About the Author

Joe Rotter

Joe is the "blogger in chief" here at Red's in addition to being our guide service manager and partner here at Red's. He is a father of 3 spunky children his wife Kelly can only be found fishing when the temperature gets above 85 degrees and the fish are gobbling up dry flies.

In addition to being a fly fishing junkie, Joe is a hard core bowhunter, is a volunteer Hunter's Eductation Instructor, and loves riding horses with his kiddos. Joe still guides a small part of the time but spends most of his time working on web marketing, travel, and helping customers find the right tools and information for the job.

Boat Rowing Lessons and Rentals

May 24, 2016

Rowing a river boat is a rewarding adventure. Its a great way to access great fishing and have a fun time doing it. While guided trips are fun and we would love to host you, we also realize many of you have a DIY passion and simply want to pilot your own ship.

While you can try to teach rowing with books and videos, we feel the only way to teach is by getting folks IN boats and rowing a river. Our instructors/guides make this adventure safe, fun, and affordable.

We recently changed up how we do our rowing lessons and feel that it might be the best program in the country for getting your hands on the oars for the first time. Below you'll see the details on our rowing lessons hosted on the Yakima River. Also, you need to know that we rent fishing boats! Later this summer we'll be offering Clackacraft Rentals again as well. So get trained up.

Boat Rentals in the Yakima River Canyon

$119 - Personal Watercraft Rentals. We do the shuttle and you do the rowing/fishing. We have a Watermaster or an Outcast Fishcat Scout. They come with fins, oars, and are a ton of fun!

$199 - 3 person framed fishing rafts! We do the shuttling and your buddies get to fish all day.

Rowing Lessons

Get Your Hands On Some Oars!

These lessons can be scheduled almost anytime. We prefer weekdays if possible so that there is minimal other traffic on the river to contend with.

What Will the Guide/Instructor Cover?

We'll teach you all the basics from putting boats in the water at the launch, to taking the boat out of the water at day's end. When it comes to rivers... there are lots of opportunities to fumble and our goal will be to let you learn from our past mistakes.

Topics:

Put ins
Take outs
Anchoring
General safety
Proper rowing form
Hazzard evasion
How to avoid "catching" an oar
Reading the river
How to "take" a rock in the event you will bump into something
Common mistakes

Rowing Lessons Include:

4 hours of on the water training - Pick your own date! These are not prescheduled, call and book your lesson by calling (509) 933-2300
Training can be for drift boats, rafts, or personal watercrafts
You may bring your own boat.
Shuttle service included.
Boat(s) if necessary - No additional cost.
Max 2:1 ratio
No fishing. We'll concentrate exclusively on learning to row boats and making the most out of your investment.

Cost:

$300 per outing
Up to 2 Students
Price based on double occupancy

I took this class in my 10' two-seater raft yesterday, 5/23/2016, from instructor Mike. His presentation was as advertised. There is no substitution for on the water training with oars in hand. Great class Mike! Thanks for the confidence builder. Tom
Thanks Tom, I'll pass that along to Mike. See you out here on the river soon!