First timer, looking for stress relief/Fly Fishing design

river_drifter · Post by **river_drifter** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:50 pm

Hello all, I'm new to the forum, but have been searching the archives for a few months now.
I am looking for a design that I can take out during my lunch break at work and also use as a fly fishing boat, for some much needed stress relief...
I've been scouring the Internet heavily and have come up with an idea for a nice solo/fly fishing boat...I think, that's where you guys come in. I really like the Fly Fisherman's Special from Heritage Canoes, but unfortunately I can't swing the 10 1/2 beans that they want for one, so my idea is to take a 15' Bob's Special and make it similar in nature to this (http://www.heritagecanoes.com/ffs.html) canoe. Is it even possible? It has a sliding stern/center seat in it, is it possible to put one of them into the BS? Or should I look at other plans instead?

Thanks!

Eric

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:59 pm

Building the sliding seat arrangement to fit in a Bob's Special wouldn't be a hard thing to do. What other modifications do you have in mind?

river_drifter · Post by **river_drifter** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:03 pm

Basically just building the sliding seat, and adding a seat back, and maybe a rod holder, a paddle hanger, similar to the Heritage configuration, but using the Bob's as the foundation.

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:08 pm

I don't see any problems with that. I have never made such an arrangement, but from looking at the photos on the Heritage Canoes website, it looks pretty straightforward to me. It will require good quality lumber with close, straight grain and no run-out to make it resistant. Once the canoe hull is built, you can always make a mock-up with cheap spruce to find the right dimensions and location if you feel that is necessary.

Juneaudave · Post by **Juneaudave** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:15 am

I think you are right on target! The Bob's Special should be a good hull for what your doing...have fun!

river_drifter · Post by **river_drifter** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:22 am

I have a few 3 foot long pieces of straight grain walnut that I could use for the seat "rails", maybe spaced with ash or some contrasting wood. During the winter semester at a local college here, they are offering a "Strip Canoe Building" class, so I may partake in that, to get my feet wet, and then dive into building the Bob's into my "fly fishing yacht". I currently have a copy of "CanoeCraft" and in there, the lines and offsets are listed for the Bob's Special, so I may work toward those, or I may save some time and the lofting effort and just buy the fullsized plans from Bear Mountain.

Thank you guys for all the help, I'll keep the forum posted as to my progress.