booyahfishing

I realize this is a kayak forum, but I have been looking into getting a canoe as opposed to a kayak. Does a kayak have a lot more advantages to it or do yall think I can accomplish the same type of stuff?

AUradar

have you ever paddled a kayak? They are far more stable than a canoe. If you haven't, there are lots of stores where you can try them out.

I'm kind-of in a market for a canoe. I want to take my kids out when we go camping and kayaks don't work well for riders. Other than that I would go kayak over a canoe.

booyahfishing

Yeah, I have paddled both many times before. I would put myself as an advanced paddler for both, I guess growing up beinga Boy Scout will teach ya a few things.

true-king

I'd say your best bet would be a kayak. Canoes are hard to control ona windy day and don't work well in waves. I do like taking my friend's canoe out on a calm day on the sound docks. It's nice to have a lot more space and you can act like a guide in the back and paddle the front guy into the shallows/docks.

booyahfishing

Any suggestions for the type of kayak to buy or where at? I noticed on one thread a lot of guys had fish finders and other crazy stuff on the kayaks... I was just amazed to see how elaborate setups people could get.

AUradar

if you're ever over in Destin, I think Bass-Pro shop typically has a "loaded" kayak set for sale. Not sure how good it is though.

timman

Check out Pensacola Kayak and Sail on Barrancas (end of Old Barrancas) Avenue. Also, I highly recommend you go to Key Sailing on P'cola Beach (on the left just past the toll booth - by Hemingway's) and check out the Hobie Mirage Drive kayaks. I can personally vouch for the Hobies - I own two of them.

Good luck!

SheYakFishr

If I had a choice.... it would be a kayak... HANDS DOWN!!!! :bowdown

jake69455

One of the big advantages SOT (sit on top) kayaks have over canoes is the ability to just flip them back over and climb back on if/when you get swamped in deep water far from shore by the wave you didn't see in time (or the drunk in the speedboat coming too close). Make sure you tie EVERYTHING down you don't want to lose. Leash it or lose it is the motto to live by. There are a lot of kayak sites to try, gulf coast kayak fishing assoc. (GCKFA) mobile bay kayak fishing assoc(MBKFA). bayou coast kayak fishing assoc. (BCKFA)just to name a few. Kayakfishingstuff.com has a lot of helpful forums. Most of the kayak fishing or paddling clubs are always happy to help someone get started in the sport, so find one in your area and drop by a meeting or a demonstration day at a local boat shop. A lot of the people who own a kayak have a spare or two and probably won't mind letting you try one out. And always try before you buy if possible.

Framerguy

I have kayaked and canoed for the better part of 50 years and it is my opinion that, if you consider yourself an "advanced paddler" in both craft, I would think that by now you would know the main differences and pros and cons of each?? Both have certain benefits and certain drawbacks, in my opinion, and alot depends on what your main use for the watercraft will be.

I was a wilderness guide in the Quetico up in So. Ontario for 7 summers and canoed over 4000 miles in some of the most pristine wilderness in lower North America! I would nothave taken a kayak on any of those trips if they were free and I got paid to paddle them!!! They just wouldn't do the job needed to haul all your gear andclothing needed for a 2 or 3 week's trip into the wilderness. Just the freeze dried food alone would be more than your average kayak would have room to carry. Alot can happen on a 21 day wilderness trip and the weather can change on you, wind can make lakes as dangerous as the Gulf when they blow up 6 or 7' rollers on a 100' deep lake, and you may hit a "dry" period for fishing so you usually always have to carry enough food to last for the entire trip. Plus a kayak, particularly a SOT kayak, isn't the most fun to carry across a long rocky portage through heavy woods and brush.

For traveling or day tripping, you cannot beat a kayak for speed and maneuverability. And they far out work a canoe for most types of fishing although, if you have to portage to or from one lake into another or from stream to stream, a canoe will be much more adaptable to carrying than a SOT kayak. I have carried SIK kayaks with little or no trouble but a canoe is easily portaged and can carry so much more gear and supplies.

Forgeneral handling, speed, versatility, and overall enjoyment though, I have to give a two thumbs up to both types of kayaks. We got to the point in our fishing group up North where we wouldn't even fish with anyone in a canoe because, if we had to paddle very far to our honey holes, we had to stop and wait for the canoes every 15 minutes or so!!! They were just too slow to run with the kayaks. We could out distance them by over a quarter mile in just about 15 minutes of paddling, they were that fast compared to most aluminum canoes.