Good canoe option for 2, lake fishing

[Cboat2]

Looking for some help on what type of canoe to look for. My wife and I are just entering our 60's, and want a stable canoe for fishing small lakes and small rivers/streams. We are in Nebraska, and not planning on any whitewater or fast moving water. I'm 6', 250, wife is 5'9", 140. Would be just us two. We have a Mackinaw 156 canoe, cheap plastic with the built in seats and middle cooler. And a new to us, mint Lund 17' amuminum canoe. I got it for the length and durability, but wife does not like how tippy it feels. It feels as though it will roll over at the slightest movement. She likes the stability feel better of the cheap plastic canoe. I have a new outrigger set, that we have not used, and was thinking of using to make things more stable for her. Would a Mitchicraft DE-17 be more stable then the Lund 17'? I have a chance to grab one of those cheap, like new, but no way to try before i buy. We are not concerned with weight of canoe, as we have a trailer to haul. Not a huge selection of used "quality" canoes around me. Alot of cheap box store plastics, some old town discoverys, Osagian aluminums, ect. What type of canoe should we be looking for to have a stable canoe for fishing and floating around? If i find a nice stable one, i can always add the outriggers for even more stability if wife wants. She loves being in the canoe, and we want to get a good used one. Any help would be great!
Thanks.

 

[Alan Gage]

From what you describe and from what's available I think aluminum will probably be your best bet.

Width will make a big difference when it comes to stability. It looks like the Mackinaw is 42" wide. I'm not sure how wide your Lund is.

Most people would find a 36" wide aluminum canoe to be very stable, which is probably what your Lund is. But some hull designs, even if the same width, will feel tippier than others.

Take the Lund out to small pond when it's 90 degrees and intentionally capsize in shallow water. You might find that while it initially feels tippy that it really firms up once heeled over a little and is actually difficult to capsize. If that's the case it might be all that you really need is a little more time in the boat to get comfortable with the feel.

Boat trim can make a difference as well. If you're sitting in the stern then the stern might be squatting quite a bit due to the weight discrepancy, which can make a hull feel tippy. Try adding 75 pounds right behind your wife's seat and see if that helps.

Alan

 

[Cboat2]

From what you describe and from what's available I think aluminum will probably be your best bet.

Width will make a big difference when it comes to stability. It looks like the Mackinaw is 42" wide. I'm not sure how wide your Lund is.

Most people would find a 36" wide aluminum canoe to be very stable, which is probably what your Lund is. But some hull designs, even if the same width, will feel tippier than others.

Take the Lund out to small pond when it's 90 degrees and intentionally capsize in shallow water. You might find that while it initially feels tippy that it really firms up once heeled over a little and is actually difficult to capsize. If that's the case it might be all that you really need is a little more time in the boat to get comfortable with the feel.

Boat trim can make a difference as well. If you're sitting in the stern then the stern might be squatting quite a bit due to the weight discrepancy, which can make a hull feel tippy. Try adding 75 pounds right behind your wife's seat and see if that helps.

Alan

Thank you for the information.
Will try it this weekend and see how much it takes to tip over, and see about trim as well.
We only had out once, so maybe its just more time to get comfortable is all we need.
Thanks again!

 

[BobMills]

A really good question, and great answer and suggestion. This is the sort of stuff that makes this forum great.

 

[lowangle al]

Even if the Lund has does good secondary stability, which you would find out with Alan's test recommended above, it may not relieve the uneasy feeling caused by the tipsiness problem. It may also not prevent a capsize if things go bad. I was out in one of my large tandems with a partner in the bow recently and experienced that tippy feeling. Although this boat has excellent secondary stability it didn't ease my mind or give me the confidence that it wouldn't tip over.

If you get a chance to check out the Michicraft look at the shape of the bottom. If it appears to be flatter than the Lund it will probably be more stable. I don't know anything about the Lund you have but it sounds like it may have a roundish bottom.
This is an example of a round bottom canoe with that tippy feeling. Check out your Lund and compare to the Michicraft.

 

[ppine]

This is a canoe site, but I would suggest an aluminum fishing boat with a small motor on a trailer. An electric trolling motor is all you need. Very stable, easy to launch, room to move around and room for a dog. They can be had used for $1000. No loading on top of the car.

 

[Cboat2]

Even if the Lund has does good secondary stability, which you would find out with Alan's test recommended above, it may not relieve the uneasy feeling caused by the tipsiness problem. It may also not prevent a capsize if things go bad. I was out in one of my large tandems with a partner in the bow recently and experienced that tippy feeling. Although this boat has excellent secondary stability it didn't ease my mind or give me the confidence that it wouldn't tip over.

If you get a chance to check out the Michicraft look at the shape of the bottom. If it appears to be flatter than the Lund it will probably be more stable. I don't know anything about the Lund you have but it sounds like it may have a roundish bottom.View attachment 147140
This is an example of a round bottom canoe with that tippy feeling. Check out your Lund and compare to the Michicraft.

Thank you so much for your response, i will check that out and compare. My main goal is to make wife feel comfortable, and wanting to go out as much as possible, as we both enjoy it. Thanks again for your time.

 

[Cboat2]

This is a canoe site, but I would suggest an aluminum fishing boat with a small motor on a trailer. An electric trolling motor is all you need. Very stable, easy to launch, room to move around and room for a dog. They can be had used for $1000. No loading on top of the car.

Thank you for the suggestion, i appreciate it, and see where you are coming from. However, we currently have a 20' bass boat, and i have tournament fished out of a kayak for many years now. We have got to the point where we both just enjoy the canoe and out time together more then the other options we already have. Just want the most stabel feeling canoe for her. We are not fans of pounding in big waves anymore, and canoe offers us a chance to seek protected coves, or finger streams, channels that are not affected by wind when it is blowing. We do not want all the maintenance, license, boat ramps, crowds, etc. we currently have with out boat. Canoe we can put canoe cart under and walk to waters edge with no boat ramp needed. We have a old boat trailer i converted and redid just for hauling canoe, so its not a load on top of car issue anyway. Again, i appreciate where your suggestion comes from and understand it, just love the time together in a canoe, its peacful for us, and what we enjoy the most now. Thanks!

 

[ppine]

Hi choat,
Canoes are just not very stable. There are a few beamy canoes out there with names like "Fisherman". Some have beams of 40 inches or more. Those would be the kind to look for. Good luck.

 

[PaddlingPika]

How close is the stern seat (I'm picturing you sitting in the stern and your wife in the bow) to the end of the Lund? I think canoes tend to feel more tippy when paddlers are sitting closer to the ends. Maybe instead of or in addition to putting extra weight just behind your wife's seat to balance the Lund you could try temporarily sitting on a crate or something that would serve as a temporary seat just in front of the stern seat and see if that makes the canoe feel more stable.

Also, the feeling of tippiness in the Lund may diminish as you spend more time out on the water in it.

 

[lowangle al]

I googled the 17' Lund and it has a 37" beam and a 34.5" waterline and should be a stable boat, so here are a couple more thoughts. Boats do have an optimal weight load and if you are less then that it may not be submerged enough to get you to that 34.5' waterline, making it tippy. I would think that boat would be stable with 350 - 400 lbs.

Is it possible that you are sitting on boat cushions? This will certainly make it tippy.

As far as keeping my wife happy and comfortable in the canoe I just sit her on the floor and give her food and drink.