What to look for in a Canoe

[The Famous Grouse]

My recommendation, if fishing is your purpose, is to skip canoes and kayaks entirely.

I know, I know, I'm risking the wrath of canoe lovers everywhere, but please hear me out because I've been there / done that with canoes and I may have a few points for you to consider before you part with your money.

First, there is nothing worse than fishing in a canoe because you are always, always, always trying to twist sideways to fish. You can't fly fish by casting at 12 o'clock from either position (bow or stern) in a canoe, so you have to turn sideways. Over the course of a day, this gets horribly uncomfortable and there's nothing you can do about it, it's the design of the boat.

Secondly, they are very difficult to control when fishing. Every breath of wind seems to blow a canoe off course so it seems like 90% of the time at best one of the two occupants of a canoe can fish. If you're on your own, forget it. Unless you're on a dead still pond or you're anchored, you'll spend half or more of your time trying to get or keep the canoe in fishing position.

There are a very few fishing situations where a canoe is the best option. Mostly, these involve situations where long distances must be covered by water before you get to the fishing, and of course in some places portages will make boat access difficult as there are few boats that are easily carried.

For every other need, I'd say look at small 1 and 2 man boat options, there are a wide variety on the market for both moving and still water.

Apologies to the canoe and kayak crowd out there, but that's the way I see it. After too many years of back-wrecking fishing while twisted sideways, and cursing while trying to keep the canoe in position for the guy doing the fishing, I finally snapped like a dry twig and built a driftboat with my own two hands. This summer, I will be drifting along the rivers I used to canoe, fishing from a comfortable and stable standing position high above the water, and I'll a big cooler, lots of gear, a nice net, and all the comforts that were never possible in a canoe. Yes, I will sacrafice downriver speed, but that comes with a huge gain in terms of fishing efficiency and comfort.

Grouse

[10ae1203]

My recommendation, if fishing is your purpose, is to skip canoes and kayaks entirely.

...

Grouse is right. Fishing from a boat is easier than a canoe.

[WarrenP]

The NuCanoe has an optional swivel seat base. I have one on mine and I can swing around and fish from the back or either side.

Just thought you should know that...

Once again, they are a sponsor and make a great product with a great price.

Make sure to research everything out there and if at all possible, demo what ever you think you might like before purchase. Saves a lot of headaches later...

[tigfly]

My wife and I fish out of a Grumman 17 ft. canoe. It gives good separation between the two of us so we can both flyfish without too many mid air collisions, but it is not a one man portable canoe. I agree with a previous post that it is better if the person in the back paddles and the front fishes. It's heavy at 75 lbs. I have seen some the tandem kayaks and it appears to me that it places both people a little too close together for both to fish at the same time. But I've never tried a tandem so I don't know for sure. I also have a two man PWC pontoon, and that is very stable, portable, and easy to row short distances. i wouldn't like to row in a wind or waves but i'd say the same if I was in my canoe.

Glenn

[Lake Erie High Ball]

When looking for a canoe (be it for rental purpose or purchase) the thing I can't stress and insist that it has is buoyancy. Everything after that is a bonus.

A lot of years back I went on a canoe trip with some friends. The guy at the livery took great pains to make sure that the life jackets fit just right and we better wear them because if we sank or capsized and they floated down stream don't bother to come back. So after we got the jackets all squared away he started to size us for paddles. Who knew that these could cost so much? Again with the warning don't come back without them.

Long story short I would say 7 miles into a 20 mile trip we sank and lost a cooler and I would say a life jacket worth of beer. So buoyancy is very important and the way the guy cried at the livery it was important to him too.

Sean

[jeffnles1]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I will check out the nucanoe. I didn't see any dealers close to me so I'd have to make a road trip to check one out or pay a lot to have it shipped ot KY.

RE: boats, yes, fising from a boat is easier. I had a 12 foot john boat for a number of years and sold it about ten years back. I just don't want to hassle with a trailer.

Having something I can lift to the roof top of my wife's van is important. I'll be using the boat by myself probably 50 percent or more of the time. The rest of the time will be with my 13 year old son.

What I'm thinking is something that I can get up on the van when I get home from work, get to the lake, fish for a couple hours until dark, toss back on the van and come home, or wake up on a Saturday and go fishing for a few hours.

I didn't use the boat as much as I thought I would and thought something more portable and single user friendly would be a better option for me.



