My new present came in the mail on Tuesday. After a pretty long wait, I was finally able to order my Outcast PAC 1400. The PAC 1400 is an inflatable raft with full sides like a drift boat. When I was choosing between a raft and a hard bottom drift boat I started looking at the rivers I would be floating the most. One of these would be the Schuylkill River; this river has a couple of small dams that you have to drag the boat across and doing so with a hard bottom boat would destroy the bottom. Another factor is the access point on the Schuylkill. They require you to drag the boat down banks, and having a lighter raft makes this much easier. Come late June through August when the water is too hot for trout, TCO will be offering float trips for Smallmouth bass on the Schuylkill, so the raft seemed to be my best bet!
Regardless of how excited I was to put it together on Tuesday, the rain and thunderstorms kept me inside just looking at the boxes that held my new boat. On Wednesday I decided rain or shine I was putting it together, so as soon as the rain cleared enough to get out, Tony and I started!
 |
| The boxes |
 |
| Its coming together |
 |
| Tony was in charge of seat construction. Nice work Buddy |
 |
| I said rain or shine, well its raining and the bottom has to be laced in! |
 |
| All ready for final assembly |
 |
| Finished! |
It wasn't long after it was completely together that we were headed to the river; On Thursday after work Joe and I took it the the Blue Marsh Dam at the head of the Tulpehocken Creek. At 500 cfs we were sure that we could make it and that we wouldn't get in any other fisherman's way. As we started down the river there were bugs everywhere, Sulphurs,Tan and Emerald caddis, and midges all over. Fish were rising here and there, nothing too consistent, but Joe managed to get one on a 16 tan CDC Caddis. Joe was excited to have a 4wt in his hand instead of the oars! After that we made our way down to Rebers bridge and fishing a double nymph rig at this point, Joe picked up 2 more. San Juan worm and a 16 pheasant tail did the trick.
 |
| On the way! |
 |
| Getting all geared up! |
 |
| Joe working a nice piece of water |
 |
| The beauty we call the Tully |
 |
| Me behind the oars enjoying every minute |
Just remember if you are going to go out in high water be aware of your footing and how deep you are wading; many places that are easy in low water get more difficult the higher the flow. Stay safe and have fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment