Pole a canoe

[Mike]

I was inspired to start this thread by forum member Dave Wyath who started a thread about river camping.

Usually, canoe river campers park one car at the put-in location on the river and then park another car at the take-out point downstream. This is fine if you have enough automobiles, but it is limiting for those who camp solo or simply do not have access to multiple vehicles.

An almost forgotten canoe technique is poleing. It is quite possible to pole upriver even through rapids. You can travel at a pace similar to walking.

So, instead of being one-directional and heading only downstream, you can pole upstream for two days, then downstream for a day to your original put-in location; making your put-in and take-out location one and the same.

You only need a 12' to 16' wooden pole (about the length of your canoe), best served with a short thick nail hammered into one end for traction on rocks or a plunger if the river bottom is muddy or sandy. It is an easy thing to find some long sappling tree to fit this bill or long cane poles are available at many building supply stores. In either case, you will want the surface to be clean and smooth to avoid creating blisters on your hands.

Poleing is typically done standing up - surprisingly more stable than you have been lead to believe about "tippy-canoe". Stand slightly aft of center (slightly toward the rear of the canoe) to weight the nose up ever so.


Pole your canoe. It will avail a great many canoe and camping options without the typical need for multiple vehicles.

[James.]

Re: Pole a canoe

Good thinking. I would have never thought of poleing. I wonder if my dogs could be persuaded to get into a canoe.

[MacGyver]

Re: Pole a canoe

This is where the Coleman Scanoes would rule. I stand up and fish in them for hours at a time. They're remarkably stable - more or less the size of a 12 foot Jon boat with a 4 foot point in front.

Then again, I can't say I'd be to thrilled with pushing against river current for 2 days. Even with an 80 lb thrust trolling motor, the forward progress is seriously S-L-O-W when the river gets shallow.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Pole a canoe

I was inspired to start this thread by forum member Dave Wyath who started a thread about river camping.

Usually, canoe river campers park one car at the put-in location on the river and then park another car at the take-out point downstream. This is fine if you have enough automobiles, but it is limiting for those who camp solo or simply do not have access to multiple vehicles.

An almost forgotten canoe technique is poleing. It is quite possible to pole upriver even through rapids. You can travel at a pace similar to walking.

So, instead of being one-directional and heading only downstream, you can pole upstream for two days, then downstream for a day to your original put-in location; making your put-in and take-out location one and the same.

You only need a 12' to 16' wooden pole (about the length of your canoe), best served with a short thick nail hammered into one end for traction on rocks or a plunger if the river bottom is muddy or sandy. It is an easy thing to find some long sappling tree to fit this bill or long cane poles are available at many building supply stores. In either case, you will want the surface to be clean and smooth to avoid creating blisters on your hands.

Poleing is typically done standing up - surprisingly more stable than you have been lead to believe about "tippy-canoe". Stand slightly aft of center (slightly toward the rear of the canoe) to weight the nose up ever so.


Pole your canoe. It will avail a great many canoe and camping options without the typical need for multiple vehicles.

This technique reminds me of the flat boats that Swiss enthusiasts use in the Schaffhaussen(sp?) region on the Rhine...thanks for that long ago recall! Pretty sure this type of transport will remain in my USA bucket list yet a person can always live through another's experience.

[Mike]

Re: Pole a canoe

In Wisconsin, we have 84,000 miles of riverway not to mention over 15,000 inland lakes. Our eastern border is Lake Michigan. Our northern border is Lake Superior, and our western border is the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. So there are a lot of opportunities for boating and canoeing camping

The problem I have is that I can't find people to go canoe camping. At least in my circles, people have decided to wait out the rest of their lives in a comfortable chair. So I do a lot of solo camping. Poleing a canoe upriver is more work and slower than going downriver, but at least it opens the door for doing some solo river canoeing

[Mike]

Re: Pole a canoe

Good thinking. I would have never thought of poleing. I wonder if my dogs could be persuaded to get into a canoe.

Yes you can. My dog does not like water and it was difficult to get him into a canoe at first. The first thing I did to train him was to tell him to get into the canoe at the shore. When he refused, I left him on shore and paddled out away from him. That gave my dog a lot of anxiety and he was more eager to join me. I talked to him with the water distance between us and told him he should be with me

Then I put the canoe on land and taught my dog to get into the canoe using the treat and praise reward system

Now, when I go canoeing. My dog is eager to go along. He knows his spot in the canoe and goes directly to it. He stays calm in the canoe and does not move around - thus helping provide stability

My dog goes on all my canoe trips and all my camping trips