Canoe for fishing
 

Hello guys
I am looking for some advice. I'm looking to get a lightweight, likely Kevlar canoe for me and the wife to use for fishing. The vast majority of use will be smaller lakes with some large lakes like the shushwap and arrow lakes. I've been considering a clipper tripper but I'd like to hear what others are using.
Thanks
Brian Riddle

,I would get a canoe if I had to do it again with a flat back just in case I ever wanted to put a kicker on.

I have a clipper tripper canoe and a smaller clipper. They have been awesome from family paddles with my wife and two kids, fishing tips, and overnighters on rivers. You cant go wrong with getting a canoe, such a versatile boat and quality with a clipper.
With the tripper check into the kneeling thwart for solo paddling. Very possible with this boat, can be a little tough on high winds on big water. You are making a good decision in my books.

I havn't had any issues with my 1979 clipper. Its a 16ft and works good for fishing. Casting with a fly rod can take some time to get used to , but they are a great way to move around a lake fishing.e

16-18' glass or kevlar with a keel. You want the length and a keel for lake travel.

My Mad River Explorer has done several thousand kilometers of river, caught thousands of fish, and hauled a couple metric tons of moose and elk meat out of the bush. Mine is Royalex but I think they make them in Kevlar too.

IMO if you're main intended use for the canoe is fishing then I would choose a design that leans more towards recreational lines. NOT some fat waisted flat bottomed Coleman type junk, but IMO all around canoes like the Explorer or the Nova Craft Prospector are a better craft for fishing than higher performance canoes like the Clipper Tripper.

Most companies make canoes that will make good fishing craft, as well as longer trips and hunting. Do your research, and figure out what type of lines you are looking for.

A keel is a sign of a poorly designed hull. A properly made canoe doesn't need a keel.

My Prospector has a shallow keel. Great all around canoe.

From my research the prospectors are a better design for rivers due to ease of turning. Where a tripping canoe would track and glide more being better suited for open water?

Yup, canoes used fir open water often are designed with a shallow keel so they track easier in windy conditions and big water .
Downside is they turn slower in fast water
Cat

The Prospector is a tripping canoe, and its an all around design. It will turn better than a Clipper Tripper, which is more of a big water design, and also a tripping canoe... it has no keel and tracks better than many canoes sporting a keel, because the people that designed that canoe knew what they were doing. The problem with Prospectors is there have been so many different versions built, some have as little as 2" of rocker and track fairly well, other brands have as much as 4" of rocker making them more of a fast water hull.

A flat bottom canoe needs a keel to help it track, a rounded or semi-v bottom puts enough hull in the water that it needs no keel. Properly loaded, your average tripper of decent quality will nave no keel will track far better than a flat bottom recreational canoe that sports a keel. I have an old flat bottom my grandfather gave me, it has a keel and absolutely no rocker and it still doesn't track very well. Beyond that rocker and hull design determine whether a canoe will track well or be nimble.

IMO the only quality canoe that should ever have a keel on it is an aluminum one, it is very difficult to build anything besides a flat bottom hull out of aluminum.

Had a look on Nova’a site. My Prospector has what’a called a Shoe Keel. Helps with tracking on flat water and doesn’t give up too much on rivers. A small compromise but works for an all around craft.

Get a prospector so you will have room for gear when you want to canoe camp/fish. It gets addictive, be warned.

That's your opinion. The OP is asking for advice on acquiring a canoe for lake fishing. I'll take a canoe with a keel every time I'm on a lake...........the day might not start off with any wind..........but in AB you don't have to wait long for it to come up.

I got a dirty old Coleman 16' canoe. Don't know how old it actually is. I think its plastic, certainly not fiberglass. Regardless, I paid $50 for that thing from a friend. The plastic is discolored by the sun (UV). Been beaten a lot, many scratches. It serves me well and it spent the last 2 summers on my truck ready to go, strapped with cargo straps.

He also mentioned Kevlar, which means he is going high end. I could be wrong since I've never really checked, but I'd hazard an educated guess that actually finding a high end Kevlar canoe that has a keel would be somewhat difficult. I'm sure such a canoe exists, but it would be a bit of a rarity, I've never actually seen one... there is a reason for this.

Anyone with experience in a tripper, tripper s or a clipper 17' prospector I like to hear your thoughts what you think of these canoes
Thanks
Brian Riddle

Canoe
 

The canoe is a fantastic water craft,long distance river travel and camping, an absolute joy---In your quest dont overlook the Grumman, light, tough,for those long carries, very stable, low maintenance.
The Grumman is one of very few canoes you can stand up and get good long casts when river salmon fishing.
Of course if moose hunting, careful with the paddle bong, or he will be long gone.
The canoe a specially water craft, the model to buy depends on how you will most use it, I have used an 18 ft kawata keeled canoe on big rivers with side mount, and small gas motor--Oh so slow to turn--but the crew could enjoy a beer on those 10-15 mile up river trips in a head wind.
On windy days on the lake, never had to tell the crew to bail---sort of comes natural.
Rule number one--life jacket--for sure saved my bacon on two ocasions.