Juniata River, Juniata County, 10-01-2023

[Maurice]

Dave W, Afishinado and I met for a float on the Juniata today to christen Dave's new raft. The morning started out calm and around 60 degrees. A heavy fogbank covered the Susky south of Clarks Ferry and went up the "J" a bit but it wasn't a problem up where we put in. The river was glass calm and clear at 9am and beautiful. Temps got up to 80 by the end of the float. Not alot of boat traffic today. We began the float with poppers and streamers but few decent fish were seen on our trail. around mid trip we got into a couple and toward the end of the five hour float I picked up a nice one. During the trip we saw at least two pair of Bald Eagles and several heron. A fun day on the river with some good friends. Your raft is a creampuff Dave.

 

[bringthepain]

No pics of the new raft?

 

[jifigz]

No pics of the new raft?

I agree. What's the details of the new raft, Dave?

 

[DaveKile]

Looked like a fun day!

 

[Maurice]

Here ya go guys....Its Dave Ws raft. I dug up a pic from earlier this summer.

 

[goose54cdd]

Nothing like the day on the river.

 

[Dave_W]

I agree. What's the details of the new raft, Dave?

It's a 13' three man Outcast Drifter.
I'm just getting used to it and may write up a review sometime in the future when I've had some more "stick time."

 

[Dave_W]

It was a great day to be out on the river with Afishinado and Maurice.
The bite was slow, but a good time was had.

I didn't get a water temp, but it was around 3.7' at the Newport gauge and very clear, as mentioned. Main issue was there was a great deal of dislodged grass both on the surface and in the water column (common this time of year) and it made fishing difficult. Combine this with the high sun and post-frontal conditions made for a slow bite.

Some mayflies in the morning but no significant feeding activity. The river just seemed to be off and the bass just not visible or active. We pulled out mid-afternoon; it might have been better in the evening.

 

[bringthepain]

Thats a nice raft. Its a foot shorter than mine (14'6") but if i read the specs correctly its 78" inches wide? Mine is 60" wide so thats an extra foot and a half. what oar length are you running on that? I see outcast recommends 9' oars for that, to me thats a little short. i use 9's for mine and i think i would want at least 10' with that width

I hope you are enjoying it Dave, this season is the first year i have had mine fully up and running and it was a bit of a work in progress. Looking forward to starting next year with it fully up and running. I still need to change a few things on the anchor system and get a rod holder system worked out. what are you doing for a rod holder set up on yours?

 

[bringthepain]

Good talk, solid reply

 

[Dave_W]

Thats a nice raft. Its a foot shorter than mine (14'6") but if i read the specs correctly its 78" inches wide? Mine is 60" wide so thats an extra foot and a half. what oar length are you running on that? I see outcast recommends 9' oars for that, to me thats a little short. i use 9's for mine and i think i would want at least 10' with that width

I hope you are enjoying it Dave, this season is the first year i have had mine fully up and running and it was a bit of a work in progress. Looking forward to starting next year with it fully up and running. I still need to change a few things on the anchor system and get a rod holder system worked out. what are you doing for a rod holder set up on yours?

Correct - 78" wide. I'm using 9' oars but you may be right that a 10' version might work better.

I don't have rod holders set up yet but have a concept in my mind. This boat utilizes tube frame so I'm thinking some kind of radiator style clamps. I like a traditional "Scotty" brand rod holder for my canoe and hope to adapt a couple of these for the Drifter, and conduit tubes for storing rods.
Something fun to play around with for next year.

 

[bringthepain]

Yes Dave I am planning to make some rod holders over the winter myself also. I am going to attempt it with PVC conduit but not sure the specifics yet. I'll post when i get it done if i manage to come up with a good design. 'Maine trout whisperer' on youtube has a good video about it

There are options to purchase them but they were expensive so i was hoping to make something cheaper

 

[Dave_W]

Yes Dave I am planning to make some rod holders over the winter myself also. I am going to attempt it with PVC conduit but not sure the specifics yet. I'll post when i get it done if i manage to come up with a good design. 'Maine trout whisperer' on youtube has a good video about it

There are options to purchase them but they were expensive so i was hoping to make something cheaper

Thanks!