hi everyone i am a very new canoe person the only experience i have had so far is fishing from one on a lake a few times, it did that wonderfully. so i am in the market for a canoe and i see 2 for sale that i think might work, one is a bell northwind the other is a old town tripper. i would be using it for fishing mainly with just me and my dog. though i will have freinds on occasion. i weight in at 255# and lift weights frequently. so my shape is not horrible. as i cannot test paddle them i was just hoping for some advice. thanks. i did kayak fish out of a ok drifter and was fun but tough to paddle through the oregon surf, got tossed alot 
Even when I was lifting weights, I hated
lifting and carrying my Tripper. It was a great whitewater tandem, but a bit pokey on the lake.
The Northwind, like other Bell canoes, is a sophisticated design, easy paddling and fairly fast. Stable enough for fishing. Not nearly the whitewater boat that the Tripper is, however.
choice
Of those two, I’d take the Northwind for flatwater use.
http://www.bellcanoe.com/products/default.asp?page=product&id=587&catid=193
If you’re going to use it as a solo, you’ll probably want to put in a third seat. You can’t paddle it “backwards” from the bow seat because it’s not a symmetric hull.
Even at your weight, you’ll be light in it, and you will be pushed around if there’s any wind. for fishing I’ve found that a small sea anchor or “drift sock” works well do reduce downwind movement when there’s a breeze.