Jeff

[WarrenP]

Jeff,

I know what you are going through because I have "been there and done that". I have owned a 13' canoe and a 10' flatbottom. My main goal with any type of craft is for transportation on the river. I want to be able to get away from everyone and explore the river. I liked the 13' canoe because it was light weight but I really hate paddling a canoe. Don't get me wrong, paddling anything down river is easy, but, most of the time when I went fishing, I was by myself which eliminates the float down river to the "pick-up" vehicle. I wanted to put in the river and paddle upstream against the current for 4-5 miles and then float fish my way back to my truck. For me, paddling a canoe against the current is not my cup of tea. In order to do my type of fishing with the flatbottom boat, I needed a trolling motor and battery to go against the current. Yes, the flatbottom was very comfortable, but, lugging the battery and trolling motor around to load and unload wasted too much of what time I had to fish plus I had to have the boat registered with the State and pay a yearly fee. My next purchase, and I still own it, was a Hobie Cat 75 pontoon boat. With the polyethelene (sp) tubes instead of the inflatable type it was great. It sits high on the water and oars very easily upstream against the current. It is a one-person craft and you are limited to what you can haul with you. It is very light at about 40 pounds and fits into the back of my Ranger. I like it very much. Now that I own a 10' NuCanoe, I will be selling the Hobie Cat 75. The NuCanoe goes upstream against the current easier than the Hobie. You use a double paddle and the NuCanoe just glides on the water. It is very stable and with the storage box (optional) I can carry extra gear with me. The moveable seating arrangement allows you to move your seat forward for solo or back when you have someone else with you. I have owned this for over a year and have yet had anyone else in it with me so I cannot provide any information on how that is. I will tell you that I feel 2 people in it trying to use fly rods may be a little tight. I use mine to navigate the deeper holes in the river and get out of it to wade fish the riffles and shallow water areas. While drifting down the river, I will drop the anchor and fish some deeper holes. I have installed a swivel seat on mine which allows me the freedom to turn and fish from the sides or the back if I want to. My swivel seat base is attached to a Wise removeable seat base so that I can remove the seat for hauling. I have a hard cover over the bed of my Ranger and it will close flat with the NuCanoe inside it once the seat is slid out. No, I do not work for NuCanoe! No, I get nothing from NuCanoe for advertisement! I am just a very satisfied customer and really do enjoy my NuCanoe. At 61 years old (this March) I have found a craft that is easy to load and unload, easy to double paddle and comfortable to fish out of.

You might plan a little trip to my area and visit Tim's Flies & Lies fly shop in Lynchburg. They are a dealer and have a 12' NuCanoe that you can demo on the river. That way you can see if the NuCanoe is what you want before investing any money. I do not think there is a charge for the demo.

Just providing info to help you decide and maybe answer some of the concerns you may have and nothing more.

[pdowney]

If what you are *really* looking for is a *fishing* boat in slow streams and ponds there are better things than canoes and kayaks. You might consider an aluminum flat bottom of a length to suit you (14 - 16 ft?) w/ a foot mounted trolling motor and swivel seat in front. Not as hip or earthy and a C or K but it you can fish almost 360 degrees without much effort and putt putt upstream w/ a small (5-10hp) outboard. You can use this by yourself, or w a partner. There is room for an ice chest and your dog and a depth finder. You can't throw it on top a a van, but you can haul it on a small trailer. You can probably find a good one used (minus the outboard) for <$800. ...Unless you just want a canoe, which I understand having 3 myself. I would stay away from a square stern. They are heavy and hard to paddle.

[DarrinG]

Jeff, I don't know how far away from you this boat might be, but it seems to be a good deal, especially with the skirts w/ it.
http://roanoke.craigslist.org/boa/989051723.html

[hungNtree]

Jeff,

My Dad and I have a 14' fiberglass canoe. He bought it when I was a kid and we used it fishing and for just floating down the creeks and rivers. It was fun and I still plan on using it, but it is very heavy. They may be made better and thus lighter now, I am not sure, but if you go for fiberglass I'd be realy cautious about the weight.

One other thing that I have had, is a small 2 man plastic bass boat. It had 2 swivel seats, the seats came out very easily so you can make it a 1 man with no problem. They were very easy to fish from although I was not fly fishing, just regular fishing I am not sure how well they would work for 2 men fly fishing. There was room for a battery and trolling motor, I don't think it would be the easiest thing in the world to paddle, fortunately, I didn't have to. At the time I got mine they were about $300, so I would think they would be well with in your price range. It was filled with foam too, so you couldn't sink it if you tried but loading it was a breeze. May not be what you are looking for, but its a thought. I can't remember the name of it though, or you could just google a look at it.

Hope that helps,
Jason