I am considering and Old Town Discovery Canoe. I have also looked at Wherry plans. Love the graceful lines of the Wherry. Question is - What is the best boat for rowing and fishing?

-- Phil J. Pollan (phil@philpollan.com), March 18, 2002

Answers

A fisherman might say that the ideal fishing boat would be a wide, flat-bottomed aluminum skiff, but it would be awful to row. A sport rower would want a boat that is responsive without too much effort, looks good, and is well-matched to the water conditions (rough or smooth)for which it is intended. The question is, what kind of compromise do you wish to strike? No one can answer that for you. There are lots of good choices in the market. I think the right canoe, fitted for rowing, offers great versatility and value for the price, but it lacks the style of a wherry. What matters to you?

-- Kim Apel (kapel@fullerton.edu), March 19, 2002.

I have a double ended Old town Discovery 160k that is set up for rowing and fishing. Usually I row and have a passenger fish. It works really well. With just me in the boat it rows quickly. It is so heavy that two are required to carry it and it paddles so poorly that I would be inclined to get the larger Discovery 17 for fishing with a partener or the smaller Old Town osprey for rowing by my self.

-- Frank Ladd (Ladd333@aol.com), April 09, 2002.

i built myself a herreshoff rowboat ala one of Gardner books on classic small craft... it has a narrow flat bottom (16 inches)and is pretty tender but i am able to gingerly stand and flycast provided i am casting out the stern of the boat.

BUT the feature i like best is the seating arrangment (four seats) and the fact that it's double ended and how these two features interact ...basically i've got one seat dead center amidships and two more out in the bow and stern .... my oarlock sockets about 14 inches ( further than what most recommend but it works very well ) from the stern edge of the middle seat... the last (fourth) seat is located 14 inches to the other side of the oarlock sockets... so if it's just me fishing/rowing i sit in the middle seat ... if my son joins me.. i row/fish out of the fourth seat... using the same set of sockets as before but now the "bow" becomes the stern and that's where my son sits.... If my duaghter joins us i sit in the middle with a child at each end...

add my wife ... i go back to seat four... she goes way back in the stern ... both kids can go on seat four or one there and the other in the bow...

Anyway it all boils down too... you can trim the boat for rowing by who sits where and the boat will row well........ and 3 people can fish ...

Actually i just installed a second set of oarlock sockets (again 14 inches on the other side of the middle seat... so now two people( or four kids sharing seats) can row but you need a body/wieght in the stern.

Mike Reiner

-- Mike Reiner (reiners@silk.net), August 15, 2002.