Super User bigbill Posted November 28, 2015 Super User Posted November 28, 2015 My son got a canoe for free. The local town water shed just opened up for non motor boats. I'm thinking of getting him those pontoon stabilizers for safety.??? What do you think? For Christmas. Quote
Fisher-O-men Posted November 29, 2015 Posted November 29, 2015 just tell him to wear a PFD and not to stand up! A chunk of styrofoam on either side couldn't hurt! Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted November 29, 2015 Super User Posted November 29, 2015 Those outriggers are fine for safety. But, they are one more thing to grab your line, actually two more things to grab your line. It depends on how old and responsible he is, and only you can make that judgement. I've fallen out of my canoes twice in the past eight years. Both times due to stupidity on my part. The first time, I tried to stop it from rolling and the canoe got swamped. Luckily, none of the rods were lost and the two tackle boxes stayed afloat. The second time, when it became apparent that it was inevitable, I just flopped into the water. The canoe did not swamp. I was wearing my pfd and wearing hip boots. I was about fifty yards offshore pondering how I was going to get me and the boat to shore with those hip boots on. Then it occurred to me to hang on to the side of the boat with one hand and operate the trolling motor with the other. That got me to shore, where I laid down on my back and raised my legs to drain the hip boots. Getting them off was a major struggle, but I managed it. It was a nice day. Once I got my boots off, I went back to fishing. About a half hour later I was dry. Outriggers would have prevented both dips in the water, but I still don't want them on the boat. But, they might be advisable when water temps are low enough to cause hypothermia. 1 Quote
WPCfishing Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 I built an outrigger for my canoe. It's absolutely worth the effort. My canoe is totally stable, It's planted. I used 27" Fenders, framed them with Pressure treated decking board. The cross member is also cut from the same decking board. I put blocks on the yoke with stainless steal bolts up thru them. I drilled out the cross member for the bolts and use knob nuts to fasten it down. I can stand and cast all day without any worries of tipping over at all. No problem with my line either. Best $120.00 I've spent on gear. I can motor with the outrigger in place too. It slows me down about a 1/2 mile per hour. If I'm going across a big lake to another fishing area I'll pull it off to save the extra time.. If not I leave it on. I put splash shieds on it so If I do leave it on when motoring and theres a chop I stay dry. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted December 2, 2015 Super User Posted December 2, 2015 I'm a bit late to this party - been on the road... Anyway, the decision on whether or not to use outriggers/stabilizers can be based on a number of factors: Generally, the longer/heavier the canoe, the more stable it is, with less risk of rolling it. The lighter/shorter the canoe (like my 11'6", 34lb model), the greater the risk of capsizing. The more gear/weight you put in the boat generally adds to the stability and reduces the likelihood of capsizing, but then that means that you potentially risk losing a lot of stuff if the boat does roll. Age/experience of the user is a factor, as well as how many people in the boat. The activities being conducted in the boat come into play as well - are you just paddling, or are you also leaning over the gunwale to land fish etc.? Do you want to stand in the boat and have added assurance that you won't roll? Something else to think about. If you ARE paddling a lot, do you have a location to place outriggers that won't interfere with paddling? I don't believe that there is only ONE right answer to the question of whether or not to use outriggers. It all depends on the questions posed above, and probably others not stated. In my case, I have a short, light boat. While I do put quite a bit of gear in it to load it down, I still consider it prone to roll when conditions are right. So, in my case, the decision to use outriggers was a no-brainer because: I wanted to be able to stand, all day (see my avatar), without any concerns of capsizing, I wanted to be able to move around the boat, leaning every which way, to conduct the business of fishing, I wanted assurance that capsizing would be very unlikely, to safeguard the thousands of dollars of gear that could be in the boat. My particular outriggers are adjustable in span and also in the height of the floats. The floats are adjusted to be several inches above the water when the boat is trimmed laterally so they create no drag when motoring. The outriggers are placed behind me so that they do not interfere with fighting or landing fish. Of the 4,000+ fish that I have boated in this canoe, I can only recall TWO times when the outriggers interfered with boating a fish (and one of those times the fish also wrapped around the anchor line so that was already a situation ) Rigged boat: Photo showing both floats a couple of inches above the water when the boat is trimmed: Outriggers make it possible to pull stuff like this into the boat without capsizing 3 Quote
68camaro Posted December 2, 2015 Posted December 2, 2015 Goose, what brand boat and outriggers do you have? I have been struggling between a canoe, kayak, and raft for month now. I didn't know about outriggers so that could be a clincher for me since I like canoes the best but was concerned about being able to stand and fish. 1 Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted December 2, 2015 Super User Posted December 2, 2015 Goose, what brand boat and outriggers do you have? I have been struggling between a canoe, kayak, and raft for month now. I didn't know about outriggers so that could be a clincher for me since I like canoes the best but was concerned about being able to stand and fish. The boat is a Radisson - 12 ft (actual 11'6") with a 38" beam. A very thin aluminum hull gives it light weight (34 pounds stock, about 44 pounds when I lift it on top of the car). A good boat for open water - not a boat for white water or where there's lots of stuff underwater you could run into. The outriggers are from Spring Creek Outfitters. Not inexpensive. There are LOTS of ways to home-fabricate outriggers...but the quality, adjustability, and ease of rigging these Spring Creek outriggers made the expense worthwhile for me. From the time I pull up to a lake with the canoe on the roof of the car, until the boat is rigged as shown in the photo, takes about 12-15 minutes. 3 Quote
WPCfishing Posted December 3, 2015 Posted December 3, 2015 My canoe is like standing on a concrete floor with the outrigger on. Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted December 3, 2015 Super User Posted December 3, 2015 At just under 16 ft long and over 40 inches wide - what the Old Town lacks in forward speed it more than makes up for in stability. A-Jay 2 Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted December 3, 2015 Super User Posted December 3, 2015 At just under 16 ft long and over 40 inches wide - what the Old Town lacks in forward speed it more than makes up for in stability. A-Jay I think that's the same canoe I have. Speed is nice, but not always a priority. 1 Quote
WPCfishing Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I'm looking at buying a 2 stroke 3.5hp motor from Florida Outboards.. www.ioutboards.com Should get me to 6-7 mph. Quote
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