I am wanting to get another kayak to start kayaking again and fishing. I was in Dicks today just for a few minutes and saw they had a pretty nice looking canoe, I think it was about 11’, for only like $400.
Now I have fished from kayaks, paddled a lot of sea kayaks and white water boats but I have never tried a canoe. I would think the canoe would be fine for a pond or something like that but how well would it work in the rivers around here? And for fishing as well?
What I was originally thinking was getting a sea kayak and I could cover some distance, paddle like normal and fish from it if I wanted to. Would a canoe be to slow to cover any kind of distance and how well would it take on some rougher water if I were to get cought in something?
Would a canoe be to slow to cover any kind of distance and how well would it take on some rougher water if I were to get cought in something?
Those would be some of my concerns. I have covered some good ground in salt water in a canoe but, they typically sit higher than kayaks so they catch more wind. Kayaks typically have build-in flotation and don't take on water as easily as a canoe does. Kayaks are easier to drain. A lot more kayaks are being equipped with fishing friendly features (bait wells, rod holders, etc...) than canoes.
For camping, I always like canoes better. They can really haul a big pile of crap. And by crap of course, I mean lots of beer.
I don’t have a problem with a canoe but, I would do a mental rig-out of the canoe and the kayak and settle on the one that you think would work better for you. Good luck.
I will probably stick with what I know has worked for me in the past and that is to stick with a kayak in the 15-18 foot range. I can use that for mutiple task.
