My current rig: Tacoma regular extend cab, 6 foot box with even height (front to back) cap. Yakima 78 inch bars with the old gunwale brackets. The gunwale brackets are bomber and make all the difference. The canoe is centered. Bar mounts to gutter mount plates bolted into the cap with a steel backing plate to increase the surface area. The back end extends out and I hang a red flag on it. This is useful for backing into parking spots. I always use the edges of parking lots and back in so that a truck does not clip the boat. For motels, the flag prevents me from backing through the room window! 
The front has a V ties down on frame hooks. Its a trucker's hitch with a couple of half hitches to lock it, which is easy to quick release for popping the hood if need be. Therefore no backward slide is possible
Underside shows that slack cord is used to tie to thwarts, so that no forward slide is possible. I use ropes, because I like ropes and the truckers hitch. I use two ropes per bar because I like redundancy, and my ropes have a lot of UV exposure. An extra 5 minutes of tie on time for piece of mind. I use truckers hitches, which are bomber when combined with the gunwale brackets.
The back end is rope-free like the OP specified, so you can easily mount a bike there with a trailer hitch rack mount. I am in and out of the the back every morning and night on the road, so this works perfectly for me.
This set up is totally bomber (did I say "bomber" too often! ). I have driven thousands of km's back and forth across Canada to the subarctic many times with this exact rig, through wicked storms. My previous Nissan truck had the exact same rig with the same Yakima bars (different cap). The photo is from a motel in High Level Alberta, 1 day's drive from Yellowknife or Fort Smith, my 2 launch points to fly out to the Barrenlands! (note where the motel window is - you definitley want that flag on the back!
The front has a V ties down on frame hooks. Its a trucker's hitch with a couple of half hitches to lock it, which is easy to quick release for popping the hood if need be. Therefore no backward slide is possible
Underside shows that slack cord is used to tie to thwarts, so that no forward slide is possible. I use ropes, because I like ropes and the truckers hitch. I use two ropes per bar because I like redundancy, and my ropes have a lot of UV exposure. An extra 5 minutes of tie on time for piece of mind. I use truckers hitches, which are bomber when combined with the gunwale brackets.
The back end is rope-free like the OP specified, so you can easily mount a bike there with a trailer hitch rack mount. I am in and out of the the back every morning and night on the road, so this works perfectly for me.
This set up is totally bomber (did I say "bomber" too often!
). I have driven thousands of km's back and forth across Canada to the subarctic many times with this exact rig, through wicked storms. My previous Nissan truck had the exact same rig with the same Yakima bars (different cap). The photo is from a motel in High Level Alberta, 1 day's drive from Yellowknife or Fort Smith, my 2 launch points to fly out to the Barrenlands! (note where the motel window is - you definitley want that flag on the back!
