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Kayak vs pirogue?

I have a couple 10’ sit inside kayaks. Nothing fancy, just your local big box fare.

The non-fishing one my wife uses paddles faster because of the shape but it’s not quite as stable as mine. Mine has a flatter bottom and rod holders and such. It paddles slower but is more stable.

Neither kayak has much storage. You could probably do an ultralight one or two day trip but that’s it.


If I was buying mine again I would either buy a sit on top style fishing kayak OR a one person canoe. The sit inside kayak isn’t great for fishing because you can’t open a typical tackle box in the cockpit. A sit on top gives you more space to work and some of them are stable enough to stand up and cast.

A single person canoe is another option I like. You can’t stand but you have lots of space to have your fishing gear or load it up front and back for a multi-day camping trip...or a 200 pound deer quartered and split between front and back ends of the boat.


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I have a couple 10’ sit inside kayaks. Nothing fancy, just your local big box fare.

The non-fishing one my wife uses paddles faster because of the shape but it’s not quite as stable as mine. Mine has a flatter bottom and rod holders and such. It paddles slower but is more stable.

Neither kayak has much storage. You could probably do an ultralight one or two day trip but that’s it.


If I was buying mine again I would either buy a sit on top style fishing kayak OR a one person canoe. The sit inside kayak isn’t great for fishing because you can’t open a typical tackle box in the cockpit. A sit on top gives you more space to work and some of them are stable enough to stand up and cast.

A single person canoe is another option I like. You can’t stand but you have lots of space to have your fishing gear or load it up front and back for a multi-day camping trip...or a 200 pound deer quartered and split between front and back ends of the boat.


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I love my solo canoe. I can throw a whole deer up front and just kneel behind seat if I’m so lucky. Blew my once chance this year to float one out
 
I have a 17ft grumman double-ender, a 14.5ft square stern polyethylene canoe, a 17ft mohawk double-ender, and a 12ft poly sit-in (WS Pungo). I've owned a flotilla of other boats.

If I could only own one boat, it'd be the Grumman. It will do everything reasonably well. I can paddle it solo or with a buddy, motorize it, float it in anything i can't wade with rubber boots, carry deer out, fish, joy-ride, camp, whatever. It's the Mossberg 500 of the small boat world. Doesn't excell at anything, but it's a well-rounded performer that's built like a tank. It needs 0 love and care. Just lean it up against the fence for storage and throw it on a roof or in a bed when it's time to boogie. Mine is almost 60 years old and will probably outlast me.

If I was allowed a second boat, I'd choose a 12ft, polyethylene, sit-in kayak. If you can quarter and debone your kill, it will haul you, a deer, and your saddle hunting gear provided you know how to pack light. And it will navigate anything from flooded timber to bays and large lakes. Poly is quiet and impact resistant also. At 40-50lbs, you can easily carry one anywhere it needs to go.

Pirogues are cool, but in my mind WAY outclassed by other vessels for hunting purposes. I've owned and sat in several, and they are nowhere near as seaworthy as the canoes and kayaks I've been in.
 
I have a 17ft grumman double-ender, a 14.5ft square stern polyethylene canoe, a 17ft mohawk double-ender, and a 12ft poly sit-in (WS Pungo). I've owned a flotilla of other boats.

If I could only own one boat, it'd be the Grumman. It will do everything reasonably well. I can paddle it solo or with a buddy, motorize it, float it in anything i can't wade with rubber boots, carry deer out, fish, joy-ride, camp, whatever. It's the Mossberg 500 of the small boat world. Doesn't excell at anything, but it's a well-rounded performer that's built like a tank. It needs 0 love and care. Just lean it up against the fence for storage and throw it on a roof or in a bed when it's time to boogie. Mine is almost 60 years old and will probably outlast me.

If I was allowed a second boat, I'd choose a 12ft, polyethylene, sit-in kayak. If you can quarter and debone your kill, it will haul you, a deer, and your saddle hunting gear provided you know how to pack light. And it will navigate anything from flooded timber to bays and large lakes. Poly is quiet and impact resistant also. At 40-50lbs, you can easily carry one anywhere it needs to go.

Pirogues are cool, but in my mind WAY outclassed by other vessels for hunting purposes. I've owned and sat in several, and they are nowhere near as seaworthy as the canoes and kayaks I've been in.
 
I have a 12ft NuCanoe kayak, Old town 119 solo canoe. I use NuCanoe if going in with a friend, canoe if solo hunting. Canoe 1/2 the weight, faster to paddle.
 
Native Ultimate FX12
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I hunt out of a PawPaws Pirogue that is made in Mandeville, La. It has some good points and not so good points. It will go over almost anything pretty easy. I do not have trouble in waters with a lot of current, but it is a good work out. The bad thing is in big water the wind will absolutely kill you. I fish out of it also and it can be a challenge. And it is pretty long.

