I’m looking for recomendations on solo fishing canoes. It will be used for small-medium lakes. Super slow rivers and lots of fishing, It also needs to have a decent capacity as I am about 280. Also price is a big issue. It would be good if it was on the cheaper end of the scale, less than 800$ is ideal
solo
Hey,
Try looking at www.hornbeckboats.com . He makes a series of boats based on the wee lassie and designed to be paddled sitting with a double blade paddle. They are expensive, sometimes can be found used. Another option is making your own. A very similar boat can be made (do a search on geodesic ultralight canoes). I’ve made two of these and they are extremely light(12#) but a bit fragile. The big plus is you can get them to lots of places you wouldn’t want to carry a heavier boat.Good luck,Frogge.
hmmm
800 bucks is the hard part. WENONAH makes a big volume solo called the Voyager. It is a 17 footer. If you find one used it could fit the price but it will be tuff. If you are tall you may look to get a smaller tandem with a center seat. That way you would have the capacity you are looking for and you can find may tandems for that price. My wenonah vagabond ran about 800 but you may find it a bit small.
SOLO CANOE
Have you looked into a kayak? I USED TO FISH SOLO FROM A CANOE AND IT WAS A BIG PAIN IN THE BUTT, THEN I GOT A KAYAK IT’S EASIER TO PADDLE, CONTROL AND MUCH MORE FUN. I EVEN HAVE MINE RIGGED WITH ROD HOLDERS AND A FISH FINDER. I’M SURE WITH THE ALL THE MANUFACTURES OUT THERE YOU CAN FIND ONE FOR SOME ONE YOUR SIZE. CHECK OUT KAYAKFISHINGSTUFF.COM FOR MORE INFO ABOUT KAYAKS AND KAYAK FISHING. AND TO ANSWERE THE INEVIDABLE ? NO KAYAKS DON’T TIP EASILY. I FIND KAYAKS AS STABLE IF NOT MORE STABLE THEN CANOES.
Check out the Wenonah Solo Plus
It is a great “big guy” solo and super stable for fishing. I got a new one for $900 at the end of last season.
Couple of Thoughts
There aren’t a ton of big solos out there. As most solo folks are looking for a nimble nifty (often means a little tippy) boat.
The idea of a small tandem rigged up for solo with a center seat is good. I’ve seen a couple of smallish tandems for that kind of money lately in the p.net classifieds. One was a Souris River Q16.
Wenonahs prism and Encounter are more stable than the Voyager.
Mohawks Oddessy 14 is supposed to be pretty stable for a solo and hold a load.
I fish all the time from my Swift Shearwater and love it. But they are hard to find used and thus in your price range.
Good luck and have fun.
odyssey & encounter
I have both and like both for diferent purposes. Both hold me and a load fine. The Encounter is much more stable, tracks better and is considerably faster. However, the Wenonah solos are almost all light in the stern and require weight in the back to trim the boat. 40-50 lbs for me, I weigh 260 lb. Even a light tailwind when empty is a nuisance. When camping I find I need to put 75% to 80% of the weight in the back and the rest in the front. The narrow front also makes it harder to get much gear up front.
The Oddysey is well balanced and will carry an equal load front and rear. It is nimble and easy to turn into a wind or current. It’s a little more wobbly initially, but catches quickly and handles moving water well. It doesn’t track very well. 2-3 strokes and switch compared to 3-5 strokes and switch for the Encounter. It’s reasonably quick for it’s size and rocker. The R84 layup doesn’t hold up to abrasion very well.
Mad River Explorer 14tt
This boat has been an ideal solo boat for me. It is heavy for a 14 footer at 69 pounds but I’m heavy too at 250 pounds. I took out the seats and put in a center seat. It is stable and turns nicely if you lean it on its side.
It is really tough and costs less than $500 so you’ll have money left over for outfitting. It also paddles well if you sit in the bow seat and face the stern but them it does best with some weight added to the stern.
Tolling Motor on Canoe
I am considering the Wenonah Fisherman, Bell Angler and the Mad River Orion TT(although it’s much heavier than the first two). Plan on using a trolling motor to speed transport between fishing locations and “get me home” when getting back to launch into stiff wind.
Any of you have experience with any of these, or similar models, with a trolling motor mounted on a side bracket?
Bill…
I run a Pelican
I bought a pelican canoe 2 years ago from Dicks Sporting Goods for i think it was about 3- 400 bucks. Everytime i have had it out i had no problems at all. Great for a solo paddler.
Mohawks
You might check out the Mohawks. I have a solo 13 that is very stable, light and economical.
They make larger solo’s. You can take a look on their website.
