This is how I seem to have persuaded many many people into getting an Old Town 119 Discovery Canoe.
I have had one since the 90's and have been river fishing out of canoes since 1977 growing up on the Haw River. My First Solo Canoe was a Mowhawk Pack and then a bigger tamdem Old town 158 and then I aquired 2 Old Town 119's and for sure they are the best Solo River Canoe.
Here is my Youtube video on the Old Town 119
In the early 2000's I was a member of the now defunct fishing forum Georgia River Fishing. Through that forum I have met and fished with many great fishermen in Georgia one of them being Bill Prince.
Bill went by "Blackwater Bill" on this forum ( unfortunately he passed during covid) and at one time he was very disatisified with the fishing kayaks out there so I told him he should try out an Old town 119 which he did.
Now back up a little bit as I know for sure I have gotten many many North Carolinians in them, may be pushing 100 or more.
Here is the story of Blackwater Bill and the 119 he posted on the forum......
" Troy before the 119
Was cool, there was Mack from NC. When I got into the kayak ownership I started
with a Dagger Blackwater 12 sit inside, couldn't get out of it the first time I
tried it out. It was a gift from my wife. At the same time Cullfisher got an
Old Town sit inside, and he didn't like it either. I never took the sit inside
to the river, I sold it to Getthenet and bought a T 120 from Drew and it was
maybe 3rd hand then. Cullfisher sold the sit inside and bought a P13. I didn't
like the T 120 because I was too heavy for it and it threw me out or I bailed
out nearly every trip. I sold it to Braveswin and bought a Drifter. Cullfisher
sold the P13 and bought a Caper so he could stand up and fish. I could stand in
the Drifter in those days. I went through 3 or 4 Drifters usually owning two at
any given time. Because MacBass, Rockworm1 and Bassman1 all swore by their
electric powered canoes Cullfisher and I got one of them each. We still have
them and use them for long trips and camping and so forth where their freight
hauling and comfort is an advantage. Then came the Ultimate’s as the flavor of
the month. I sold my Drifters and got a U 12 which I hated immediately. After
two weeks I put it for sale and a man gave me a sot kayak and enough money to
buy a 119 for the U12. I won't call his name because he may regret that deal. I
later traded that sot he gave me for a new Drifter which I still have and I
won't call the man's name that made that trade either.
For about a year I had
stuck in the back of my mind was the fact that Mack from NC said the best river
boat he ever had was an Old Town 119. If you look at his signature he lists his
watercraft and he has 2 Old Town 119s. I have always been impressed with Mack's
"walking around sense". Therefore I checked out the 119 and found
that Old Town was making the Disco 119 for Dicks and calling it a Kaynoe so I
bought one with the boot that I got for the U12. MacBass thought I was crazy
when I showed up at Juliette with that boat. I tested it that day for draft,
stability and so forth and declared it to exceed my expectations. macbass
watched me and then wanted to test it. Just below half way shoals going toward
Poep's Juliette, MacBass got in it and stood and paddled around then tried to
push it over and couldn't, then paddled in water where his Drifter would get
stuck an the 119 floated right on. I then wrote an essay on how good I thought
that bought was. Other than Mack's 2 thats the only one I knew of that anybody
had. Now the rest is history. Since I wrote that essay, I could name maybe 2 or
3 dozen people who have gotten out of the Kayak usage and converted to 119s and
can't think of anybody that has been disappointed. The 119 is the solo canoe
par excellence"
He says above that he has got maybe 3 dozen in them which is because of me and I listed maybe a hundred for me but it maybe more.
Anyway, if you want a great solo boat the Old 119 is it.
Mack
#oldtown
#oldtown119
#discoverycanoe
