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Dragonfly self bailing whitewater raft for fishing and whitewater expeditions
Dragonfly with Delux Dre Fishing Frame
Have a look at this fly fishing frame from Down River Equipment. This has all the bells and whistles, including a stand up bar in the back, includes anchor system, strip basket on the front, and swivel captains chair. The DragonFly has features that allow it to perform much more like a dory than any other inflatable raft. The raised inflatable drop stitch floor gives both tracking and hull speed to this boat that can not be obtained by any other craft. Drop the anchor, and the boat holds steady in the current. Take a couple of strokes and you are amazed at the acceleration, and the ease that this boat can be held in the current with just a few strokes. The fishermen can stand on the drop stitch floor without the fatigue of hard diamond plate or wood decks. The absence of these decks helps make the system more affordable, light and transportable. It can ride on the top of a car inflated. This whole system weighs in at around 175 lbs. The narrow beam allows the boat to slip down streams that are inaccessible to dories in the later part of the season when the fishing improves. Tubes carry a ten-year warranty.
Read more about our warranty
See other boat specifications
Build your own frame with pre-manufactured components
Dragonfly is a Great Low Water Family Gear Boat
Our friends Alan, Karen, Audrey, and Rowan are using the Dragonfly as a gear boat on a trip down the San Juan at approximately 300- 800 cfs (on our summer 2004 trip). We had absolutely no trouble because the 6-inch drop stitch floor adds lots of flotation. Please note that the thwarts were removed to allow for more gear. The drop stitch floor pushes out on the false floor to make the false floor very tight, and the thwarts are not necessary for performance as a row rig. The frame is the Down River Equipment Fly fishing frame that is shown elsewhere in this section of the photo gallery, only the fishing components are removed, and a plywood deck has been added to make a nice little bench to sit and lounge (on paco pads).
Dragonfly Fishing Frame for 3
This is the latest fishing frame from Blackfoot Manufacturing. Our customers have indicated that the size of the dragon fly is excellent for fishing small, low water streams. Blackfoot has been able to make the Dragonfly work for 3 people. Interested fishermen should contact blackfoot at this email address, sales@blackfootmfg.com
Dragonfly Self Bailing Raft Expedition
The Dragonfly is a great fishing boat. We also wanted to prove its worth as a self bailing whitewater expedition boat. Here is what we found out on the Salt River. The flow was between 850 and 1100, and was a perfect level for this boat. Jose Tejada, and his son Obe were running the boat most of the time. Jose has had extensive raft experience in Utah, California, Mexico, Zimbabwe, and the Grand Canyon. This was his first trip on the Salt. He graciously accepted the offer to run the newest version of the Dragonfly. With extensive experience in all kinds of self-bailing rafts and paddleboats, I highly value his opinion.
As can be seen in this picture the boat dives into the reversal. It rides under the foam created by the reversal. Making the boat very stable. This also makes the boat wet. However the boat is very fast, and can handle a good size gear load for its size. Jose liked the speed the boat had. At one point he commented that he thought the self bailing drop stitch floor was bomber. He also thought that the boat bailed fast enough. The tapered low kick on the front allows for lots of cargo room, but does not let the bow and stern ride over the top of rocks. One can not pull up on a rock in mid stream and pivot easily because of this design. The Dragonfly easily carried its share of gear for this whitewater expediton.
Dragonfly Carries 3 on Montana Fishing Trip
We needed some photographs of the Dragonfly in action as a fly fishing boat. We had this great Down River Equipment frame and I needed to visit some dealers in Montana so I headed up there on October 15 2004. We did not kill them, but we didn’t get skunked either. This system has a great anchor system, and even with 3 people and gear it is extremely light and fast on the water. The drop stitch inflatable floor is recessed inside of the main tubes 2.5 inches. The combination of that recessed floor, the tapered tubes, and the low angle of kick, gives this boat a fast hull speed. See the boat specification chart if you are interested in this or our other new 15.5 ft design with 22 inch tubes.
Our Boat Specification Table has pictures and drawings with dimensioned part locations. Cataraft Draft Vs Load will tell you how much weight you can expect to put on a set of tubes and how deep in the water it will sink. Customized tube styles and prices can be seen by following this link. If you do not see what you want or can use in the standard product list, this link will give you a place to find the cost of extra length, extra baffles, double bottoms, and top chafe as well as D-rings, and handles.
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