MT,

You traitor! I can't believe you would reveal, for all of cyberspace to read, my sources and methods! These are trade secrets!

Others have marveled in amazement at the speed and ease of our party getting our junk from one end of the portage to the other. I'm sure you've already figured out that we really don't need to paddle our canoes to travel lakes, but that merely using our paddles to steer, we travel just under sub-warp speed.

It is always nice to arrive at our chosen destination, refreshed and ready to fish, in a mere fraction of the time it takes for mere mortals to travel the same distance.

Next, you will no doubt reveal, that fishing methods, lures, etc., are but an illusion. The reality, is that the largest fish in the lake are compelled to strike our offerings.

I've said too much...

Snow_Dog wrote on Apr 30^th, 2013 at 1:08pm:


HA! Good one SD.......

I stumbled across this Old Salt portage training video (He still looks good).......Always remember........"Do, or do not. There is no try"

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Somewhere, buried within this forum, is a great discussion of portaging etiquette, which I can't seem to find.  It was a few years back though.

Seriously though, how we portage is going to depnd a lot on who is on the trip and how many there are.

Solo, I usually take the canoe and a light pack first and come back for the heavier pack with the daypack across my chest unless I suspect the portage is unusually tricky.  Get the heavier load across while fresh.  I sometimes triple towards the end of a long day of portaging.  Just depends on my energy level.  Safety trumps speed, always.

When with my usual paddle partner Tim on 2-man trips, we generally single the portage.  I get canoe and light pack, Tim gets monster pack and daypack.  All incidentals are strapped into the canoe or onto a pack.  We'll do about 100 rods at a time and then take a 10 minute break before resuming.  The 10 minute break usually happens at any point that looks more interesting, flora-wise and I'll use the time to photograph and just enjoy the woods around me.

On trips with 4 or more, it usually takes a portage or two to evolve to the system we'll use the rest of the trip but then we stick with that system in order to maximize efficiency and ensure that everyone knows what they'll carry each time so nothing gets left behind.  2nd to last load scouts the landing to be sure that nothing is left behind except that which the last person usually carries.  If there is anything that was forgotten, this person either carries it or reports it to the last person when he meets him on the trail so that person knows to get it.  Last person does one final sweep of the landing before loading up as well.  Never once have we had to go back to retrieve a forgotten item with this system.

I'm always in hiking boots for a portage and I wet-foot it. I'm not into balance beams or rock-hopping with a load on my back, either.  Plow through!

Old Salt wrote on Apr 12^th, 2013 at 8:29pm:


I let Old_Salt load me up before I head across.  All them small stuff gets strapped into the canoe until it weighs about 80#.  Then he loads me up.  Usually I have the heaviest pack on my back, another full-sized pack on my chest, a smaller pack slung over each arm, and then OS rolls the canoe over the top of me and onto my shoulders.  OS then heads off down the trail in front of me to stir up all the skeets really well attract the mosquitoes away from me and scout the trail unencumbered. 

He tells me this is the most efficient way to do it so he will remain fresh and alert for when it's time to fish.   

ripple wrote on Apr 29^th, 2013 at 5:59pm:

  That doesn't explain the colored rocks I've seen on short portages...

Well, we like to paddle real hard to get the canoe about 2/3 on shore, so we don't get our feet wet.  Then we get out and drag the canoe up another 10 yards before we unload...
   OK, not really.  Usually tandem and do one trip on the short ones (one guy gets food pack and canoe; other guy gets big gear pack and "day pack" slung on front; hand carry or bdb paddles and rods) or leapfrog stuff on the longer ones.  Have not been efficient or light enough to single trip when soloing, but that is OK, I enjoy the walk backs.

jaximus wrote on Apr 20^th, 2013 at 9:40am:


That's probably the most important thing about portage styles. Having everyone in agreement.

To me it's all part of the trip, not just something that needs done.

ive never solo tripped and ive always been in a group of 3 or more, so that kinda helps with the margin of error portion. the past few years my canoe (we usually have 2 or 3 canoes) has done the portages in one trip. we have 2 taller guys that like taking the canoes and the two shorter guys take the 2 community packs. we have a self imposed rule of one personal pack only. there are 2 'community' packs, one for the food stuffs and the other for the tents. that leaves one person per item 2 canoes, 2 packs, 4 people. we trade off when necessary as well. ive done quite a bit of work on my canoe to streamline the portage process, so the paddles/rods easily store up inside.

from landfall to everybody walking the portage with gear its about a 3 minute process. we all enjoy the fishing aspect the most, so the longer we spend on land, the less we get to fish. if there was a way to troll a line behind us on the portage and catch fish im sure my group could find it.

with that said, half of the people in our group are a tiny bit OCD about being early to everything so we try to get to our destination ASAP! the other half is pretty laid back so sometimes we have issues on portage days.

IC, Thanks. Poke boat says a lot. Super lightweight and strong. One of these days hope to get down to berea for a test drive. I'm currently working with a 58# plastic behemoth.