bobber

canoes are like people they come in all sizes . some work well some don't work at all! and a deal is only a deal if it works for you! i would suggest you take your gear and get out and paddle a few to see for yourself what feels good to you. but AL, is right on the money, in his reporting.i work with rentals with "buffalo river canoe" @ floatthebuffalo.com we see more old towns and buffalo canoe than any other brands. but more important is your abilities to adjust to the canoe that your in, again some feel great, others feel very tippy. some paddle like sports cars, and some just feel like a tank. and it's better to walk away from canoe that isn't right for you, with only putting out $45 rather than a $500 to $1700 mistake ... if you go more than 10 times a year a canoe will pay for it's self in a season or two. if you only go 3 times a year keep renting your dollars ahead!! almost all rental outfitter like us have used canoes to off load to make room for the new ones coming in to keep our rental fleet in top shape so thats a starting place for the shopping a deal. and never buy one with out a test paddling first.... but that's just my 2 cents.

update... a pump was loaned to correct the problem and is working, but this is just a temp repair!!

Zack is right with the 10 hp limit,motors are allowed below eurbie . the buffalo is basically canoe river! the only motor boats that i have heve seen on the river are in the lower ends of the river, woolum and below that. other than the RANGERS on rescue outtings. check out ... floatthebuffalo.com

the guage at pruit should read 3.25 as a bump n grind trip. (about the lowest you would want )

mid to late summer sections would be below tyler bend. you always can float that. and thats were all the floaters end up during low water ....up river. sometimes you can come up stream, to say like woolum .and add a few miles with out seeing anyone. the biggest thing about lower water levels are, you end up dragging your canoe through so many dried up rapids, and the rock gardens.you just take the fun out of it..but on the other hand that's always better fishing..

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ar/nwis/current/?type=flow.....this is the gauge page! the guide of water flow.also it has the outfitters just click on a logo! (i do canoe instruction for buffaloriver canoes @floatthebuffalo.com)shameless plug!!if you watch the gauges, you'll see we just had a good bump of water. and you can see it move down stream thru the gauges. a level of lets say 3.5 is big water on the upper end (ponca) and at st, joe. it should read about 5.0 and thats a low for that section. the buffalo is very rain dependent. because it can go from too low to float, to flood .in about 3 hours, and have a 6 to 9 ft. rise in that same time frame.with out any warnning. ....but july is a long way off! ....so, if you post again just before your trip and i'll up date you about the fishing, and river conditions then! and try to put you on a section at that time that will float, and fish well for you!....

still frozen from war eagle to hwy 45

.........this is what it looks like!!

at the 412 bridge east of springdale the lake is frozen all the way across on both side as far as you can see!!

http://www.buffalocanoes.com/10_foot.htm

here in the war eagle arm it has!... many times

call Gordon's motel in jasper ark. the headquaters of buffalo canoe. they are making canoe's for the new season. you might get him to make you one. that model has been dropped to to no sales of it !!

cold weather, along with cold water are not always a good thing!! i took a small group to the river. sunny ,and close to 40* seemed liked a great new years day ... untill around 3:30 late afternoon as we weaved in and out of tree limbs, and root balls. one of our members got sideways in a downed tree and before i could slow down i was right along side them .the force of my canoe hitting them pushed them out of the hang-up . and put me in a very bad place as the water rushed over the side of my canoe i leaned into the tree like you should do but all that did was flood the tail end of my canoe, and in the rushing water as i slowly sank... i looked for what wasn't clipped to the thwarts or tied down, grabbed my little canoe dog and bailed out!!about three or four hard swimming strokes we made to the bank. put my dog down on the gravel bar, and turned to get my canoe? ....it was gone!!.. it didn't go down stream. it just went down to the bottom . soon there after a dry bag popped up, then my cooler, my paddle spare paddle shot up about 4 feet. this took about 15 to 20 minutes. seemed like forever! my painter line was floating and i hooked it with the paddle T grip... pulling on it broke the thwart .so there i am holding the rope and a small pice of wood tied on the other end! i was alredy wet ,so i waded back to see if i could reach the canoe. at this time i'm feeling "frozen" i had been in the water cold and wet to the point of my lower body had the burning feel.I could reach down to feel my canoe, i started to push with my foot and the canoe would move a little so i kept on pushing, and rocking it until i heard a crack or loud pop! and the canoe floated away .it was another thwart that broke i guess that's what was holding it down. anyway we get it to the bank, dump it out ,and i reload to finish the trip . it was all i could do to keep paddling to get my blood flowing.my hands were numb , we had about a mile and a half to go.... i'm still cold typing this!!!!! getting in the car with the heater on full blast did'nt help one bit i'm just glad it was a day trip, and not an overnighter...

