Drift boat

[Flight01]

Just wondering what type or brand of drift boat has the least draft?

Not running rough water but quite shallow

[MartinB]

I don't know which boat has the least draft. I recently bought a Flycraft ( https://www.flycraftusa.com/ ) Stealth (2 man) they claim 3 - 4 inches which seems about right. Work got in the way of serious fishing the last few months but in addition to a test run in Peppers Lake I've managed a 12 hour session on the Red Deer with a fishing buddy, it performed well and we had a good day of fishing.
Rocky Mountain Fly Shop (Olds) run 2 of these boats, a 2 man and a 3 man.
I was extremely disappointed to find that poor packaging resulted in a lot of scratches to the metalwork and it took too many e-mails and calls to get replacement parts. Other than that build quality is good, you can stand and fish and it handles well.
For 1 man boats Big Sky Inflatables Kodiak looks good. https://www.bigskyinflatables.com/pr...r-kodiak-raft/

[Flight01]

Thanks for the reply.

Some great looking boats there

[Jayhad]

a wide body skiff will draft the least, the skiffs from RO are pretty slick, stealth craft apparently has one out now.

[TroutTracker]

I've always been a fan of Clackacraft. There's 6inches of foam along the bottom of the boat, hence the 'fear no rock' motto - it can float in a couple of inches, but keep in mind rubbing rocks is usually standard for drifting.

fyi - If you fish rivers where there can be wind (ie. the Bow), you should consider low profile (LP) models.

[Flight01]

I’ve been looking at skiffs too.

In fact I’ve considered building a Garvey Dory and fibreglass it this winter as a project

[fatboyz]

Originally Posted by Flight01

I’ve been looking at skiffs too.

In fact I’ve considered building a Garvey Dory and fiberglass it this winter as a project

I have a wooden one with fiber glassed joints, and raptor liner on the bottom. Has trailer too if you're interested. Here is a listing for it in the buy and sell. Can email you pics too.
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ght=drift+boat

[Flight01]

Originally Posted by fatboyz

I have a wooden one with fiber glassed joints, and raptor liner on the bottom. Has trailer too if you're interested. Here is a listing for it in the buy and sell. Can email you pics too.
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ght=drift+boat

Can’t see kijiji pics anymore. Maybe add is down?

[Ishpah]

I had a 16' Willie Wide Guide drifter. 9' Sawyer counter-balanced oar. These are the best drift boats made. The only downfall, aluminium is noisy hitting rocks. The upside is, they don't crack when they hit the rocks unlike fiberglass.
Fiberglass will have tiny little fractures and water will seep into and if your boat is out where it is subject to the elements which means freezing, those little fractures have a tendency to expand.
Now that Willie, no need to fear that and it only drew a couple of inches of water. On a lake, with no wind, I could move more than the length of the boat per pull on the oars.

[lannie]

Get a quality raft with an NRS frame and you can fish many rivers that a drifter will never go.

[fishinsteel]

Clackacraft for me!

[bcsteely]

I used a Hyde low profile aluminum drift boat for floating the Kitimat river for a couple years, had a pretty shallow draft and was very easy to row.

[Stirlingville]

been on many Hyde on Elk and Bow love the draft