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[Speyfitter]

Hey fellas - any of you guys float/drift rivers in a pontoon/raft/drift boat/other? If so, what boat(s) do you own/use and what rivers have you drifted to date? Do you still drift rivers relatively regularly?

[TheFishingLad]

I use my Canadian Tire kayak I've kitted out for fishing. Mostly used on the canal

[Ian Forbes]

There's not too many rivers in BC that I haven't dropped a line in. It was 984 at last count taken from almost 60 years of diaries. The ones where it was practical I usually stuck a canoe in and paddled away from easy access points. Drifting while fishing was the main reason why I bought a pontoon. It is like being self guided once you know how to handle the craft with fins and oars. The first day I drifted the Kettle in a borrowed pontoon last summer I felt naked without fins. When Mel loaned me his fins my results increased 10 fold. I've got a pretty good idea of which BC rivers are practical for drifting and which ones aren't. It all depends on what you want... fishing or the adrenaline rush of going through rapids. Some guys just want to scare themselves and don't care about the fishing. For others (myself included) it's more about the fishing.

[brownmancheng]

Do guys ever drift the squamish? Looks doable? I've always wondered why I lve never seen a jet sled up there.

[Ian Forbes]

Do guys ever drift the squamish? Looks doable? I've always wondered why I lve never seen a jet sled up there.

The Squamish is all grade 1 water right down to tide water from the Ashlu River junction downstream. Above the Ashlu is pretty easy until you get up to about 30 mile where the river narrows and runs right beside the road in a bit of a gorge.

[Matt]

Do guys ever drift the squamish? Looks doable? I've always wondered why I lve never seen a jet sled up there.

The river channel is unstable and frequently shifts.  The result is lots of wood in the river and the safe lines from the day before can often turn into stuff like this (below) over night.

[brownmancheng]

The river channel is unstable and frequently shifts.  The result is lots of wood in the river and the safe lines from the day before can often turn into stuff like this (below) over night.

Wow that's crazy. I noticed that the banks are very loose up at the squamish. I have considered floating it to cover more water but definitely would not try after flood or at high water

[Ian Forbes]

The river channel is unstable and frequently shifts.  The result is lots of wood in the river and the safe lines from the day before can often turn into stuff like this (below) over night.

That can happen in any river in the province... and often does. The upper Elk River in the Kootenays is especially bad for that. River drifters should never assume anything and should be prepared to abort certain sections that they've drifted safely before. I never drift rivers during high water if I don't know all the particulars. I've learned my lessons the hard way and I've been very lucky on more than one occasion.

Even jet boats are not immune.

[brownmancheng]

What happened with that boat? I was just trying to talk my friend into taking his jet up there.

[bkk]

Taking a jet boat up the Squamish right now is an extremely bad idea. Let's just run a jet sled around and displace all of the eagles that are feeding on the chum carcasses, sounds like fun. That is a huge stressor on these birds who are just trying to eat as much protein as they can to help them survive the winter.

The reason you don't see many jets on the Squamish is because you can access most of it by foot with exception of the Native Reserves. This is not a river for jet boats and your very likely to piss off the majority of the angling community as well as the large amount of people who come to see the eagles. Drift the river in a raft or better yet walk.

[Dennis.t]

I used to row the river in a 16 ft drift boat on the Stamp, Naniamo and Cowichan rivers when I lived on the island. I can remember one time on lower water not staying enough to the left of "hole in the wall" on the Cowie and almost got sucked into the giant whirlpool there. I rowed my guts out when I realized we were heading straight for the wall and barely avoided what would have been a drowning.

[brownmancheng]

Taking a jet boat up the Squamish right now is an extremely bad idea. Let's just run a jet sled around and displace all of the eagles that are feeding on the chum carcasses, sounds like fun. That is a huge stressor on these birds who are just trying to eat as much protein as they can to help them survive the winter.

The reason you don't see many jets on the Squamish is because you can access most of it by foot with exception of the Native Reserves. This is not a river for jet boats and your very likely to piss off the majority of the angling community as well as the large amount of people who come to see the eagles. Drift the river in a raft or better yet walk.

I guess I better not catch any fish either, that would really piss "them" off!
Lmao 

[Ian Forbes]

What happened with that boat? I was just trying to talk my friend into taking his jet up there.

That sled was the result of an operator's miss calculation on the Pitt River, not the Squamish. As others have said, a pontoon is all you need on the Squamish. No need for a jet. Jets should ONLY be used on rivers where there is no other practical means of travel. I've canoed the Squamish many times when I lived there in the 1970s.

[TNAngler]

Growing up we used to drift the Nooksack for steelhead using hot shots.  My dad still does it most years but not as frequently as he isn't able to row that much anymore.  We have caught so many fish that way it isn't even funny.  Back when there used to be plenty of fish, I remember going out for a half day drift, keeping our 2 a piece (so my dad and 2 brothers and me so 8 fish), all 15+ pounds, with many others released and many holes skipped because we had been too busy fighting fish we didn't have time to fish them.

I miss those days.

[Dennis.t]

Growing up we used to drift the Nooksack for steelhead using hot shots.  My dad still does it most years but not as frequently as he isn't able to row that much anymore.  We have caught so many fish that way it isn't even funny.  Back when there used to be plenty of fish, I remember going out for a half day drift, keeping our 2 a piece (so my dad and 2 brothers and me so 8 fish), all 15+ pounds, with many others released and many holes skipped because we had been too busy fighting fish we didn't have time to fish them.

I miss those days.

I also Hot shotted for hoes when drifting the Nanaimo river way back when. Man was that ever a lot of fun! Thanx for bringing back those memories...