I'm in the market to buy a raft to add to the fleet before my two and a half week trip this fall, and was wondering if you guys could shed some knowledge on some of your good/bad experiences with them.


Thanks.

I've got an Aire. Nothing but good experiences with it.
I have friends who have Sotar, Maravia and NRS brands. They all like what they have as well.
I think any of these four brands would work well for you.

Tony, I don't know the full extent of your plans, but I don't think you need a real raft for where you are going.

There is a huge difference in price range and functionality of what is out there. You might want to narrow down your selection. There is a world of difference between a cheap Sevylor, an Alpacka, and a 15 foot NRS with a full fishing frame and trailer.

Aaron, I'm looking at the whole package. Right now I have it whittled down to NRS, Polaris (B.C.), and Maravia 13'-14'.

No need for the exspensive trailer for me though, I'm just going to use the one for the 'toon.

I know a guy who is possibly looking at selling his raft. Nice one. Dblspey on the board here. Might want to shoot him a line.
High end raft I believe and nothing wrong with it.
I think it's an Otter? Last I heard he's 50/50 on selling and it has nothing to do with the raft.

Stam has one that he was thinkin of selling awhile back,not sure on the status of it,but I think it's a maravia.Give'em a shout.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I've already got a 10' steelheader, but looking for a little more capacity. Also, I hate losing chit in the river when it falls ..

My little Puma works perfectly as a water taxi but it's not great to anchor up and fish out of,

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I just picked up a 14' Maxxon raft and have a custom frame for fishing on it. It's a peach! My hope is to fish out of and sell them. If it catches your eye and you're intersted I'd sell this one to you. It's been on the water twice. Maxxon has been in the inflatable boat business for years, but this year is their first to offer a whitewater raft. The raft, frame, casting braces and anchor system are awesome.
For pictures of the 14' raft and frame and for more information on Maxxon rafts visit my new raft page:
http://www.dreamflyfishing.com/myraft&cataraft.html
The raft helped me get a springer the other day:
Feel free to email me, david@dreamflyfishing.com

My super puma is pretty easy to fish out of with full floor boards to stand on. Much less "tippy" than a drift boat. Getting to the point where I almost prefer it over my willie. Crazy I know.

I have a 13' aire superpuma and love it. Rowing is so much easier than the 17' willie. Not quite as comfortable as the willie though. A little more "tippy" IMO but if the dude (or girl) in the front gets down in the nasty stuff so the wieght does not shift to bad it is a dream to row.
I almost lost my buddy this year when he thought he could get one more cast in from the front and him saving himself almost lost the two of us in the back.

Don't buy a raft new!!!!!!!!

+1

I'm an old rafter from the '70's and still have my old Campways Shoshone raft - 16 feet long. I know that there is better stuff out there, but my old raft still works fine. With a little forethought to packing, you can put a lot of stuf in a raft. I've twice done the Main Salmon, and continued down the Lower Salmon to Heller Bar, taking a full two weeks to do it. It's been great on the Owyhee, Deschutes, Utah's Green, etc.

Rafts are the only way to go for really long trips, or big water like Hell's Canyon. I took my driftboat down the Middle Fork a few years ago, and would MUCH rather have had my raft.

Rafts respond a little slower, but are so forgiving. They're a little harder to fish out of, I think.

If you're looking at a serious expedition type raft, I think that the NRS 16 footer would be hard to beat.

The first thing you want to decide is how you want to use your raft. A 11'6" puma is a completely different boat than a 16' expedition type raft.

If your goal is to fish no more than one other guy and do nothing but day trips go with a small Puma type raft. But if you have visions of taking multiple people and doing multi-day trips you're going to need a bigger boat.

The trade-offs are the obvious, maneuverability vs. load capacity.

I traded my db for a 15' Fish Craft SuperCat several years ago. Its a big raft I have set up like a db with lots of storage and I can fish two guys side by side up front, or one front and one back.

It doesn't track quite as well as my db, but I can and do pull plugs out of it. Its great when the water is low and is the bomb on the 4 day trip I do every year on the Deschutes with two buddies and way too much gear (ie. beer).

It's not going to slice and dice like a small puma and is a more of a pain to man handle by myself, but overall it works for me. The best part is with a raft you have a huge margin for error you don't get with a db., I take my raft down stuff i wouldn't think of taking my old db down.

While I am still stoked over my 16" Willie Boat, I really like a lot of things about the frame rafts. Mostly that they bounce off rocks and will sometimes go places a DB won't.

I have floated Aire and NRS and would be happy with either.

I am also looking for a raft to fish Montana and the Yakima. Summertime fly fishing, I have a 16' Lavro that I have owned for 20 years of so.

I floated the Smith River in Montana for seven days straight a few years back and there were four of us, two to a raft with a cooler, food and camping gear. I believe the rafts were 14's but I am not sure.

I am looking at a raft as I do not believe there is enough water for a drift boat.

I have looked at NRS, Monrovia and Aire and a few others.

TIA, Mark (in the Big Easy working at the present time)