# canoe?



## stonefly12 (Jul 26, 2011)

i have been thinking about getting a canoe for the rivers and was wondering how many people actually use one for fly fishing. do you use them in the winter months? thinking about purchasing one or maybe just saving up for a drift boat. want get your thoughts! thanks!


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## fishinDon (May 23, 2002)

For fishing I would suggest checking out one of the pontoon style float boats over a canoe. I own a cheap pontoon and a canoe, but I have also been fortunate enough to fish with a couple of MS members that have nice pontoons and for a float/fishing trip they can't be beat. Hands down easier to fish out of than a canoe. You can haul your gear, fish while you float, and never worry about flipping or stability - even on my maiden voyage on the pontoon, I was never concerned, they're just that stable. Plus you have better control with the two oars than you can get with one paddle in the back of a canoe...

Of course if you have the money and you're only fishing big water, a drift boat would be awesome! 

Good luck whatever you decide!
Don


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## jm77 (Dec 21, 2011)

I think canoes would be way too unstable on a lot of rivers and even worse to try and fish out of. I went with a pontoon and have been very happy. Also looked at some kayaks, some were great, I just didn't think they were as comfortable. Some of the pontoons are getting really expensive, but I got a cheaper model from Creek Company that is probably the one I'd pick again regardless of price. Very stable and plenty big enough. It's so much lighter than the others I've seen and goes together a lot quicker than a lot of others, so if those things are factors for you, might want to look into it. There are some pretty sweet kayaks out there too.


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

unless your trecking miles threw the woods to get to fishing holes off the beatten path like up in canada we do this hike from one lake to another on hikeing trails in michigan it not worth it there too tippy on rivers lakes there more stable but still not worth it to me for michigan. i would save for a good drifter or buy a john boat. i seen some good one on boattrader.com in the 14-16 foot for $2000-$2100 this would be the way to go that and some small deep vee' s the johns would be more stable casting but the drifter is better cause of how it sits easyer to row less gass etc used mostly used. like perfect on the pm, manistee, etc... but not need on the manistee. you can anchor on the manistee i know for sure not so sure about the pm have not done it yet had the deep vee in the manistee and it float cast and fished nice. my suggestion is gor for a large john boat camo green of couse. and get a chain anchor unless you fish the pm a lot then go for the drifter. i know anderson marine has quite the deal on boattrader.com any ways best of luck at it.


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## RobFromFlint (Apr 24, 2008)

For less than $30 you can buy the material to build outriggers for your canoe. Making it stable enough for two people to stand and fish out of. I have a 16 foot canoe I flyfish out of on a regular basis. Make sure you have a stadium seat for the canoe, a padded seat with a back, and get a double bladed paddle, the kind made for kayaks. I've even bow fished out of my canoe with the outriggers on and never felt like I wold tip. They can be heavy though and are a lot less maneuverable. Pontoon is a alot more expensive than your average canoe though.


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

If you are looking I would be willing to sell my Dryfly boat now that I have moved my camper from Wellston to Monroe. Dave is sponsor here on the site and you will find many that will support his boats. 

One of the pontoons has a slow leak....about every 4 hours I would have to pump it up. Dave can get you another pontoon if you like.

I have the storage bag for the rear, paddles and extra storage bags. 

New boats are over $600. I'd be willing to let mine go for $250 if you are looking.


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## fishinlk (Apr 14, 2000)

My perspective is it would depend on the water you want to fish. You fish in the upper stretches of the Ausable or Manistee your going to tick a lot of people off if you come tooling through in a drift boat. They are just too big to fish up there and still be respectful of the other fisherman. You can slip through much easier in a canoe and not all canoes are created equal from a stability standpoint. If your going to fish mostly those rivers where they open up a little only then I'd consider the drift boat. The pontoons that they're talking about are pretty slick option and are pretty versatile.

We have a Old Town 17' Tripper and I've never felt like I was going to go over yet. It was designed with stabilty in mind, but I can still navigate small water with it. If you're familiar with the water I've had no problems getting it down the Manistee starting at Cameron Bridge. And like mentioned above you can always put an outrigger on it.


