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