Rowing a drift boat

[Eli]

Does anyone here know where you can get lessons to learn how to row a drift boat

[Ruckus]

Thats a great idea, there's gotta be a niche for that. Clackacraft has a video they put out on rowing tips and safety. I've seen some books too. Bob Ball wrote a nice article in a recent Salmon Steelhead Journal on drift boat safety. See if you can't hire a guide for a day and explain to him what you are looking for, the guys rowing the rivers in Forks are some of the best oarsmen on the planet hands down! Try Bob Ball or Carl Windle.

[Salmonhawk]

Great suggestions Ruckus. I hired a guide to take me down the river on my boat when I first got a driftboat. It sure was nice having an experienced guide to help with the setup.

[Eli]

Thats a great idea, there's gotta be a niche for that. Clackacraft has a video they put out on rowing tips and safety. I've seen some books too. Bob Ball wrote a nice article in a recent Salmon Steelhead Journal on drift boat safety. See if you can't hire a guide for a day and explain to him what you are looking for, the guys rowing the rivers in Forks are some of the best oarsmen on the planet hands down! Try Bob Ball or Carl Windle.

Thanks for the info

[Ruckus]

Theres definitely a learning curve, and it's great that you're looking for some profesional instruction. A guy needs to know not only how to stay out of trouble but most importantly how to get out of it when you do because it's almost inevitable.

[stam]

See if you can't hire a guide for a day and explain to him what you are looking for, the guys rowing the rivers in Forks are some of the best oarsmen on the planet hands down! Try Bob Ball or Carl Windle.

That's a great idea, but....

Probably not a good starting point, those guys along with a handful of others (Mike Z, Larry Scott, Billy Meyer, Bret Lowe..etc) make it look almost *too easy* and those rivers are so technical that if you haven't already mastered the basics you'll get a great boat ride but I can't imagine that you would learn too much. Flatter water is a good place to implement the same idea, the satsop, wynoochie and many others all have stretches that are entry level friendly and drift boat guides work them too, starting there would be a great idea and I found that when I started just having someone in the know in the boat telling you to "point that way and pull hard.." was all it took to have the confidence that I was doing it the right way, I had the pleasure of giving Bob Ball the front seat in my boat on the Bear Creek run of the Sol Duc last spring, I had done that stretch before, but I was always guessing on the fly if I was going the *right way* technically I was there, but..being shown those trails by someone who knows them is invaluable... and, 12 or 15 years of rowing is all it took to get to the point where I felt ready for that.

Good luck and enjoy the curve
stam

[Brandon]

I remember the first time I rowed my driftboat. Dumped it in the bogey and the plan was to learn along the way. First turn right into the hatchery hole WACK! Put a nice sized softball sized dent in the boat not 10 seconds into the drift. Dent holds a special place in my heart. But ya I agree with stam. Some of the guides on the OP make things look way easy out there.

[brad_tgl]

That's a great idea, but....

Probably not a good starting point, those guys along with a handful of others (Mike Z, Larry Scott, Billy Meyer, Bret Lowe..etc) make it look almost *too easy* and those rivers are so technical that if you haven't already mastered the basics you'll get a great boat ride but I can't imagine that you would learn too much. Flatter water is a good place to implement the same idea, the satsop, wynoochie and many others all have stretches that are entry level friendly and drift boat guides work them too, starting there would be a great idea and I found that when I started just having someone in the know in the boat telling you to "point that way and pull hard.." was all it took to have the confidence that I was doing it the right way, I had the pleasure of giving Bob Ball the front seat in my boat on the Bear Creek run of the Sol Duc last spring, I had done that stretch before, but I was always guessing on the fly if I was going the *right way* technically I was there, but..being shown those trails by someone who knows them is invaluable... and, 12 or 15 years of rowing is all it took to get to the point where I felt ready for that.

Good luck and enjoy the curve
stam

Spot on. I would add that it seems these days that the trend in learning is to jump in the raft and go for it. Which is validated in to some degree that you can bump your way down. However, in starting with a drift boat there is far less margin for error and so it is advisable to hit some soft drifts. Watching a true oarsmen in a drift boat is awesome to behold but will do little in the learning curve at the start. As lame as this may sound to some I learned best by pulling plugs when I was a teenager and found what it took to hold my position in different depths and currents. It also rewarded me with a fish or two.

[Eli]

That's a great idea, but....

Probably not a good starting point, those guys along with a handful of others (Mike Z, Larry Scott, Billy Meyer, Bret Lowe..etc) make it look almost *too easy* and those rivers are so technical that if you haven't already mastered the basics you'll get a great boat ride but I can't imagine that you would learn too much. Flatter water is a good place to implement the same idea, the satsop, wynoochie and many others all have stretches that are entry level friendly and drift boat guides work them too, starting there would be a great idea and I found that when I started just having someone in the know in the boat telling you to "point that way and pull hard.." was all it took to have the confidence that I was doing it the right way, I had the pleasure of giving Bob Ball the front seat in my boat on the Bear Creek run of the Sol Duc last spring, I had done that stretch before, but I was always guessing on the fly if I was going the *right way* technically I was there, but..being shown those trails by someone who knows them is invaluable... and, 12 or 15 years of rowing is all it took to get to the point where I felt ready for that.

Good luck and enjoy the curve
stam

Thanks everyone for the good advice


Spot on. I would add that it seems these days that the trend in learning is to jump in the raft and go for it. Which is validated in to some degree that you can bump your way down. However, in starting with a drift boat there is far less margin for error and so it is advisable to hit some soft drifts. Watching a true oarsmen in a drift boat is awesome to behold but will do little in the learning curve at the start. As lame as this may sound to some I learned best by pulling plugs when I was a teenager and found what it took to hold my position in different depths and currents. It also rewarded me with a fish or two.

[Ruckus]

Good point Eli, the boat control you learn while pulling plugs in different currents and funky hydrolics is great. When I was a senior in high school we had a senior shadow day where we followed somebody around at work that was in the profession we most likely wanted to pursue in life. We got 3 professions to choose from on our "wish" list. I put down fishing guide as Numero Uno. Low and Behold they set me up with a local Fly fishing guide that worked the Williamson River near Klamath Falls where I grew up. He took me down to the Link river near town and had me do figure eights around pilings with the drift boat. He then had me row up river and had me try to hold the boat as still as possible in the current while he worked some streamers through the seam. Both were great exercises to learn some boat control. I don't remember that fly guides name but I'd like to thank him for putting me down the right path...or the wrong one, depending how you look at it.