So last year we managed to tip our canoe while we were fishing in the BWCA and lost plenty of gear. We use the GCI backrest seats a lot and notice the canoe is a bit "tippy". I'm assuming the thick padded seats raised us up forcing our weight to be too high. Was wondering if simply dropping seats down 2" or so and riveting them into place and then replace original rivet holes with filler rivets would solve our problem?

That may be part of the issue and might be a reasonable solution.

Another aspect is that - if you were fishing with your big packs unloaded - you've changed the center of gravity and stability quite a bit. Bring a couple of medium dry bags, and fill them with water when you go out empty to fish.

Nope we were all setup in camp and had only fishing gear, bait bucket, rods, depth finder. Did put some ballast stones it in one day and it worked well. I just think we need to drop our center of gravity below the gunwale?

Seat height in a canoe will have a significant effect on stability. If you add a pad/seat that lifts you up an inch or two you will notice the difference (as you seem to indicate). If you google "seat height in canoe and instability" you will find a ton of info describing the problem and solutions, such as the one you propose.

The Alumacraft canoe is my fishing platform of choice. It is a very stable canoe. We use only the crazy creek seat supports, so only about a 1/2 inch. By lowering the seats you will have a better center of gravity. But remember your body and legs will be at a steeper angle, not sure if that’s a problem with you, just something to consider.

sns: "That may be part of the issue and might be a reasonable solution.


Another aspect is that - if you were fishing with your big packs unloaded - you've changed the center of gravity and stability quite a bit. Bring a couple of medium dry bags, and fill them with water when you go out empty to fish."

This is my strategy and it works. Otherwise, you are bouncing around like a bobber too high in the water. The canoe isn't sinking enough to bite.

Lowering the seats is a good solution. When I bought my Bell Magic it came with a straight seat and 1.5 in. seat drops. Very tippy to me. I got a set of probably 3 in. seat drops and a contoured seat that dropped the seat about another in. and that improved the stability immensely.