canoeing questions

[quiet]

hello

MY question about canoeing is: what is a good canoe to use for fishing (Size, width, etc...)

I have only been canoeing 3 times, once while fishing, and I will admit I had a hard time keeping the boat from tipping over. We were only catching smallies 1  - 3 lbs, but I'm sure If I would have hooked into a 10 - 15lb pike that we would have been dumped in the water
 
any tips or recommendations would be great!


work hard, play hard, fish harder still!

[Germ]

hmmm Canoeing is a artform really...If you canoe with someone else in the boat then you must have  trust in them as well...My cousin and Myself fish standing up in my canoe...Both of us have a great amount of trust in one another and have never dumped each other yet....Anyhow if it floats and gets you there saftly...Good canoe! :>

[quiet]

thats what I thought...trust is not an issue, if we tipped it would be pure mistake!

sanding in a canoe,. didn't you mom ever tell you thats dangerous. I hope I can master doing that!!

[grumpymoe]

well i am not a canoeing expert, but i've fished from a few....3 people.....1 a nervous newbie, the 2nd a novice....we used an 18f flat bottom aluminum canoe and caught alot of fish, including some decent northerns...anything else....might be a little different....v bottom or anything else requires experience and trust....and germ.....i would stand in a canoe......for a second or two....   grump....reminds me of my brother when he was newly married....fishing with his wife......rolled over a freighter canoe gear and everything gone.....except his wife..... grump

[quiet]

When I went fishing from a canoe we tied everying down! even had a light rope attached to the fishing rods, its not like we could move around much anyways!

[Colorado_Ice]

For fishing I'd suggest a canoe with a wide beam (width) or a canoe with hard chines on each side like this one.
 

See the line 2/3 of the way down the side? The canoe is actually a little wider above that line so it adds stability when you are loaded or tipped to one side. My friend Chris has this exact canoe and takes a lot of children fishing and it works great.

Also, what the others said is correct. You need to go with people who won't get so excited that they lean way over the sides!

If you already have a canoe and want to stabilize it for fishing, look at these links for sponsons and stabilizers. Or you might get some ideas and make your own if you are handy.

http://www.canoegear.com/catalog/product.php?productid=537&cat=53&page=2

http://www.canoegear.com/catalog/home.php

[trapperdirk]

Good point about beam width CI . I also prefer canoes that are at least 14 ft . My own is a 16ftr and extremely stable . Actually very hard to tip completely over . I can stand in it and have a leak but it's not reccommended . . I don't even recall what kind it is but this one has travelled all over Canada and especially in Ontario . It's even been on lake Ontario and lake Superior when I was a youngin . Touch wood it has never seen a mishap but has seen it's fair share of whitecaps . Shot many rapids too . It was used alot in my family over the years and it looks like Bran and I will in the MFF get together .

[DIRTBALL2]

I've owned a canoe ever since the first time I went out in my buddies at age 20.(about a thousand years ago) Have owned nothing but Grummans, both a  double ender and currently, a square stern. I've found the square stern to be the more stable of the two. Not only does it have the whitewater rails on the sides, it also has a full length keel. The full length keel, I think, is the most important feature to look for when you have stability in mind. The only drawback is that it weighs 86 pounds. This won't matter of course if you aren't planning on making a lot of long portages. All in all, a good, tough, responsive canoe. Grumman has also come out with a new 1 man canoe. Haven't seen it yet so don't know anything about it other then I think it's only 12 or 14 feet long and weighs quite a bit less. Especially like my canoe for getting into small trout lakes where you can't get much of anything else in. Now if you were to invite me up (hint,hint) to try some trout fishing, you would be able to see firsthand how stable my canoe is. Then I wouldn't have to put a couple big rocks in the front so I can control it in the wind. As far as reccomending a specific canoe for you, I would need more info. on how you plan to use it. Going by yorself? long or short portages? Shooting rapids? Chasing wild women? etc.

[DIRTBALL2]

Just discovered a mistake I made on my previous post. How the heck do I edit a previous post?

[trapperdirk]

Look at the top of the post you wish to edit . It says modify . Clic on it and wammo , your good for the count. 

[Cider]

Quite - This is what I have for a fishing canoe:

Old Town Discovery 160K

Length: 16'
Width: 40 1/2"
Width at 4" Waterline: 37"
Depth: 15 1/2"
Bow Height: 24"
Weight: 84lbs.
Capacity: 1100lbs.

Fishing from a canoe is a lot of fun and is a great way to access smaller bodies of water that you can't get a boat onto.  You can also portage a canoe overland to reach back country water that gets little to no fishing pressure.

You could also try using a kayak.  They are equally challenging and a real pleasure to fish from.  You will also start seeing a lot of wildlife when fishing from canoes and kayaks as you are quite a bit stealthier.

Like the others have already said here, wide beam is key to a stable canoe for fishing or hunting.  The stabilizer chines and center keel that Old Town builds into the hull also add significant stability.  I can stand and cast from this canoe.  I have fished with three people (adults) comfortably with no stability issues.  My wife and I have had two of our three gundogs in the canoe with us and there have been no issues.  I have duck hunted with a friend and dog from this canoe without difficulty.

The nice thing about this one is that I can row it with oars, paddle it, or mount an electric trolling motor.  I troll from this a lot with my Minn Kota 47 lb thrust motor.  It works great!

The only thing that I wish I had done differently was to purchase this model with the square stern for mounting a trolling motor or small outboard.  It would be much easier for trolling and not worrying about getting line twisted up in the prop when the motor is directly behind the canoe instead of off to the side like on mine!

Just make sure that you get one that doesn't have a high center of gravity.  My father-in-law has an aluminum canoe with the seats mounted very high in the hull.  They are well above the waterline and this makes the canoe extremely tippy even for an experienced canoeist!  The slightest movement is really amplified and makes you feel like you will capsize.  Most of the time we will sit right on the floor of the canoe in his to avoid the tippiness.

[Germ]

When i fish in the canoe My cousin always laughs at me because the first thing i do is put the lifejacket onto my Tackle box...He says well i see whats important to ya here now dont i? LOL Mostly when we canoe rivers or close to shore..We both swim like turtles. We Generally don't canoe unless we can stand the water temperatures for lengthly periods of time...Like i said we have never fallen in but As a Rule always good practice to wear your life jackets as its hard to Think smart when you fall in a River loose your breath and try to locate a jacket that is already 10 feet ahead of ya! Use common sense when canoing and Make sure to Let people know of ETA's of your plots so incase you run into trouble..Also have all the gear like your supposed to....Bailer buckets your best friend ! TIght lines and be safe!