Radisson Canoe - Fully Rigged ! 2024

Goose52 reply :

I searched back a few years and know there is at least one Radisson owner out there. Any others have a Radisson and can share their experience?

I'm looking at the 12' pointed model - 34lbs.

Thanks

Goose52 reply :

Ordered the Radisson earlier this week - should have it in a couple of weeks and have time before spring to rig it for fishing. My modification "pattern" is the Radisson fixed up by Lard_Bass - trolling motor, outriggers, fish-finder, rod racks, etc. As the budget allows of course :

Looking forward to finally getting off the bank

Marty reply :

Good luck. I bought a canoe three years ago and have no regrets. I have a couple of friends with boats and I get out with them fairly often, but still, it wasn't enough and it's great to have the ability to get out on the water when and where I want to, within the limitations of the canoe, of course.

I have no motors, racks, or the like, so your experience will be different from mine.

Goose52 reply :

Thanks. I like the idea that I can slide the canoe into the water just about anyplace - not just at a ramp. At 34 pounds, I can handle it even with a bum shoulder.

At first, all I will have is the canoe, paddle, and PFD. The other toys will come as budget allows (retired on fixed income...). I know my wife will be insisting that I get the outriggers as soon as possible!

Marty reply :

Here are a few reviews for you to ponder.

http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showReviews.html?prod=832

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I know my wife will be insisting that I get the outriggers as soon as possible!

Mine's urging me to take them off!!

(Actually, I don't use them. My canoe is wide and very stable by canoe standards).

Goose52 reply :

Thanks Marty - interesting reviews. Everything's a compromise - I needed the light weight for cartopping and launching and knew that meant thin-guage aluminum. I just need to be careful. Good thing is that I plan on using it only in my local lakes that are nice open water with no rocks to speak of.

The Radisson is 38" wide (see photo) so that adds to stability - but the compromise is that it's harder to paddle. I may try paddling from the front seat (facing aft - using the back as the front so to speak). Some of the folks said they had better luck rowing it. Hopefully, I'll be able to find the budget for the trolling motor early on.

Marty reply :

Mine is a 14' Kevlar ultralight (36#) and 39" wide. I'm also retired (72) and light weight was a necessity. Everything about canoes is tradeoffs and I was willing to sacrifice paddling efficiency for the stability and the room to store all the stuff I take along.

Besides, I didn't need paddling efficiency since everywhere I take it I don't need to take it more than about 1/2 mile from the launch point.

I also reverse the thing and paddle from the bow seat. However, the front is still high. I carry a 5-gallon pail and put 20-30# of water in it and put it in the front and that keeps the boat reasonably level and makes it easier to paddle than with the bow out of the water.

It looks like with your canoe, paddling from the bow seat will put you closer to the center of the boat than mine does.

Goose52 reply :

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It looks like with your canoe, paddling from the bow seat will put you closer to the center of the boat than mine does.

Yes - pretty close to the center. I'm hoping that i can paddle from there with my legs over the yoke (or perhaps I will be able to move the yoke a bit). I'll know soon as the canoe will be delivered tomorrow

Goose52 reply :

Here it is. Now, to buy the accessories!

I will be able to paddle from the front seat if I want to - no problems with the yoke at all. Plus, it comes with paddles/oars so I have the option of rowing it from the rear seat...

Marty reply :

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I will be able to paddle from the front seat if I want to - no problems with the yoke at all.

Glad to hear it. Enjoy!!!

Lard_Bass reply :

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Ordered the Radisson earlier this week - should have it in a couple of weeks and have time before spring to rig it for fishing. My modification "pattern" is the Radisson fixed up by Lard_Bass - trolling motor, outriggers, fish-finder, rod racks, etc. As the budget allows of course :
Looking forward to finally getting off the bank

Good luck with your rig. If you get a little extra room in the budget, get a canoe dolly/cart (you can also make one yourself out of PVC pipe and some spare wheelbarrow wheels). However, I found a dolly for only $39 at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Goose52 reply :

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Good luck with your rig. If you get a little extra room in the budget, get a canoe dolly/cart (you can also make one yourself out of PVC pipe and some spare wheelbarrow wheels). However, I found a dolly for only $39 at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Thanks. At first, I will have to car-top it but I will be able to unload it lake-side and just shove it in the water. I won't really need a dolly. At some point in time, I'd like to get a trailer for it so I can leave it rigged up, with gear inside, and just pull it off the back of the trailer and launch it off the bank. The nice thing about something this light is that you're not limited to launching ramps

Hope you don't mind, but I will be shamelessly stealing your ideas and my canoe will end up looking a lot like yours. One change might be to try to figure out if I can have some sort of horizontal rod storage like Fishing Rhino set up on his canoe. Rhino's canoe looks to be about 15-16' though which gave him plenty of lenth to lay the rods down - I don't have the same length to play with on an 11'6" canoe :-?

