How the Old Town 119 Discovery Canoe became common in North Carolina and the South

 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

My OLD TOWN 119 Modifications

My Old Town 119 Modifications

This is a  Video of my Modifications to my Old Town 119.  This is my favorite solo River boat by far and a good Lake canoe. If you have any questions please ask either here or on you tube.  Don't forget to subscribe to both!!!

Thanks Mack

#oldtown119canoe

#oldtown

#canoe

#oldtowncanoe

#riverfishing

#canoeing

How to get your Canoe to the Fishing hole

There are many ways to get your canoe to the river. Here are a few of them.

The easiest and cheapest way is to just throw it in the back of a pickup and go. When I first started out thats how I did it. It was either an old truck my dad had or the old work van he had. Many, many days Todd and I would throw my Coleman Scanoe in the back of his van and go hit Jordan lake or the pond we had on the Caswell County Gamelands than had some big monster bream.  Here is a recent trip I did on the Yadkin River with Mookie, Catawba, Fishwhisperer, and  Tread.

The most common way to carry a canoe is on the roof of a car with some sort of roof-rack or foam pads.

Here are the foam pads on a Scout That Jeff uses for one of his canoe transporters.

Another inexpensive way  which I thought was absoutely the best "cheap" way is to make a frame out of 2x4"s and then put the pads under the frame and then a ratchet strap is thrown over the frame and through the window and then tightened so the frame doesn't move. There are eyescrews at the end of each board that serve as a place to tie to and a place where the boat can't slide off.   Then you would tie the front and back of the canoe down to the bumpers or whatever and maybe a strap over the canoe. Steve and I happened upon some fellow fishermen on the Staunton river one day and this is what they had.  I thinks this rack is AWESOME.

They transported 2 canoes to the river on this wood rack. Pretty smart idea.

I ran into a man on the Smith river during the summer of 2013 and he lashed 2 metal pipes to the top of his SUV. He transported 2 yaks tot he river this way.

Another option is to go all out and get an expensive Thule Xsporter Rack like I did when I purchased my GMC pickemup truck.

I always like to have straps or ropes over the top plus the bow and stern tied down but that isn't feasible on my truck so i take two ropes and lash the thwarts to the rack. 

Below is probably the most common system ,  using a yakima or thule style rack.

Or, you could just haul you Canoe like ths guy hauls his boat!!!

Mack

Maiden Voyage of My Sears 12 ' Jon Boat

I moved in my house in 1993. Bernie,  my next door neighbor had a jon boat in his back yard that after a few years you could tell he was never gonna use it. So, one day I ask him if he will sell it. No!.....I wait a few more years.....No! I am not gonna sell it he says. This went on for years.  It got to be amusing  that I would ask him to sell it just to irritate him. His wife(Doris) also told me that the day he dies that the first thing she is gonna do is to call me and have me drag it out of her yard. 
Well,  one day this year he asks me if I want it? 

I say "is this a trick question".

He said no,  I want it out of my yard. I think what he meant to say is Doris wants it out of her yard. Anyway, I ask him how much? and he says free.  I paid him a little bit as I didn't want it free but here are a few pictures of my new to me jon before and after. Rotted wood on both sides.

She wasn't in too bad of shape but all the wood in the transom was bad and she needed new paint.
I replaced the transom wood on the inside with poplar that I epoxy sealed and painted, and the wood on the out side of the transom I replaced with plastic and and outer piece of 3/16 aluminum. The plastic was a cutting board that I cut to fit. The outside of the boat I painted Huntergreen and the inside was a matte green.
This is a view of the cutting board and aluminum I used for the transom.

Per NC regulations this boat has to have a serial number which it didn't. They assigned it one and I had to attach it to the transom. I kept thinking how was I  gonna do that and one day it hit me.! Go to PetSmart and have the serial number engraved on a dog tag and put that on the back. Brilliant!  If you look closely above the right handle you can see the black tag.

I also needed a way to move this boat from my backyard to frontyard easily so I came up with this contraption. It is a piece of wood. 2- L brackets. 2 sheets of rubber. 2 eyebolts, 1 wheel,  1 nut and bolt, and 1 strap. I can strap this down in about 30 seconds and grab the 2 back handles and move the boat around like a wheelbarrow.

No leaks except for a small one where the drain plug is. Hopefully a new drain plug will fix that.

Very soon I will test it out with my old Sears Gamefisher 7 HP motor. update to follow.  Thanks Mack

ADDED: JULY 2013

Finally took the Jon out with my 2.5 mercury motor. The Sears 7 hp is in the shop. Here is a video of the 2.5 crusin Jordan Lake. 

http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&video_id=OfpIYl9dBug

 

 

                                                              ADDED NOVEMBER 2013

 

Finally took the Jon out in September with the Sears 7 HP motor,  Watch her FLY!!!!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXzNgGnDD94

 

 

 

 

ADDED: AUGUST 2013

 

Added 4 "Santee" Rodholders to my little Jon. These are just like Driftmasters.

 

 

 

 

 

Added February 2014-

 

I added a back seat to my little jon.  This seat I purchased at walmart and it attaches to the Jon by a strip of aluminum J-channel on the Jon and a J channel plate on the bottom of the seat (with added swivel).   This allows the seat to be removed or added easily by "dropping it into the channel. The seat can be adjusted either left , right, or center depending on conditions.   Here are a few pics

 

This is how you "drop" the seat in.

 

 

A good look at the channel.

 

A few more of the seat

Done for now............

 

 

Simple / Easy Drag Chain for Canoes

                              Simple / Easy Drag Chain for Canoes

I have been reluctant to drill holes in my canoe for a drag chain. Still,  I wanted my chain to work correctly and not be on the side so as I wouldn't tip over in fast water. One of the quickest ways to flip a canoe is to throw out an anchor or drag chain connected to the side(vs the bow or stern) . Well,  after my trip to the flint river I copied BlackwaterBills drag chain design as to how it is attached at the Bow or stern.....They copied my use of the Old Town 119 so hey I will copy their drag chain. lol.... This is one of the best modifications I have done to my Old Town 119 . This Design is simple and easy. Blackwaterbill and SeminoleSteve both use this design and have nothing but praise for it. First you need a Chain...18 inches or so of the heaviest stuff u can find, some rope, a cleat, 2 caribeaners, and some electrical ties......Most of the guys using this design also wrap the chain in duct tape and then put an old inner tube over the chain but I have chosen to leave it bare.  Note: They use a dog leash to spool the line and hold it but i chose to use the cam cleat.
Here are some pics.

I purchased this cleat at West Marine. You pull the rope up and to the inside and it unlocks the rope. You then pull it up and to the right and release the rope and the cleat bites down on the rope. Simple.  This cleat is mounted to the right and just ahead of my seat. I attached it to the gunnel with 2 stainless steel sheet metal screws.

Buy the above products here 

HARKEN Cam Cleat  https://amzn.to/3rRtBA1

Harken Flair lead https://amzn.to/3sKQowF

You also have to install a Black electrical tie around the handle in the stern and/or bow.

One caribeaner is attached to the electrical tie and the other is attached to the rope. You just run the rope through the other caribeaner. With this system you can have an electrical tie on the bow and stern handle . If you paddle up from the put in attach the rope and chain to the bow so when you come up to a hole you wish to fish you let the chain down. Then when you turn around and head back downstream, just stop and switch the rope and chain to the stern.  It is a very nice system, and you dont have to drill holes in your bow and stern.....Mack

**********you can see how well  this works is this video here on my YouTube Channel  

#oldtowncanoe

#dragchain

#canoe

#riverfishing