Mike,

I have a couple of friends that guide here in Michigan and out West (Montana) and have drift boats.  I assume your going to be spending most of the time here on West Mich Rivers.  I'll talk to them and see what they have to say on the subject of oars.  We might gain some insight as to what works.  I've been thinking also what to do about oars.  I'll let you know as as soon as I hear something with a PM.

phil w.

Mike, I appreciate your offer, I would to experience the fishing back there. In big water the ability to move a heavy raft often requires a strong oar. Many times you aren't rowing continually to hold the boat in place so the fishermen can flog the banks when flyfishing. I have never fished with worms from a driftboat so I don't know what you need to do then. If you are fishing for steelhead and doing some side drifting it is not uncommon to control the boats speed, work the drift and then row back upstream to do it again. So instead of just keeping the vessel lined up to hit the tongue of a rapid you are lifting the oars out of the water repeatedly. So lifting a set of oars weighing X pounds a set of light spruce oars or composite type oars might weigh 1/2 X. At the end of the day you have you may have lifted 1/2 X the weight. There is an advantage to heavy oars. You get a full day of weight lifting!

There is also something no one has mentioned. It's called the Tom Sawyer effect. Since driftboats are so unique back there it is easy to bring new folks along. They all want to learn how to row. You can offer to teach them while you fish! Then it won't matter what your oars weigh, your arms will only be tired from casting. A secondary corollary to this is the "Karate Kid" effect. When they say they're tired of rowing you simply get a stoic look on your face and say "wax on, wax off" and return to your fishing!

Rick Newman

You are talking about religion when you talk about oars.

I don't like what most like so I won't bother telling you what it is.  For wood there is ash, spruce.  They can be heavy or light.  Flex or no flex.  There are aluminum shaft oars and I hate those things.  There are glass composite oars.  Some heavy ash oars have almost no flex at all and many people seem to love them.

Everyone like a different feel.  Go to work trying to find some you can rent or borrow.   Raft rental shops will usually have cataract glass oars or aluminum shaft oars.  You really need to find out what kind of flex pattern you like.  Everyone is different and you will be also.

Recommendations won't really mean much.