I am thinking of buying a new alumaweld drift boat this week and was wondering if anyone has any likes or dislikes about them. I am trying to decide between that or traveling down to oregon to pick up a willie. thanks

Ive heard nothing but good things about Willies. Try ifish.net and do a search.

Chappy,


I've rowed both boats, the Willie, rows and handles a little better compared to Alumaweld.

I just returned from test rowing the new re-designed 16GC Alumaweld Drift Boat and the changes that they made to the hull made it row and handle superior to my old Alumaweld and Willie.

thank you riverliver!

You get the same thing from me.

I've rowed old alumas and newer alumas as well as Willie's.

Get a Willie's.

I rode down the Sol Duc once with a guy from work who had a Alumaweld. He told me he was selling it and buying a Willie's. I by the way thought the Alumaweld worked just fine by I was just hitching a ride.

I suggest getting a test row and seeing if you can tell the difference. While you are at it, you may want to try a Diamond Back or North River, too.

Chappy, check your PM

Chappy there are a few things to add here
you will want to get a dropped front seat(so
you can see over the people up front)and raise
the rowing seat for the same reason.Also
get the adjustalbe oar locks HMG Plastic so that your oars fit tight and get a set of composite oars with non wood blades!!
You would also be better off with a togle instead of a cleat for your anchor bracket!!
All of these things will put you ahead of the game in the long run!!OOPs I forgot one more thing is to get the HMG bottom instead of gluvit
or coatit then you will never have to recoat the bottom of your boat.It adds a little weight
but applying gluvit or coatit is a pain!!

fishtale said it man. But gluvit breaks off to easy. Everyones right in saying that you should test both boats before buying.My father-in-law has a '79 Alumaweld that we bought in Oregon (saves on sales tax for a new boat). We've had 3 offers to buy it........all from people rowing willie boats. I have nothing at all against them and I could care less what it says on the side if it rows really well but I have heard a lot of complaints from friends that say they don't row worth a sh**. Ive never rowed one myself so I couldnt tell ya but it is worth it to test a couple of different companies boats before deciding.

Chappy Willie boats have more rocker in the bow(turned up) than a Alumaweld and are more sensitive and easyer to handle while on
the sticks.The Alumaweld may track better but are a little more slugish(less responsive)and
take more effort in rowing.Like everone else
has said row more than 1 model then make
you choice.If you go to the Willie factory the
Fishrite shop is right across the street.

thank you for the valuable info fishtale. sounds like i have some "test driving" to do. a fishrite is the only drift boat that i have rowed before. if i drive down to oregon. i will definately check out both.

For Aluminum boats most guys say to get a Willie. I have a Lavro glass boat and I love it.

i thought about glass as well. i hear that they are warmer and quieter. . any other likes or dislikes about glass?

Glass boats will require a little more work if you should hit something really hard ... you shouldn't, but it does happen from time to time

Glass boats also flex quite a bit ... this is nice going over rocks, but it makes anglers much more unstable when standing to cast.

If you do a lot of cold weather fishing, you have to be very careful with placement of heaters in a glass boat ... I like to run one under the front deck of my aluminum boat, you won't be able to do that in a glass boat.

Just a few thoughts

My old 14 foot lavro was built in 76 and has been through the ringer big time. Still floats and catches fish. Their damn tough boats. If you ever did decide on one go with a 16 footer
they draw way less water than the 14 and row three good sized dudes with ease.