BTW - about a year ago I was planning on getting a square stern Radisson, thinking it would be easier to use with a gas or electric motor. A few posts in this forum, and your photo, made me change my mind. I think the side mounted motor makes it much easier to steer than having the motor handle directly behind your back...ouch.

theyorkieterror reply :

I have not used your style of canoe. I use a 16' Mohawk here for all my fishing and tripping. This is a boat I can maneuver most anywhere I wish in fast or still water, salt or fresh h2o. The use of sail or trolling motor or paddle power is at my option. The sail is used for trolling and speed controlled by not much sail. Having no keel we can broadside to wind and use a sea anchor to limit speed. Then off to the trout streams to use skills of the white water paddler. Getting into an eddy to fish is a hoot. The sky is the limit.

Goose52 reply :

There is a sail kit for the Radisson but I don't expect to get it. Also, no white water with this one, the aluminum is toooo thin! BUT, it's gonna do what I need it to do - get me around the 11 open water lakes that I fish - 4 acres to 200 acres. After looking at all the alternatives, not only for efficacy on the water, but for launching, transport, and storage at home, the canoe was the best compromise.

Lard_Bass reply :

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Hope you don't mind, but I will be shamelessly stealing your ideas and my canoe will end up looking a lot like yours.

No problem, glad I could help with the ideas. The big reason I suggested the dolly was because it is much easier to load and rig the canoe (the outriggers) on land than in the water. Even you load up your canoe on the launch ramp, there's a lot of equipment to put on (trolling motor, outriggers, battery, etc.). I can easily cart a fully loaded canoe by myself now and not go back and forth to the car (you'll see what I mean after a couple of trips).

As for a horizontal rack, I looked into some but didn't find any that I liked. Instead, I point my cabelas/scotty rod holders horizontally when I am fishing (just be careful with those rod tips when you are getting close to shore). I usually have 3 rods with me. Two are in the rod holders (horizontally) and I put the other in a vertical rod holder. I'll take the one out of the vertical holder to fish (or swap them around so no rod is vertical and interferes with my casting). I would say in your setup, you really don't want to bring more than 4 rods.

Hope this helps.

Goose52 reply :

Thanks for the additional info on the rod racks and horizontal vs. vertical - rod storage is the one thing I haven't quite figured out yet. It's just a bit difficult with the short 12' canoe.

On the dolly - I can park literally at the side of the lake at nearly every one of the 11 lakes I fish. When the canoe comes off the top of the car, I will be setting it down just a few feet from the water. I can rig it there and just push it in. Later this year (especially if my bum shoulder doesn't get better) I will get a lightweight canoe trailer and will be able to leave it rigged (except for the trolling motor) and will then just be able to drag it off the back of the trailer, clamp on the trolling motor, and push it in the water.

I'd like to take the canoe out for a spin - but my lakes just froze-up solid again (for the 3rd time this winter). Plus, I don't think I want to be out in a canoe in 37 degree water and have some sort of incident. I think I'll wait for spring...

Goose52 reply :

Took about 3 months of shopping and ordering but the canoe is just about done. I car-top it and all the gear fits in the trunk of the car.

Trolling motor

Outriggers

HB 570 sonar and transducer bracket mounted on a "dashboard"

3-rod rack

2 Scotty rod holders

Scotty anchor lock/mount

Folding seat-back

Forward mounted battery with a hard conduit for the 6ga power extension cables

For better weight distribution, I sit in the "front" seat, facing aft. The trolling motor mounts to the bracket for the outriggers, as does the anchor system and the rod rack. The trolling motor battery is forward of where I sit. I put the outriggers behind me so I could have the 180 deg. arc in front of me clear of obstructions for casting and fighting/landing fish.

Had it on the water fully-rigged about 7 times now. Best single-day score on one of my lakes was 22 bass, 2 brim, and 1 crappie. Fishing off the dam of that lake, I would have been lucky to get 3 or 4 bass.

