My first experience in a whitewater raft was in elementary school. I was attending a summer camp in Black Mountain, North Carolina and we had an excursion planned for a morning rafting down the Nantahala River. I will never forget piling into that big yellow boat with my summer camp friends. We spent the day floating above the surface of the water. We ran rapids, bumped off of rocks and did flips off the tubes in the slow sections. It was one of those childhood memories that sealed the deal for me and my love affair of floating rivers and admiring rafts! Now that I am a fly angler, I recognize that those whitewater rafts are the most idyllic watercraft for fly fishing. These vessels float and drift along the surface of the water like a giant dry fly; hard to argue against that symbolism! They cause little disturbance to the water or river bottom below, and the large, inflated tubes bump and bounce off of everything in their path. These vessels are extremely practical, and can be transported fully inflated and set up, or deflated and broken down.
Most fly anglers can agree that wading into rivers and streams is quintessential fly fishing. But each of us have had an experience like this: You are standing thigh deep in water, eyeballing a pool or tail out of a riffle that is just out of reach. From upstream, you watch as a raft floats down in front of you. You observe, like a spectator in a sports stadium, as the angler in the front of the raft is able to reach that stretch of river that has eluded you all morning. The cast drifts through and they hook up! They fight the fish, following that great catch downstream as you are taken over by that jealous but alluring feeling that soon has you scouring the internet and Instagram for a fly fishing raft of your own! If this is a relatable experience for you, I recommend looking into RioCraft Rafts based out of Durango, Colorado.
I stumbled across Rio Craft Rafts after a similar experience to the narrative I mentioned above. I have been fishing a stretch of river in the Carolinas that boasts a healthy population of smallmouth bass and striped bass from my canoe, but I needed a watercraft where I can stand up, load full of gear, maneuver easily around rocks and shoals, and I can put in or take out without a boat ramp and trailer. So I began looking into rafts, and I wasn’t satisfied with any of the “popular” two person style fishing rafts on the market until I found The Colorado 10.5’. I reached out to Rio Craft via Instagram hoping to get some more information and within a few hours I received a response from Joe, the owner. He sent me his phone number and asked me to give him a call. My inquiry message quickly turned into an unexpected interview!
Joe Kallis, the founder of Rio Craft, grew up in Missoula, Montana rowing drift boats on the legendary rivers of the Big Sky state, then made the move to Colorado in 2007. After high school Joe took some time off before attending college, when he began guiding at Three Rivers Resort & Outfitting in Almont, Colorado – a gap year that turned into five years. While Joe was making his living guiding between the thwarts, he started a raft business. He began buying and selling rafts, but then transitioned to a dealer. While working as a dealer of various raft companies, Joe became dissatisfied with the existing raft products, and he wanted to make some changes and improvements. During his attendance at Western State, he co-founded a raft company with the aspiration and goal to build a better product. His focus was both whitewater rafts and fishing rafts. After a solid run of a few years, and a successful career of innovating rafts and raft products, Joe left the world of boats in 2012.
You may ask, what kind of career does a lifelong river rat jump into once he leaves the world of boats. If you guessed a Caterpillar Equipment sales representative, you would be correct and I would be very impressed! And that is the career that Joe chose for the next ten or so years. Around the time of the COVID pandemic, Joe recognized an opening in the boat market and saw the growing need for a fishing boat, not just a whitewater boat with a fishing frame slapped to the top. The boat needed to be functional and row like a drift boat, but the price needed to be reasonable. After a year of design, innovation and testing Rio Craft launched in May of 2023.
The first raft in the lineup was The Madison, a boat designed from bow to stern with anglers in mind. It is coined “the fisherman’s dream come true!” The raft comes in a 14.5’ option and 13.5’. Then came The Teton, a more heavy-duty version of The Madison. The Teton is more streamlined and rugged, and is a whitewater specific raft, but with the same length options of 14.5’ and 13.5’ of The Madison. The last of this grand trinity is The Colorado, a boat that pulls from the best aspects of both its predecessors. When I discussed The Colorado with Joe he told me that it “is our do all, family friendly traditional style raft.” The Colorado ranges in sizes from 16’ down to my favorite, the 10.5’!
At this point in our conversation my engineering brain and Joe’s kicked it into overdrive. I began asking questions about the raft material, the innovation behind the I-Beam style floor versus the Drop Stitch, the intentionality behind the color options and design aesthetic. As we continued in our conversation, Joe’s passion and excitement towards his products and the raft industry began pouring out, and I just listened and learned. Joe told me “I can never say no to anything” when it comes to dreaming about his product. The desire to improve, try new things, and innovate is what makes Joe and the Rio Craft team stand out the most to me. As our conversation was coming to a close I asked Joe what he felt was Rio Craft’s biggest success. He answered “Our biggest success is the quality of our products, and the way we treat our customers.” He then continued, “The hardest thing for me to do is to let someone else sell my product.” So, to help my friend Joe from suffering this hardship, if you are in the market for a raft, please visit goriocraft.com and send Joe an email or give him a call!
