Don Phillipson wrote:
"Pete Knox" wrote in message
...

I've been a spinner fisherman for a bit of a while, and would like to get
started in flyfishing. I will be moving back to NJ in about a month, and
will mostly be fishing medium to large sized lakes. I have a free canoe,
that was given to my dad. I believe it is about 14', but I'm not 100%
sure. I have experience spin fishing from a canoe, but wonder how
practical it is to flyfish from one.

In any sort of a wind, a canoe requires a second person
to control it while the first person fishes. Only in a flat
calm and on still water is a canoe a pleasurable platform
for fly fishing.

This year get to know your fly tackle before you take
it out in a canoe. You will find rivers easier to learn on
than still water (because the current will sooner or later
straighten the line for you.) In the first months you will
get more fish with waders than with the canoe.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)


Well, yes and no.


Its all about trim. If you can somehow keep the stern and bow level the
wind will not push you around as much. If you are paddling solo in a
tandem canoe you should almost always be paddling from the bow seat but
facing back towards the stern. The main reason to paddle as close to
the middle of a canoe is that it keeps your canoe better in trim. The
bow seat is set closer to the center to give the bow paddler more leg
room. The canoe will be wider at that seat meaning it is more stable,
albeit somewhat harder to paddle due to the width there. The wind will
blow the high end of a canoe downwind, the higher it is the worse it
will be. This is called weathervaning. So that is your enemy. Get the
front of your canoe down as parralell to the water as possible. If you
have an anchor you can actually use the wind to help position your
canoe advantageously although Don is right, in a wind its much easier
to fish with two paddlers.

Here's a pic of Bill Mason paddling solo in a tandem boat:

http://www.canoemuseum.net/heritage/images/mason_lg.jpg


He is paddling the canoe "backwards" i.e. from the bow seat. He is also
kneeling on the bow seat which not only keeps his center of gravity
lower but puts him even closer to the center of the boat. He overcomes
the width between the gunnels by healing the canoe slighly to make it
easier to reach the water. In fact you could do no better than to buy
his instructional videos "Path of the Paddle". The Canadian Film Board
has just re-released all four parts of it in one DVD. For $30 its a
steal.


hth

g.c.