I used to take my canoe out on Laurel Lake when I lived in London. Mine was just me and a paddle though. It all looked good on a map until I rounded the point. I found out the hard way that there tends to be a strong breeze that blows through the main channel. For a while, I was a little worried that I was going to be stuck on the other side of the lake. So be prepared for that on the big lakes.

A decent sized lake for a canoe that's close to Cincy is Kincaid in Falmouth. It has a 10hp limit on motors, so not a lot of wakes to tip you. And if you get tired of the lake, you've always got the Licking right there (and it looks nothing like the Licking you see across from Cincy).