Turn of the tide, Drifted along the banks casting unweighted baits at structure. Very quickly, three of these little fellers were in the bag. 8)
first Blood!
Nice easy paddle back down stream with the tide, casting at likely places along the way for zip. .doesn't matter.
Pulled into a yabbie bank for some fresh live bait.
A bit of scenery that I passed along the way.
Enticed a few whiting to the live bait.
Guys, I had a great time today. The fact that I caught a few fish was a bonus. The joy for me was paddling Matt's beautiful boat. I am not really a canoe bloke. Allways paddled kayaks and skis. I just don't have enough good words to say about this boat.
I don't bother about fancy "J" strokes and such. I just paddle along and change sides when I need to. Usually about 6 or 7 strokes on each side in this boat.
I have only ever paddled her beside kayaks before so had no real comparison to judge by. I knew she was fast because she had no trouble keeping pace with Hobie Adventures at Adventure cruising pace. Today, there was a new looking Pelican brand, Canadian Canoe (about 16 feet) at Toogoom. (I think Pelican is an American brand) a fine looking canoe anyway. There were two hefty yougish blokes paddling it and they were paddling like they were doing it for exercise. (working hard). I had no trouble at all keepin pace with them and I was just cruising in my lovely Sasquatch. :shock:
When I put some power strokes in, I just left em for dead. 8)
These blokes were looking down their noses at my wood boat at the put in :twisted: One of em even had the audacity to make a smart arse remark like " Can't you afford to buy a proper canoe mate?" :shock: We put in at about the same time and headed in the same direction. In the end, they got really pissed because they had no chance of keeping up with me. They turned round after about a mile with a few colourful expletives 8) and went back the other way. when I got back to the put in they wouldn't even talk to me. :lol:
I think what really got em pissed with me was after watchen the pair of these big strong young blokes struggling to load their canoe on the roof of their car, I just casually lifted mine over my head (kayak fashion) and gently eased it onto my racks - easy. 8)
If anybody who is reading this post is considering building a Canadian, have a look at the Sasquatch by Matt. She is a true paddlers boat, and testament to the genius that is Matt Langenfield. capable of astonishing performance that just eats up the miles effortlessly.
She is rock solid stable (I stood up in her today - just to piss these arrogant pratts off even more) manouverable enough and capable of carrying a huge payload. Oh yeah, she is also a very, very good boat from which to catch the odd fish or two. 8)