It's great to get off the bank 8-)

Fishing Rhino reply :

Given my druthers, between my canoe and my Nitro, on smaller ponds/lakes, I'll take the canoe everytime. Even with a side imaging sonar on the Nitro.

On larger waters, like Pickwick, the canoe is not a practical alternative. You can certainly fish it from a canoe, but you are very limited.

I've heard others say the opposite. But, I like being close to the water.

True, you can carry more gear comfortably in a bass boat. And the foot control trolling motor is an advantage. But I still prefer the canoe whenever either will do.

As for rod storage. The racks on my canoes work very well, provided you are fishing alone.

With a second person aboard, they are in the way, and I remove them.

The first consideration is how to stow the rods so the fragile tips are protected. In my paddle canoe the tips are below the rails and the small foredeck.

I can drive the canoe into brush, low overhanging branches. etc., without worrying about them getting caught up. Still, it is possible for a branch to get between the line and the rod, and cause problems.

I'd suggest a "rocket launcher" that looks something like this, but with the tubes staggered, rather than stacked on top of each other.

Thin wall pvc piping is light and durable. They also come in eight foot lengths which will protect the entire rod from the reel to tip.

The trick is to space the pipes so the reels have clearance between each other. If you want to protect your rods from getting scuffed in the tubes, rod gloves or stick jackets slide on and off easily and will protect the blank and the guides.

The butt ends of the rods are quite sturdy, and casually backing into brush with the butts should not be a problem.

To build your "rocket launcher" rod holder, get a hole saw that will match the outside diameter of the piping, and a piece of plywood. Figure out the spacing you want, mark the centers, drill out the holes, insert tubes, secure them with a silicone adhesive, and you're good to go.

You only need the one plywood spacer, since its function is to keep the reels apart. The other end of the tubes can be "bundled" together, then wrapped with electrical tape to hold them.

You can configure the arrangement to suit yourself.

You're going to really enjoy fishing from the canoe. It's peaceful, quiet, low profile, you can do everything right from your seat, and you can get to places larger boats cannot.

Best of luck with your new vessel.

Goose52 reply :

Good idea on the rod storage. Still, with only 11'6" to work with, I'm not sure I have a place to mount the rocket launcher! I'd prefer to have the rods in front of me so I can grab another rod quickly but the short canoe length just won't allow that. After looking at the options, I went with the 3-tube rod rack, mounted behind me on the outrigger bar, with the rods pointed directly to the rear at about 30deg from horizontal. This gets them just about as low as possible to keep them away from the backcast. I'm trying to remember to avoid casting directly forward so I don't risk hitting the rods behind me but I have ended up hitting the spare rods twice now, both times with a BC rod, and both times I ended up with "terminal" backlash (terminal as in you have to cut the line off).

The downside to the rod location is some inconvenience in swapping rods - having to turn around and reach behind you. Also, I have to be careful turning around in narrow creek channels - the rods extend about 4-5 feet past the end of the canoe and will hang up in trees/brush if you're not careful. In some cases, I have to back up in the creek before I have room to do a 180.

Otherwise, it's a good fishing machine - I've got everything I need in a small, easily transported and easily launched package. As you mentioned, a downside is lack of a foot-operated trolling motor. This thing floats like a cork and catches wind like a sail so if there is any wind, I just about have to anchor to work an area. Another downside is that while I "can" stand up in this canoe (with the outriggers) I'm NOT going to do that - as I get older, my balance just seems to be going away :-?

I'm jazzed to finally get off the bank and on the water...

Fishing Rhino reply :

I don't know how many rods you want to be able to access, but, if you use the pvc piping to hold the rods, there is no reason the rocket launcher cannot be secured in a manner where it overhangs the bow.

Three or more pvc pipes, lashed together should be quite stout enough for the times you might run them into the brush.

You're not propelling your canoe at breakneck speeds.

I can envision the rocket holder also being a way to tote and even store your rods.

You'll need to devise some simple, but sturdy way to mount the "unit" on your canoe. Do that, and they will not intrude into your space.

edit: a couple of "cradles" mounted securely on your boat can receive the bundle of rods. Then a good bungee cord can hold them in place.

Quick, clean, and neat.

Bounce reply :

Great info in this thread guys. I've stream fished a lot in my yak and big water fished in my bass boat, but I'm only now trying to set up my 14' Mad River canoe to fish the brushy coves in my lake and will be fabricating a trolling motor mount this weekend. I was planning on fishing a single 6'3" rod, but with the rod launcher concept, I'll probably plan on using a coupla 6'9"s as well. Thanks for the ideas.

