Running a River, Lane by Lane
By Noel Vick
Within walking distance of
my childhood home was a modest and antiquated bowling alley. Its
décor was reminiscent of the television show Happy Days and
bowling’s heyday. In retrospect, I can’t recall if the
establishment – which has since been supplanted by a 300 or so
screen multiplex – featured eight, ten, or twelve lanes. It
matters not, though, because for its relation to Bill Plantan’s
fishing analogy, it’ll go down as a 10-laner.
“Let’s move from parquet
floors to rivers, if you’ll excuse the peculiar transition,” says
Plantan, the chief brain-trust at River Ridge Custom Canoes in
Rochester, Minnesota.
As
thinkers, we continuously contrive analogies – call ‘em
associations – to relate something in the known to another in the
unknown. It’s about visualization. That’s precisely how Plantan
operates, too.
“Rivers are ambiguous,” he
says with the expertise of a man who’s banked more hours on rivers
than Huck Finn. “They can pour, pool, twist, widen, and condense
in a hurry. Lakes are more upfront. There’s the shoreline. There’s
an island. Oh, and look, there’s a big old point. Chances are
those same features will be in place next year and the year after
that.”
Plantan continues, “Most
river features are visible, too. Electronics aren’t essential for
success, but it doesn’t hurt to operate with a flasher to keep
track of depth.”
Like Plantan says, rivers
change like the sands. What’s a bank this summer is a flooded
sandbar the next. What once was a forested island is now a web of
sunken timber. It’s mental-calisthenics trying to fish patterns
from season to season.
Whew (sigh of
relief)...here comes Plantan to the rescue – the man with the
plan. He treats rivers more cerebrally than most, and his
fundamental teaching tool, as alluded to earlier, compares a river
to a ten lane bowling alley.
“The first thing you need
to do,” says Plantan “is pick a side of the river. Most currents
are too swift, or the river too wide. You can’t fish it all, so
grab a bank and go.”
And with a shoreline in
hand, Plantan begins “slipping” the current, which means drifting
and maneuvering downstream; placing the craft in its proper
lane.
“I imagine the river is
ten lanes wide,” says Plantan. “Lanes 1 and 2 are nearest one bank
and 9 and 10 on the opposite side. So to start, you’ve need to
select either 1 and 2 or 9 and 10.”
He considers these outer,
shoreline lanes the “active zones,” where most of the feeding
occurs during peak morning and evening bites. “During the day,
when fish are typically less active, you’ll do better working the
deeper main runs. I call those lanes 5 and 6,” he says.
On an average canoe-voyage
– with Plantan situated in the stern and a partner in the bow –
they slip downstream, bow first. Plantan controls boat position
and speed – reverse thrusts – with an electric trolling motor.
He’s not a big fan of paddles; paddling cuts into his fishing
time, but he keeps a couple at the ready for negotiating rapids
and backup power if the battery withers.
Plantan’s River Ridge
Custom Canoes shine in said fishing situations, too. The handsome
crafts feature a squared transom to support a trolling motor or
light gas-powered version. They maintain a full keel, too. It
enhances control and speed. Further advancing the proposition,
Plantan’s canoes are wired – complete with terminals – for a
deep-cycle marine battery. The battery rests in the bow-area to
balance the load.
So pointed downstream,
Plantan jockeys the canoe between lanes 3 and 4, yielding his
partner prime access to lanes 1 and 2, the foraging zone. While he
or she casts, Plantan, who’s navigating the craft, can likewise
cast toward shore. But his options don’t end there. Once the
morning climax subsides, he sometimes finds it as profitable to
drag a jig behind the canoe. This expands the search by blanketing
multiple depths and circumstances.
If the bite really fades,
Plantan relocates the canoe to lanes and 5 and 6 and the tandem
seriously scours the main channel.
Plantan adores metaphors.
So when it comes to casting from a canoe, Plantan uses tennis to
paint his picture. “In tennis,” he says “you need both an
effective forehand and backhand swing. Same goes for casting as it
relates to fishing from a canoe.”
Plantan deftly flings
baits both upstream and downstream, striking targets with the
accuracy of precision guided munitions. Pinpoint splashdowns are
crucial, too, as operating space is frequently tight. Windfalls,
logjams, rock jetties and other obstacles turn casting into a
sharp-shooting event.
Practice – time on the
water – is the only true resolution, but Plantan does offer simple
suggestions to help overcome the casting predicament. “For one,
make short casts. It’s easier to motor close to a likely
fish-holding structure than try to bomb a long cast to it.
And use your wrist. A
flick of the wrist is all the muscle needed to hit most spots.
Casting with your whole arm is both tiring and inexact.
Don’t think of it as a
first serve, but rather a controlled volley,” says Plantan
going to the tennis-card once more.
He never casts overhead,
either. Doing so enhances the risk of snagging tree limbs, not to
mention your defenseless partner. Instead, Plantan holds his rod
parallel with the water, lets out about 10 inches of line, and
gives the lure a forehand or backhand snap.
Occasionally, while
slipping and jigging, Plantan encounters an area that’s so grubby
with fish that he’s obliged to anchor. In such instances, he aims
the bow into the flow and lowers 2 anchors, one from the front and
another the back. This holds the keel in line with the current,
subsequently stabilizing the craft. By the way, River Ridge Custom
Canoes offers a nifty anchoring system that can be purchased as an
accessory.
Moments also arise when
riffles and runs empty into dreamy pools. Current speed and depth
permitting, Plantan recommends anchoring the canoe upstream,
jumping in, sneaking down to the honeyhole and fishing via foot.
Lifejackets are prerequisite, of course.
“I come across spots like
that all the time, especially on small to midsize rivers,” he
says. “And you really need to fish on foot to do it justice and
work it thoroughly.”
After bagging and
releasing a few smallies, ‘eyes and or toothy critters from the
pool, Plantan sloshes upstream to his parked canoe, releases the
anchors, and throttles forward in lane 5 toward his truck at a
nearby landing.
“It’s been another
exceptional day on the flow,” Plantan thinks while watching a
watercolor sun slink beneath the horizon.
River Ridge Custom
Canoes are available factory direct. To find out more
about the utmost fishing-canoe, call (507) 288-2750 and ask for a
free brochure. You can also learn more about the company and their
products by visiting
www.riverridgecustomcanoes.com
