Thread: newbie wanting advise

A descent net is always nice, waterproof case for phone and wallet, rod holders, rope, sunscreen, paddle, hand towel, small cooler, anchor,cheap rain parka, a plastic coke crate is nice to keep stuff organized in and out of the floor. You gonna have limited space, so you will probably end up culling a few things after a trip or two.

When you put either motor on, be sure to register the boat. PFD, throwable cushion, signal device, fire extengisher will need to be on there too.

All of the above according to your preferences. As for propulsion, I go with the TM account less maintenance other than keeping the battery charged.
Then, it depends on how far you want to wander around looking for a place that looks good to you to catch some fish. Yes, you will have to register
the canoe with a trolling motor or motor, but with a trolling motor we are not required to have the fire extinguisher. Keep it simple is the first and
foremost approach to using a kayak/canoe for fishing. Just remembering the PFD is #1.

13' canoe is a bit small, easy to roll over. I say to all persons that want to fish out of a canoe or kayak. Start out in warm water, go ahead and roll it over and try to get back in. Make sure you are not in water over your head. A 20lb cat can pull your boat right over and you do not need this for the first time in cold water. Tye off all gear and try to keep it simple, to much stuff can be an issue. A fire ext is not required unless you have a double bottom. Lots of people wear waders and to me they are death traps unless you have them properly sealed at the top, most do not. You cannot swin in waders and you cannot take them off very easy in cold water. You may add a pontoon or out rigger to ensure you never turtle. And hey, fishing out of a canoe is great, good luck.

You will also need the red/green light on front and a white light on the back. They can be flash light battery type lights, so that no wiring would be needed for them, and that type clamps on. That is a boating law, when attaching a motor on them. In Pa all canoes and I think kayaks as well have to be registered with the fish and boat commission. You need to check your states laws on them.

Thanks for all the replys I was more interested in fishing related must haves . I do appreciate the reminders on state laws tho nothing worse than a big ticket to make a good day on the water bad. This canoe is fairly stable me and my father used to bow fish out of it back in the day.

When fishing out of my canoe, I keep most of my stuff organized in a milk crate. I have a couple of pieces of 2" pvc as long as the milk crate is tall zip tied into corners of my milk crate. These serve as rod holders and keep my rods from getting tangled. Also, it is nice to have a cooler to put your fish in, as dragging around a stringer has a bigger effect on steering than you would think. As mentioned before, an anchor is a must. I use one of those small folding anchors (about 5#) and parachute cord as rope. That holds my 17' canoe in pretty good flow.

I have an anchor system set-up that has anchors on the bow and stern. I am able to drop and raise both from the rear where I sit using standoffs and pulleys. Attached is a rough diagram of my set-up. Using both front and rear anchors I can point the canoe where I want and it stays there.