Notice! Notice!

We're starting to run low on River Cat and Kodiak Cat tubes. As usual, folks like to order their new cataraft for the sumer seasson right about now and we've had several orders in the last few days. If you're thinking of ordering for this summer, place your order as soon as possible. Once the current inventory runs out our lead times will extend up to 2 - 4 months.

Update! 4/5/08
Skinny water - big fish - Gulf Coast
This 16 foot River King cataraft  - set up for skinny water along the Gulf Coast of Georgia and Alabama. This customer says he also indulges in the occasional bass fishing excursion. 27" diam triple chamber Kodiak hulls. Includes leaning bar and outboard motor transom for 15 HP, 4 stroke. 10 ft frame by 38" extra wide lower deck width (customer request).

Outboard motor transom is lighter, breaks down to smaller size for transport or storage	This 16 foot cataraft  - set for skinny water along the Gulf Coast. 27" diam triple chamber Kodiak hulls. Includes bow leaning bar and outboard motor transom. Push pole is sitting in oar blade catchers.	The leaning bar and the transom both use a new thrust bar component that reduces the weight of these items considerably.

This 120 inch long rowing frame provides a huge 31.6 sq ft of flat upper deck working surface and 34 sq ft of flat lower deck. Cataraft is shown with 16 ft. push pole mounted in the oar-blade holders.

16 foot cataraft / 12 ft frame. Safety/rescue boat with heavy duty outboard motor transom. Click the image for blowup.	12 foot cataraft / 6 ft frame -set up for two river anglers. Oarsman can sit fore or aft of the angler.	14 foot cataraft / 10 ft frame set up for  flyfishing and duck hunting. Click the image for blowup.

Inflatable River King catarafts in 14, 16 and 18 ft. lengths. These boats are used mostly for river, lake or inshore fishing along coastal waters - but they are also used for hunting, as workboats, as dinghies, for scientific exploration and other uses. There are two unique features that you will find in River King catarafts.

* Full length lower deck supports infinite seating options, cargo storage, stand-up fishing, etc. Our frame is not just a pipe structure. Our faemr frame has tons of flat working surface area on the lower deck and the two upper decks over the tubes. This makes the River King cataraft a real boat.

These are rugged working catarafts designed to last for many seasons. For example, all metal parts are either aluminum, brass or stainless steel and can therefore be used safely in salt water.  Fasteners are all stainless steel screws and brass nuts to prevent galling. Our oar-locks are high strength bronze with 5/8" machined shafts.

Inflatable Hulls  This year we offer a wide variety of inflatable hulls to match our rowing frame selections. 

It's all in the Frame Our rowing frames are what really set our catarafts apart from the rest. A cataraft rowing frame, far more than just hardware to hold the pontoons in place and provide a place to sit, makes all the difference with a fishing or working cataraft.

The River King rowing frame was designed from the start as a fishing frame, Unlike whitewater boats ours make excellent work boats for scientific, industrial or rescue uses. Our design has evolved each year to provide lighter weight, greater strength and better stow-ability. Our frames are plenty strong enough for most whitewater - but fishing places requirements on the frame that are not available with typical whitewater frames - even whitewater frames that have been adapted for fishing. For example, whitewater frames seldom provide a full-size, low-center-of-gravity standing deck. Our frame design is focused around these components and they are fully integrated into the design.

Our full length lower (for standing, setting gear) and upper decks (for seating, gear bags and boxes) provide large flat working / standing surfaces not found on other cataraft designs. The lower decks are cedar slats that are light and drain quickly if water washes on-board.

Here's a typical setup. The full length lower deck creates tons of room on board for coolers and stand-up casting. This 14 foot cataraft is set up for three on board - two anglers and an oarsman.

• The front angler sits on a cooler. This is a minimal seat setup. Any type of seat can be mounted in any position.
   
• The oarsman has a low-back whitewater style rowing seat mounted to a sturdy cooler.
   
• The rear passenger has a full back rest where they can relax and watch the action  - or fish if they like.
   
• The two coolers provide seat supports and several cubic feet of dry, insulated storage for food, liquids, camera gear, etc.This leaves the lower and upper decks uncluttered and free to use for gear, rod holders, etc.
  

You can install your cross braces in almost any configuration to provide almost unlimited possibilities for seating and rowing. For example, the rear cross brace could accommodate two seats, side by side. Extra cross braces can be placed anywhere along the length of the frame; Anchor line pulleys, etc. can be easily attached to the upper decks - along either the inboard or the outboard edge.

Typical 14' cataraft setup

* Note that this cataraft is configured with a lower deck that's a few inches wider than usual for a 14 ft. cataraft. All frame dimensions can be ordered for whatever size you need.

Our lower decks are made of cedar which is light and strong and looks great on the boat. Unlike aluminum this deck is very quiet on the water too. The Western Red Cedar deck slats are screwed to the stringers with corrosion resistant screws so it's easy to replace a slat if you ever damage one, from materials you can get at any lumber yard. For rivers, the space between the slats lets water drain from the cockpit immediately if a wave washes onto the deck. For still water fishing some anglers put scraps of indoor/outdoor carpet down to further reduce noise and prevent dropped items from falling through the cracks.  

