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 Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Trip Planning Forum Odd number going-options Reply
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| Previous Messages: | |
| Author | Message Text |
| Birdknowsbest |
05/07/2018 02:23AM 3 ppl fishing in one boat, especially if casting artificial baits is going to be tricky. If you go the 3 in one canoe route get a canoe designed for 3 ppl. I would personally do the odd person solo canoe. This way it can be rotated if you so chose and if someone wants to solo fish at any time there is a canoe for them. As long as the solo can portage the canoe and carry a pack at the same time, I think this is the way to go. On all of our 5 man trips we have always done 2-2 person canoes and one solo canoe. It has worked so great we have never even brought up the idea of doing 3 in one canoe. I also bring an 80lb dog so 3 in my canoe is never gonna work. |
| billconner |
05/03/2018 04:12PM I can't speak to your specific situation but clearly, fewer canoes of the correct size with more people in each is more efficient transportation. On the other hand, having just two trips in a solo, it's a lot more fun. Seriously thinking of renting a solo for my son when we take our once or twice annual trip because - its more fun. YMMV - and that's very literally as well as figurative. |
| icefishbaby |
05/03/2018 11:12AM After all the well informed input-thank you for that-I think in our situation the best option will be a 18.5 foot 3 man canoe. All options have advantages and disadvantages and with our group and how advanced of paddlers we have, worried with a solo on how that will go. Thanks all. |
| BearBurrito |
05/03/2018 09:55AM I agree with Nlong. All of my trips to the boundary waters have been solo in a kayak. My gear all fits in my hatches, and I don't remove any of it for portaging. I have a solo canoe yoke that works great. I imagine I can portage faster with my kayak than most people can with canoes. Yak and gear is under 80 lbs. At the portage I just attach my yoke and go. |
| fishnfreak |
05/02/2018 06:29PM I should have also stated that I used a 16ft. souris river as a solo and front loaded it heavy. It gave me a lot of stability and I had no issues keeping up. It also gave me the ability to put someone in my boat later on if they wanted to fish with me. |
| fishnfreak |
05/02/2018 06:19PM Been down this road a few times. I'll save you all the horror stories My take is if you have someone who can handle and is willing to handle the solo then do that. We did the 3 man thing on a fishing trip once. Fishing for top water smallies. I can't believe we didn't impale someone with a hook. We wore ski caps and sun glasses at all times fishing to keep from getting hooked in the ears or eyes. I have been in the solo position before on a group trip and actually really liked it. It gave me a lot of freedom and I still got the comrardarie of a group trip. To each his own I guess. |
| nooneuno |
05/02/2018 06:14PM If the folks in the canoe don't mind the packs with communal gear being in their boat a kayak can work fine. Keep in mind most 10 foot kayaks (think Menards) should be classified as pool toys not kayaks. |
| nlong |
05/02/2018 11:45AMRTurner: "Hi, mind if I horn in on this topic? I think most people's issue with kayaks is the portaging portion. There are plenty of solutions to this by either making or purchasing a portage yoke for the kayak and you carry it over your head the same as a canoe. The other issue can be portaging your gear. If you stuff a bunch of stuff in the hatches, you'll likely have to take it out to make the boat light enough to portage. Then needing to load it in pack to portage and then reload it in the hatches is a big pain. I've personally done all my solo trips in the BWCA with a kayak. Longest trip was over 100 miles in 8 days. I used my Perception Tribute 12' kayak. It's only 40 lbs and portage it with about 10lbs of gear in the rear hatch to balance it out when portaging. The rest of the gear and food is in a 70L SeaLine Boundary Pack that is strapped on the back deck of the kayak. This makes it quick to do portages as the pack is easy to remove, portage, and then portage the kayak. I think the people that complain about kayaks haven't ever tried it or haven't worked out the logistics to do it properly, or used a super heavy kayak and failed to use a portage yoke. |
| RTurner |
05/02/2018 11:38AM Hi, mind if I horn in on this topic? Totally agree with you on kayak = mistake. Why? The reason I'm asking is I'm planning a trip with my kids this fall, and we'll likely end up with 5 of us. We've done a number of 3 person trips in Maine the last few years, and usually bring a canoe and a kayak...one of my daughters much prefers kayaks to canoes, and she really wants to use the kayak I just finished building last year. Is the problem with kayaks the portaging? All our Maine trips have been river trips, no portages. thanks, Roger |
| Michwall2 |
05/02/2018 11:16AM There have been lots of threads on this topic. The latest one is here: 3 vs. 2+1 I also went to the search feature and searched the terms: "solo three man" and the search returned over 1400 links. Lots of advice there. |
| treehorn |
05/02/2018 10:43AM This is a tough call imo. My group does not really enjoy several aspects of a 3-man canoe: larger and heavier to portage, nobody likes paddling from the middle, less room for gear (getting 7 people's worth of stuff in 3 boats is not terribly easy), and fishing can get complicated. We've never done it with a solo though so it's hard to compare. To my knowledge none of us have ever paddled solo at all. I will be giving it a go this year when I do a solo trip before our group trip though...if I find I like it, we may go 2-2-1 rather than 2-3, as it's looking like we're going to have 5. |
| thlipsis29 |
05/02/2018 09:30AM Actually fished 3 people in a 2 person Alumacraft a few times and while it ain't the best, it works. So I'm assuming if you go with a MN 3, you'll be fine. Since my 2 kids come along now, we've used a MN 4 and managed to make it work. Just have to really pay attention to casting and where your lines are at. |
| TominMpls |
05/02/2018 08:13AM Certainly nothing wrong with a solo, but we've had great luck with true 3-person canoes. So much so, in fact, that I bought a Northwind 18 with a third seat. |
| schweady |
05/02/2018 07:57AM Totally agree with you on kayak = mistake. But I know that folks love their solo canoeing experiences. Just make sure whomever is assigned that spot is fairly adept at paddling or they may wind up not having as much fun with the fishing. After years of making do with borrowing a larger 2-person canoe of a friend, we started renting a true 3-man (SRQ18.5) for those times when we had an odd numbered group. What a pleasure. We have found that trolling out of it is much the same as in the 2-man: stern man paddles and uses rod holder or leg-lock on his rod, the others fish. No need for the other two to paddle, for the most part, unless situation presents itself. Steering and speed control is much easier when one is doing the driving. Knowing how to keep lines untangled is no different than any other trolling outing in any craft... watch your line and be aware of what's going on. No casting. Just drop your line out by the side and troll. |
| AmarilloJim |
05/02/2018 07:44AM Depends on the experience of those going and the type of fishing you want to do. If you troll a lot go with a single canoe. If you like to cast get a 3 person and you can take turns positioning the canoe. |
| HayRiverDrifter |
05/02/2018 07:39AM If you plan to fish a lot, you might consider a three person canoe. It can be challenging to fish solo. With a three person canoe, the guy is back can control the boat while the other two fish. |
| icefishbaby |
05/02/2018 07:24AM It looks like we have an odd number going this year-planning a base camp a ways in. 7 right now, the 8th is a question mark. I have done this once before and used a river kayak as the extra boat. What a mistake. So, thoughts on three in a boat vs one person solo canoe? We will have a bit of gear, all 30-60 year olds. Lots of fishing. What are your experiences in this situation? We will be going in June 7th. |
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