Canoe Recommendations

[derm300]

I moved to Arkansas last July and have gotten into fishing the Ozark creeks for smallmouth and canoeing on the Buffalo. I have realized that I need a canoe to do more of it. What tandem canoe would you all recommend for the dual purpose of river fishing and paddling? Any recommendations on where I could find a used one?

Thanks

[okieboater]

do a search
this topic has been discussed a bunch lately and all your questions should be already answered

[Cowper]

Things to narrow it down include

1) What's your cash situation look like? Brand new boats tend to lose up to 50% of their value in the first year or two. If you have the time to figure out what you want and plan to keep it 10 or more years, then a few hundred bucks one way or the other doesn't matter, so treat yourself to a shiny new boat. But if you go this route, be absolutely sure to actually paddle at least two or three models, and pick them up in the shop just to make sure you're OK with the weight for loading and unloading. On the other hand, if you want to just get something quickly, then buy used, and if you change your mind about what is the "perfect boat" then you can sell for near what you paid and move on to a different model. (By the way, there is no perfect boat - just like most golfers have a bag with many clubs, a lot of us have a garage with many different boats.)

2) What do you think your typical destination will be? Touring models start around 40#, are less stable, but a joy to paddle on lakes and easy rivers and easy to load without ever tweaking your back. Whitewater models can weigh twice as much, are slugs on flat water if you travel at more than a slow pace, and require care in loading to avoid straining yourself, but allow you to do a wider range of rivers of increased difficulty.

I tend to use kayaks or rafts for WW, and canoes for touring on flatwater. The canoes I enjoy paddling most are Wenonah's; but if you want a general purpose boat, then consider Two Brothers Canoes, made in Rogers, AR. They only have a couple of models, and I have not paddled one, but saw one on a car and the workmanship looked top notch.

Tell us what part of the state you are in, and we'll recommend some local businesses you can visit...