Drift Boat/Raft Rental

[krayfish2]

So guys, enlighten me. What's the draw to a drift boat? What are the pros of a drift boat?

If I can get off my azz a make the warm water jam, I'll show you

 

[jifigz]

But the key to a drift boat trip is 100% the man on the sticks. It you are considering one for personal use there are smaller 10- and 12-foot boats that can be soloed. But realistically you be better off fishing alone in an inflatable pontoon or smaller 8-to-10-foot raft.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

I have absolutely no interest in owning a drift boat..I would, however, like to have a really nice jet boat.

 

[mellowluke]

I just fixed up my chines on my drift boat. Something I've put off for a number of years. What a royal pain in the ***. $250 to f*** up someone else's boat seems like a steal to me. If you only do 1 float per year, it will take you 22 years to spend enough to buy a used drift boat, roughly.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I just fixed up my chines on my drift boat. Something I've put off for a number of years. What a royal pain in the ***. $250 to f*** up someone else's boat seems like a steal to me. If you only do 1 float per year, it will take you 22 years to spend enough to buy a used drift boat, roughly.

If you want to look at buying vs renting purely from a financial point of view, you would probably break even if you rented several, or even more, times a year.

On one hand, instead of buying a boat (for say $10,000, for example) you could invest that money and safely earn 6% today, or a $600.00 on it the first year.

On the other hand, you also have to take into account all of the other costs associated with owning a boat, things like maintenance (maintaining boats ain’t cheap), insurance, licenses and taxes, and other miscellaneous costs (life preservers, for example).

And lastly, there’s the boat’s depreciation cost to consider. Say you buy a drift boat today for $10,000, but when you decide to sell it 5-10 years down the road, what’s it going to be worth? $5,000? You could get a lot of rental days for that.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily advocating renting a boat, as I’ve both owned and rented drift, and other, boats in the past. Plus, with renting, you’re taking a chance with the kind of boat, from a safety, maintenance, etc. standpoint that you’re going to get.

 

[Nocktavius]

Can usually tell the rental guys pretty easily when they sideswipe me while I’m wade fishing up there. “Ope, sorry man!” Followed by the sounds of fiberglass grinding on the nearest can opener

A few other considerations/ questions:

Will WBA rent boats to people not staying at their resort? If not then you might as well add 500$ minimum to the price of that rental (I myself don’t find the executive treatment to be worth the squeeze, especially when there are campgrounds that run 20$ a night nearby). Are they fairly easily available within a day or two or does it require some sort of advanced reservation? I usually don’t plan my fishing trips any more than a week or so out- way too many variables (bugs, flows, wind, etc) that I don’t want to be stuck on a turkey when there’s a coq de Leon a few hours in the opposite direction.

I also noticed the rentals are largely limited to the WB and upper mainstem. This means you won’t have the flexibility to float the mainstem and enjoying the amazing fishery down that way in the early or fall seasons.

 

[krayfish2]

Yep, they basically let you float from norboard to shehawken. You want to go somewhere else, too bad.

+1 on the new boat owner or renter going through shallow riff hitting every possible rock while losing control and pinwheeling down the river. Saw one guy after COVID . He had a brand new clacka that went sideways through every riff. You could hear him smashing rocks 500 yards away. Those chines were toast the first day

 

[hooker-of-men]

I was on the upper WB Friday to Monday. Buddy and I talked about the possibility of renting a boat on Sunday, as the rest of our party would have left, creating a rare situation on our trips where there's few enough people to fit in one boat

Neither of us know how to row. By Sunday, after watching multiple boats in front of our rental house either almost plow through wading anglers or have to get out and walk through riffles, we decided we weren't going to learn then and there.

 

[krayfish2]

Yeah, forgot the dragging part. Hit the wrong side of the riff and it might be a 500 pound drag for 100+ yards. Seen it all and did most of it.

I know one guy that had to get out in shallow water to drag the boat. Kicked the oar out of the lock, couldn't find it in the low light / fast water. Had to leave the boat, hike to the road and walk back to town. Best ending.....2 months later a guide had a client hooked up on a hot rainbow. The line ripped through the water and then just got heavy. Oar handle popped above water as the bow pulled the fly line under it which dislodged it from the bottom. Guide ran down, netted fish and grabbed the oar. Returned it to the owner.

 

[CLSports]

Clackacraft - "Fear no Rock"
It is on the sticker on the side of my boat. They guarantee their boats for 100 years.
Mine has been used hard for 10 years now. It has plenty of battle scars, but still floats.
I have thought about repairing/re-painting, but not sure I need to . . .

 

[wbranch]

They wont rent you the drift boat above a certain CFS.

They also shouldn't rent it if the river is below 500 cfs.