Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Rogue vs. Mckenzie

Hi all,

I have been in the planning phase for sometime for my project. I thought i was all set on building the 17ft Don Hill and am now seriously considering building a Rogue River Dory. Can anyone give me a good pro/con list for the two. I know the difference in construction and lines of the two. I am now living in Grants Pass so am kind of liking the idea of the Rogue Dory. Probably most use would be on the Rogue, with maybe Aug Hells trip, or moderate main Salmon. My dream would be to take it down the Middle Fork if I ever drew a permit in July. Seems I am always on the MFS at 7ft or 1.7ft. No drift boat for me at those flows. Any help in comparing the two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Thomas

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on February 28, 2012 at 9:23pm

The classic Rogue River dory by in Roger's book was made to be most efficient with a motor (long flat spot) carry a heavy load up the river (lots of flair) and still be able to take the big waves (high prow and the risers on the gunnel near the fly line deck)

Either boat is a great boat. My only recommendation would be to not make it too big. 17ft at the gunnel seems to be the most popular trade off of size vs weight.

For what it's worth, Ken Helfrich uses wood boats in his guild service that runs both Middle Fork and the Rogue. After years on that water he has landed on a 16 1/2 ft shear x 50 inch bottom McKenzie style that has a 40" or so flat spot on the bottom with parallel chine that matches the flat spot.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Thomas Hood on February 28, 2012 at 9:30pm

Thanks for the reply. So are you saying to scale down the rogue a bit. I believe I can figure out how to scale down the whole boat, but what would be the easiest way to scale down the length but not width, since I believe the rogue is only 47 in wide on the bottom to begin with? Thanks again. Thomas