Home Forums Fishing Freshwater What's your pack in boat.

Just curious what you guys use as a back country canoe/boat? I have a 12' radison which is nice and light weight, but navigating some of the trails in the Adirondacks going over and around trees can be quite fun, so what do you use

I have a 17 ft aluminum high double ender aero craft. And an old 18' weenonah that's a low straight runner.

they get me by but both are too heavy.

I really want a pair of souris river 17 footers.

That be the shizzle.

I haven't heard of them I'll have to check them out, my brother and I last year packed the canoe and gear 8 miles back in the Adirondacks to a lake that was supposed to have great pike and bass fishing only to find a dozen rowboats and oars, and even a few tents set up, with a sign that said please return what you use needless to say it was a wasted effort and the fishing wasn't great so I'm looking for something more packable, I've been thinking maybe a inflatable

The souris river quetico 17 is THE canoe for me.

I want two of em.

Because I do some canoe trips with my family and I'm usually the pack horse (lots of portaging)

These things are kevlar and run around 44 pounds, very nice all around hull shape, tough as hell.. I did a lot of research on the topic and that's the one I settle on as my dream canoe.

They run around $2500 each

Yeah, I was just at the web page expensive but I bet you get what you pay for, my radison the ribs keep getting kicked out when sitting in it, it's a bit frustrating

I'm in MN and there's a dealer in Ely called red rock store. i've been on the site and talked to the guy before. if I got one I'd save myself shipping and pick them up there.

The smart way would be to buy in the fall when he retires a few of his rentals. (used)

I have an Old Town pack canoe. I call it "tippy" for good reasons and wouldn't recommend it.

JEff

What amazes me is the display of handmade wooden canoes in the Adirondack Museum, many of them are 14ft or longer and way under 60 lbs, technology still hasn't improved much on that. Just maybe more durable

cedar strip canoes are very light, not to mention beautiful.

Back in the day, I had a black 16' Coleman Whitewater plastic canoe. We used to float a lot on the S MO and NE AR rivers.

One float, I hit a rock and caved in a place as large as a hard hat in the front of my canoe. Made me sick. We pulled up on a sand bar for lunch, with the sun shining. When we got back in the boats, the caved in place had popped out, back to perfect. That boat was very light, but tough as an anvil.

Alpacka Yak (5#s). Fits in a 8x20-ish stuff sack and into a MR Crew Cab surrounded by the 5-piece paddle. Picked it up for Christmas then we've gotten real cold so it's not been on the water yet but has been dry-run packed and set up a number of times.

http://alpackaraft.com/

That raft looks awesome, let me know how it works out for you. Which model did you get the Fjord explorer looks awesome.

I got the Yukon Yak, which is the second smallest standard white water capable, up one from the Alpaca (the scout is the smallest but a 'flat water' craft).

The demo about inflation is spot on once you get the hang of it. I've done it as a party trick over the holidays.

These are measured by inseam and purpose and as it is the Yak is sized up for me with a couple extra inches of toe room so as not to snag when the pack is tied to the bow.

The Fjord explorer is tempting if you're out on a two man trip but I usually run off by myself.

Most of my Trips are two man, although even the fjord looks a little cozy, and extra two feet would be nice, those things have to be nuts in whitewater though.

I have 12.6 ft Porta-Bote; weighs 69 lbs so I can wrestle it in my pick-up whole and by myself or it breaks down into components and the hull folds up like an accordion. So stable I can stand to cast and a 50 lb thrust electric will almost bring it up on plane. Often though I'll leave the elect & battery at home and just row it on ponds and small lakes. It also comes with or you can order wheels for it that just clamp on and you can just pull it to the waters edge if it's relatively smooth going. www.porta-bote.com.

Irv, I'll buy your Radison if your selling.