Canoe recommendation

[Rafael Rosen]

I’m looking to buy a small to medium sized canoe.  Mostly going to use it for solo fishing but also the occasional family camping trip.  I need to be able to wrangle it in and out of my truck on my own and also be able to carry 2 adults, our kid, and some camping gear.

 

I noticed an Old Town Sportsman at the pond yesterday and that looked like it could work.  Seems like they’re hard to find though.   Also considering the Old Town Saranac 146 or Guide 147.  What canoes do you guys use for solo fishing?

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard, Rafael!

 

I used to fish out of a canoe, an old Grumman, 16 footer, but changed

over to a kayak many years back. What I use is actually a hybrid kayak

and canoe made by Native Watercraft, called the Ultimate.

 

They continue to make these and they also come in a tandem model which

handles two adults, gear, possibly a child.

 

That said, gonna be pricey. I'd look, if you haven't already, at Dick's Sporting

Goods as they have frequent sales on canoes.

 

You'll get plenty more suggestions from folks, stay tuned  

[MN Fisher]

I've got a Sun Dolphin Scout SS - it's a 14' canoe with 3 seats. It weighs 84 lbs, so can be wrangled by one person, but the big part is that it has a load capacity of over 700 lbs...plenty for 2 adults, 1 kid and gear - though it might be a bit cramped for space.

 

It's also sold as the Field and Stream Scout at either F&S stores or Dick's - made by KL Outdoor (KL Industries), Sun Dolphin is their home brand.

[Nathan.bass.canada]

I bought a 15 foot fiberglass canoe a few years back and now would never consider a kayak. So happy with that decision. I haul all my rods and gear (over 10 rods and way too much tackle) AND I get to bring along a buddy  I wouldnt recommend any brand over another because like I did, I encourage you to get a used one with a wide center. Mine wasnt ANYTHING special but I absolutly love it. Get something cheap and fix the fiberglass a bit if it needs any, such an easy and fun experience. I often fish alone in it, it takes me 1 min to take it down from the roof of my car, alone, and maybe 2 min max to put it back up. The whole thing wirhgs maybe 60pounds. If you plan to fish standing up, works great alone but if you are two, build small stabilizers.

 

from canoe land Quebec

[redmexican5081]

I fish out of an Old Town Guide 147.  I'm a larger guy so when I'm alone, I turn it around and paddle backwards.  This keeps my weight more towards the center and keeps the bow from pointing to the sky.  I also built a homemade stabilizer for it so I can stand without having to worry too much about it being tipy, again, I'm a bigger guy and not as nimble as I once was.  When I take the wife out we use it as intended.  With the kids, I still paddle backwards and have them face me.  This canoe is heavy, like 75 lbs, but it is rugged.  I have no fears of beaching it and being worried about rocks or other hard stuff damaging the hull.

Solo setup

 

Kids with me

[michaelb]

I would look at craigslist and get a used canoe, since they pop up all of the time. But my general take is that you don't want what you say you want. So if you are really talking about camping with gear and 2 adults and a kid (and maybe a dog?) you need a bigger boat, so 16 feet is a good minimum for a two person canoe properly capable of hauling camping gear. By "camping" do you mean you are camping out of your truck and you want a boat to play with? Are you portaging? Are you paddling big water with waves and exposed crossings of open water? How many miles would you go in a day? So yes you can take a 14 ft rec canoe on a camping trip, but it is not a tripping capable canoe.

 

the upside is that any canoe is good for fishing. You do want to be able to sit backwards to paddle solo in order to get the trim right, and a lot cheap plastic boats with modeled seats aren't going to allow that. Smaller will be easier to load (but any canoe is probably too big for the bed of a truck), but worse in every other possible way. Lighter/faster is the opposite usually of slow and heavy and tough. So you have to pick a compromise.

[Goose52]

On 6/2/2019 at 10:05 AM, Rafael Rosen said:

What canoes do you guys use for solo fishing?

For solo fishing, I have a Radisson 12' (11'6" actually) aluminum boat. The hull weight is 34 pounds but that is due to some very thin aluminum. Some folks move over to the similar Sportspal canoe line which uses thicker gage aluminum if they have a concern about rocks and such (at the expense of about 10 more pounds of weight).  I specifically bought this boat for that light hull weight, and I wanted aluminum instead of a kevlar or similar hull as I sometimes have to launch from concrete ramps.  

 

For a family outing boat, the previous poster gave excellent advice...

 

 

[Kayak_Fish_Camp]

I looked into several brands and went and sat in many of them.  I was looking to do the same as you: camp and fish with kids, family, and dogs.  At 60lbs, I think the perfect size is the S14 Sportspal by Meyer.  I picked one up used for $300 but they are normally upwards of $1K.  It came with a trolling motor mount, a custom-built wheeled dolly, 2 paddles, and a small removable middle seat.  

 

Here's a google photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7TpUSim19YZX6WZR8

 

It's big enough to put wife and small child/dogs in it easily.  It's by far one of the most stable canoes I've ever used.  It floats in barely any water.  I can move it easily with the wheels you can see in the photo album.  Getting it on the truck roof is a bit tricky because the bow wants to ride the rooftop until the foam pad kicks in to support the weight.  That said, it is super easy to load when not needing to put it on the roof and just in the back of the pickup on a slant up towards the truck cab.

 

I've had it out quite a few times since getting it.  Currently, I am prototyping a "canoe console" that will sit in front of me and store my tackle boxes and a few other things I am attaching like rod holders, drink holder, and possibly some tool holders.  The idea of this is for it to be very portable and have everything I need for fishing.   Drop it in and grap my rods and I can be out fishing with everything I need.  I don't want anything mounted permanently because of needing to take kids and dogs on occasion.  You can see it at the bottom of the photos.

 

I really love the sportspal canoe for fishing and stability.  I plan to add a trolling motor later this summer and will be selling my kayak soon.  This is just so much more comfortable with the leg room and seating.  Plus it's so nice to not have everything sitting on my lap in a little kayak.

 

[Ratherbefishing75]

I have a 16.5 foot ascend dc156 I love it it can hold  me and 2 of my buddies and all our gear . I have it on a trailer so it’s easier to launch  . You can go in places where the big boats can’t and it’s easier to put a motor on it then a kayak even though some of those fishing ones look pretty snazzy