Ants drift dory takes me back quite a few decades to my childhood in Springfield, Oregon - the McKenzie River runs just north and the McKenzie Pass which the river runs down is to the east. My great uncle had a Woodie Hindman Mckenzie Dory and fly fished the river. As a young boy I sometimes went along as "super cargo" - sitting midships while Uncle Howard and his fishing buddy took turns fishing and rowing - using split bamboo rods and home-tied flies. It was exciting and my introduction to being on the water. I held the woven creel.
The McKenzie River Dory Ants has is a flat bow model - with a wider bow than my uncle's boat. The boat in the picture below is more traditional with a narrower bow (notice the anchor on the bow). Yes, my uncle kept his boat in "yacht" condition, varnishing and painting during the long Oregon winter. he didn't have the fancy caned "dude" throne, though.
The original McKenzie River Dories were double ended variations the surf dories used along the Oregon Coast and beach launched. They were shorter, about 14 feet or so. In the mid 1940s, when " fishing dudes" (the term was derisive) had money to pay for a guide to take them fishing the wider bow allowed a comfortable seat and stability to stand.
The McKenzie Dory (as opposed to the flat bottom Rogue River Dory) has a continuous rocker, so it can spin on a dime. The guide/rower keeps the pointy stern upstream, rowing against the current to slow the bow to allow for the dude to cast into pools alongside the main flow. It's a one-way trip with the relentless current carrying the boat downstream. Going through the rapids, the guide spins the boat so the pointy stern points downstream; at the rapid's bottom he spins the boat, begins to row back upstream while the dude casts into the pool below the rapids.
Great memories.
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