By Taylor Ham
Paddling from a solo canoe is something that I have become very comfortable with. I’ve spent the last five summers paddling them when I can’t find anyone to go with. My favorite solo canoe to paddle is the NorthStar Magic. They are very lightweight, easy to portage and for someone with good balance, stable enough. After a very dreadful morning of listening to current events going on in the twin cities my heart ached and I needed to go somewhere to be alone.
I portaged to South Kawishiwi in hopes to catch some small mouth bass. I have caught some pretty decent ones there before, so I thought I’d try again. The spot I was thinking of was very easy to reach and wouldn’t take too much time at all. I saw the perfect rocky shoreline with a few downed trees and I casted in. First cast and I had a fish on! How exciting to find a fish just like that! I fished that shoreline and caught two more bass and two small pike. I decided to keep moving to the original spot I had planned to go to. I found a nice rocky bay and I casted in, the lure barely hit the water before I had a 15in bass on.
It’s a new skill I’m learning, managing a canoe specifically a solo with a fish on. If you aren’t anchored in it can be seconds before you’re blown somewhere dangerous. This small mouth had put up a good fight and was flying out of the water before I got it in the boat. I stayed in this spot and only caught a small pike and decided to move on. It was getting late and I needed to get back to town for work, so I started to paddle back.
I saw a bay that I couldn’t pass up, so I dropped anchor and my lure was sitting in the water right next to the boat and a fish came up and gobbled it right up. Another decent size! I was running out of time but was so excited, so I stayed for another thirty minutes and caught two more nice fish. Too much fun when you find the fish and have a productive day on the water. I would always prefer to share my excitement of fishing with someone else. A tandem canoe makes it easier to control but fishing from a solo canoe adds a new level of patience and skill especially on a windy frustrating day. More days like this to come!
