Looking for canoe for solo flat water fishing

Hello, new member in Virginia. I have a 15 foot Coleman that is a good two man fishing unit, but getting too big for me to handle alone (notice it is the canoe's fault LOL). Looking for recommendations for an economical 1 man fishing unit. Basically I'm thinking something just like the Coleman but 2 or 3 feet shorter.

Thanks in advance!

This is a great little solo. It's odd that the ad says 60 pounds, the catalog says 46 and mine seemed like less.

I see the Oscoda 13 sold, I hope you got it. If not you might look for a used Old Town Pack 13 or consider a new Esquif Adirondack 12. If you see something interesting on Facebook or Craigslist you can ask forum members about it...there are a lot of good used boats out there.

Anything economical and new is going to be heavy or otherwise disappointing.
The obvious answer is to find a used Wenonah 14' Fisherman. The royalex Old Town Osprey is very similar. Both around 50 lbs in royalex and stable enough to stand in. The Old Town Pack is even lighter, but its cult status makes it sometimes hard to acquire - and I wouldn't want to stand in one.

Anything is better than a Coleman.

My perfect fishing solo would be this, a (allegedly) 15 ft Mad River Explorer.
https://greensboro.craigslist.org/spo/d/burlington-15-foot-mad-river-royalex/7784277946.html

To me a solo canoe is narrow enough to paddle across easily. But canoes this narrow tend to be too tippy to relax in. For fishing, poling, etc I normally use my 16 Explorer rather than the solo.

Anything lighter than 75 lbs will be a breeze to handle compared to the Coleman.

If one is used to solo canoes, it's not hard to fish from many of them. I fish from the Solitude all the time. I have no problem fishing from the Mohawk Solo 14. I used to fish a lot from the Dagger Sojourn, even though it's somewhat notorious for ejecting novice paddlers (although it required quite a bit more care than the Solitude). I don't generally stand to fish, as I see no need when I'm in a canoe. The only reason I mentioned standing in the Fisherman and Osprey is to press the point of how stable those two 14' tandems are. A 16' tandem will likely be a more stable platform, but at the cost of another 10 or more pounds.

Yeah, lots of folks are happy fishing from solo canoes, especially the wider ones.

I guess my perspective is that if it's as wide as a tandem I'd rather just have the tandem. The Explorer draws about an inch less than my Yellowstone, which is especially nice in shallow rivers or silted estuaries.

I think if I had a Coleman I'd start with a quality tandem, since it will be such a great upgrade, and can do all the canoe stuff reasonably well.

But yeah if you're looking for minimum weight, quick exercise, or transporting it without roof racks, a short solo is fine.

One thing to consider if you are just looking to fish would be a 9-10 jon boat. You can clamp the wheels on the stern and walk any where. it weights less than many canoes, you can row it, sail it or use an electric and/or a gas outboard. Plenty of room for gear and you can mount anchors on it. Did this for years and you can just throw it in the back of a truck or a roof rack.

Of course, if you absolutely must have a canoe forget everything I just said.

I have an Esquif Adirondack that does quite well as a fishing platform. Here it is on a fishing /camping trip in the ADK, it's 12 ft long and 43lbs, hauls a lot of gear too

ppine said:

Anything is better than a Coleman.

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Understood. The 15 footer I have has been a work horse and only cost me $100 used many years ago. But in fairness it only got used about 10-15 times a year and all flat water casual outings or fishing. I did make several day trips with two people, a dog, cooler and beach chairs with a trolling motor and battery and it was no problem.

Ended up getting an Old Town Discovery 119 basic model, not the Sportsman. The Sportsman seat was just too low for this old man. Given that, I'll still raise the seat in the Discovery with cushions until it gets too tippy. Took the maiden voyage yesterday and I like it but will need to do some customizing for my fishing style since space is limited in the cockpit - although there is plenty of storage for bags, cooler, camping stuff, etc. fore and aft. I just need space and organization around my feet since that is where all the big fish end up getting measured and photographed LOL!! The canoe is basically a blank slate so I can customize to fit my needs. It is light enough for me to get in and out of the truck without straining myself. I have an 8' bed so with the tailgate down the canoe only sticks out about two feet beyond the tailgate.

I was going back and forth from the landing spot trying different seat configurations with and on one of my push-offs had a little mishap (see photo), definition of "up a creek without a paddle" - except that I always have a spare....

The two 5 gallon buckets behind the seat were just for a simple back rest until I get a chance to customize a little lumbar support.

themadindian said:

I have an Esquif Adirondack that does quite well as a fishing platform. Here it is on a fishing /camping trip in the ADK, it's 12 ft long and 43lbs, hauls a lot of gear tooView attachment 143602

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Nice set up.

What kind of seat is that, and does it have a fold-up backrest?

Doogie said:

Nice set up.

What kind of seat is that, and does it have a fold-up backrest?

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It's a GCI sitbacker