Drift Boats - advantages and disadvantages

jeff miller wrote:
Halfordian Golfer wrote:


In summary drift boats can be a hell of a lot of fun, but they're fun
even without the fishing aspect. Still, as my dad always said (we
realize how right Dad's are later in life), "The happiest 2 days in a
man's life are the day he buys a boat and the say he sells it".
Guilt replaced the creel.


i hate drift boat flyfishing for trout. it just aint natural. it's a
hurried tourism, not fishing, on a trout stream.

however, that said...i'm still a "wind in the willows" kinda guy. i
love messing about in boats.

jeff

I've never had much luck fishing from a drift boat -- while it's
drifting, that is. I think the boat puts the fish down. They see it
coming. Sometimes I've had good dry fly action when I can cast to the
banks and other spots away from the boat, but the floating is mostly, in
my mind, to get access to otherwise inaccessible spots for wade fishing.

There are places, notably on the San Juan and the Bighorn in my
experience, where guides can drift their clients time and again over
great holes and catch lots of fish, but that's not for me.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"jeff miller" wrote in message
. ..
Halfordian Golfer wrote:

In summary drift boats can be a hell of a lot of fun, but they're fun
even without the fishing aspect. Still, as my dad always said (we
realize how right Dad's are later in life), "The happiest 2 days in a
man's life are the day he buys a boat and the say he sells it".
Guilt replaced the creel.

i hate drift boat flyfishing for trout. it just aint natural. it's a
hurried tourism, not fishing, on a trout stream.

You'd better hope Uncle wally ain't tunin' in to ROFF of late!

Op

however, that said...i'm still a "wind in the willows" kinda guy. i love
messing about in boats.

jeff

Opus--Mark H. Bowen wrote:
"jeff miller" wrote in message

i hate drift boat flyfishing for trout. it just aint natural. it's a
hurried tourism, not fishing, on a trout stream.


You'd better hope Uncle wally ain't tunin' in to ROFF of late!

Op


wally and i tour the catawba in a proper manner...the ice chest is as
important as the fishing gear, which is mainly spinning rods and yozuri
lures (we're really bass fishermen catching trout). trust me...it's
nothing like the drift fleet out west.

jeff

"jeff miller" wrote in message
. ..
Opus--Mark H. Bowen wrote:
"jeff miller" wrote in message
i hate drift boat flyfishing for trout. it just aint natural. it's a
hurried tourism, not fishing, on a trout stream.


You'd better hope Uncle wally ain't tunin' in to ROFF of late!

Op


wally and i tour the catawba in a proper manner...the ice chest is as
important as the fishing gear, which is mainly spinning rods and yozuri
lures (we're really bass fishermen catching trout). trust me...it's
nothing like the drift fleet out west.

jeff

I've always trusted you kind sir!

Op

"jeff miller" wrote in message
. ..
Opus--Mark H. Bowen wrote:
"jeff miller" wrote in message
i hate drift boat flyfishing for trout. it just aint natural. it's a
hurried tourism, not fishing, on a trout stream.



three
main things I remember about drift boat fishing on Madison
My wife says---they ought to give you bigger napkins with this streamside
sandwich
the guide says--the Japanise and the Italians are really tipping big this
season
standing in the flyshop at end of day waiting for guide to declare how much
you owe for flies you' all used
other drifts I remember for better or worse

I remember--freezing to death on drift during Jackson Hole clave in Gink
boat---roasting todeath on some river during rock Creek clave--going
downstream on Madison with Jeff Miller and Bruiser when we were out of beer

this weekend i'm floating around in a boat with Jeff in a prehistoric
black swamp up by greenville N.C. hoping the shad have arrived so better
get off and start packing
Joe the Elder

On Feb 27, 5:43 am, Halfordian Golfer wrote:
3) When you're floating along you can get incredibly long drag-free
drifts but, you also usually only have one shot at a given spot. This
is somewhat antithetical to the sport to me which is about solving
difficult currents, finding a fly that works, in a given spot. I'd see
a GREAT spot that I knew held good fish but, there it was and there it
went as we moved by at 10 miles per.

That's been my most frustrating experience the few times I've fished
from a drift boat. OTOH, it makes you think about practicing casting
and placement, because you _know_ you've only got one shot to get a
good drift in a hole -- and even while wading, your first cast is your
best bet anyways to pull a good fish out of a spot.

When I hired a guide on the Bow river in CA(nada), we parked at a few
spots and got out and fished some runs and side channels, and in other
places he worked hard to hold the boat while I made a few casts
through some good spots. But the vast majority of water we fished was
simply unwadeable anyways; one step off the bank and you'd be in over
your head.

Jon.

