I am going to get a canoe for fishing and paddling lakes with my family. I was in a pelican and did not like it not very stable. Do you all think the old town guide 147 will be a good canoe for what I am looking for? The weight is not an issue, and the price is about what I would like to spend. Any input would be welcome.
Its a decent craft. Should do fne for
fishing. The Osprey may be better, but it costs more.
Probably
I’ve never paddled an Old Town canoe I didn’t like. I’ve never paddled the Guide, but I’ve been eyeing it. My dad has been too. We both use canoes for about the same reason you do.
- Big D
i’ve paddled one quite a bit…
I have a buddy with one, and I have a very similar poly boat, the mad river 14TT. I like the webb mad river seats over the molded seats that Old town uses, but I like the OT hull better than the semi-vee hull of the MR14TT. The Old Town will probably be a little better on the lake. If you spent more time on the river, I’d probably recommend the MR instead.
I, like many others on the board, have finally upgraded to royalex from poly hulls, and I’m not going back… but I’d say the Old Town guide is one of the best values for a good, tough boat.
thanks
Thanks guys I think I’m going to get the Old Town.
has anyone used one of these
I found an old town blackwater, it is 16’ 4" would that be better than a guide for fishing, they also had a mad river adventure 14 it looked cool but I was wonering about the stability. The blackwater looks like a stillwater but black.
canoe length…
You’ll probably be fairly happy with the Old Town. However, one thing to consider in a tandem fishing canoe is the length. Longer canoes are better than shorter ones for a couple of reasons. The most important is that the longer the canoe is, the more distance there is between the front and rear paddlers, and that can be VERY important when one or both of them is waving a fishing rod with a lure full of hooks on the end of it. I want to be separated from my partner far enough that I never have to worry about us hooking each other on a backcast. 15 feet is about minimum length for avoiding this problem. The other factor on shorter canoes is stowing fishing rods. You don’t want to have to lay your fishing rod down so that the end of it can reach your partner, or so that you have to have it hanging out the front of your canoe.
All other things being equal, I want a 16 or 17 foot canoe to fish from tandem.
By the way, length can be good in solo canoes, too…it really helps in stowing extra fishing rods.
I disagree
A little care in how you approach a fishing spot, and you can easily fish two out of a smaller canoe.
My father and I have often fly fished out of his coleman 15’ canoe. Yes fly fishing.
Just approach the spot so your sideways to it, control your casts, be aware of your surroundings, and your fine. if we angle into a spot we sometimes catch each others line on a backcast. If you trust the other party to know what your doing we will back cast over each others head even.
The important part is to know what your doing, and make sure the other guy wears a hat 
new canoe
Well I bought an Allagash 164 today. Now I am just waiting for spring. If I know me i’ll be out sometime this week to give it a trial run.
Madriver Adventure
’Don’t know about the 14, but I bought a 16 last summer. Love it. 'Don’t think you could find a more comfortable canoe. Check out it’s reviews on this site (mine was too long to repost here). It’s a heavy dude, but got mine for $419 and it’s hard to beat for twice that much.
did you try this canoe out?
I would be interested if you found it to be tippy.
Looks to be the same as the Penobscot
164. Should be stable, good secondary stablility, a bit less primary stability than a rec/family canoe, but pretty decent.
reply
No I haven’t tried it yet but I am going to the next warm weekend we get. I talked to old town they said it should do fine for what I will use it for.
agree
I agree with jerlfletcher on the primary stability. Hope it works out.
fantastic
Old Town makes some fantastic boats. My only suggestion would be to go with the longer Guide 160.
The weight of the 147 is already too porky to solo for most people anyway. The 16 footer is going to give you a lot more room to operate and stow your gear, and will be easier to paddle tandem.
Not Bad
I got about 10 hours in this canoe this weekend it is an Allagash. Did some fishing and found it to be good for fishing and great for cruising around the lake. We had myself wife and a friend in the boat fishing and had no trouble at all with it being too tippy, it is a canoe so you have a little twitch, but nothing very bad. we never felt uncomforatable in the boat at all. My son who is 14 and his friend we out alot and came back dry every time. As far as a fishing only canoe the osprey would be better but for a combo boat this onw is perfect.
I’ve got an OT 147
I’ve been using the Guide 147 for about 4years or so and have fished solo and with a partner. it’s hard to handle by myself if the wind is up but I’m working at putting a new seat in it for solo use that will make it easier to handle. I like it fine and it fits in the back of my truck easily. I use is on lakes and rivers both.