Since it is winter time, I figured it is time to start looking for a new boat to fish from. Right now I have a float tube and a pontoon boat but my girlfriend has gotten hooked on fishing I need something that can haul two people in.
Some time ago I saw a boat that looked interesting but I have no idea what it was. It looked like a canoe but the back had a transom? where you could attach a trolling motor to it. Does anyone have any idea of what kind of boat that could be? Is that a particular type of boat or just a redesign of a canoe?
I am looking for something in the 12-14 foot range, that can haul 2 people and where I can attach a trolling motor to the back. I am looking for something that I can load on top of my truck and not have to worry about a trailer.
I have an Old Town discovery sport canoe (13’) that works pretty good for fishing. It has a square back (transom) and I use a three and a half HP motor to push it around. Thats enough HP for lakes and slow rivers. For the last few years however I’ve done most of my fishing from kayaks though - I use the kayak to get from hole to hole and then get out and wade fish:D
Square sterns are an abomination when it comes to paddling. Get a standard canoe with a side mount for your trolling motor if you will be using the motor frequently. When you paddle, which you will have to do a lot, life will be much easier. On the other hand, the trolling motor on a side mount will function just as well as it would on a square stern.
It really is not clear how and where you will be using the craft outside of cartopping it. There is no one perfect craft for all fishing. So come back with details.
It sounds like you may be referrng to a GeeNu(sp). They look like a canoe but the bottom is flatter and they have a transom. They are terrific boats, very stable and can handle a small outboard or electric motor.
A good hull design can make all the difference in the world. I finished up a cedar strip square stern this fall (just in time for the big lakes to close). I was amazed to find that it paddled nicer than the old sears double-ender i hade been using.
That being said if I were you I would check out some Radissons. They make a standard square stern type, a wide transom model that is more like one of the old “sport boats”, and even their double-enders come with a side mount for electric motors. They are also about the lightest canoes out there.
I forgot to mention that I will primarily using this on small to medium sized lakes lakes. I will be fly fishing from it, so it needs to have good initial stability.
I found a picture of the gheenoe and that looks a lot what I saw. Even though it is trailered, I like the looks of it. http://www.gheenoe.net/sixteenft.html
I did not know that you could side mount a trolling motor on to a canoe. That might be something for me to look at also. That will give me a lot of different options.
Paul, I fly fish from my cedarstrip all the time, and many times there are two of us. Me in the stern, a friend in the bow. We are both seated. Casting is never a problem unless one of us is using a Clouser. We’ve learned to duck with finesse. JGW
To get to productive water, I have to cover a lot of water most of the time so I’m looking into a square stern canoe since I have no choice. I am not going to paddle a double end over a lot of water so I will most likely put a 1.5 or 2 hp minioutboard (portable) on it. A trolling motor is not going to get the job done and I don’t know if a side mount on a double or if a double can take a small outboard. I will use oars for quiet approaches on the fish but not for covering long distances that would be too far to paddle and use wasted time paddling that could be used fishing. I wish I could just get a double end canoe to get to productive water and save the registration fee but that’s not going to happen.
“I did not know that you could side mount a trolling motor on to a canoe. That might be something for me to look at also. That will give me a lot of different options.”
the practice goes back a long way. My father side mounted a 1 hp Neptune Eagle on his Cedar Canvas Old Town during the 30s. My uncled borrowed it for a trip to the Nipagon River in the 40s. The Brookie he caught took the Bronze in the Field and Stream flies only category.
Boats like the Radison are fine for paddling short distances or use with a small gas or electric motors. That marries you to the motor as soon as distances get longer. It may fit yor lake perfectly today. Is that the only way you will ever use it?
Some day you might have to portage. Lugging that hardware or marine battery more than a few hundred feet gets old quick. Paddling all the way becomes a live option. That is why I am lobbying for a good canoe with a side mount. It goes both ways. (If you really want a shallow draft stable craft to be used with a motor, a jon boat is the way to go.)
What is a good canoe? Wenonahs are the only ones with good paddling design that I can recommend from experience. There may be others. What is a good side mount? Check these guys–the gadget family of the North Woods. http://www.canoegear.com/ As they say, “it is about getting there.”
I think Mike’s advice is dead on. If you have to paddle AT ALL then a square stern is a very bad idea. And considering that when you have to paddle might be when a storm approaches and your battery is dead, you’d be in big trouble. If you’re going to rely on a trolling motor with battery, you’re going to have times when you have to get somewhere by paddling. A sidemount motor works much better in those situations.
And if you stay with the canoe idea, consider getting a set of outriggers which will make any canoe stable, including my little 32" beam solo canoe.
There are plenty of great canoes out there. Some are set up for fishing. Some paddle like bathtubs.
Mike’s link for accessories is a good one and I’ve had good luck doing business with those folks.
You win!
I am going to look in to getting a canoe. After thinking about it and doing some more research, getting a canoe seems like the best choice for me. Plus, it will be very easy to haul in on top of my truck. I am probably going to look at the Mad River canoes or the Old Town canoes.
Time for me to get on to paddling.net and look at the reviews. I have been using that site to research an inflatable kayak for myself.
Have fun! I forgot to mention that pnet also has a large classified section and many members have reported good transactions there, myself included. I’ve both bought and sold boats there.
Canoes are my boat of choice for what I do. I suppose, too, that’s because I grew up with having them around, and have run the gamut of the different materials their made out of. Canoes are just like other things, maybe like pick-up trucks and cars, it’s a matter of compromise; one design gives you advantages over another, just depending on what your going to do with the thing.
My knock around-in, carry back into difficult to reach places, that I can handle by myself, is a 12’ Radisson “car top” transom canoe (not to be confused with a square stern); at one time they were referred to as a “canoe boat”. It has oar locks and can be “rowed” like a boat, or paddled like a caone, or I have a small outboat I can hang onto it and putts my way along. I do have a close fishing buddy who’s light weight, and we have fished many, many years together - from many different kinds of boats, and we can fly fish from the little Radisson just fine. There are very few I’d take fly fishing with me in this tight quartered set-up; but then, quite often, I fish alone from it. Like I said … for what I do, this light weight craft does me just fine.
Another friend not too long ago bought a 15’ Grumman “Sport Boat”. What a great, well built, stable “canoe boat” this gem is. But it’s a lot heavier, requires two to tango with it; you won’t be packing it on your back and wandering off down the pathway with it, like you would the Radisson - it’s over twice the weight. What’s more, it cost three times what I paid for the Radisson. But for stability and downright tough built, you’ll go some to beat this boat!
A Gheenoe is a great boat and very stable! The only drawback is that the shortest one they make weighs in at 113 pounds!!!
Here is another site that you can do some research on purchasing your canoe/boat. They have some very good prices and they ship straight to you. They carry many different brands including the Sportspal Canoe which may be just the rig you are looking for. I have no connections with them except that I have purchased a boat from them in the past and the transaction went well.
A well designed and built square transom canoe is not difficult to paddle. A semi-v or semi-rounded bottom is the way to go for stability. They do not offer as good initial stability as a flat bottom but have excellent secondary stability. They will literally balance on their side. Get a flat bottom rolled about 45 degrees and you are going to capsize. Since you are fishing even small lakes you will encounter wave action and the semi-rounded (semi-v) hull will be much safer.
I have a side mount for my trolling motor on my canoe. The Old Towne mount that I have will support a 3.5 hp outboard. The disadvantage of a side mount is that the thrust is off center of the canoe center line. In order to keep a straight track you must bring the canoe into trim with the tiller. Not a big deal with small motors but the more thrust you have the bigger the correction input must be.
