jwarren

Can anyone else here suggest other retailers in the area for canoe sales for Wenonah, Bell, or Novacraft? I plan on visiting Paddling Center to try Old Town models but would like to try a couple other models before buying. THanks.

What do you suggest for fast, easy and economical rod holder mounts to the sides of my sport canoe? It has vinyl gunwales and the holders will be for fly rods. THanks

Many thanks for your comments and insights. I agree with all of the comments above as I've researched and read countless articles. I recognize I'm looking for a quality "crossover" that does several things fairly well, but not any one thing real well. I don't want a high bow and stern or a keel design. 35-38" is fine for beam width as I'll probably put in a center seat for better position to solo paddle. A slight rocker is fine and a shallow arch hull that provides a nice blend of initial and secondary stability. Weight wise I'd like to stay under 70 lbs. $1000 for a quality canoe is still a lot of discretionary money these days and I don't want to get something I'm unhappy with and then unload it for half price. So far the best crossovers I've researched across many forums and reviews are the Bell Morningstar, OT Osprey 155, Novacraft Prospector 16 or Pal, Mohawk Nova 16, Wenonah Heron/ Aurora. The biggest problem in all of this is like what one of you said....very few, if any dealers, offer demos or inventory for paddling. There are none here in Memphis and I have to driver 3-5 hours to try one brand with one dealer and another couple hours to try another somewhere else. I value your opinions because you're using the canoes in the same manner I intend to.

Thanks Coldwater.....I'm looking at Royalex boats under 75 lbs weight that can be handled fairly easily on Little Red, Upper White, Spring, Norfork. I will use it mostly to get me to fishing spots as well and then get out and cast but also want to be able to drift with it some. 50% of time I'll go solo...50% of time with a buddy. I don't think I want a true flat bottom b/c of low final stability and wider width which makes paddling more difficult. So far I'm interested in Wenonah Heron, Bell Morningstar, Old Town Osprey 155, Novacraft Prospetor, Mohawk Nova...More importantly, I'm interested in real life experiences from those like yourself who are using canoes to fly fish from or move around in the river.

I'm a new member to the forum and about a year into fly fishing. Needless to say...I'm eaten up with it. Who here is using a canoe(not kayak) to fly fish from and what model? I really want a 15-16' tandem canoe that I can cartop to the river or stream of choice. It needs to be very stable and still maneaurable. I've been looking at various models from Bell Canoe, Wenonah, and Nova Craft. I will plan on paddling and perhaps keeping a 40# thrust electric motor on board. I'm also considering a 15' gheenoe but that would require a real motor. Your thoughts? Thanks