Kayak Fishing

[tjulianc]

This looks like a good deal on a wide fishing kayak that would support a heavy person.

http://springfield.craigslist.org/boa/2422117902.html

[Al Agnew]

Thanks for the great discussion. It appears my short list is Tarpon 120 or the Coosa! I am hoping to get out and test drive them in the next few months.

Al, if you were going to recommend a solo Canoe to try out what would it be?

Thanks again,

Joe

Of readily available solo canoes that are good for fishing, your choices are rather limited. For a person your size, I think the Old Town Pack or the Old Town Guide 119 are a little small. The Bell Yellowstone Solo is a nice canoe, but Bell is kinda out of business and not all that many dealers carry Bells anyway. That leaves the Mohawk Solo 14 if you want to take the chance of ordering one sight unseen, probably not a good idea; or two Wenonahs. The Wenonah Vagabond is 14'3" in Royalex, and the Wenonah Wilderness is 15 ft. Vagabond weighs around 43 pounds, Wilderness weighs 49 pounds. The Wilderness would probably be your best bet, though I think the Vagabond, which is my favorite, would be able to handle your weight.

Keep in mind that when you're comparing these to kayaks, solo canoes are a little more affected by wind. Other than that, performance is all a matter of the part of the boat that's below the waterline. Longer craft track better, but are harder to turn. So overall I'd say a 14-15 ft. canoe will be easier to keep straight but a little harder to maneuver than the 10-12 ft. kayaks that have been recommended.

[gotmuddy]

This looks like a good deal on a wide fishing kayak that would support a heavy person.

http://springfield.craigslist.org/boa/2422117902.html

those things look neat

[tjulianc]

Goggle-eyed,

A Vagabond seems like it might be a little small for you, but I have one and love mine. They are hard to find used, but there is one for sale on Craigslist, and it won't last long, I wouldn't think:

http://springfield.craigslist.org/boa/2454245963.html

[flytyer57]

This looks like a good deal on a wide fishing kayak that would support a heavy person.

Looks like it would be a real pain the arse if ya had to paddle upstream for any reason.

[tjulianc]

Looks like it would be a real pain the arse if ya had to paddle upstream for any reason.

You could alway rig a trolling motor on it if you want to scoot up a river. The NuCanoe isn't for me, but for some people it would be just what they want. Not a fast boat, but stable, and easy to fish out of.

As far as Mohawk canoes go, they still maintain a presence in Fort Smith. If your interested you should email Dave Thomas and he would send you information on them, and probably let you demo one if you were willing to go down there.

dthomas@mohawkcanoes.com.

[Al Agnew]

I find the Vagabond to handle pretty well with a load of camping gear. I don't think it would be a good choice for a big guy with a lot of gear, but for day trips it could handle a pretty big person. One thing, however...like several other solo canoes, the seat placement on the Vagabond might need to be changed. When I bought mine, I found the seat to be placed about 6 inches too far back. It made the canoe track a little less well, and it also made it feel a little more unstable. The seat in any solo canoe needs to be placed so that the front edge of the seat is just about in the center of the canoe, which puts your weight in the widest part of the canoe and makes the canoe feel more stable.

It might be worth your trouble to find somebody with a Vagabond that can let you play around with it a bit if you are still open to a solo canoe at all. I'm pretty far away from you, but would be happy to let you try out mine if it could be worked out. Don't know whether you could make it to the get-together that Mitch is setting up on the Gasconade the weekend after the Fourth of July, but I'll be there with my Vagabond.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Another option in the canoe department would be to modify a tandem. It would just be removing the original seats and installing one at the proper place. They fact that the beam might be a little wider than a shorter solo wouldn't necessarily be a limiting factor on Missouri streams.

The Guide 147 would be a good candidate and the Two Brothers canoes are soloed by many.

The bottom line remains that for you, with no need for overnight gear, a kayak would be a good choice. My Mohawk 13 can't hold a candle to my Tarpon 12 for running upriver. The maneuverability that it is so good at works against it when paddling for distance.

[Goggle-Eyed]

I am leaning heavily towards the Tarpon 120 based on what I am going to use the boat for. I have the paddle jon for down river float trips and overnight float trips. I have the jet to run up for a longer all day trip. I am mainly wanting this boat for short paddle up river trips and to open up more water like the Upper Reaches of the Little and Big Niangua as well as some creeks that dump into the Gasconade.

Joe

[Wayne SW/MO]

The Tarpon tracks very well and still has enough maneuverability for our rivers. Ham and I got ours from Appomattox river and they were the cheapest at the time even with shipping.

Tarpon 120

I don't know that they still are, but it might be worth checking into.