Well my 2004 willie rides on a Koffler trailer I guess that makes it crap eh

B-Run:

You call a Clacka "crap"....

Can you tell me why (specifics, please). I am planning on buying one, and such a general description is not sufficient.

From what I saw at the factory, they build one heck of a good boat. Never heard anyone say anything bad......Till now.

WHY do you think they are crap?

Mike

I totally believe you may of had a poor sales experience. I exchanged several hetaed discussions by phone to get my boat ordered. But what is more important the product or the sales experience? The Willie guys do seem to have a chip on their shoulders. But so what??? You only have to deal with them once. When you are rowing the boat for the next ten years or more, it won't make any difference at all.

Just my .02- The boat is worth the work.

Good luck

My 82 fishrite is still working fine enough said!!!PEACE

Great information exchange here. I love it! I too looked at Clack, I just couldn't spend the money. There's something about banging aluminum off of rocks and knowing that you don't even need to care. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to finish. I drove myself crazy varnishing a wood boat, I was afraid I'd do the same trying to get scratches off of a glass boat. I got the new Willie, put on a coat of Shark Hyde and forgot about it.

By the way, I sent this thread to the guys at Willie (who I had an excellent experience with) and asked them to please take a look. It appears to me that there are customers walking away due to poor customer service, not boat quality. Hopefully they'll take heed.

Kyle Thats a good idea. A friend of ours was in the market for a new sled a couple yeasrs ago.Really liked our Predator.Gave him Willies # he called a couple times.Never got so much as a call back.Ended up buying another brand.
I understand that nobody is perfect.But it seems like Willie boats could beef things up in the customer service,sales, dept.

Just the boat Timber--Kofflers are the best.



As far as which boat? you will get lots of answers. Just get one, get in the water and you will adapt to rowing and the boat. SPending the big bucks doesnt make you a good rower--a boat will take you off the bank.

Thanks for all the replies guys, far more response than I ever expected. To be honest I own a 16' 1992 Alumaweld. The boat is fine but it seems overly built to me, thing is like rowing a tank. But, this is the only DB I have ever rowed. I would love to row a Lavro sometime.

I posted this question as we are looking to buy another DB for work....I make my living as a fisheries biologist and we are needing it for research.

We ordered a Willies several days ago. Thank you again to all of you.

RM

RM
Congratulations on the new Willie. They are wonderful boats and I think it will make an excellent work/fishing boat for you!!

Kyle
"I'll try to put this kindly, because I know there are a lot of Lavro owners out there". Don't fret, we're just as tough as our boats! Scars and all :p .

Back in town from fishing Mike so I can field your question now. Clacks are set up for fly fishing. If you asked which boat I would want on the south fork of the snake I would want a Hyde G4 with a low profile... but it would kill me to pay that much for one. A Clackacraft would not hold up to the day to day pounding that a steelhead boat takes. I like Aluminum boats because they can hack it. I have an old Alumaweld that has caught 500 steelhead. and is still on the rivers today ( I went through two trailers on that boat, and both were crap ) I have a new Willies and its a sweet boat with an excellent trailer. Had no problems with buying it either, they treated me well over there. Other boats I have been in that looked good to me were Thors, Diamondbacks and FishRites. I have been in a lot of glass boats and they just are not worth that kind of money... At the Hyde factory in Idaho Falls, they have a Clack cut in half to show the difference between it and a Hyde... seems to me they are both over priced. Bottom line is, get what makes you happy. I have never had a bad day in a drift boat regardless of the make. One of my freinds has a Clack, and several have Hydes and I enjoy them ( fly fishing ) For pulling plugs, my Willies is set up a lot better and is the current boat of choice. And for an extended river trip where you have to pack a lot of dry bags etc, its the only choice. A couple of things you " do not want " in your new boat if you are going to be fishing most often for steelhead / salmon. 1> The leaner in the front on a Hyde or Clack will be totally in your way all the time. 2> A fish box. Unless its really cold outside just put a 120 quart cooler behind the rowers seat and thats perfect. Why anyone would put a fish that they value in a sliding fish box under the seat is beyond me.

Fact is, the Willies is just getting cleaned out for yet another 5 days of fishing starting wednesday. The other boat that will be going with us this time is a FishRite. We will be floating from corn creek on the Salmon to Heller bar on the Snake. 137 river miles in 5 days... with a 300 mile shuttle

BRun,
Holy cow, why are you going so far in a 5 day trip? We did Corn Creek to the first takeout past the normal one at Vinegar (don't remember the name). It was about 100 miles in 5 days and we only went that far because the forest service wouldn't let us use the normal take out (at I think 79miles) because of fire danger. I wished we hadn't gone as far because it didn't leave much time to fish or relax in camp. Was a fantastic trip though, I want to go back! I'll never forget the drop on the left side of Salmon Falls. Have fun, be safe, take pictures and post a trip report when you get back.