Hello all,

I have been a woodworker (mostly custom hand made furniture and cabinetry) for several decades and have been fishing just about as long and have decided that it is time to combine my two passions. I would like to build a mini dory/power skiff from scratch similar to that of Rick Finnells or the Willamette River Skiff of Rays River Dories. I live on the Cowlitz River and plan on fishing it as well as the other shallow rivers in my area and don't care to row much. Currently I am fishing from an 20' aluminum Duckworth jet but find it to big if I am alone which has led me to this style of boat.

I have started researching the processes involved and have been able to speak to a few shipwrights on the subject as well, but still have a few undecided areas that I want to open up for discussion. I will also say that I am not interested in buying a set of plans or kit at this point.

The size of boat I want to build would have an overall length close to 15' and a beam between 74" and 80". I want the sides high so probably around 24" to 28". I want to mount an E-Tech 25 jet (making the transom 25") or similar motor and may add a small kicker in case I want to troll the Columbia. I don't foresee having more than myself and one other at a time on board.

At this point I plan on using 6m Hydrotek BS-1080 for the sides and 15m for the bottom with two to three layers of 15m for the transom. I am leaning towards white oak ribs and stern but have access to old growth spruce as well if discussion sways that way. I plan on installing a removable floor over the ribs for ease of fishing and want the boat to be as open as possible. 

My early questions are:

What angle should I cut the sides to at the stem and transom as well as what angle to flare the sides to. I have made a model with 35 degrees at the stem with 12 degrees at the transom and a flare of about 28 degrees which brings the nose up nicely to cut through chop, but am new so I could be way off coarse. Have also been toying with the idea of cutting a jet tunnel in the bottom near the intake to get it off the bottom a bit.

Any suggestions or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.