06-15-2012, 05:02 PM
bkondeff, I grew up fishing out of a drift boat, that's all we ever had. That being said we fished a lot of rivers (Snake, South Fork, Henry's Fork etc...) as well as using it for trolling on flat water. I would hesitate to upgrade to a 9hp before you get comfortable with the power. A drift boat does not need much hp due to the fact they they don't draw much water. We had a 55# thrust Minn Kota transom mount on ours. We never got anywhere in a big hurry but it worked just fine for what we needed it to. We never had a problem trolling out of it except when the wind would kick up. It is a high side as well like the boat you are looking at. The biggest problem we had was keeping a very straight course trolling in the wind just because of high sides and no keel to speak of.
If you are going to put that boat in by Riggins or most any where up North for Steelies/Salmon you will want to be very comfortable with reading water and how to row that boat. Like you said, lots of time on flat water and if you can hire a guide for one or two trips to teach you some basics it is a blast! Some of my most favorite days fishing are a 10-15 mile float with my Dad, can't be beat.
For $4,000 for that set up I don't think you can go wrong. I would be amazed if you couldn't get that back out of that rig if it doesn't work out. Lots of drift boats that are ready to fish up in my neck of the woods sell for that without the out board that you would be getting.
The other bonus to me is that is looks to be aluminum. Aluminum is tough! I personally have hit rocks in sketchy patches of water *hard* and have never put a hole in the boat.
I'd say go for it! -J
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If you are going to put that boat in by Riggins or most any where up North for Steelies/Salmon you will want to be very comfortable with reading water and how to row that boat. Like you said, lots of time on flat water and if you can hire a guide for one or two trips to teach you some basics it is a blast! Some of my most favorite days fishing are a 10-15 mile float with my Dad, can't be beat.
For $4,000 for that set up I don't think you can go wrong. I would be amazed if you couldn't get that back out of that rig if it doesn't work out. Lots of drift boats that are ready to fish up in my neck of the woods sell for that without the out board that you would be getting.
The other bonus to me is that is looks to be aluminum. Aluminum is tough! I personally have hit rocks in sketchy patches of water *hard* and have never put a hole in the boat.
I'd say go for it! -J
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