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

Fishing with "The General" on Friday the 13th

I started my Internet fishing on Georgiariverfishing.com and catfish1.  Todd "The General" was one of the first members there and now he has moved to the great state of NC.  We have talked several times on the phone about fishing and whatnot but finally worked our schedules out and made a trip on Friday the 13th!

Would it be a lucky day or a bad day on a North Carolina Piedmont River????

We launched right at 630 am and immediately got into some stripers hitting top water baits and Sebile swim baits. Here are a few pics..

We then shifted our focus to Bass and we had a good day .  Todd mainly used a buzzer while I used mainly a white spinnerbait, the Sebile swimbait, and a Bagleys Smallfry Bream. We each probaly caught 20-25 bass apiece with Todd getting the big one at 5-14. I lost a 4lber but caught 3 -3lbers.

I also caught 6 species on this trip.  10~Stripers, 25` Largemouth,  1 Channel cat, 20~ Redbreast,  1 Bluegill and 2 white perch.  This is the second time I have done that in a week.

Here are the channel cat , some nice Redbreast, and the small bluegill and white perch.

And a few more fish.

 A good day on the water with lots of fish caught. We also saw lots of wildlife including Bald Eagles, ospreys and Otters. Thanks for Going Todd. Mack

Hot Cats

Since it is so hot I decided to go to one of my favorite cat spots late and fish late....I Left the house at 4 and was on the water at 6.....Today I would be in my scanoe with my 55 lb thrust motor.....I headed upstream from the put in. The water was fairly swift and I did have to get out and pull through 2 rapids, but I made it to where I wanted to start . My first priority would be to catch bait......

I had a fairly hard time catching bait but by dark I had managed to get 3 greens, several redbreast and a few bream for bait.....Also caught 2 smallies and missed a nice one.....all bait caught on a beetle spin..

                                                                           Bait

The outfits today would be a Bantam 50 loaded with 20lb line on a black ugly stik (light cat outfit)and a Abu 6500 loaded with 30lb line on a white ugly stik(medium size cat outfit).....Hooks used were a 9/0 circle hook used on the 6500 and a 7/0 j hook on the Bantam 50. 2 of the Bream were used as cutbait sprayed with garlic juice and the rest would be used live. The bream would be kept alive in a Flow troll Bait bucket which you can see in the above picture just below the redbreast anal fin. You can see some of the fish in the bucket.

1st fish right at dark was the flathead that hit a small (4" green) on the 7/0 hook. Next fish was a blue that hit a bream head soaked in Garlic juice and the 3rd was also a blue that hit a live bream....both on the circle hook.

I did lose 2 nice fish and called it quits at 1230 am......Back home and finished cleaning fish at 330am.....

Nothing huge tonight but a few decent size cats....Highlight of the trip was right at 1030pm i hear some splashing in the water river left and shine my light there. 1 doe and 2little bitty fawns in the shallow water and they stayed there probably 30 minutes......Mack

"119 in the Shade"

Steve and myself made a trip down my home stretch of river on Friday June the 29th, 2012.
We got an early start at 6 am and finished the day at 1pm. Today was going to be 100 plus degrees and the fish were fairly active. I probably caught 10-12 bass , mostly on a white spinnerbait and lost 3 big ones 4 lbs or so,. Steve caught about he same but landed his 2 nice fish.  Most of his fish came off a swimbait.
Here is the first monster-

119 in the shade is referring to our Old town 119's

here is a "119 in the shade". 

Steve's best bass of the day.

The Redbreast were bedding and very aggressive today. I caught several of these on bass sized lures. 

Wildlife seen today was the usual ducks, herons and kingfishers but the highlight of the day was  2 otters who poked their heads way out of the water trying to fiqure out what Steve was. Mack

June Smallie action

I had Tuesday June the 26th off so I headed to a favorite river of mine ( The Dan River )  for some Smallie action. Fished from 4:30 pm till dark. Air temp was right at 80 deg  at the put in and 65 deg  when I took out at dark. Nice! 
I caught 10~ smallies with most being small but 2 were decent fish. 1/2 the smallies caught on a 3/8 oz Chartresue spinnerbait and 1/2 on a pumpkinseed grub on a 1/4 oz jig head.  I also managed 1 channel cat on the spinnerbait and 1 White Bass on the grub. This is about a 3 mile float with slack water and some fast water. Highlights were some ospreys and 2 groundhogs.

Here are a few pics.
A nice jon boat on the river.

This Smallie has a scar on her back from a heron or some other predator.

My best fish of the day. She did not want to get into the canoe!

This Channel Cat ruined my spinnerbait.

A White bass was an added bonus. She hit the grub.

 

Thanks for reading , Mack

#danriver

#smallmouthbass

Euro style Carp Fishing

Friday June the 15th , I met Aki and Santosh at a local lake to try my hand at Euro Style Carpin.  Now, I used to fish all the time for carp but that was with a Carolina rig , a small baitholder hook and some whole kernel corn. I usually chummed with corn also. Their method was similar but they use heavier weights and a lot heavier leaders. The main reason for the heavier leader is it is stiff.....When the carp sucks in the hook with the corn on it she feels the stiffness of the line and tries to spit or blow the hook out.....One problem, she cant spit it out because the line is so stiff , she then turns and runs setting the hook on herself....Brilliant!....They also use "packbait" , this is a combination of grits and creamed corn you Pack on to  the weight and what it does is when your rig hits the water and then the bottom this packbait falls off and chums the area around you corn on the hook.
We fished from 5:30 till 8:30 and probably caught 6 carp, that many cats, though most were small  but I had a great time fishing with Aki and Santosh.  Here are a few pics.... Thanks again Aki and Santosh

My outfits today were 1.  A Shimano 3500 Baitrunner on an 8 ft rod with 15 lb test 2. Penn # 9 loaded with 20 lb Cajun on a 9 ft rod.  The Carolina rig consisted of a 2 oz egg sinker, black swivel, 30 lb leader, and a #6 hook.
                                                                            The rig

The fishies

                                                    Santosh with a  Rare ghost carp

Mack

Cary, North Carolina Urban Creek Fishing

Friday June the 15th I had  2  fishing  trips planned.  1st, see last post , was taking my son Bass fishing on an unnamed river.  2nd was to fish for carp and cats in the evening at Lake Crabtree. I needed some cutbait for the evening trip so I made a run to a nearby creek that is very very tiny but always has eager fish in it. My son actually caught his first fly rod fish there probaly 10 years ago.  Now this "crik" doesn't look like much as you can jump accross it in most areas but it is full of fish...Tiny fish mostly,  but I have seen some 1 and 2 lb bass in there but most will be around 10-11 inches. I caught probably 20 redbreast, 5 Bass and 1 bream in about 20 minutes of fishing. Fun fishing !  The lure used today was a 1/32 oz beetle spin and an ul spinning reel with 4 lb test.

Mack