{"id":1397,"date":"2015-09-29T17:18:54","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T17:18:54","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:43:04","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:43:04","slug":"makers-monday-cajune-boats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/makers-monday-cajune-boats\/","title":{"rendered":"Makers Monday: Cajune Boats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written and photographed by contributing editor Tyler Sharp<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’ve ever been to Montana, then you\u2019d know that fly-fishing is a very serious matter there. Amidst the legends and lore surrounding this angling mecca, one boat maker has made a name for himself. Situated in a spartan workshop in Paradise Valley, just a few scenic miles outside of Livingston, Jason Cajune<\/a> is building boats the way they used to: out of wood. <\/p>\n

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Spending much of his childhood in Glacier National Park, Cajune accompanied his step-father as he piloted traditional wooden boats across the various lakes for over 40 years. Originally built in the 1920\u2019s by the Great Northern Railroad, these old-world wooden vessels became his playground, and nautical schoolroom. As a dock boy and \u201cbilge rat,\u201d Cajune spent summers painting and varnishing the boats, and by the end of high school, had intimate knowledge of the wooden, plank-and-frame style. <\/p>\n

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After acquiring a degree in architecture, Cajune migrated to Olympia, Washington to work for a boat maker specializing in fiberglass and epoxy. It didn\u2019t take him long to realize that it wasn\u2019t for him, and he moved back to Montana for good. Specifically targeting the fly-fishing market, Cajune set out to apply his knowledge of traditional boat building to a clustered fly fishing market.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was guiding fly fishing for awhile, and thought that most of the boats I saw on the rivers were complete junk. So I built my first boat on the porch under a tarp in the rain, and it sold immediately. I built a second one in 1995, which coincided with the start of the internet nicely. I put a website up, and the boat sold before it was even finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Word got out, a burgeoning business was born, and the rest is highly decorated history. Clients from near and far began to line up to try out these traditional boats for traditional fly-fishermen. \u201cI guess I just made the product that people wanted,\u201d Jason humbly stated as his german short haired pointer ambled about the shop. <\/p>\n

Often starting from napkin sketches, and the occasional model for a new hull design, each boat is built from scratch using a combination of African mahogany, white ash, white oak, and various fir woods. On average, each boat takes about 300-400 hours of labor. They are all unique, shaped to the customer\u2019s taste and needs. \u201cThe boats I\u2019ve been doing lately take close to 400 hours, because I\u2019m doing a lot more customization, and making most of the hardware out of bronze. I\u2019m casting, welding, and really pushing the designs further than I ever have.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cEverybody wants everything now, and I\u2019m not really into that. If you want a cheap boat, really quickly, that\u2019s what fiberglass is for. But if you want something that\u2019s handmade and is built to last, well that\u2019s why I\u2019m here. For some reason, people think wood is an obsolete material, and I often have to convince customers that it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using only the highest quality materials, the finished vessels are fully functional works of art. It\u2019s not hard to spot one of Cajune\u2019s boats, especially one that has been well oiled. They age beautifully.<\/p>\n

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Drawing from his architectural background, Jason admits to placing a certain amount of emphasis on a beautiful form and shape, but ultimately, it\u2019s the usability that it boils down to. \u201cIn the end, it\u2019s a boat, and has to function in the water. But if you can combine that with beautiful form and style, then it can be really interesting. Sure I\u2019m building boats for clients, but to be honest, I\u2019m really building it for the guy who will be repairing it in 50 years later, and he\u2019s gonna say that it was done correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As Cajune enjoys 20 years of boat making business, he\u2019s almost halfway to that mark of approval. It\u2019s rare that an artist can have such security in their craft, but it seems destined that as long as Montana\u2019s rivers flow, Jason Cajune\u2019s business will grow.<\/p>\n

Visit MakersMonday.com<\/a> and pledge to Buy Maker on November 30th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written and photographed by contributing editor Tyler Sharp If you’ve ever been to Montana, then you\u2019d know that fly-fishing is a very serious matter there. Amidst the legends and lore surrounding this angling mecca, one boat maker has made a name for himself. Situated in a spartan workshop in Paradise Valley, just a few scenic […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[4],"yoast_head":"\nMakers Monday: Cajune Boats - Our Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/makers-monday-cajune-boats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Makers Monday: Cajune Boats - Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Written and photographed by contributing editor Tyler Sharp If you’ve ever been to Montana, then you\u2019d know that fly-fishing is a very serious matter there. 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