I Bought a Raft! Part 1

I've been keeping this little nugget of information from most folks because I wanted to wait until the fishing got slower.  Before we get to the raft itself, let's take a step back first.  Recently, I posted about the conundrum that I had been in with regards to whether I should purchase a drift boat or raft to meet my future fly fishing endeavors.  Well, I obviously made a decision and pulled the trigger on what I hope is something that is going to give me access to some new water.  It might even provide something bigger for me, but that's a post for another time.  

It is my hope that this raft will help me navigate some Ozarks streams for smallmouth and trout as well as help me get on some hard-to-access farm ponds for largemouth bass.  I have a lot to learn about Ozark streams but I'm excited explore some new spots and catch some fish that don't live in the area I call home (Kansas City).  As far as the farm ponds go, I will now be able to put me and two others on the water instead of just me and a buddy in my smaller 2-man boat.  

I chose to go with a raft over a drift boat for a few reasons.  First and foremost, this thing is going to get in and out of skinny water.  A drift boat, in my opinion, might struggle with some of the shallow water spots that I am going to traverse.  Second, I started to get a handle on the maintenance of a drift boat bottom and I really didn't want anything to do with learning about fiberglass.  Third, I liked the idea of being able to store a raft in a small space during the winter and during times it isn't getting used.  Fourth, I see a lot more customizable options with a raft than a drift boat.  In other words, I can make it fit around me rather than me having to fit around a drift boat.  Finally, I like the durability of a raft.  Yes, I will wince a little when I bounce off a rock but bouncing off a boulder will be less concerning banging off a rock.  Air chambers are more forgiving than fiberglass...right?

In my next post, I'm going to get into the purchase of the raft itself.  This was an interesting process that I would do again in a heartbeat.  I'll give you the who, when, where, and why I settled on this boat from this particular buyer.  To give you just a little preview of future posts, it involved a 7 hour drive on which my mom accompanied me because she wanted to make sure the local news report didn't state, "He went to pick up a boat from a guy he met online and never came home."