By Dan Shimek

This August, I took on the adventure of drifting in a pontoon boat from Macks Canyon to Heritage landing at the mouth of the Deschutes River. This story starts with a simple question, Am I crazy to try drifting this section of the Deschutes in an eight foot pontoon boat? I asked members of the fly club, if it was possible. I heard stories of sinking drift boats and monster rapids to it should be easier in a pontoon boat. I think someone wanted me to put him as the beneficiary on my life insurance.

After all that I decided to do a little research. I looked at my BLM river map for the Deschutes, and found twelve rapids between Macks Canyon and the mouth and only seven were a class 3 rapid. At this time I was thinking, is it safe to try this? My pontoon boat manufactory rates my pontoon boat for class 2 or less. I researched more and decided how bad could it really be, if all else fails we would carry the pontoon boats around the rapids.

We loaded enough supplies to drift for three days and two nights on the river. Some how we managed to fit it all in four dry bags. We camped light, no sleeping bags, just a tent, mat and a blanket. For food, we had backpacking meals and we filtered water from the river. We did find room for a couple of beets. Se started out the first day drifting a couple of miles just below Macks Canyon. The trout fishing was surprisingly good, for mid August. Hooked up on a couple nice rainbows on a prince nymph, behind a golden stonefly. There was a short caddis hatch right before sunset, adding to the evening entertainment.

The fishing continued to be good the second day. I hooked up on ten or so rainbows before the afternoon wind kicked up with a furry. The fishing came to a halt after the wind came up, which at times blow my pontoon boat up stream. We camped the second night at the Harris campsites, and found out where all that money we spend on river passes goes. It goes into the cleanest freshest smelling outhouses. I have ever been in there is even a little light that comes on when you open the door.

Day three brought on the biggest challenge of them all, six of the seven class 3 rapids lay ahead. No time to worry about the rapids, it was time to fish. The fishing the third day was a little bit harder. We were competing with jet boat steel headers for the prime fishing spots. I did find a few nice spots and hooked up on some of the larger rainbows of the trip. Now back to those pesky rapids, the largest and scariest of them all was Washout Rapid at river mile 7.5. My BLM river map said to scout from the right side, so that is what we did. We scouted the rapid to see that is was not all that scary up close.

There was a narrow, slide down the right side of the rapid. It was a lot easier than it looked or sounded. I don’t think my pontoon boat has ever moved so fast on water before. It was a quick smooth drop, with a few waves and a little turbulence. I barely got wet. For the most part most of the class 3 rapids were easier to navigate in a pontoon boat. The rapid that are a must to scout first are Washout, Rattlesnake, and Moody. Rattlesnake by far was the roughest rapid to go through, I went through the left side of the rapid. I was quite wet by time I shot out the bottom of the rapid. For the Moody Rapid, I suggest going left and center. There is a large rock on the left at the bottom the current pushes you into it if you are too far left. Also don’t forget the designated pass through zone from Rattlesnake to the no-wake zone at the Moody Rapid. You cannot stop and fish in this zone it is reserved for bike-in and hike-in anglers.

Overall, this was an exciting trip. We saw few anglers and had the river to ourselves the first two days. It was hard to tell that you were on the Deschutes River without someone fishing a few feet away. I recommend this drift: the fishing and scenery is outstanding. If you are thinking of doing it in a pontoon boat, I am living proof that it is POSSIBLE! The warning, I give is there are many technical sections and it requires moderate to expert skills to navigate the rapids. A life jack is a must!!!