What kind of watercraft for flyfishing.

Fishing Warm water Forum
1

Ok here is the big question. I am looking into purchasing a small craft just for one person to go flyfishing. It needs to be portable enough to be carried small distances to the water by one person and has to be hard shelled. Tried inflatable some time back and the places I go are too rough for that.
Craft would be used for small lakes as well as some narrow streams. Waters are small enough to forgo electric propulsion(I also can use some exercise from time to time).

Right now I’m bouncing back and fourth between kayak and canoe but I’m open to any suggestions.
Which one is more stable? I have boating experience but not with any of the above.

2

I’d choose the kayak if I only had those choices. Preferably a sit-on-top. Both types of craft are a bit “tippy” due to the narrow beam but you can still fly cast out of them without problems(once you get used to them). How about a small pram or jonboat? You can get them for short change or if you feel adventurous you could even make one yourself. They are definitely more stable.

3

I like a kayak in the salt, but normally I use my canoe in fresh water.
More room to stretch out, and you can stand if you want to.
I don’t think of either of them as “tippy”.

4

Either craft would work well. There are numerous rec kayaks that weigh less than 50 lbs - the OT otter weighs 39 lbs. These would be light enough to carry some distance. If you get one of the strap on wheel setups you can pull one of these along for a good distance pretty easily. OT also makes a one person canoe called the “pack” that weighs only 43 lbs and would be just as easy to pull or carry about as a kayak. I personally use kayaks more often for the rivers and streams here in northern Arkansas. I have looked longingly at the one man canoes though.

5

Personal preference. Both would work well. A solo canoe would hold a bit more gear, but if you have to carry stuff very far, you won’t want to bring too much gear anyway. The canoe will also get blown around more by even the slightest breeze.

If it were me, I’d go with the canoe because I’ve done a lot of canoeing in the past. It would have to be designed as a solo canoe, not just a short tandem canoe. World of difference. Google Hornbeck boats. Sweet.

6

Stewart, RW here

I’ve been using a canoe for almost 40 years now. I’ve owned about 7 of them in that time, but for the last 25 years when I’m alone I personally like the Old Town pack canoe. Occasionally called the trapper canoe. Twelve feet long, one seat, weights 33 pounds made of Royalite. Almost indestructable. It’s rated for about a 400 pound load. You can carry it or transport it anywhere with ease. I’m 71 now and still have no trouble handling it myself. Has the sleek, classic look of O.T’s guide model.

Later, RW

7

I think you should also look at the Hobie Cat 75 or 60. I own the Hobie Cat 75 and just love it! Only weighs in a 33 pounds, easy to row and transport.

www.hobiecat.com

Go down their web page until you come to Hobie Fishing and then look for Hobie Cat 60 & 75

On my Hobie 75 I changed the seat to a swivel folding seat and I put an anchor system on myself.

This is just my opinion, but, I think this may be what you are looking for.

8

MFinn,

You didn’t place a cost limit on this choice. That will have something to do with your final decision, I imagine. A lot of us have gone through the same angst that you are now experiencing. I spent a lot of time, last year researching and trying out different canoes, kayaks and pontoons. You might want to do a search here in the BB for threads about “kayak” or “canoe.” There’s a lot of good advice, here, and a lot of folks passionate for their choices. In fact, the Paddling board arose from some of those discussions.

I was looking to replace my canoe and was sorely tempted by a number of kayak models. However, I have a nice problem in that my wife likes to canoe even though she doesn’t fish so my choices were biased. One thing I definitely wanted was a lightweight craft. I ended up with a kevlar 16’ canoe that weighs in at 38 pounds. Darned expensive but I only seem to buy a canoe every 35 years so I think it will amortize out nicely. I added a middle seat to use as a solo or when my wife goes with me we have the normal seating. I think the best advice was from a number of folks—find a dealer where you can try out the boats. Joe Hyde pointed me to a local dealer where I was able to try out boats on a local lake. In fact I went back and went through the different boats on two different occasions trying to make my final decision. I bought my canoe from this dealer and I’m very happy with my choice and have no second thoughts… hmmmm maybe I should go ahead and get a kayak as well…

BW

9

Warren P down in TN is giving you some good advice on the one man pontoon. I have one hang in my basement that I really like, a FishCat brand. I can fish a 30 acre lake without touching the oars, you could mount a trolling motor on it and just about water ski. I was at the Shallow Water Fishing Exposition in GA last week one manufacture has pontoons with casting platforms that slide under the seat and a stablizer bar that can be moved into position to allow you to stand and cast from the boat. My boat weighs about 50 lbs. and can be broken down to fit in a van but fits the back of my little Ranger pickup ready to go. I would recommend a rod rack if you use more than one rod, I dropped a flyrod in the lake when I first got the boat and was trying my hand at rowing.

