What are your opinions of taking lessons to learn to row a drift boat? Whether you are thinking of buying a boat, or just to learn to row properly so you will be asked to go on more floats with fishing buddies would you be willing to take formal lessons?
Take them. Nothing is worse than a fishing buddy who can’t row too. A few hundred bucks is a lot cheaper than a wrecked drift boat. Even your buddies might be willing to teach you before they give you the helm.
I should have been more specific. I am a guide on the Yellowstone river and a fellow guide and I are thinking of offering rowing lessons. We both see and understand the need for lessons, but we are not too sure that there will be many who would be interested or willing.
Thanks for you input.
If I was going to buy my own boat I might pay for lessons so I wouldn’t wreck a new boat first time out. If I was fishing with some buddies who owned a boat, I’d ask them to teach me.
flybop -
I would certainly encourage you to offer lessons. If you keep the price reasonable, and don’t expect too much, you have nothing to lose and perhaps a very good market to gain.
I personally don’t fish from boats - I just like to be on my feet and moving so I do all my fishing wading moving water. BUT if I were going to get a drift boat or start going along with folks that have them, I would certainly be interested in taking lessons if they were priced right.
John
Thanks for the responses. As many may know, there is a saying that goes, “If you can’t row, you can’t go”. I know many guys with boats that do not invite non-rowing friends to go on floats. Personally I often bring non-rowers and try to teach them.
Every year when we put together a group for the Smith river float the list is always narrowed down to those who know how to row.
Living in sw Montana and not knowing how to row is a disadvantage to anyone who does love to fly fish.
I now own my own boat that used to be my father-in-law’s. When he bought it 10 years ago, he bought it direct through Hyde. They took him down a river once when he bought it I guess you could call it a lesson), but I am not sure whether he paid extra for this or not. They also included an instructional video on how to row a drift boat.
Having floating many, many times prior to him buying the boat (both in my uncle’s boat, and with guides), and having watched and listened to several different guides, I took the oarsman’s seat for the first time in my F-I-L’s boat with only the knowledge of how it was supposed to be done.
It seemed like it wasn’t too hard to pick up, and as usual, experience is worth way more than just the knowledge.
Personally, I wouldn’t pay for lessons unless I had just bought a brand new $8,000+ boat and had never rowed it before. It worked for me, but I also learned on the Green in Utah, which isn’t the hardest river to row by a long shot.
I don’t see any reason not to offer lessons. There’s certainly not much to lose.
Sorry, I misunderstood. I would myself be interested in lessons. I know of guides that offer lessons, but I don’t know how much they charge. In today’s sport, you could basically charge whatever you want and there will be somebody somewhere that would be willing to pay. Good idea. I hope you do it.
I had a drift boat in MI for several years. Three of us bought it together but I was the only one who could (or would) row it. We got a demo from the dealer and it wasn’t hard to pick up. The Pere Marquete is not really that hard of a river to row. No white water or anything. When we had it, hotshotting for steel head was big. With hotshotting, it is really the rower that gets the fish by how he positions the boat. So I didn’t mind much being the only rower.
Later, when we started flyfishing only, the boat was more just transportation. I found it was more fun to get a good guide with a boat and save all the trouble of rowing. I found guides that were not only qualified, but were entertaining too. I have never been at the oars since. I did enjoy it though, back when I could still do it. My health won’t allow it anymore.
But honestly, I am not sure how someone who wanted to row just couldn’t pick it up from his buddies in the boat. If you offered it as part of a guided trip, maybe someone would like that.
Bob
Go for It!
Noting ventured—Nothing gained
Best wishes
You have the Boats and the experience, your not going to loose anything, except possably a little money for advertising etc. Perhaps you can get a deal going with a local boat dealer, free class with purchase or somthing like that.
Talk to your insurance agent to make sure your covered for teaching.
Eric
I think it would be a great service to offer - maybe something to do in the off season. I wish some of my friends would take a class so I wouldn’t be rowing all the time – although I do love to row that boat.
