Black rat snake for certain. I moved one out of my shed yesterday actually that was hanging around a bucket of bird seed. Note that I only moved him to avoid him startling Beth, and enjoy that he's hanging around and likely removing house mice for me. He's always welcome in my backyard.
Good report and nice bass for Thomas! It's been a good season for largemouth bass all around it seems. I got another one yesterday that was a dandy as well.
Hey, you can also remove the seat spacers (dowel rods) on either seat and raise the sucker up if you want. I prefer sitting higher since my canoe is really just a fishing platform. By removing the spacers, you get less seat torsion and a more powerful paddling stroke at the expense of reduced stability. Since I stand off the front about 50% of the time, stability isn't my primary concern ;).
Try putting a medium cooler in the center of your boat and you'll get a lot less stuff rolling around.
Canoe fishing is about all I want to do this time of year. And I would have at least considered eating the bluegill for sure! Why catch 'em twice when you can eat 'em once? No -- I take probably fewer than 50 sunfish a year and virtually nothing else (i.e., catch and release). Since I'm permitted that number per day, I consider this a de minimis activity.
For drinks I tend to just set a bottle of Gatorade or something right behind my seat and it tends to stay put decently enough. Several other waters, and usually food go in the center cooler until we pull off somewhere to eat.
Note that I prefer stringers on a cord, and not the basket type. The latter makes paddling a lot more difficult. Also, punch the "pin" on the stringer through the bottom lip of the fish -- DO NOT GOT THROUGH THE GILLS. They live a lot longer if you just go through the bottom lip.
Gene