bobber

i wish we had more photos to show what it was realy like, the river went from 23 inches of air space to 18 ft.of the darkest brown water. it caught a lot of people off gaurd! it started to jump up on sat. we had canoers camping so we set off in a raft to warn people of the rise. i'm sure the thought we were story telling about the high water coming up . we pulled 4 pinned canoes out and guided 12 canoer's down the river. at kyle's landing about 500 yards up stream an elderly man was swimming a sunk kayak. all you could see of him was the life jacket floating above his head . it just look like a life jacket floating up right! with small splashes . we caught up to him just as he said i can't make it anymore. one guy leaned over the front of the raft and grabbed him and another grabbed the kayak! but that left only me to paddle the raft. and trust me i was paddling for all i'm worth! we are now about 40 feet from the landing at kyle's but we are moving too fast to make it close enough. one guy from the bank had a rope, and threw it .it shot off way too far from us . i saw the bad throw coming. and jumped up and fired a last chance HAIL MARRY from the back of the raft to the shore. and then the fun began! they couldn't hold us or slow us down at all. they wraped the end of the rope around a tree! like a cartoon when we hit the end of the rope it close lined Jessie and swept him right out of the raft, but he was hanging on to the line. the all the people we were helping out started slaming into the raft piling up on the high side sinking there canoes. they were all grabbing the rope all i had a hold of was the knot at the end of the rope. with all the weight of the raft and people i couldn't hold it and it yanked me from the back of the raft and i shot off into the water. and the scramble was on!! (i'm pretty sure i have 4 inch longer arms now!) but all made it in safe! monday we were called in to help look for the lost man and his grandson. for a river search . or body recovery. at 11 ground crews had found the grandfather and he said the boy was on land and not in the water . and we were turning it over to the jasper ground crews i'm so glad it all worked out so well !!

the wave trains were 13 to 15 foot tall from boxley to ponca, took 45 minutes . last night i almost didn't make it out the water was too deep on the road with logs and boulders floating across.

that was our clip from under the ponca bridge in the parking lot ..that's the little ditch on the edge of the parking. we have been on rescue since sat. just got home .......

with the last 2 rains the river came up to great levels fishing has improved . caught 15 to 20 from pruitt to carver . nice fat 10 to 16 inches in size fish looks like a good spring! i didn't spend a lot of time working them it was just hit and miss casting at target areas.

the park service does what ever they want.. it's THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

you can't beat an old town canoe . and Mohawk is another good one. i deal all three. I'll have a few Jackson mini trippers and day trippers we just ordered them. but no way that canoe is like an appalachian. unless those guys paddled colemans before they got there new canoe!... just saying ,come to the river and paddle them. and see for yourself!

no comparison, buffalo beats it hands down.. but don't pay a $1000 for one. how about $675 and tax. but you need to know the fishermans hand shake to get this deal!

the past rain bumped up the river to great levels, no bumping the bottom. just smooth sailing downstream ! weekly deals @floatthebuffalo.com

prop!/ no elect start/ short shaft / i priced it right for a quick sale i need the cash ! but i'm getting use to being broke so i may keep it!

fishing isn't poor by any means. you are just going down the same section that everyone does! we had 1.5 million floaters last year. yes big fish are harder to find but the river changes every time it floods. or with a rise in levels. you also have to consider last year the river was just about dry. from the 2nd. week in june .it was too low to float. and by august even the lower section of river was dead . but seeing fishing rules/laws is wrong and i would have wiped out the cell phone and make the call! yes game and fish are stretched thin, and will be more so with the state we are in ,so do your part turn them in! 1-888-692-1162 this is the hot line for anything in the national park system. lock the number in your cell you never know when you miht need it!

i still have it. it was an evinrude that was produced as a 15/ 18/ 20 hp outboard. i believe it was the jetting of the carb , or replacement that increased the hp rating

yes all smallies, from an add for fishing guides on the white river. sad to see! ...dead monsters..

that was charlie one of our guys.. we were zipping up and down the river all weekend. but we service the upper district(boxley to woolum) out of our canoe shop on hwy 7 south .and if you do 4 nights on the river we can pick you up anywhere on the river .all the way to ships ferry on the white river . they have some special deals on the web site floatthebuffalo.com and facebook @Buffalo River CANOES....

it's the low side of floatable . we are putting in at steel creek .... for a shuttle you can drop off all the canoes and gear @ ponca ,or steel creek. and leave 1 person to stand watch over it. then everyone drive to the take out... biggest car makes the trip back to the put in. going home, load up the up stream drivers canoe and gear. your done and you'll save some bucks. but you'll kill an hour and some. or come by the canoe shop on hwy 7 south of harrison .do the paper work and we will haul you and your gear from pruitt up to the top end @ponca or steel creek. ~~~~ you do know it's going to rain ? right. are you just river camping or fishing? if your fishing i would go lower like carver to woolum the water is still up down there....... just saying! ...... oh yeah! use LOST VALLEY . not the other guys! about 3 block farther down that same road.on the right.

in the past three nights they are lining up @ twin bridges (hwy 45) and i saw stripper boats this morning in blue springs

early 70's

sold

2002/2003 mercury 25 hp tiller outboard $1250 ....... also have a older evinrude 15/18/20 hp elect. start $350

oh ,the roads are open .but still muddy

there aren't any rapids at the upper levels just fast moving water. in other words you just steer no paddling needed ! i want to say i have paddled it in the 11 to 12 Ft. range loaded down with camping gear without and problems at all. you center the river, and stay in the middle. but if in doubt call an outfitter on that section. would be best !

the road into steel creek and kyle's landing are closed. the snow melt made them a slick red mud mess. we floated from erbie to pruitt ,cloudy green water color but a great day on the river.

sorry to say i don't think you'll have any luck at all that upper 20 some miles of river.it has been dry since june! and just got a small amount of water in it as of a few weeks ago . the smallies get winter lock jaw until that water temp comes up to the mid 40's . sorry for the bad news! ....you could scout steel creek go to the end of the camp ground past the bathrooms and each table has a trail leading down to the river .

nope. we had heard rumours of a visitor center going in at Pruitt and the replacement of the Pruitt bridge. but last year a truck hit our bridge at mill creek.then all that sewage problems then the river dropped out . we shut down mid June and some time after that the stakes showed up. i was over there in December and noticed lots of electric line poles along the road side. right after the first of the year bulldozers showed up clearing out a wide path. i paddle with an engineer from the highway dept. he said it was a go for the widening of hwy 7. and the new Pruitt bridge was on hold because they wanted to move the whole hwy about a half mile over so it lines up with the hill side to make a straight shot a lining up with the existing hwy up on top of the mountain. by Ozark campground turn off. late December this land came up for sale at kyles and was snatched up by us .because of this hwy move . so yes we new it was coming. but we thought it would be years not days. so as of right now we are just waiting to see if we can open for spring in 40 days or else we need to work double time to open a new location,and that was not in the budget. soooo the plan was to create a new building with a camp ground and HOT showers. right on that corner of the hwy and kyles road. we started to clean it up and make it a campground for this year but that's on hold at the moment

well, if you mean the wooden stake with orange tape on it in the front door ? or the ones up on the hill side. nobody is saying a word . but i'm guessing we will soon find out. the ulitiy lines are all being moved and they are chewing up the hill side up the road . won't be long.

and that puts the road about right here... too close for comfort!!