I am considering a new solo canoe for general wilderness lake and small river (nothing more than class 1+) trips. I am writing to ask what solo canoes you have found to have good initial stability, especially when empty.

I would say I am an experienced wilderness canoe tripper with moderate paddling skills. In case it matters, I am 5'11" and about 200 pounds. I have a CJ Solo, but I find it a bit tippy for fishing when not loaded. Not horrible, but enough that once or twice when I had a decent sized northern on it made me a bit uncomfortable with the way the canoe handled it. I cannot kneel for more than short periods, so simply kneeling for stability is not an option.

I use my Nova Craft Pal solo for fishing on a regular basis, and love its stability. I can, and have, tripped with the Pal solo, but know it is not the most efficient, so just seeing if there are other ideas out there. Thanks for reading.

I prefer a hybrid Wenonah Canak over a solo canoe. Had a front sneak up on me last summer and the 40 mph wind gusts sideways never affected it. Had I been in a traditional solo on my knees I would have went swimming that day.

Wenonah Prism. One thing I like about the tractor seat setup, your center of gravity is fairly low in the canoe.

Most solo canoes can have the seat rehung but I am not sure of your CJ. Lowering the seat has a great impact on stability but some are harder than others to retrofit.

A friend had a Curtis Dragonfly seat altered to sit low. Its a deep canoe but for her it worked as she is tall and reaching over the side not an issue.. For the casual sitter with the usual up high kneeling seat the DF could produce a swim easily.

The issue for you in lowering the seat is reach over the side.. Pack Canoes are superb for fishing.. They have a little lower sheer on the side but properly designed hulls will deflect waves down. Some have a lot of flare like older Hornbecks and most now do not. For some sitters lots of flare meant a difficult reach but extreme seaworthiness .
If for efficiency you mean speed the Placid Boatworks Shadow is a screamer . Pack canoe low seating and speed. Here is the Shadow

I have its cousin the Rapidfire and while I generally like kneeling canoes I find the Rapid best for photography on bouncy waves.. You can get seats that are higher if you dont like being too close to the floor.

These boats are light. need to be tied as they have a propensity for escape and do also lighten your wallet. They are very durable though they look not.

Love my Prism for fishing, empty. No tractor seat, bench seat set-up with foot brace.

I have had both a Wenonah Wilderness and a Canak, and both were stable to fish from. I currently have a Swift Shearwater, and it is also stable boat to fish from. It has a sliding seat that I really like.

I have a Savage River Deep Creek Solo in the carbon-extreme layup, I have caught several 40 inch plus Northerns out of "The Dark Lady" and honestly never had a sphincter tightening moment, loaded or empty she's rock solid. FRED

Pinetree: "Wenonah Prism. One thing I like about the tractor seat setup, your center of gravity is fairly low in the canoe."

+1

YC hit the topic on the head. Lower the seat! As you develop more comfort in your solo, the feeling of stability increases.

I've caught many large 36"+ pike and flyfished for smallies from my old Wenonah Moccasin. Very close to the CJ Solo in hull shape and layout. I lowered the seat an inch until feeling comfortable, then raised it a bit at a time till it was higher than factory.

butthead

Thank you everyone!

Butthead, are you saying that lowering the seat even/just 1 inch can make a significant difference?

Yes, it did in my Moccasin. Think of it this way 1 inch off a 10 inch seat height is a 10% lowering of the CG.

butthead

For me, with a dog and fishing, the Prism just does not work.

If I'm renting, I'll get an adirondack and paddle it backwards and use my packs for weight management. That's become my go to for solos.

I own a Wenonah Fisherman for when one of my brothers go with me. Very stable, but kind of a pain to handle yourself for tripping and fishing unless you've got enough gear to balance it out. If I'm solo, I just rent the adirondack rather than haul the fisherman up from Arkansas.

Duckman: "For me, with a dog and fishing, the Prism just does not work.
If I'm renting, I'll get an adirondack and paddle it backwards and use my packs for weight management. That's become my go to for solos.
I own a Wenonah Fisherman for when one of my brothers go with me. Very stable, but kind of a pain to handle yourself for tripping and fishing unless you've got enough gear to balance it out. If I'm solo, I just rent the adirondack rather than haul the fisherman up from Arkansas."

Is that Wenonah Fisherman from the '80's? If so, it's the precursor to the Adirondack so it stands to reason that boat would work well.

I would add that I've used the 16' Adirondack to fish out of solo quite a bit; turned around and paddled from the bow seat. Nice boat for that task as is a Souris Quetico 16.

I switched from a Magic to a SRQ16 on solos for stability while fishing.
What kind of fishing do you do? Trolling or casting on a calm morning is a lot different than trying to vertical jig in a chop.

AmarilloJim: "I switched from a Magic to a SRQ16 on solos for stability while fishing.
What kind of fishing do you do? Trolling or casting on a calm morning is a lot different than trying to vertical jig in a chop."

In my prism with the tractor seat I love to troll for lake trout using a kayak paddle. Also zero problem casting for bass.

Thanks all for your comments. I can try lowering the seat an inch or so. I also will look into a sliding seat option, or moving it back a few inches so I can take one pack. It looks like the Souris River Quetico 16 is essentially like using my Nova Craft Pal, which is an option for shorter trips. It just is not as efficient as most solos.

I love my SR Tranquility, known for initial stability. Try one.

A Canack is great in wind and waves but consider where your rod and reel will be stored while you're paddling to your spot. I found the cockpit to be to confining.

I have a Bell Merlin. The Bell Magic seems to get all the attention but the Merlin is a bit wider. If I had it to do over I might consider a Prism. But I have no plans to change, the tough little carbon fiber boat has served me well. I did install a set of seat drops as it came from the factory quite high. The first launch was dicey and I couldn't get back to the shore fast enough. Fortunately I had brought the seat drops with me.

I own and paddle a 1941 Peterborough cruiser. Essentially the same canoe at the waterline as the chestnut pal. This is a wonderful canoe and the canoe that bill mason used in most of his films. For what it’s worth my canoe used as a tandem feels extremely tender, solo, me kneeling, it is unsinkable and very stable for fishing. I have a Kevlar solo that license ran up a couple of years ago. Prefer the traditional pal feel any day.