the snags are cut by "THE PARK SERVICE" they can do what they want too!

a couple of things to touch on (CHAINSAWS ARE AGAINST THE LAW ANYWERE IN THE NATIONAL PARK) .. as for camp pads look at jacks plactic's the poco pad it's the best bar none! a space blanket under your sleeping bag will act as a bairrer between you and the ground that just sucks the heat out of your body. it's also a good idea to call the ranger station with your float plan, to let them know your on the river this time of year. and flash flooding is always something to be thinking about. camp 9 vertical feet from the river's edge and pull your canoe high up on the bank, water levels are on the upper side now in the lower sections of the river and fishing is almost a waste of time with water temps in the low 40's /high 30's ......hwy 14 to rush is a sweet winter section but with that the whole river is floatable now so you have your pick!

my buddy runs a 7 1/2 hp. on his. but, he puts a trolling motor in the bow and runs jumper cables back to make the canoe set level in the water.......... it's fast, almost to fast for some waters

yes, i saw 5 small alum. boats tucked back into bluesprings .. also have had a good number of boats running up war eagle before daylite

like the bathroom potty house going under water ? or all the deposit's from 85,000 floaters annually

the lake is backed up, and the water in this area is about 3 ft higher than normal making it better to navigate

if you google map hwy 12 in rogers arkansas and follow it to the lake, you'll see an island, and coose is the cove on the other side of the lake it is on the northern side of that island.... that part of the the lake is big water, and below (south) the hwy 12 bridge, the lake moves to more of a river setting ....prairie creek is a marina northwest of that bridge it has a large cove that runs back behind it and is wind protected some what ! .....THAT HELP?

i boat a lot of it but it's always flooded.!!.. that lake ft. smith was closed the whole time they did all the build up of that park so the fishing pressure was lite .then they doubled the lake and stocked it and nobody goes up there... isn't there some stuff just south west of ft. smith ....

what are you motoring in?? ....( you can get in way up above that by the the city sewer plant but it's creeky ...not a river). but i would go down stream from twin bridges about two miles or half a mile above Neal's bluff. the river get pretty narrow.... and this area, the river bottom gets shallow and the fish are also squeezed .. makes it much faster to test the waters .... the spill way part is all the fish you miss running up stream after the shad.. ... and no, light rain won't matter. the dark Grey sky it to your advantage too. as i came home i stopped at blue spring bridge and the water was dead still, and nothing surfacing , and just before dark i was on the deck looking and only saw a few small schools working the war eagle arm so it's still a bit early but the striper guides have been here for a few weeks so yes you might hit on some now?

just don't dip coffee water below Pruitt for a while ,you'll be ok

love that place!... with the truck stop right there it makes for quick and easy camping .not having to pack food ,and cook ware. .... we did pretty good on the Osage fork. and up stream from the campground was a good one but that's the section all the floater's use

frog bayou in rudy is a prime stream, along with clear creek,and cedar creek for walk ins.... and mulberry ? that's about 300 mile of something to do with! right off hand oh yea! lee creek.. lake fort smith, the NEW one... wister on the other side of the line . down load google earth, add in over lays for roads and what ever. and you can find all kinds of small ponds and creeks hidden lakes you would never find any other way. msn live bird's eye is good too you can't really zoom down tight as you want bu hey it's free! it also is old shots.... zoom in on your house and see if you were home or not!