Kayak vs Canoe?

[johno68]

G'day,
I am looking at getting a kayak or canoe. I am hoping to get one that can hold three people - me, my brother and my son ( 9 yo). I plan to transport it on top of my landcruiser and I plan to put on it an electric motor. I will not be ocean fishing in it - mainly estuaries, rivers and freshwater dams. I would like to have a sounder as well.

Any thoughts on whether I should go for a kayak or a canoe?

I was also wondering about storing tackle while on the craft...are there waterproof (floating if needed - such as capsize) tackle boxes/bags available?

Any advice appreciated.

Regards
John

[B.F.A.]

John,

Mate i have both i mainly use my kayak for off shore stuff and the canoe for all the estuary work, if you don't plan to do any ocean fishing i would definayley go for a canoe, but saying that the larger style one are can also be quite heavy, so if you won't to go out by your self could be a little challenging. You could go and see the boys at viking kayaks in brisbane as they are very help with this type of question and when i bought mine they let me go for a test of all there kayaks in there range.

[Luc]

Definitely go for a canoe.

Have a talk to Rosco Canoes http://www.roscocanoes.com.au/

Great range of gear and good advice.

Luc

[URAGANGI]

John I'm with Luc.

I use my Rosco bass fisher Xtream. She's 14ft super stabel with an out rigger as optional with a John'o 2.5 at the rear, soon going to a suzuki 5hp. This little bullet has been tops for snipping in shallow creeks to light river work or open bay water's (weather permitting).

It's a cheaper way to fish if you want a different angle from tinny's. The Kids can have a safe time as well. The benefits are you can fish in stealth mode and sit right on top of them. (NO NOISE ) And not forgetting the cruiser lay her on the racks cause weight isn't an issue.

Latch on to a bully or an old man ray, lift the anchors and let the kids have a free ride... Top fun. DO IT AGAIN!

tight lines and fish on the plate.

Cheer's long shift.

[Gigantor]

John,

For 3 people the canoe would have to be the way to go. There are 2-person kayaks - but fitting 3 people on them will make it sit low in the water and not give you much storage. The canoe on the other hand will generally fit 3 people plus some storage space. Dry bags would be the way to go. BCF etc. have heaps of different sizes of these. Once you close them they are dry and will float to some degree (unless you have stored heavy items in them). You can always attach with rope to the cross braces of the canoe to stop gear dropping to the bottom of the water.

I had a 15 foot Rosco fibeglass canoe in the early 2000s and it was a great craft. In terms of canoes & kayaks - just need to think through the basic issues:

- What is the capacity of the craft? i.e. who many people with it take and how much gear (by weight) will it need to carry? You don't want it sitting too low in the water and having waves coming over the side in some chop. If you add an electric motor the weight of the motor and more so the battery or batteries will contribute to capacity.

- What would be the best construction material for what you'll use it for? i.e. fibreglass or poly plastic. Each has it's own pluses and negatives. Fibreglass is easy to repair and moves through the water easier but can get scratched and cracked easier if you are dragging over rocks etc. or is dropped. Poly plastic can take more of a beating but if you crack it takes a bit more to get fixed etc.

- Weight of the craft? Fibreglass weight slightly more than the poly plastic types. What can you roof racks handle? What are they rated too?

Also think about whether you can handle the craft on your own as well? I got rid of my canoe because wife/mates didn't want to go out fishing as much as I did and the canoe didn't handle too well in the wind by myself (not to mention the weight of lifting onto the car). This is why I got into single and double kayaks. I can go fishing whenever I want and don't have to rely on others.

Just a couple of points to consider.

Cheers,

Pete

[tunaticer]

Look for a Coleman Scanoe or the Pelican transom canoe. Not suited to open waters though.