Canoe?

[ajr5406]

Many of you guys fishing lakes out of canoes???

I have a couple of young kids and would love to get a big canoe that the 4 of us can take out on some lakes to fly-fish out of. What size should we be looking at?

[adriaticum]

I'd get an inflatable, canoes are tipsy

[Downwindtracker2]

Canoes and lakes are not a good match. This is from someone who has an 18 1/2 with a 4.5 Merc. A good row boat is a better match or a 12' tinny and motor. The aluminum Harbourcraft are good boats, the Mirbocraft (sp) are better. The tinnys are for motors, as row boats they drag half the lake behind you.

[Sharpish]

I agree 100%. Little kids jumping around is terrifying in a canoe.

[BgBlkDg]

Canoes and lakes are not a good match. This is from someone who has an 18 1/2 with a 4.5 Merc. A good row boat is a better match or a 12' tinny and motor. The aluminum Harbourcraft are good boats, the Mirbocraft (sp) are better. The tinnys are for motors, as row boats they drag half the lake behind you.

I grew up on Kootenay Lake, neighbour-friend owned a marina and we did a lot of boating all year long. I also served in the CCG in Georgia Strait.

In really bad weather, a GOOD lapstrake row boat 12-14' is my first choice, small Yammy or the old British Seagull.

I am not keen on tin boats and IF you learn how to handle it well, a good canoe of the right design, with a small engine is a safe and reliable craft, but, SKILL is essential.

Kids and others, NEED appropriate discipline and training for boating on BC's cold, deep and often rough lakes and that is where one should start, instilling absolute obedience in the kids so that they DO NOT "horse around" in a boat on the water.

[adriaticum]

I have a 12 foot inflatable sea eagle 9 and it takes about 20 min to blow it up and take down.
You have the option to get floor boards and motor mount too
It's very durable. I used it to fish lakes around here and it's easy to handle for 1 guy (without floorboards)

[IronNoggin]

I have a couple of young kids and would love to get a big canoe that the 4 of us can take out on some lakes to fly-fish out of.

Having spent a fair part of my life wandering around in skinny boats, I'd like to offer a couple of perspectives...

"Young Kids" if Singular is likely manageable. If two, or heaven forbid even more, the likelihood of impending disaster goes up exponentially.
Toss in a wife or a dog, and wear your wet-suit ;)

Fly fishing requires a fair amount of movement. Skinny boats LOVE this sort of thing. Wear the wet-suit. ;)

Larger and wider Skinny Boats exist, and in fact there is a version or two of lake / big river freighter's that might suit your needs.
Pricey. Then need a rather decent sized outboard to move it... and of course a longer trailer to move the lot...
A little less than half kidding here...

An inflatable to comfortably carry a party of 2 adults and 2 kids is going to rather pricey too.
And a hell of a lot bigger than twelve feet! :shock:

I'd be looking for a wideish solid platform, likely fiberglass / wood, with the rowing machine (outboards) in bloody good working order... ;)

Cheers, and Be Safe!
Nog

[horshur]

for cripe sakes kids are fine in a canoe it's the adults that are not.....

[Big Lew]

I either own or have had small wooden row boats, Fiberglas 12 ft car toppers, aluminum 12 ft boat,
2 frontier canoes, a 15 1/2 ft clipper canoe, and various sized inflatable rafts, both with and without
solid floors. I've a homemade outrigger for my canoes which makes it extremely stable even with a
rambunctious big dog or kids. The problem with canoes and bigger lakes is control in the wind when
going slow enough for trolling flies etc. Light rubber rafts suffer the same fate. It's very frustrating
trying to hold a course if there's any wind if using either a raft or canoe. A 12 ft boat is best, all things
considered.

[MRP]

No they rock, but not tippy. 50 years of canoeing and still dry. Kids, big dogs never a problem. ((Nervous people are the. trouble.)) Borrow or rent one, take it to a good swimming hole; have some fun. Rock it, flip it over load it, had 11 people in my 17.6" clipper just playing around once. You'll see it's a lot safer than most ( who never been in one ) say it is. Leave the guys who say ya got to part you're hair down the middle to get in one on shore.