"mdk77" wrote in message
...
I had never heard of a drift boat until recently. I've never seen one
in my area of Central Illinois. I Googled drift boats and they look
like "specialty boats" for Western rivers, but I wasn't sure. Would
these be any good for the Midwest rivers and lakes (for fly fishing
out of)?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of drift boats?


Advantages:
1.) Access to the entire river, areas you might not be able to get on foot.
2.) The ability to get the fly to the fish, where if you were on shore, due
to structure, etc. you could not put a good cast into the run.
3.) My cousin and 4 buddies have drift boats, for this reason, I have never
purchased my own (almost did at a weak moment when cabin fever was bad last
year) since one or more are usually sitting home. I have never taken a
guided float trip, I have heard some real horror stories and some good
stories about guided trips. If you take a guided trip, go with a well know
guide that has referrals.
4.) While wade fishing, we might take off and not see each other for several
hours while one guy goes up river and the other down... For some, this may
be ideal. I enjoy the camaraderie of drift boat fishing with buddies.
5.) Safe and stable for family and kids.

Disadvantages:
1.) Doing or buying the shuttle. Two weekends ago, it was just my cousin and
I and we didn't have a second rig to do the shuttle. The going rate for
section A on the Green is $39.00 bucks!
2.) Being the only guy in the boat that knows how to row... Make sure you
have a fishing buddy that's proficient at rowing... ;o)

Drift boats work very well on rivers, lakes and ponds. I personally enjoy
drift boat fishing and prefer it to wade fishing in most cases. At the same
time, one of my favorite places to fish is on Kelly Creek/N.F. of the
Clearwater and it's all wade fishing.

There is relatively little maintenance, hose it out after a day on the
river, wax it up now and then and keep the bearing buddies greased.

Take the right gear for the float, a great day can turn ugly fast without
proper cold weather gear if it cold or sunscreen, a large brim hat and
plenty of beer if it's hot.

My 2 pennies,
JT

In article
,
mdk77 writes
I had never heard of a drift boat until recently. I've never seen one
in my area of Central Illinois. I Googled drift boats and they look
like "specialty boats" for Western rivers, but I wasn't sure. Would
these be any good for the Midwest rivers and lakes (for fly fishing
out of)?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of drift boats?


This is a very late reply, I've only just bothered to read the thread.
Take a look at:-

http://www.graigroad.demon.co.uk/saturday.htm

Scroll down a bit to see the sort of boat we fish on reservoirs - rarely
on rivers.

Is this what you call a drift boat. BTW this shot was taken a few years
ago on one of our URFG equivalent to a Clave.

Regards,
--
Bill Grey

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:54:23 +0000, "W. D. Grey"
wrote:

In article
,
mdk77 writes
I had never heard of a drift boat until recently. I've never seen one
in my area of Central Illinois. I Googled drift boats and they look
like "specialty boats" for Western rivers, but I wasn't sure. Would
these be any good for the Midwest rivers and lakes (for fly fishing
out of)?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of drift boats?


This is a very late reply, I've only just bothered to read the thread.
Take a look at:-

http://www.graigroad.demon.co.uk/saturday.htm

Scroll down a bit to see the sort of boat we fish on reservoirs - rarely
on rivers.

Is this what you call a drift boat. BTW this shot was taken a few years
ago on one of our URFG equivalent to a Clave.

Regards,

What we on the west side of the Big Ditch call "drift boats" look more like
this:

http://www.clackacraft.com/models/16ftFFBench.htm

/daytripper

In article , daytripper
writes
On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:54:23 +0000, "W. D. Grey"
wrote:

In article
,
mdk77 writes
I had never heard of a drift boat until recently. I've never seen one
in my area of Central Illinois. I Googled drift boats and they look
like "specialty boats" for Western rivers, but I wasn't sure. Would
these be any good for the Midwest rivers and lakes (for fly fishing
out of)?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of drift boats?


This is a very late reply, I've only just bothered to read the thread.
Take a look at:-

http://www.graigroad.demon.co.uk/saturday.htm

Scroll down a bit to see the sort of boat we fish on reservoirs - rarely
on rivers.

Is this what you call a drift boat. BTW this shot was taken a few years
ago on one of our URFG equivalent to a Clave.

Regards,

What we on the west side of the Big Ditch call "drift boats" look more like
this:

http://www.clackacraft.com/models/16ftFFBench.htm

/daytripper

I dare say the flat bottom makes it a bit more stable for standing up
casting - something I wouldn't recommend in our boats.

Ours are quite comfortable for two people but a custom seat is essential
otherwise your rear end would be quite square after a day afloat.:-)

We hire our boats at the reservoir , usually the fishery has about 30
boats on hire.
--
Bill Grey