I seldom do gear reviews because I seldom find something that is REALLY better than what we have, this is an exception!
With over 30 years on the sticks of a drifter I have floated a lot of miles of river in many different craft. Ten foot wood prams to 20 foot Aluminum jets on oars. There is hardly a drift boat made that I have not tried for at least a day or two, this is my 9th drift boat and the best of them all as far as my fishing purpose goes. I was hesitant to jump on new styles and changes after being burned a few times on hype of LATEST AND GREATEST.
This time I can honestly say that Clackacraft has something real going here with this new EDDY style Low Profile boat, it really does handle better. With a sexy look of the low pro and the wind resistance of a skiff the new Eddy is the boat for fly fishermen.
Its great qualities go beyond its great looks.
It has much LESS PUSH from the rear that we get when an angler is fishing from behind the rower.
It MANUEVERS better through current like, on top of, the current with out slicing (the down river yank on the ass end from the current) not squirrely like, very manageable.
It SHUTTLES very well and maintains a good line effortlessly all the while running slower than the current with an easy back row. This is in itself will save your shoulders which is what rowers need to do most.
Here on the Yakima River the WIND is a big factor upon our boats and the low pro is essential to fishing here. The drawback in most low gunnel’s styles is running wave trains and boils where much of the water will come over at the side ahead and behind the oar stanchion on low sided boats this new Eddy seems to reduce that. The back of the boat sits higher just enough which gives it the good qualities we have here while maintaining wind resistance.
While trout fishing we anchor on spots a lot of times in faster water casting to slower bank side water, all the factors above improve the anchoring.
With hundreds of thousands of oar strokes behind me I can now look forward to the next few hundred thousand ahead with this new boat and re-discovering the enjoyment of rowing and fishing a quality drift boat for countless miles of river. For that I owe the guys at Clackacraft a big thanks as Guiding is a lifestyle and the drift boat is the vessle.
Thank you…
Maybe this new style will find its way to the standard sided boats for us steelhead anglers as well, just a hint there Clackacraft!