If I were to get another it could possibly be a Nucanoe as I have some friends that have them and they carry weight well. Another thing to think about is a kayak has scupper holes for water to drain out of. Which is really good because there always seems to be water in my pirogue.

Kyler what kind of singler kayak do you have?
 
Yeah you right there. I think $3k plus motor give or take but they’re pretty dang sweet.


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Love my Pirogue.......... In still water swamps.

Love my Canoes.......... In moving water swamps.

Hate both when paddling against stronger currents and Strong Winds on open waters. It will make a preacher cuss and second guess his sanity.

Never really liked the yaks for hunting so never jumped onto that ban wagon. Could never haul gear in and kills out comfortably.

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My debate is this also, I will be getting something just to traverse a still canal to hunt the ACC in Louisian. Maybe for small sloughs in Tensas and Dewey wills. I like the sit on top kayaks but I’m big on stability. Me and cold water don’t mix. I don’t like canoes though, I’ve never been in one and not flipped. Right now I’m looking at the pelican catch 120 classic. I had a solo skiff that I hardly used and it was extremely cumbersome and I sold it. I dnt fish at all so this will be strictly to carry me and about 30 extra lbs of gear, if I kill I’ll float it behind me.
 
Checking in for advice here.

I currently have a 11’6” sit on kayak, which has worked fine for crossing wider channels with wind/wake. I have not tried it in the tight swamps. but it's good for access where you need to get to an island, across a channel, etc. within reason.

I also have a 14’ beater pirogue that is a bit too long for getting around cypress knees and such in the swamps. And I still had to push it over a lot of vegetation growing on the surface of the water. Not sure if the pirogue or kayak would have been easier to pushing over that crap. and these swamps are the peculiar type where the vegetation grows, but you can't walk on it without busting through, and you have no idea how deep the water actually is.... otherwise I'd just put on waders and call it a day.

anyway. I'm considering investing in a nice, lifetime 8-10' pirogue. my question is whether fiberglass or aluminum is the better, more durable material? the used beater I have is fiberglass and that material feels brittle to me. but I would bet aluminum is a lot louder when you run into knees, sticks, etc. seems like the aluminum pirogues can hold more weight, too.

for aluminium i was looking at:

but would I be just as well off getting some other, shorter used fiberglass one? they come up on FB marketplace often.

in terms of extending my striker distance with a bigger boat with an outboard, my father-in-law has a jon boat with a 25hp outboard that he and I have been working on getting up and running. so that would cover that aspect of access.
 
Checking in for advice here.

I currently have a 11’6” sit on kayak, which has worked fine for crossing wider channels with wind/wake. I have not tried it in the tight swamps. but it's good for access where you need to get to an island, across a channel, etc. within reason.

I also have a 14’ beater pirogue that is a bit too long for getting around cypress knees and such in the swamps. And I still had to push it over a lot of vegetation growing on the surface of the water. Not sure if the pirogue or kayak would have been easier to pushing over that crap. and these swamps are the peculiar type where the vegetation grows, but you can't walk on it without busting through, and you have no idea how deep the water actually is.... otherwise I'd just put on waders and call it a day.

anyway. I'm considering investing in a nice, lifetime 8-10' pirogue. my question is whether fiberglass or aluminum is the better, more durable material? the used beater I have is fiberglass and that material feels brittle to me. but I would bet aluminum is a lot louder when you run into knees, sticks, etc. seems like the aluminum pirogues can hold more weight, too.

for aluminium i was looking at:

but would I be just as well off getting some other, shorter used fiberglass one? they come up on FB marketplace often.

in terms of extending my striker distance with a bigger boat with an outboard, my father-in-law has a jon boat with a 25hp outboard that he and I have been working on getting up and running. so that would cover that aspect of access.
aluminum is more durable. if someone shoots it or you run it over rocks, you can have it welded by a competent aluminum welder.
fiberglass isnt meant to be used around rocks. vulnerable to UV damage.

As for the noise with aluminum, you can strategically place rubber padding on spots that are likely to to hit trees. You can also use rubber floor mats to quiet things down on the inside. The late trapping legend was a master of stealthing his canoe. you can listen to an interview of him describing it here
Go just past the 30 minute mark where he gets into the canoes if you dont want to listen to the whole thing
Fiberglass is a lot lighter though
 
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We had several pirogues that we would leave in the woods as “Slough Boats” when we duck hunted AR. They were home made. We had a welder in the club that built them. They were awesome for getting through shallow water. To me, a kayak sucks compared to one for back water swamps. A pirogue can be push poled anywhere that has a few inches of water.


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If you choose to have a pirogue built, have the build it without foam in the seats…after a couple of yrs the foam gets water logged, and adds a butt load of weight to it. Also, don’t skimp on spud poles, get 2 spud pole holders put in. It will be the best option you can add to the boat.


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