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Permalink Reply by Rick Finnell on December 17, 2015 at 12:20pm

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on December 17, 2015 at 5:46pm

Josh,

A word of caution from my personal experience.  The three inline fishermen as shown in Rick's pic doesn't provide a heck of a lot of room for three guys swinging a fly line.  Generally the rower may be a guide and not fishing, with clients in the front and rear.

I have a seat/deck in the rear of my 16 ft. DB and I generally stand in front of it behind the rowers seat when  there is another in the front seat fishing also.   My boat would be real tight for two in the front seat, therefore I have not tried it yet.  

I am not familiar with the 17 ft. boat your planning but it may be better suited for three.  I'd consider eliminating the third seat (ref: Rick's pic.) and add a rear deck as a seat location to open up the room for the rear fisherman.

G'Luck,

Dorf

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Permalink Reply by Josh Trammell on December 18, 2015 at 5:07am

Thanks for the info. I definitely wouldn't try to fish with all three guys at once, just a rower and two fishermen. I hope to have a little more room with the 17fter but I guess we will see.

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Permalink Reply by wade radina on December 24, 2015 at 10:57am

Hi Josh,

I built the Don Hill 17'FF about six years ago. Easy and fun build--first boat also. Do the plans still come with a DVD that have guys building a boat back in the 70's? I'm guessing it's back then because I recognize the tube socks they're wearing!

I set the boat up with front and back seats for fishing, yes, the guy on the sticks doesn't fish. I like my boat, but it is a bit of a hog, especially with three guys and camping gear. The flat spot in the 17' boat makes it less responsive at about the time you'd like it to be more nimble. The attached picture shows the boat with some duct tape on the side. This is the result of slow turning and a moron (me) on the sticks. Oh, and a rock I didn't see in time. It's also possible that I've gone through some spots that the boat (and the rower) are not up for. I put the back seat all the way back and bent some white oak to make a knee brace for the person fishing in back.

If I didn't need the room for camping gear, I'd build a smaller boat (the 16 footer in Fletchers' book comes to mind). And for maneuverability I'd give it continuous rocker. For calm water I'd also cut the sides down by 2-4 inches to catch less wind since you won't need the sides to keep water out in rapids. Also, the 16 footer has a 48 inch wide bottom which saves you some scarfing versus the 54 inch bottom the 17' boat requires.

I hope this helps. I'm very much an amateur when it comes to drift boats, so I'd take the advice of almost anyone else on the this web sites over mine. If you don't have the Roger Fletcher book mentioned above, you should get it. That book and this website are all you need to build a nice boat. Cheers!!!

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Permalink Reply by Josh Trammell on December 24, 2015 at 10:16pm

Thanks for the advice. I did get the video and I have seen the tube socks. I am way to young to know what those are all about but I'm excited to get started. I chose the 17 because the guys I fish with (including myself) tend to be on the larger side of life. I didn't see the picture you had attached would you mind trying to send it to my email. I'm really interested in seeing it. Jtrammell@semills.com. Did you have to scarf any of the wood besides the bottom and sides? I gues I'm thinking of the hand rails. I'll being posting a lot more questions once I get started. Thanks again.

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