trolling motor is quite a ways back from the rear seat.  Even at full reach it's still a little uncomfortable to operate for long periods.  

 

We did look into the Porta Bote but ultimately decided we didn't need it.  For the cost of a basic Porta Bote we could equip the Scanoe with everything we wanted and still end up spending a bit less.  I would still love to have one, though.  They are pretty nifty.  

 

I picked up 2 swivel seats and the caddy when I got mine.   Seats set you up a couple inches higher, but more importantly save my old back.  The wheels make it a breeze to move around.  Especially considering how light it is fully assembled.  Boat is also easy to row.  I wouldn't mind the assembling and the disassembling so much if I wasn't an old fart. 

[Jim Mac]

Jim Mac, Get a little bilge pump or flip it over.  I keep mine in the garage but bought a hand powered bilge pump after some waves washed over the canoe.  It's only happened once and it was only an inch or two of water but it was a pain none the less.  I tested the pump with a 5 gallon bucket of water and it works surprisingly quick and did a good job of getting darn near all of the water.

 

I love my square back canoe, I do offset the TM as far to the side on the transom as possible to make it a bit more comfortable when I twist around and I do put the battery in the front of the canoe.  Being a 12' Raddisson, it's ony about 40# empty but it is only rated for 450#, 500 with gear.  I'm 210#, the battery, motor and gear is probably another 100#, so I'd be pushing my luck with another person my size.  It's fine with my wife, daughter or 150# son though.  It's a piece of cake for 2 of us to launch from the back of my truck.  It's not even bad just by myself but I have to take out more of the gear before moving it.

 

mikeg

Good idea. I do have a manual bilge pump somewhere. I haven't used it in many years.

[bluezed]

I picked up 2 swivel seats and the caddy when I got mine.   Seats set you up a couple inches higher, but more importantly save my old back.  The wheels make it a breeze to move around.  Especially considering how light it is fully assembled.  Boat is also easy to row.  I wouldn't mind the assembling and the disassembling so much if I wasn't an old fart. 

 

What seats did you get?  I am usually up front and am fine with the stock seat with a cushion.  I usually stand, anyways.  But a swivel seat out back would probably help a lot.  

 

We did order a cart for it earlier this week.  It should be here soon.

[new2BC4bass]

Seats appear to be white in the picture, but mine are gray.

 

http://www.porta-bote.com/seat

 

I've always had at least one other person in the boat whenever I had it out.  Standing isn't a problem.  The 60" hull makes it pretty stable.

[Jim Mac]

I never did buy a square stern canoe, but I'm thinking about it again. I noticed the 15' Saranac square stern that Dick's sells went up $250 from last fall. Any ideas why? It went from $550 to $800.

[Mike2841]

Not sure how you feel about kayaks but the ocean kayak torque has a built in trolling motor, might be a good alternative for what you're looking for.

[Jim Mac]

Not sure how you feel about kayaks but the ocean kayak torque has a built in trolling motor, might be a good alternative for what you're looking for.

Thanks. I already have a kayak. The canoe would be to replace my 16' flat bottom jon boat.

[Vanny]

On 12/23/2012 at 5:56 AM, axeslinger70 said:

I don't know if you got something yet but I bought the Old Town Square stern saranac 15.4 long canoe from Dicks and is working out great. Is very stable even with 3 people though we normally only fish with 2 and a dog. I added some swivel seats on removable mounts, a 55 lb thrust Minn Kota and transport on my roof rack

I'm trying to put my Minn kota v2 55 on my Saranac also. Would you mind sharing where you mounted the motor and placed the batteries. 

[Largemouth21]

just noticed the dates in this thread. Why do people reply to old posts 

 

[Largemouth21]

zombie thread

[new2BC4bass]

On 8/1/2013 at 0:09 AM, bluezed said:

 

What seats did you get?  I am usually up front and am fine with the stock seat with a cushion.  I usually stand, anyways.  But a swivel seat out back would probably help a lot.  

 

We did order a cart for it earlier this week.  It should be here soon.

 

Sorry.  Didn't keep track of this thread.  I bought them from the Porta-Bote manufacturer at the same time I ordered the boat.

[Goose52]

20 hours ago, Vanny said:

I'm trying to put my Minn kota v2 55 on my Saranac also. Would you mind sharing where you mounted the motor and placed the batteries. 

 

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 !

[Way2slow]

Now, this is funny.  Back in 2012 when this thread was started, I posted on here about my brother calling me and telling me my canoe was missing from the pond,

Well, he just called me told me he has my canoe.  He was at the peoples house that have land next to ours and saw my canoe next to a shed (that old green, wide bottom, square back this is pretty easy to recognize}.  He asked if that wasn't the canoe from our pond and the guy says "oh yea, his son borrowed it and just hasn't taken it back".  Five years later, he just borrowed it and he hasn't taken it back????. 

[Jim Mac]

Yeah right 

[Largemouth21]

On August 24, 2017 at 1:58 PM, Way2slow said:

Now, this is funny.  Back in 2012 when this thread was started, I posted on here about my brother calling me and telling me my canoe was missing from the pond,

Well, he just called me told me he has my canoe.  He was at the peoples house that have land next to ours and saw my canoe next to a shed (that old green, wide bottom, square back this is pretty easy to recognize}.  He asked if that wasn't the canoe from our pond and the guy says "oh yea, his son borrowed it and just hasn't taken it back".  Five years later, he just borrowed it and he hasn't taken it back????. 

was the johnboat ever recovered ? better keep an eye on those neighbors 

[IndianaOutdoors]

On 8/24/2017 at 1:58 PM, Way2slow said:

Now, this is funny.  Back in 2012 when this thread was started, I posted on here about my brother calling me and telling me my canoe was missing from the pond,

Well, he just called me told me he has my canoe.  He was at the peoples house that have land next to ours and saw my canoe next to a shed (that old green, wide bottom, square back this is pretty easy to recognize}.  He asked if that wasn't the canoe from our pond and the guy says "oh yea, his son borrowed it and just hasn't taken it back".  Five years later, he just borrowed it and he hasn't taken it back????. 

Stealing a man's boat should be a capital offense

[RPreeb]

8 hours ago, IndianaOutdoors said:

Stealing a man's boat should be a capital offense

 

No different from a horse thief back in the Old West.... Hang 'em all.