After years of bumming along in whoevers canoe, I’ve decided to buy my own. I canoe in Southern to Central Indiana so mostly Creek and River with a few lake trips here and there camping. I’d like to get a boat I could someday use for family trips with the wife and two boys when they get a little bigger. I’ll keep watching Craigslist for a used Royalex canoe but 95% of what i see is Ram x colemans or aluminum. I’ve had fun in both but because of Asian carp in the wabash I avoid aluminum and Colemans are not great handling nor big enough. Actually my main canoe buddy has one and it’s too small for us sometimes.
Right now I’m looking at Amazon or LL. Bean due to $600 in gift cards by spring and looking at Discovery 169, Penobscot 164 or 174. Leaning towards Penobscot 174 for carrying capacity when boys get bigger but worry she’ll be so long she won’t turn for anything. Besides the Colemans I’ve paddled some Discovery 158 and Saranac 146 as well as some Grummans.
Penobscot 174 is heavy as can be, but will hold a ton and is reasonably efficient on the water.
Where do you live in Indiana? You might want to check with the Hoosier Canoe Club. It is possible that a club member has a decent boat hanging in the garage.
I have pretty abundant experience with Silver Carp on the Wabash and White Rivers. Just out of curiosity, how is aluminum worse? Is it felt more likely to trigger them jumping? If so, it must be really bad because I can tell you that composite boats of various colors will certainly do so. Or do they just make more intolerable noise when the get in the canoe and start flopping all around?
Having done the Wabash in both composite and aluminum, it seems the aluminum makes them jump much more frequently. Not a scientific experiment but they seem much more active next to aluminum boats. Granted the trips I’ve done in aluminum have also tended to be more party floats than camping or fishing trips so that increased noise may also be to blame.
I live in Evansville now but grew up in Terre Haute so much of my tripping has been from Attica down to Terre Haute. Most of those trips as of late have been with a buddy in his 15.5 Coleman with 800# limit. I weigh bout 165 but he’s bout 6’1" and 370# so more capacity would be nice as would putting a bit more distance between us. Ha ha. Takes some careful loading to balance out that difference!