Longest portage or carry...

[sirslurpee]

I'm considering carrying into a lake that is a ways from where I can park. Problem is, it's almost half a mile carry. Methinks it might be a little far for a lake I'm not even sure has fish in it..

Anyway.. For those of you that fish back woods lakes, or in Canada.. what is the furthest you've portaged to get back into water that is hardly-fished?

[uofmguy68]

60-100 lbs of boat can be a pain if you have any distance to move it, especially if by yourself or if you have your gf helping you..... so i am having a friend help me make a bracket to fit a bike wheel to a flat bottom that way you can use it like a wheel barrow and make easier portages with only one person... and be able to take it off when in the water.... also helps on not beating up your boat by dragging it on the ground...

I am trying to find a smaller bmx or kids bike wheel so storage wont be a problem.... or i could just make the extra trip to drop it off at the truck when i am done carrying it to the water...

I was gonna just heat up and bend a piece of rebar and pass it thru a bike tire.... and bend it so it fits a pair of handles or tie downs i could mount to the boat but my buddy says he can come up with something alot better....

ill let you know how it turns out, theres a guy down the road on court st by linden with 2 wheels on his flat bottom that is my inspiration, but the wheels are not removable... but they arnt verry big.... and probaly wouldnt get caught up on to much if anything....

[northernhunt]

1/2 mile is a decent portage, you can carry a 12' boat like a canoe if you get the nack of it:)

Seen guys carry 16 footers like that:xzicon_sm

This up on the Severn River, northern Ontario.
Take your time and it would help to get some:help:

[Flash]

2 miles and up/over 12 elevation grids. 80 pound packs as well. Took 4 guys 2 trips with 2 canoes. Spent a week in Canada doing just that - a few years back. The snow train dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we portaged to the first lake and continued from one lake to the next. When I got back, I bought my first ultra lite canoe. A 17" Wenonah Sundowner. Kevlar - 42#'s. Portaged like a dream.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/550/medium/bottom-from-stern.jpg

[lastflight]

Have done 1/2 mile portages pretty regularly with an ~80lb canoe. This was mainly in the Sylvania wilderness area in the UP. My recommendation is do it before the mosquitoes get bad. It's a real pain to try and swat those buggers while you are trying to manuver a 17' canoe through the sticks!
Also, if the canoe has a comfortable yolk on it your portage will be a lot more enjoyable.

[sirslurpee]

Have done 1/2 mile portages pretty regularly with an ~80lb canoe. This was mainly in the Sylvania wilderness area in the UP. My recommendation is do it before the mosquitoes get bad. It's a real pain to try and swat those buggers while you are trying to manuver a 17' canoe through the sticks!
Also, if the canoe has a comfortable yolk on it your portage will be a lot more enjoyable.

i keep back woods off in my tackle box ALWAYS :cool:

[fathom this]

One Canada trip we started our portage by going accross a 3/4 mile wide lake then 1275 yds overland then through a large beaver pond to a 1375 yd portage to the lake we fished but we still had to paddle 3/4 mi to camp. Five hours from start to finish. I was young and strong then and enjoyed the trip.

[fishenrg]

Some buddys and I spent three weeks in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area a few years ago. There were some very long and quite technical portages. Not seeing other people for almost a week made it all worthwhile. You have to figure that every portage weeds some people out. Even a short portage close to home will keep out most.

[DetroitIron]

Speaking of portaging, I've been considering fishing a somewhat remote spot that requires portaging of my canoe (I've started a canoe fishing thread elsewhere here).

Anyway, I've had this plan in the back of my head, why cant I make some sort of tow system to attach to my mountain bike?

Did a short search on the web, and below is what I found.

If the portaging trail isn't too severe, this may save you all some energy in getting to your secret spot.

http://www.paddlecart.com/images/trailer.jpg

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sullivan/canoe_bike.html

http://www.bikeforest.com/canoe/index.php

http://www.redbayfarm.com/Bicycle_Canoe_Trailer.html

http://www.wicycle.com/canoe_woody_wagon_bicycle_trailer.php

http://bikehacks.com/canoe-bike-trailers/

[Johnnydeerhunt]

A half-mile isn't too bad. If you really want to get way back and out deep, a float tube might be the way to go. If the lake is waaaaay back, 2.5 miles+, the fishing is usually so good that you can fish from shore. I fished some Bass lakes 2.5 miles in the wilderness in a swimsuit on hot days quite a few times. 15-17in. bass every cast makes the walk worthwhile.

[JayJayMo]

I have a heritage featherlite 9.5" kayak that weighs proly 60 or so lbs now that I have it riged to my specifications. I do a lot of remote areas with some decant portages and usually do it all myself. Besides the ease of portaging I can paddle on wet grass and get into some special places via shallow channels. I call it 4X4 fishing. I do think that any small Jhon boat or cannoe would be doable too, but you may need to have a buddy along.

[swamptromper]

This post reminded me of a canoe trip a friend dragged me on.

Figured we would cruise the Kzoo River, and mess around in the ottawa marsh. Mess is a good word. by the time we figured we were past the point of no return. Pushing and pulling the canoe through this knee deep muck. The depth was tested more than once. It was O'dark thirty by the time we even got back on the river. Fortunatly for my friend, I was to tired and elated to find the river to kill him. Gratefully it was a down stream return.

Dont know if this qualifies as a portage, since we only had fishing gear.

[TK81]

Every year, 2nd or 3rd week on June, one week of 1/4 to 2 mile portages with a 17 ft grumman, White River/Wawa/Chapleau area. Got a couple stached in the bush. This after we take the 16 foot base camp boat for miles up a couple different river systems. Great walleye, pike, and the best brookie (speckle) fishing I've ever experienced. Hard work with a lot of sweat and bug bites, but well worth it. The only fishermen we ever see are in the float planes overhead. Most of these little beaver dam lakes are too small for planes to take off.

Practice a bit before you make the trip to the water. Once you get the hang of it, not all that bad.