I've been rowing driftboats for 40 years (gulp!), and have owned nearly a dozen. My advice is to stay with the top brands like Alumaweld, Willie, Fishrite, Clackacraft or Lavro. Each make and each design has its own merits. Talk to the owners of each, if you can.

Right now I'm rowing an 18 foot Clackamax, and I really like it. It tracks well when pulling plugs, is stable and wide, and warmer than aluminum. I like the Clackamax's size because I can take camping gear in it for long trips on the John Day and Deschutes. It also does well on low water because it is relatively flat on the bottom and that provides more surface flotation and it doesn't sit as deeply. I like fiberglass because it's so slick and just slides over rocks, and the Clack floats over a lot of rocks that other boats hit.

I also still have an old battle wagon: 17 foot Fishrite that is still a fabulous boat. I rowed it down the Salmon River in Idaho a few years back and it did well - better than the Clackamax would have (it might not have made it). Several years later I floated the same river in an 18 foot Lavro and it did very poorly. I didn't like my big Lavro, but the 16 foot Lavro is a great boat.

Driftboats with a lot of rocker to their bottom, like a Willie, turn more easily than flatter boats like a Clack, but they also draw more water. Aluminum is cold, but tough as heck. Glass scratches easily, but holds up better than you'd think. Both Clack and Lavro have lifetime guarantees on their bottoms, so why worry.

If you choose an aluminum boat, put Kote It (sp?) on the bottom. Gluv-it works okay, but not as well. Glass doesn't need anything.

Stay with the larger size boat, 16X54 minimum. With a few exceptions, big boats will go anywhere a small boat can go, and many places they can't.

Buy a galvenized trailer.

Good luck. Just my opinion, but I've got lots of miles on rivers. Driftboats are wonderful.