Encircling Web The end view diagrams below show the basic concept of our frame design. As you can see the hulls are completely encircled by the upper decks, the hull straps and the lower deck assembly. Our lower deck becomes a stable flat surface for stand-up fishing - and provides added rigidity to the whole frame assembly. Our hulls are secured inside a web of fabric, mesh and seat belt style webbing - so that only fabric, no metal or wood components ever touch the hulls. This provides several advantages over traditional D-Ring and buckle strap systems for attaching the hulls to the frame:

• Prevents rub and wear spots and discoloration that develop from typical rowing frames where aluminum or galvanized steel components rest directly on the hulls. Only fabric and plastic touch our hulls.
   
• Save tons of assembly time. Our encircling hulls straps with their quick disconnect buckles can save you the time normally required to adjust and connect the many buckle straps / D-Rings (up to 18) found on other cataraft frames. This is a big advantage if you ever want to pull into shallow water to adjust the position of the frame over the hulls. With this boat the job can be done in 5 to 10 minutes - rather than up to an a hour with multiple separate straps and D-ring.

• Whitewater Capable You can still use the D-rings with additional buckle straps if you plan to run really heavy water. But for most fishing rivers in the West and the Northwest the easily adjusted hull straps are more than enough to secure your hulls to the frame.

This diagram shows an end view of our frame as it would be typically set up - for fishing.

The spacious lower deck also allows you to stand up so you can see better, cast more accurately - and fight a larger fish that may take off in any direction.

For fishing, seats for passengers and the oarsman can be coolers (as pictured above), seats attached to the lid of the cooler, pedestal mount seats or traditional frame mounted seats.

For fishing catarafts, coolers or cooler mounted seats provide the best use of space on board. For example, two coolers strapped to the lower deck provide both cold storage for liquids and food and dry protected storage for cameras, dry clothes, etc. - while doubling as seat support platforms.

Although our catarafts perform quite well in heavy water our frame is optimized for fishing. Light weight on the road and small size when stowed are high on our list of priorities. Even with the lower deck removed and a tractor style rowing seat installed, if whitewater is the main purpose for your boat and you will seldom be fishing, there are rowing frames with heavier spars and cross braces that are available from other companies.

To design and price the perfect fishing/working cataraft for your needs click here:

About the company

I have been manufacturing these specialized watercraft (first under the Kingfisher name, now River King) and evolving this design since the winter of 1990. At that time there was only one other company producing anything like these unique boats.

Each model, and the evolutionary changes over the years, were designed for my own needs. I am an avid fly fisherman - and I like to fish for almost any species in any kind of water. I love river drift fishing in the west, I enjoy still water fishing for big trout or bass, and I am really a fan of skinny water inshore fishing along the Gulf coast.

I need a boat that is strong and durable, that is easy for me to handle by myself, but big enough to bring along a friend or two and a boat that breaks down to a small size for travel in my motorhome. But mostly I want a boat that fishes very well - in all the types of water that I love.

Part of the pleasure I get from building these boats is refining the design each year, as I or my customers get better ideas, or as better materials become available. I try to limit my major changes to once a year (on Jan 1) and I try to make any changes backward compatible if I can - but I'll probably never get to the place where I think there are no more improvements to be made.

All together there are about 700 Kingfisher (or River King) catarafts in existence out there some place. During a couple of years in the mid '90s I was building well over 100 boats a year. Since moving to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state  I have stopped doing the shows and most advertising and I'm basically producing only as many boats as I can by myself - with a little part time help occasionally. I'm fishing and traveling more these days - and building boats has become fun again, like it was when I first started out

Over the years we developed and introduced many of the features that are found on most PFC's (personal fishing catarafts) these days. Some of these include -

• The first PFC oar systems in 1990 - when we started out fins were the only way to propel a PFC and they were called kickboats. We still produce one of the strongest oar systems available for a PFC.
   
• The first PFC anchor systems in 1991 - there were none of these at the time we introduced them. Now we offer an efficient single or dual anchor setup that is perfect for bluewater or river fishing under a variety of conditions. The anchor system has always included a complete set of pulleys that can be located anywhere along the inside upper deck and a fast acting anchor cleat.
   
• In 1994 a bolt-on rear transom to support a small outboard and a front motor mount for an electric motor - another first for PFC's
   
• The standup casting deck in 1995 - a huge improvement over sit-down fishing. This has now evolved to become . . .
   
• The full length lower deck on all our models  - the PFC becomes a real boat
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• The solid upper deck in 1999 - a great help in keeping your gear organized and a useful table surface for lunch, fly tying, or whatever. You can even stand on it for added casting range and visibility.
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• Modular Design - now the excellent fishing and working capabilities of the River King design with the full length lower deck are available off the shelf and will stow in much smaller packages for transportation and shipping. Everything can now go UPS. 

Enjoy the website. Click on any of the links at the top to explore the possibilities. I can always help you pick the ideal configuration for your needs.

Regards,

Ray Pelland