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

fishinlk said:


> My perspective is it would depend on the water you want to fish. You fish in the upper stretches of the Ausable or Manistee your going to tick a lot of people off if you come tooling through in a drift boat. They are just too big to fish up there and still be respectful of the other fisherman. You can slip through much easier in a canoe and not all canoes are created equal from a stability standpoint. If your going to fish mostly those rivers where they open up a little only then I'd consider the drift boat. The pontoons that they're talking about are pretty slick option and are pretty versatile.
> 
> We have a Old Town 17' Tripper and I've never felt like I was going to go over yet. It was designed with stabilty in mind, but I can still navigate small water with it. If you're familiar with the water I've had no problems getting it down the Manistee starting at Cameron Bridge. And like mentioned above you can always put an outrigger on it.


 
thats the truth and a good point on the upper stretches. i assumed he was talking the pm or maninstee below tippy etc... or even muskegon. the only problem we had with the canoe was on river like that is controling it wile trying to fish. your better off with a two man pontoon boat up in the upper streches one guy fish wile the other rows it hard to angle the canoe for a cast the two man pontoon are easier. you can even anchor them no problem up there if your taking the big water salmon fishing steel heading etc.. get a jon or deep vee or get a small two man pontoon boat for the upper water. you only want a 5 -10 foot loong boat if not you buddy on the front will cast right in to your face cause you can't angle the boat. or get a one man pontoon that could work you got to think of some of the withs of the river. if you can not get enough angle on it it to long this is were i found it easier to wade the upper streches truthfully. most of it is ancle deep water to a foot or two deep. just got to be caefull of logs at night and walk up flow so dift silt etc.. flows with the current behind you so not to give early wrning to fish. but the choise is yours drift or wade can't realy wade the manistee below tippy is why we all use jon's. like i it is this is only suggestions.


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## U.P.Nate (Dec 11, 2009)

I fly fish out of a canoe a lot, Year round even in the winter, but I've never thought of a canoe as tippy, and I most always go solo cause I don't trust the other guy. Yeah it can be dont to answer your question, but whether or not your comfortable doing it is something diffrent.


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## stonefly12 (Jul 26, 2011)

thanks for all the responses. i mainly just fish the pm and the ausauble once in a while. i really dont have any fly fishing partners besides my fiance and some times she cant go so it will be just me and ever so often her to. so that being said any one wanna go fishing let me know! were still tossing around the idea of what we want to buy. tried talkin her into eloping and usin the money to buy a drift boat but that didnt go over well lol


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I fly fish out of one all the time. I can paddle up and float back. Drag a chain and drift slow or pole my way along. I hunt out of one in the winter and fall. I would be lost without my canoe. I built mine and it only ways 40 lbs so where ever i go it goes. mine is 16 foot. It can easily be heeled over and paddled solo or i can sit in the bow instead of the stern and paddle solo.I dont have any problem paddling up from bridge to bridge on the Ausable.


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## jmarsh (Feb 10, 2010)

Use mine all year long, i steelhead


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## jmarsh (Feb 10, 2010)

Sorry, fish outnofnit and fly, love it, good investment


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## aimus1 (Feb 28, 2011)