[Wild one]

Most of my childhood I spent fishing out of canoe's with no issue. I fished everything from small ponds to larger lakes like Berkenhead in Pemberton and fished/crabed Indianarm. We dragged our canoe to so many lakes big and small all over BC. You do need to use your head but canoe's can handle some rough conditions if you pay attention to what your doing. From the age of 10 on my brother and I were out on the water all day solo even on big water. We got some crazy looks from boats when we were in our canoe in rough conditions

We were taught the ins and outs of canoe's from a young age and this is the key. You know your kids and how well they listen and if you believe the can behave in a canoe I see no issue.

The canoe I liked the most growing up was an aluminum 14ft Sportspal dragged that thing everywhere

[northernguy]

^^^^ What MRP said!

Over the years I have had various types of boats ranging from a 14 foot tin boat with an outboard, to an NRS inflatable raft with rowing frame, to inflatable and hard shell kayaks, to float tubes, to 14 and 17 foot old town canoes and a 15 foot Coleman canoe. My canoes are hands down the most versatile, lowest cost, lowest maintenance and most used boats I have owned. All the other boats have been sold.

Canoes are not the perfect boat for every activity (like vehicles, there is a compromise) but they do everything well enough where other types of boats only do one thing well. There are several things they do better than any other type of boat. Remember that the Hudson Bay Co. built an empire using canoes...so they must work!!!!

Get a 17 foot boat if you have kids, take a one day course on how paddle it (the courses are a lot of fun!!), pass along your newly learned skills to the kids (something my Dad for me and I cherish the memories) and go have fun. MRPs advice is spot on. Go have fun with one by overloading it, rolling it, swamping it, swimming under it, and learning to empty a swamped boat on your own. Do this with the kids. Everyone will learn to be comfortable in the boat and know it's limitations and capabilities. It's a huge confidence builder!!

If you find a canoe is not the boat you need; sell it and get something else. Oh ya...and ignore the canoeing "elitists" types that can be found in any activity...they are not helpful at all.

[MRP]

The canoe I liked the most growing up was an aluminum 14ft Sportspal dragged that thing everywhere

Still have 2 of them a dubble end and a flatback. Have literally packed it in to lakes hanging it on one shoulder and rifle on the other. Have put 4 200lb guys in it, paddle around fishing. Was a little cramped but fishing was so good we didn't care.

[landphil]

I fished small lakes from a 16' flat-back flat-bottom freighter canoe as a teen, with a 30lb min-kota keeping it moving mostly. The worst part about it was fighting any wind on the small lakes we used it on. 16' is a darn long lever for the wind to act on, much more difficult to maintain course in wind than the 12' aluminum boat I run these days. That said, it worked alright for the most part.

If fishing alone is your goal, then I'd recommend a 12' tinner. I'd much rather paddle that canoe around than row my current boat though, so if something all-purpose suits you better, a canoe could fit. Do some research into hull designs before buying, to have some idea what you want. A round-bottom hull will feel much more tippy on smooth water, but is actually harder to capsize in rough water than a flat-bottom hull that feels more stable. Might sound strange, but it's true.

[Wild one]

Still have 2 of them a dubble end and a flatback. Have literally packed it in to lakes hanging it on one shoulder and rifle on the other. Have put 4 200lb guys in it, paddle around fishing. Was a little cramped but fishing was so good we didn't care.

The light weight and abuse they handle is why I liked that canoe so much.

Now my wife is going to be pissed because thinking about it makes me want to buy one lol

[Downwindtracker2]

You've gotten some great advice.
Larger and wider Skinny Boats exist, and in fact there is a version or two of lake / big river freighter's that might suit your needs.
Pricey. Then need a rather decent sized outboard to move it... and of course a longer trailer to move the lot...
A little less than half kidding here... I was too lazy to type all that.

If you look at tinneys , take your tape measure any thing less than 54" beam reject.