Skip

AV8TOR reply :

He you brought back some memories. I had a 12' on back in the late 70's and 80's. We had a ball with it. I would not mind a transom mount now with a trolling motor on it.

Dogface reply :

Goose52

Very nice!

WoolleyBass reply :

Very very nice. I like how it looks all decked out.

Roby

Goose52 reply :

Thanks guys - it's working out pretty well. I've been getting a lot of attention on the lakes - no one has seen a canoe "pimped out" this much before

It really is a modular system. While I will nearly always run it fully-rigged, I can decontent for smaller waters or shorter trips. I can just paddle the canoe or add the motor. I can run the outriggers for stability, or not (but will probably always run the outriggers). Both the sonar & transducer are mounted on the dashboard - if I don't need the sonar, I just leave the dashboard at home.

It takes about 18-20 minutes from the time I pull up to a lake with the canoe on the roof of the car until I'm fully-rigged and ready to shove-off. Not a bad price to pay for this much capability...and I don't have a boat & trailer consuming a garage bay or driveway space.

Next outing is Sunday morning...

shootermcbob reply :

Goose52, that is one sweet rig.

Goose52 reply :

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Goose52, that is one sweet rig.

Thanks !

Had it out again today - 24 bass and 1 redear/shellcracker. No bass bigger than 15" today though...

Lard_Bass reply :

Goose52,

Nice rig. I am glad that I was able to give you some ideas for the canoe. I need to register mine and get mine back in the water. You'll find that once you get off the bank, you'll never want to shorefish again. I bought a boat last year and love it. I still want my canoe for the smaller lakes/ponds. If I do any more mods to my canoe, I'll keep you posted.

One last thing, watch those rod tips. As Rhino pointed out, those tips could easily get caught up on some brush. Regardless if the rods were stored horizontally or vertically, they always found a way to get into some brush. I see yours are hanging out the back, be careful.

Fyi, one last thing I found to work nicely in the canoe was to fish facing the back of the canoe while standing up. I was able to control the trolling motor easier and it gave me the feel as if I were fishing off the front of a boat. Just my .02.

Goose52 reply :

Thanks. It came together pretty well. As of today, I've had it out fully-rigged 13 times and have caught 136 fish out of it. So, I've had a lot of time on the water to "prove" the systems.

Rod storage is the big issue but the aft carriage looks like what I will stick with. I can have as many as 5 rods pointed aft, plus the "ready" rod in the Scotty rod holder next to the seat. I DO indeed have to be careful of the rod tips. I'm not usually near any brush except when I follow creek channels ALL the way to the back until I'm literally in just inches of water. In those cases, I can't turn around, and I have to back out of the channels.

Noteworthy things that work well are:

The Scotty rod holder next to the seat - this is primarily for when you bring a fish into the boat - you leave enough line out for the fish to be on the deck in front of you and you have a place to put the rod (instead of just laying it against the gunwale).

The anchor lock - another Scotty product - works great.

The transducer arm - the length ended up being just right to have the transducer fully submerged - but not lower than the bottom of the hull. So, you're not likely to bang the transducer off a rock or whatever. The transducer arm is hinged and swings inboard when launching or beaching the canoe.

The "dashboard" - homemade out of oak - carries the sonar, transducer and transducer arm, and another Scotty rod holder. This "plugs" into the oarlocks. It's basically a self-contained mounting for the sonar. I can run with the dashboard or leave it home if I don't think I need the sonar.

The electrical conduit - this carries the 6 ga wires from the trolling motor up to the battery - keeps the cables off the deck and out of the way.

The motor mount that attaches to the outrigger crossbar. A discontinued product from the makers of the outriggers - I called them and got their last one (their prototype). Works great and now the outrigger crossbar multi-tasks by carrying the outriggers, trolling motor, rod rack, and anchor system.

The aft-mounted outriggers - this keeps the 180 degree arc in front of me clear of obstructions and makes landing fish much easier.

There's still a couple of things that I may still improve. I'd like to have a crank system for the anchor line instead of just coiling it up and stowing it in a metal coffee can next to the seat. I could use more storage forward of where I sit and I may remove the other canoe seat and move the battery farther forward. Otherwise, things are working well !

Another photo taken today:

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Radisson Canoe - Fully Rigged ! 2024

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