Thanks for the offer to help! I appreciate it... and I will be in need of some guidance as the project goes on... I purchased a kit and it will be shipping out here next week...so looking forward to getting started - exciting times!

Place to especially watch:

Wildcat Rapids stay far right at most stages
Narrows check up going in and run of left point.
Coffee Pot ALWAYS enter bow straight or left. Most pinnings are bow right.
Blossom enter slow on river left hugging the rocks on right, cut right to middle slot, cut back left after pouroff. I drop off the center slot almost side ways with transom left, making it an easier pull. Gotta get left after/during the pouroff.

Rest is by the guide book.

This information is not exact for all river flows and when rocks or trees move in. Keep you eyes pealed and catch a bunch. adh

I have had 12 hrs at home the last 3 weeks. Grand Ronde, McK, Willamette, Rogue, Seattle, Boise, Lewiston. No time. Too many fish to catch. Just back from a cast-n-blast. adh

Greg,
I like the courses, but they are becoming pretty crowded now. Great people there. They have one more course opening this summer. I am hoping to get an early tee test game.

I agree. I was on the Elk today for a couple of hours above the hatchery just to try the new boat out a bit. Very low water and crystal clear. I will be out of the area for a couple of weeks, but plan on trying the Deschutes later next week prior to returning home. Hoping there will be a few fish when I return. It has been a long time, but fun.
Kenny

Ha! Yeah Greg you wouldn't believe it. Nice hanging out with you this past weekend.

Hi Greg

Unfortunately no Steelheading in Alberta.
Famous for our Rainbows and Browns - especailly on the Bow river in Southern Alberta.

I did a steelheading trip a couple of years back to the Skina/Kispiox, and Babine (NW B.C.) - I posted new pics so you can see the result

Regards

KP

Yes - we have been pretty lucky. Sounds like the fishing has been good. I love that Rogue River area. I have spent some time down there - but I was on the Illinois.

Great site here - I'll try to check it out more at lunch.

See ya!
Erik

PS - the drift boat in the picture from WBF - yours? Amazing!

Very sweet!

I bought it used and the guy I got it from said it was built by a kid in shop class at Tigard High. I have been thinking of building one from sctrach, but got this one for $400 off Craigslist. It has a trailer as well. I refurbed the trailer and then I repaired some rot at the waterline. I am in the process of adding an anchor system from Randy and I also need to build some floor boards. I would like to float it in the next couple weeks to see how well my repair turned out. Are you familiar with the lower Nehalem? I have read in the Amato book that the drift from the just below the bridge at the falls to the boat ramp down at the highway, is an easy drift and as a beginner I thought it would be the best way to start. Your thoughts?

Greg,

Thanks for the comment on the fish, had a great day. Saw your pics on the gallery page and noticed you had a FJ-40, what a great rig how long have you had it? Also do you build from a kit or plans, trying to decide which one would be better to start with being a first time builder?

Thanks,

Jake

Thanks for adding a comment, Greg!

I do want to build a boat soon. So far, all I have done is a model. Eventually I would like to build a Briggs style white water dory such as Andy Hutchinson builds.

I mostly run the Arkansas, but the Gunnison is one of my favorite rivers! There are some mighty pretty rainbow trout in that stream!

GB

Thasnks, I'll take some pics one of these days.

Thanks Greg, Not very many wooden driftboats. A few guides have driftboats but they are Clarka Crafts or Hydes. Mostly I fish the upper Penobscot & Kennebec rivers in Maine. This boat handles better than any of those others.

Well, I do fly fish but what I catch goes back in the river. I built my boat as a fly fishing boat a few years ago. As time went by I started running bigger water. Last year friends and I had a Yampa permit for May 25. I went to work and put a deck and self bailing setup on the boat so It wouldn't swamp so easy.

When we got to the Yampa on our launch day the river was running 24000 and it was out of it's banks. By the time we got to warm springs rapid the flow was down to 17000 but it was still as big as crystal in the Grand Canyon. The deck saved my ass that day. I took 2 waves on that run that would have filled it to the gunwales.

But,,,,,,, it doesn't fish all that well now so I am going to build a few more boats. One for just fly fishing and a new big water boat for my next trip down the Grand Canyon.

Building boats is so enjoyable I am going to sell them as soon as I can so I can keep building more.

You can see more images at my dory builders web site

www.pimpmydory.com

Thanks for the welcome to the group.

Hi greg, good to hear from you. Sounds like you had a fun trip down the Rogue, I am glad you made it OK. I will have to do that some day. I will go with a guide for sure. I really can't build anymore boats unless I get rid of one my others and I havn't been able to part with any of them yet. Thanks for the compliment.

Hello Greg,

Thanks for your note. Although I live in Spokane because it is close to the airport (I travel a great deal), my heart is really in Troy, MT, which is on the banks of the Kootenai River in the far NW corner of MT. I have a second home there on about 550 feet of Kootenai River waterfront, with wonderful fishing at my doorstep. It is about a 2 hour drive from Spokane to Troy. I keep the Keith Steele wood boat in the garage in Troy and use it on the Kootenai whenever I can. Fishing during Summer, 2008, was very, very good. This Summer I found time to fish the Kootenai, Yaak, Bull, Thompson, Jocko, Bitterroot, and Lochsa, plus a number of smaller creeks and streams.....Mike

Hi Greg, thanks for the comment. I assume the pics in your "photos" are of your 16' Tatman? If so, WOW, beautifully done! I used to fish the Deschutes, Metolius, and Columbia (for sturgeon) every year, but not since adding children to my life - you're living in god's country.

I finished the boat in June of 05 - 2 days before my daughter was born (nothing like taking it down to the wire). I've been in refinishing mode for the last couple months. Sanding and varnishing aren't nearly as fun the second time around! While I really enjoy making sawdust, nothing seems to be quite as fun as the initial building phase. Just curious, what did you use for the floor mats in the front and rear of your boat?

Wow, what a beautiful boat. The contrast betwen the cedar and the mahogany is just stunning. I like the wood oars, too. I've rowed a boat equipped with high-tech graphite and plastic counter-balanced oars and theyr'e nice, I guess, but they certainly aren't as aesthetically pleasing.

Awfully nice Toyota, too, BTW. FJs are a recent fascination of mine.

Hey Greg thanks for posting all of those build photos... It is interesting to look at the process...

Yeah I am wondering if I am going to be able to get the epoxy to set up in the garage myself... I would really like to be able to work on the boat construction this winter... but I am hesitant of gluing seams and applying epoxy in the warm then cold of the garage. Planning on getting a couple of good heaters, but concerned that after I turn them off and call it a day the cold will hinder the curing... which leads me to my next question. Why don't I have a fully functional wood shop with 220v plugs, full dust collection sytem, and a bay door to roll the boat in and out of?!?! haha (dreaming again)

Well I just can't bear to wait till spring to put the boat together... I will need to improvise and get the hull built... I was thinking of taking a year or better to build the boat, but like Randy said, once you get started you want to keep at it. As I see progress, it just makes me want to move on to the next step!

Thanks Greg, just thought somemone would be interested in seeing some pics from the Patagonia. We were invited by Roger Fletcher to join and proudly display these pics of the McKenzie Rapid Robert built from scratch by my son Max and I using his drawings. l´ll post some more pics as time permits.

nice boat, photos and i haven't got to the blog yet but looking forward too it.

keep adding photos...love em