Old Town Pack
I also do a lot of fishing and I’m over 200 lbs. I just bought an Old Town Pack canoe ($600.00 new). It’s kind of small, just 12 ft. and it only weighs 33 lbs. It has a load capacity of 400 lbs. (enough for me, my dog and all my gear) and is stable enough for fishing.
Canoe Fishing
Dollar for dollar, Old Town pack hard to beat, when the wind comes up and chop starts, just sit on the bottom, great boat for the high Sierras. Cabelas can drop ship them for under $600.
Take a look at
Bell’s angler without swivel seats, I fish solo almost all the time in it. paddled " backwarda" from the bow seat it handles well as long as you put some weight in the stern end ( cooler with ice works well)
old town discovery 133
about $800 new w/oarlocks and center seat,13 feet long, 40.5 inches wide, 850lb capacity, I know where there is a used one in michigan that is in great shape and could be picked up for a song(could be the steal of a lifetime) these boats are very tough and very stable
sit on top kayak is the answer
you can find a SOT for around your price range or less. And, a kayak is lot more fun as a fishing platform than a canoe if you are solo. I used to fish out of a 17ft Mohawk…not good in a wind.
I weigh 240, have a sit in rec kayak (Necky Sky) 9’6" I fish out of now. Its very stable and my weight presents no problems. It also takes wind and moderately rough water well. My only gripe is that its not the easiest thing to get in and out of, especially the latter. But, I’m getting better at it. If I had it to do over again, though, would probably get a SOT.
Bob’s Special and Pack
I use both a Nova Craft Bob’s Special (around $950 in Royalex Lite) and an Old Town Pack (about $625 also Royalex). The Bob’s Special is a great solo (althought it is made as a tandem and can handle two people) when paddled from the front seat facing rearward. It handles well, does very well in wind and waves with minimal wetting and is fairly fast. Plus it give you the option to carry camping cear or a second person. Definitely my favorite of the two.
The Pack on the other hand is less expensive, 20 pounds lighter, and large enough for a 300 pound person. (capacity 400 pounds). It is only 12 feet long and can get into small places. It does not handle waves as well but does fine in wind. It tracks well and manuevers well but lacks some in speed. It does well with a double blade paddle (although I prefer a single paddle).
I use both regularly (I fish 4-6 days per week) and each has advantages. If I had to only have 1 I would choose the Bob’s Special.
More on the Oddysey 14 and R84
I must say that I really doubt the statement that “R84 doesn’t hold up to abrasion well”. While my newly acquired Oddysey 14 is straight Royalex, my understanding is that Royalex and R84 are absolutely identical except for the inner skin (which is lacking on the R84 version). That being the case, R84 should have the same external abrasion resistance as Royalex, but less weight and less overall strength than Royalex. The fact of the matter is, Royalex is NOT highly scratch-resistant. It is very tough and it won’t break, but it WILL get scuffed up and perhaps a bit dented. That’s no big deal if you consider the relative unbreakability of the hull to be important. Also, don’t even consider sit-and-switch paddling in the Oddysey 14 or any similar boat. If that’s you paddling style, you’ll end up saying things like “it doesn’t track well” when in fact, another paddler (like me!) would say it handles like a charm. It does have a lot of freeboard, so it will get blown more by the wind than many solos. Regarding so-called wobblyness, I honestly can’t imagine feeling too tippy in this boat while fishing, but someone who prefers a rock-solid feel might find the boat uncomfortable. So whether the Oddysey is a good fishing boat really depends on your canoeing background.
I use WN Fisherman with a motor
It works pretty well. The boat is stable and light. I can use it for solo or tandem. I can stand and fish without any problem.
At a quarter throttle, my 2.5HP motor can push the canoe at its hull speed (about 4 MPH). I fished 4 hours and the tank was still nearly full.
solo for 250lb+ guy
domromer,
Here’s my $.02…for an OldTown Penobscot16. Even sitting on the marketing seats…it’s stable, but get some nice Voyager (rough & smooth) foam pads and kneel…and it’s bombproof. The Mohawks and plastic touring yaks(brian66 mentioned) are great too!..and the ones @Dick’s are very inexpensive, plus you can prop up the seat giving ya’ more height. The Penobscot16 will give you ~7strokes before a correction is needed. One thing, order one and have them mount the center-solo seat BACK…~12"…BEHIND! center…they mount(or USED TO mount) the center seat dead center, which puts a paddler’s “catch” ahead of center…short-changing the paddler out of paddling efficiency…without having to “correct” with a J-stroke.
…maybe that’s why you should go with Mohawk’s 
or OT’s Otter or Wilderness Systems boat(s)…
$.01…
Steve