Perhaps it would be a means of making a little extra money by offering a short class through the local junior college.
When I bought my boat, Hyde gave me a video that I still have and I think is well worth watching.
As you know, rowing a drift boat is more than just rowing a boat. One needs to learn how to read the water, set up and position the boat for different situations - both in terms of navigation and fishing.
Like anything, it is hard to predict the demand – but you wouldn’t be out much money if you offered the class because you already have everything except maybe the insurance.
I bought a drift boat with a friend of mine about 2 years ago. I have rowed whitewater rafts for several years before getting the drift boat. The more I row the more I realize that rowing for fishing is a whole new skill set.
Sometimes I have the opportunity to follow an experianced guide and I am just beginning understand what they are doing with the oars. Things like putting a fisherman in casting position without changing the ferry angle. Using draw, pry and sculling strokes to change the location or speed of the boat without effecting the casting angles, esp. for the rear seat. Being able to match drift speed when the boat is in different current than the fly. Using the boat chines and current for control instead of just rowing. Stopping the boat on eddy lines so small that I couldn’t even see them.
I find all of these to be technically dificult and subtle skills not common to my white water experiance.
I would love the oportunity to get expert instruction from a gifted instructor. I also accept that teaching rowing is a different skill set than putting poeple on fish. I belive most guides have the rowing skills, but do they have the teaching ability to transfer those skills?
My buddy and I have looked for such an opportunity, but most shops aren’t interested in doing something different. What I would like to do is have a guide take us out in our boat, the guide would sit in the rear seat and provide instructions to the rower while my buddy sits in the front seat and fishes. From time to time I would swap seats with the front so both of us would get an opportunity to fish and row. This would present a real world fishing situation. The goal of such and excursion is to pick up rowing skills, if we caught a few fish along the way so much the better.
Sounds like I should give this a try. The first call I made was to make sure that offering rowing instruction was legal, which it is, and not in conflict with the Montana FWP. The second call was to my (guide) insurance to make sure that I am covered. I am.
Rowing a drift boat is not difficult. However, there is a huge difference between simply getting a boat down the river and rowing for fly fishermen. I have been in boats that were owned and rowed by guys who have done this for years. Often times even being experienced fishing from a boat I had a very hard time fishing. All things being equal the rower and fishermen are about equally involved in the catching.
In all honesty I am concerned about safety on the river as well. There is far more to safely getting down the river than just the mechanics of rowing. For example: A friend of mine was on the Yellowstone the other day with a couple of his friends. The guy rowing (also the boat owner) insisted on dragging the anchor even though the Stone is running high and there is an awesome amount of power out there. Well, the anchor stuck, the knot at the end of the line (I do not have a knot in my rope) held them in place and the boat very nearly was sunk.
Thanks again for the input, I really do appreciate it!
You’re right, there is a difference in just rowing to get down the river and rowing to catch fish.
That is the exact reason I bought the boat from my FIL. He couldn’t row it sufficiently any more. We spent a week up on the Green back in May, and on one particular day, my wife, FIL, and myself floated the river. I spent most of the day rowing, and only fished when we stopped and got out.
My FIL insisted on rowing the last couple of miles so I could fish. Suffice it to say fishing with him at the oars wasn’t easy. My wife even commented to me later that she didn’t even have to think about where we were floating when I was rowing, but she about gave up with her Dad at the helm.
Your story about the guy up on the Yellowstone reminds me of my first time rowing my uncle’s boat. I did the same stupid thing and got the anchor stuck in relatively swift water. I was able to row back upstream far enough to pull onto shore, then we retrieved the anchor from there. I learned that lesson fast!
Anyway, good luck if you decide to offer lessons!
Well I know one guy on the AuSable River who certainly could have used a few lessons with his AuSable River Boat. It’s pretty entertaining seeing one of those flip over in the “Bread Hole.”
Thanks for all the positive and helpful comments. I am working on a rowing instruction page for my website and an add for the Bozeman paper. I know there is a need, now I’ll see if there is a demand. Thanks again.