New Canoe

New Mad River Passage 14 Canoe

My wife and I upgraded to a brand new canoe!  And it was her idea.  I love my wife.  She puts up with all my crazy interests and my fishing addiction.  She loves boats and water, so it all works out.  Abbie loves to read and just hang out in the boat while I fish.  She even likes to paddle and drive the canoe around.  Abbie is like my fishing guide!

We sold our old (as in 40 years) 17' aluminum canoe to some of our friends and bought this 14' plastic type canoe with padded back rest seats!  It was a great all around upgrade for us just in time for the fall and great weather.  We loved our old canoe, but it was hard to lug around by myself and my wife didn't think it was too comfortable.  Those are both things that didn't phase me from being out on the water with it as much as I possibly could, hours at a time.  This new canoe is like a luxury car.  It has rod holders and even cup holders!  Who would have thought, a rod holder.  How convenient.  Now I don't have to figure out where things go when I am trying to paddle and what not.

first time on the car.

Our first trip was to Ramsey Lake State Park outside of Vandalia, IL.  This spot has some special family meaning for me.  My family tent camped there a bit when I was growing up, so I have fond memories of Ramsey Lake.  My wife and I love paddling creeks and exploring the water that feeds lakes.  No other boats can get to these small creeks and shallow waters. We are often the only people who can reach certain parts of water with our canoe.

I have been taking the baitcaster and a plastic worm lately.  You just can't beat how well that works when it is hot out.  It is a fun way to fish.  I like to slow things down a bit and feel the bottom of the lake for a while imagining the stumps and contour of the lake floor.  I stalk fishy type hideouts and holding spots.  I am not the best at finding fish, but the worm certainly lets me cover a lot of water.  Anyways, I caught a few largemouth out of the creek and we were able to paddle it for quite a ways.  The water got to about 4 inches and we turned around because of log jams.

Then I took my German friend, Kai, out to St. Ellen Mine in O'Fallon, IL yesterday.  Bass fishing with the worm again.  Did ok out there too!

The new canoe gets 2 thumbs up.  I can't wait to take it out more.