Drift boats and pontoons certainly have their advantages. I've owned a low side Hyde and my brother owns a high side Clacka. The major upsides are these. STORAGE: You can hold all your stuff in the thing. Just hook up the trailer and head to the riv. Chucking streamers: With a guy who's good on the oars theres no better way to cover water and move a lot of fish. Throwing Dries: Again with a good guy at the oars, you can keep that fly on the water, dead drifting with all your line upstream for a long way. 3 Dudes: you can comfortably ride 3 fishermen even if you're just using it to float to the next area you plan to walk and wade. Stability: Almost impossible to flip.
*Downsides:* 
Access: You've gotta be able to get that trailer into a launch site as well as a take out. This restricts your access of a lot of great fishing water that CAN be accessed by canoe. And many of the rivers I like to fish provide sufficient access but the water is small for a driftboat/oars and is better suited for a canoe. 
Buddy System: You'll spend most of your time at the oars watching a fishing buddy make crappy casts unless you can find a devoted fishing buddy who's willing to trade back and forth with you so you can do some casting. And unless that buddy is willing to spend the time and practice at the oars: You'll be casting while he does his crappy oaring. Don't get me wrong. Theres no better tool on big water. But here's why I got rid of it:
The only Michigan river I really NEEDED it on was the Big Man. All other ditches I fish can be well navigated and fished from a canoe. Yes the drift boat was better for chucking streamers and floating dries from the bow. But with a good paddler at the stern it can be easily done from the bow of a canoe. Also when you're talking steelheading or hatch fishing, realize that you're really only using the boat as a mode of transportation from one hole/run/walk n wade area to the next. 
My advice would be to *buy a canoe now*....then save up for a drift boat later if you feel you need it. I modified my canoe with pvc pipe rod holders such as you'd find in a drift boat. Also added a pulley and cleat system off the stern for a rope connected to a drag chain. My drag is 3 links of cow chain and it works awesome. The canoe is just soo much more sleek and stealth when fishing streamers and dries from the bow on smaller water. And I've still got a buddy with a drift boat and motor when we're chasing steel on the Big Man. I feel copletely comfortable and confident in my canoe on all the other Michigan ditches I fish. Every river fisherman should own a canoe. Few need to own a drift boat.


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## john warren (Jan 25, 2005)

i fished for decades out of my old canoe. they work great and can be accesorised in all sorts of ways.
i never was much for rivers with it, and think i would add outriggers to it for that use. otherwise for one guy fishing lakes and ponds it can't be beat. you can put it on and off a roof rack by yourself.
i even had a nice little 24# thrust minn kotta for mine. but i had to run wires to the battery up front for ballance.
when a fished it alone i always turned it around and sat in what would be the front seat. that puts you further forward for better balance too.


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## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

14 or 15' sportspal with outriggers, foam sponsons - without the outriggers has a 600# weight limit.


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## grateful fisherman (Nov 4, 2009)

windknot said:


> 14 or 15' sportspal with outriggers, foam sponsons - without the outriggers has a 600# weight limit.


Awesome Sportspal! What HP outboard do you run?


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## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

grateful fisherman said:


> Awesome Sportspal! What HP outboard do you run?
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine



In that photo i've got a Tanaka 3.0 on it - That was the maiden voyage for the current setup - Canoe, motor, outriggers and all gear. It was a bad day - Bingo at Shiawassee - I drew almost dead last - shouldn't have even went, but I wanted to do a shakedown - should have stayed home. I needed a tiller extension (didn't have one), ripped my waders, Otis jumped right into the biggest sticker bush I've ever seen, yadda, yadda, yadda........then I realized that the prop had fouled as we took off from the launch - cleared that and the thing FLEW across the water (no-wake of course :lol - I've got a 4.5 merc with aux tank and extra long hose I'm going to flesh out this summer on the lake (I'd tried it last summer but without the outriggers, the boat was squirrley and too much weight in the back - I'll just move the 'toons back a bit to counter the weight in the back). With the pontoons extended it WILL NOT TIP. Period.


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## grateful fisherman (Nov 4, 2009)

windknot said:


> In that photo i've got a Tanaka 3.0 on it - That was the maiden voyage for the current setup - Canoe, motor, outriggers and all gear. It was a bad day - Bingo at Shiawassee - I drew almost dead last - shouldn't have even went, but I wanted to do a shakedown - should have stayed home. I needed a tiller extension (didn't have one), ripped my waders, Otis jumped right into the biggest sticker bush I've ever seen, yadda, yadda, yadda........then I realized that the prop had fouled as we took off from the launch - cleared that and the thing FLEW across the water (no-wake of course :lol - I've got a 4.5 merc with aux tank and extra long hose I'm going to flesh out this summer on the lake (I'd tried it last summer but without the outriggers, the boat was squirrley and too much weight in the back - I'll just move the 'toons back a bit to counter the weight in the back). With the pontoons extended it WILL NOT TIP. Period.


You're really gonna be movin with a 4.5 on back!!! Once again great canoe


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## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

grateful fisherman said:


> You're really gonna be movin with a 4.5 on back!!! Once again great canoe
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Didn't you sell one similar last year?


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