We used a sock on an 18.5 ft bell Northwoods and ran it off the stern and it slowed us down very nicely. Enough for us to jig up some eyes. I would be nervous about deploying both off bow and stern. That would put you sideways to the waves AND if the waves are big enough to make you want to deploy a sock in the first place you could be asking for trouble.

If it were me I would just get a cheap small sock, add 8' of line to it and tie it off at my seat. Remember you have to bring the thing in again eventually to. This would have have the seas running more or less into your stern which would be safest. Even a small sock will peg your boat plenty. Get to big a sock and you might not move at all.

Good luck Kerry. Let us know how you do.
P.S. The yellow socks have been known to attract pollyhumpers so be careful.

I've never bothered with a drift sock.  An anchor bag pins me down if the wind is too brisk for a drift.

Actually I use the anchor even less now that live bait is no longer legal.  I tend to fish Gulp! or other plastics faster than livebait since movement is what makes it look lively enough to eat.

I always take a drift sock with my son and I in Quetico. If you like to fish more than paddle its a must as far as I am concerned. I bought a Cabelas medium size and I use with my Wenonah Champlain and it works like a charm. Find an area you want to fish, paddle to the upwind end, throw out the sock and both guys fish including slowly working jigs, worms, zulus, jerk shads, etc... and other plastics that require steady canoe control. Perfect. Rinse lather and repeat. Just buy the Cabelas medium. roll it up and it fits inside my soft tackle box and saves hundreds, no thousands of paddle strokes per week in the Q. Repeat after me. I got one!!!!!

In the end I did take a drift sock with me but I never got to try it out because my wife was happy to double as a trolling motor.  Talk about lucking out - she likes to come fishing with me but would rather do the paddling than fish.

[Kerry
Did you ever consider deploying it anyway? "Hey honey, could you paddle just a little faster"?  
[/quote]

I would prefer to die of natural causes.