For example, a traditional high-side drift boat might be comparable to an extended-cab pickup truck-a jack of all trades, but master of none. I like to compare drift boats to motor vehicles. With these modern materials and technology we have lighter, more durable, and better-handling boats than our predecessors, with variations that can accommodate any situation. Most important, these boats provide a stable platform for casting, and for fishing while standing.Īnd though it is hard to beat the romanticism associated with wooden boats, it is impossible to ignore the practicality of modern polymer, fiberglass, or aluminum construction. The shape and constant rocker from stern to bow allows rowers to slowly navigate rapids (or pause for rising trout), you can spin the boat with ease, and carve effortlessly through the biggest of waves. It’s not clear exactly when we started calling them drift boats, but these stable boats with wide, flat bottoms, flared sides, a narrow, pointed bow, and a pointed stern have long been the favored craft of fly fishers. With Woodie Hindman’s final design of the “double ender,” (both a pointed bow and stern) the McKenzie River drift boat as we know it today was finally birthed. However, there is some debate about its older influences, which some believe to be the eastern Grand Banks dory. When tracing the roots of the modern-day drift boat, it’s generally agreed among historians and trout bums that it is distinctly from Oregon. Cheers to your mates: the trout that lured you to this remote and otherwise unreachable stretch, and to the ultimate fishing craft that afforded it all to you, the drift boat. Releasing it back to the cool depths, you crack an ice-cold can of SweetWater 420. Trout test the skills of both the rower and the angler as you slide left to right through a maze of boulders, rocking through the rapids, and into the calm of the next pool where you see a sleek speckled package of wildness slide to your net. Your partner executes the perfect cast, and it all comes together. With two swift oar strokes, the whole world slows down, cueing your fishing companions to hit that subtle seam, pocket, drop-off, or take the time to look for that discreet lie. This story was originally titled, "Chose Wisely: Finding the drift boat that's best for you".
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