I need a cartop setup for weekends with the woman.  She lives in an apartment complex with no room to park a trailer.  Tried a canoe and a kayak, didn't care for either.  I could maybe go for a shorter wider canoe but kayaks are definitely out for me.  Currently I am using a very narrow flat bottom Jon boat that I haul on top of my Jeep Cherokee.  It's very light, easy to load, easy to row, comfortable to sit in and was very cheap.  My only problem with it is the stability when standing.  The floor is only 24" and it's 12ft long.  Thinking of getting a 1236 or wider if I can find it.  Need to stay under 12' so it can be used at the cartop launch sites that are limited to <12' or canoes.  So while I deliberate about what I want... I would like to know if any of you have had a cartop jon boat or similar boat that you liked.  Tell me what you liked about your rig and what you didn't.  Thanks for sharing.

I would love to find a boat that long and barrow. Do you have pictures of it?

 

Personally, a small jon is my dream vessel, with a trolling motor. I will toss it in the bed of the Ranger and fish I disagree off. I think, given your circumstances, a wide canoe like the new Wenonah Fisherman would work well or if a canoe is a non-starter, maybe a 1248 jon.

14 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

I would love to find a boat that long and barrow. Do you have pictures of it?

 

Personally, a small jon is my dream vessel, with a trolling motor. I will toss it in the bed of the Ranger and fish I disagree off. I think, given your circumstances, a wide canoe like the new Wenonah Fisherman would work well or if a canoe is a non-starter, maybe a 1248 jon.

I don't have any pictures that show the boat well.  I'll have to look into the Wenonah.  I would love a 1248 but there's no way to carry it on top of the Jeep.  There also very heavy at about 250lbs.

The jeep can pull a small trailer,  right? 

2 hours ago, IndianaOutdoors said:

I don't have any pictures that show the boat well.  I'll have to look into the Wenonah.  I would love a 1248 but there's no way to carry it on top of the Jeep.  There also very heavy at about 250lbs.

Old Town has the Discovery 133 canoe - 13'3" long x 40.5 wide, 78 lbs - it's not a cruising canoe, but with that wide beam should be a good one for fishing.  $999 from Cabela's (of course you have to add paddle(s), PFD, any other accessories you need).  This is what I'll be buying over the winter - a canoe is perfect for me because that's what I grew up with back in the 50's and early 60's.

3 hours ago, Drew03cmc said:

The jeep can pull a small trailer,  right? 

Read original post^. No room to park a trailer while I'm visiting at the apartment complex.  I have a 16' sea nymph, the skinny Jon boat and a 17' Indian River fiberglass canoe.  The canoe is not stable enough to stand in and is not very easy to handle by myself.  

I'd love to have that canoe. It would be perfect in the Ozarks.

 

Apologies, I didn't pay close enough attention. 

On a trailer right now but lived on top of my Subaru cross trek for over a year.....extremely stable with 2 people in it

8 hours ago, Leftymuk said:

On a trailer right now but lived on top of my Subaru cross trek for over a year.....extremely stable with 2 people in it

Aren't these really heavy?  I thought they were in the neighborhood of 150-200lbs.