10

You might check out SportPal/Radisson. They have a 12 ft. canoe that’s a yard wide and weighs less than 40 lbs. Lined with flotation material it also has sponsons just below the gunwales. Quite stable! The configuration won’t make it a sleek paddler but it’s sure useable. My wife and I fish from a 14 ft. model (after the streams are too warm to fish) and enjoy it very much. In our mid-70s, and fishing in good sized lakes, we opted for an electric motor. The little feller is wonderful.

Good luck.

Bill

11

“Craft would be used for small lakes as well as some narrow streams.”

That is a kayak.

PS It will be more stable than a canoe because you sit only a few inches above the deck.

IMHO forget standing to fly fish in a kayak or canoe. Just get out and wade.

12

The key part of your question was that you didn’t have any experince with either type of craft.

Well, then go try them out. Go to paddling demo’s… borrow craft from friends… hang out where people utilize these craft and ask to “try out” their craft for a few minutes… rent different craft for a day or weekend… or ask dealers to demo their boats.

Actually getting in various types and models is the only way top know if that is the right model for you

13

How about a Canoe AND a Kayak:

http://www.nativewatercraft.net

I have the Ultimate 12. It’s stable like a Kayak (you can stand in it) and it’s shaped like a canoe. It’s a very nice boat.

Regards,
Starfish

14

Another vote for the Oldtown Pack canoe.Only 12ft and 33 lbs,its easy to throw in the back of my pu and hit the ponds.Pretty stable for a small boat also.

15

There are quite a few different “flavors” of both kayaks and canoes with their own characteristics. So its a bit more involved than “kayak or canoe”.

Might I suggest, find a dealer who would allow you to test paddle the various types of craft. The best data source for such a choice would be your own personal experience.

16

I have a Wenonah Kingfisher 16ft canoe.

It is about 4 inches wider than a “standard” 16ft canoe, its stable enough to stand in while casting.

It has plenty of room for camping gear for you and a buddy. Mine has been in lakes and rivers, scraped across rocks and gone through rapids - and it is still as strong as ever.

17

For kayak info and demos, take a look at http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com
Their preference is clearly sit-on-top kayaks, but there’s lots of info and discussion on sit-on-top kayaks vs. sit-inside kayaks and also kayaks vs. canoes.

18

Lots of good comments and advice here.

Truth is, no matter what kind of solo watercraft you pick it will deliver advantages as well as disadvantages. You see so many different hull designs in kayaks and canoes nowadays. This is because boat designing has always been a deliberate trade-off: a shape change made here delivers one useful benefit, but does so at the expense of losing or diminishing another useful benefit there.

I have never paddled a kayak, but expect to do so sometime this spring or summer. (As soon as I stop hyperventilating at the thought of doing a half-Eskimo roll…)

What canoes and kayaks offer fly fishers that is so wonderful is SILENCE ON APPROACH, so long as the paddler does his part by employing careful paddling strokes in combination with not rattling his or her on-board gear.

Kayaks have it all over canoes in the category of minimum wind resistance, a definite advantage if the wind kicks up. I use a solo canoe and paddle it from the kneeling position. Kneeling elevates my eyes higher above the lake surface and that increases my view angle down into the surrounding water, helping me spot underwater cover at distances farther away than would be possible if I were seated closer to water level in a kayak.

In a canoe or kayak, you should fish from the standing position only if you have safeguarded your family’s future financial comfort by making them the beneficiary of a high-dollar life insurance policy.

I suspect that a person’s fishing gear is better protected and kept more accessible if you use a canoe rather than a kayak. (But I could be wrong; again, I’ve never paddled a kayak much less fished from one.)

I’ve never rowed a pontoon boat. A lot of people like 'em. They look too tall to me, like they’d be better employed on quiet water, places with minimum wind and wave action.

If you’d rather not buy new right off the bat, a web site you can check for USED canoes and kayaks is:

www.paddler.net/Classifieds/

You can find some good boats and good deals there.

Joe
“Better small than not at all.”

19

I also vote for a Sports Pal Canoe but mine was made here in the USA by Myers boat works. Very stable and I many times use a electric trolling motor to propel it. A very fun craft and I’m over 60 years old.
Hobo

20

Wow. Must’ve touched a nerve or something.
Thank you very much for all of the advice. I have decided to start with a used kayak and take it from there. If I do not like it or if I would like to upgrade down the road I’m sure I can “trade it” sor something different in the future.

There is a Dagger Zydeco 9 foot for slae localy and I have begun negotiations.

With temperatures dropping below 0 in my neck of the woods seems like a “perfect” time to look for a paddling boat :-).