What to look for when buying a canoe? need feedback

[Don K]

Looking to buy a canoe that is good for fishing. This would be for myself and my 11 year old son. Most of the time will be on the Dupage, but we will also use it on various lakes. When I went to Gander Mountain the sales guy started going on about fishing canoes having a keel vs. river canoes not having a keel, etc. Does anyone have any feedback on what to look for? I could really use the help.

[Rick D.]

Looking to buy a canoe that is good for fishing. This would be for myself and my 11 year old son. Most of the time will be on the Dupage, but we will also use it on various lakes. When I went to Gander Mountain the sales guy started going on about fishing canoes having a keel vs. river canoes not having a keel, etc. Does anyone have any feedback on what to look for? I could really use the help.

Don,

Check out www.paddling.net. Check the reviews. I have both keeled and keel-less. The keel is a tracking ad for open waters. It can a hinderance in moving water manuverability. I have outfitting many canoes and kayaks for angling, camping, exercise, whitewater and physically challenged persons. Don't purchase the cheapest thing on the market. I've made a business like hobby of finding river craft to fit or outfit others needs.

 

Let me know how I can help.

 

Rick D.

EcoAngling Adventures & Outfitting

[Don K]

Thanks Rick. What do you think of Old Town's Guide 147? The guy a Gander felt it was a good river canoe that could be outfitted well for fishing.

[Mark K]

I have the Guide 147. It has two redeeming qualities. It can take a beating and it's cheap enough that you don't feel bad about doing so. It bought it so a friend and I could do float trips on the Kank and Mazon. For that it was great. I also used it in Sylvania and it was okay for that too, but we only did day trips (no gear). It is great to fish out off. I have outfitted it with a side mount and trolling motor. That was pretty cool in Mazonia.

My freind moved away so it became too difficult to orchestrate river float trips so it resides in wisconsin where I use it on local small lakes and the Lemonweir, a small trib of the Wisconsin. It fishes okay with two people but if I put my son (4year old) in the middle it's very cramped. The big drawback is weight. It's a tank and a ballbuster if you have to hoof it around on your own. For a beater boat to fool around in local rivers it will do fine. You can probably find something used that would work too.

I have also fished out of Coleman Scanoes (square stern) they got the job done too. That said, Eric S. took me for a ride in his two man 'yak. That is the way to go in my opinion.

[skjordan]

Another suggestion, look at the Wenonah line. They can be found on the internet at "wenonah.com", they are made in Minnesota.

Great boats with hull designs for all needs. Royalex is the material of choice for river boats.

I have a double, 16', Adirondack which can also be used as a solo and is still very easy to move around on small water.

[sjarrett]

hi don

 

i owned a wenonah Fishermen for 3 years. It's a 13 ft royalex 2-man with a 3ft+ beam. It weighs a very managable 55ish lbs. I've traveled to sylvania and remote-camped with it 4 or 5 times. . primarily, i fished a 100 acre lake in Libertyville. it's plus are that it is very portable both on your back and car, very,very stable and tough. the negative is it paddles like a barge. for larger, lake fishing it doesn't track worth rat. staying straight is all but impossible even with 2 paddlers and the wind will blow ya' all over... i spent one day on the flambeau river and i recall it preformed will so look as you didn't have to react quickly. i sold it in 2002 and bought a raddisson/sports pal sportsmen. it's an canadian made, lite-weight all aluminum canoe. it a great design with lots of features and great for lakes but probably not durable enough for a rocky stream..