I recently came into possession of a 1987 Wenonah canoe that is marked as the Fisherman 17' in tuff-weave layup with cross ribs. The canoe is 17' long and has a gunwhale width of 35.5" at the yoke. The bow and stern are tall in profile. The boat is the color of a hearing aid, inside and out.

Wenonah no longer makes a Fisherman in 17' length, and the dimensions seem similar to the Spirit II.

Can anyone tell me about this boat, or even provide a catalog scan? I'm interested in the history, thoughts and opinions on this hull.

I know they called the "Adirondack" the "Fisherman" prior to "Adirondack."
But it is 16' and has lesser pronounced stems. It SOUNDS like an "Original Wenonah," though, with the high, recurved stems? I wonder if they named IT the "Fisherman" also, for a time? I'd e-mail them and send them some pics. They're good about getting back with you with info.

quote ozarkpaddler: "I know they called the "Adirondack" the "Fisherman" prior to "Adirondack."
But it is 16' and has lesser pronounced stems. It SOUNDS like an "Original Wenonah," though, with the high, recurved stems? I wonder if they named IT the "Fisherman" also, for a time? I'd e-mail them and send them some pics. They're good about getting back with you with info."

The stems are not recurved, but the dimensions seem similar. Thanks for the heads up, I will send them an email.

I recently bought a Fisherman 17 from 1987 as well - mine is tuf-weave with cross ribs. I was curious about this boat and did a little research. It’s been interesting to see how Wenonah tried to market their non-racing oriented boats - almost apologetically.
I believe the Fisherman 17 became the Spirit II in 1988. As mentioned above, the Fusherman 16 became Adirondack at some point.
I found a few scans of old Wenonah catalogs on these forums and it seems Wenonah marketed a line of “recreation hulls” in 86/87 (maybe earlier), and transitioned some of those designs to “touring hulls” in 1988 - when this hull was rebranded.
I’ll see if I can attach some screen shots of the images. They even used the same image of the boat and language in the caption.
Image 1 and 2 are scans from 86 or 87 catalog. I believe image 3 is spring / summer 88.