I ran across this pic of my ol’ trusty 20-foot Willie drifter last night and had to post it.
I took this shot as we were pulling off the Trinity River after chasing salmon and Steelies. It was a boy’s fun trip with me, K-Dog, Harry Ibach and Mad River Jimmy Davis and the boat was absolutely destroyed with rods all over the place, lures, roe slime and junk food wrappers.
Some folks might be mortified to see their boat in this condition, but I think this is exactly how a vessel should look after a bunch of friends hit the water together. It’s pretty obvious to me that a good time was had by all here…
5 Boats You Can’t Live Without!
Quite contrary to what my wife contends, a guy can’t have too many boats! After all, there’s no one perfect vessel. I mean, you’ve got to have the jet for running shallow rivers…then something that can handle a little chop out on the bay. Well, then, of course you’ll need to have some weather protection when you’re running offshore and then…
See what I mean? Anyway, here’s my current list of 5 boats you just can’t live without…
Maritime 23 Voyager
Okay, so the MSkiff Voyager 23 would be the perfect all-around rig for bay halibut, salmon (when they come back), rockfish, close to home tuna… and would even make a good Lake Tahoe jig boat! I also love the fact that you can duck out of the weather…a very nice feature.
2410 Bay Ranger
Fishing the big waters of the California Delta, I love the idea of being able to move around to distant spots quickly — like I see the guys in the bass boats do. I also like how much deck space and fishing room bass boats have…However, I don’t want to be anywhere near one of those low-sided affairs when the wind kicks up and the tide starts running against it. Luckily, Ranger has come up with the perfect solution: The Bay Boat!
Willie Predator
While all that deep water stuff is great, I still have a tough time finding anything cooler than running up a wild river…going 30 mph in 3 inches of water. And really the only way to do river fishing right is to fish out of a tiller boat like Willie’s 23′ 6″ Predator. It’s nothing but open fishing room!
FishRite
What’s that you say? You can’t decide if you’d rather have a jet for river running or a prop for the lakes and saltwater? Well, the good news is you don’t have to! FishRite’s 21-foot Explorer Outboard Jet/Pro combo is just the ticket! In an hour’s time you can switch out the lower end and transform this thing from an offshore salmon troller to an in-river side-drifter!
Klamath Swimbait Boat
Then, when I don’t feel like burning a bunch of fuel and just want to get out for a quick and easy day of striper or smallmouth fishing, I’d bust this sweet little number…
I know I said these are the 5 boats I can’t live without, but actually, there’s one more that I’d drop ’em all for…
