I am looking for a light weight fishing platform with a trolling motor that can be carried by two people to a boat launch .75 mile away. To be used on the Appomattox river. What do you suggest? Thanks.
Assuming your aren’t running white water
or banging into rocks, this suggested list in the tread on lake canoes for fishing is a good one to consider:
Fishing canoes
Posted by: kayakangler on Jun-24-07 7:46 AM (EST)
I agree an 18 footer isn’t needed. These days since my son is older we each fish out of solo canoes, but when he was a young lad we used a tandem. Mostly 16 or 17 footers. The Wenonah Spirit 2, Adirondack and Aurora spring to mind as well as Old Towns Penobscot 16 or 17 and the Camper. Bell’s Northstar and Northwind are pretty nice too. I had my eye on the SR Quetico 16 but they are pretty pricey and you can get into a kevlar Wenonah for a lot less dinero.
Square stern canoes
If all you will do is motor the canoe you might want to look at square sterns. Canoes like Coleman Scanoe, Old Town Predator, Radisson Sportspal. Or in my opinion the ultimate fishing canoe.
http://www.riverridgecustomcanoes.com/sportsman.htm
Lots of cool stuff on this site.
Trolling motor
batteries are heavy. I would stick with the paddles for a while. Keep it as simple as possible. The more you take the more you lift. Have fun!!!
Depends on the river
Sorry, thought it’s in my home state I’m not familiar with the Appomattox. If memory serves, it’s got basically two natures. A rocky, moderately swift moving nature until it hits the shelf and then a slow, wide nature. Again, from memory of write-ups, unlikely to be accurate.
If you’re running the rocky, relatively swift-moving section, I’d shy away from Kevlar for fishing. If you’re looking for high-performance canoeing, hey whatever. But if you’re mostly interested in canoeing as a conveyance to fish, save some dough and get the heavier and more durable plastic boat. You lose some performance at the high end, but you save a lot of money and still have sufficient performance to do the necessary of getting you to fish.
As far as a specific model, I like Old Town canoes in general. The Guide models seem to be very well suited to river fishing. I’ve also paddled a Mohawk Intrepid rental and liked it, but didn’t get enough time in it to have a well-balanced impression. Initial impression was that it was a useful, good fishing canoe. The Old Town Discovery 159 and 168 have an unquestioned fishing pedigree. Not sure if they’re still made, but you may be able to find one used if not.
Contact Appomattox River Company in Farmville. You won’t be disappointed. They’re all paddlers and give good advice. Plus you’ll get as good of a price as you’re going to find on a new canoe.
- Big D
Dicks Sporting Goods
Check your local Dicks Sporting Goods for canoes. In my case they were way cheaper than Appamattox. Dicks was $50.00 cheaper on one Old Town, and several hundred dollars cheaper on another!
Sportspal
Get a Sportspal. Under 60 pounds and stable as all heck. Ugly as sin, but a great fishing platform.