GloryDaze

I've done that section at 3.6 and it was pretty fun. Bet it's a blast between 4-5, but I have no clue how you can fish it. At 3.6 we were hauling arss.

I don't think you will find a new Royalex priced decent. Mine was rather expensive and that was 5 years ago when their was no demand for Royalex. You can usually find a good used one on Craigslist though. By the way, I paddle mine with a double bladed paddle and it works out just fine. I've been on pretty much every river you mentioned and then some with it and it has served me perfectly. I will say I had it narrowed down to a Wenonah and the MR Legend 15 but I liked how the MR felt a little better. It has secondary stability, for a newbie that simply means it feels very tippy at first but tends to stabilize the further you tip. Due to its shallow v hull design I can draft just as great if not better than most kayaks. Simply meaning even in shallow water I don't drag like some think you would with a full boat. No matter what you decide, I think your experience having any craft will enhance using the streams. It opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. The dealer I bought mine from in KC has closed shop so not sure about others around the state. I guess I should say, I wished I didn't spend as much $ as I did on my first two boats. As much as I thought I would never get rid of them, I eventually did just because when I bought them I wasn't 100% sure on if they would fit my needs. It took 2 as a learning curve before my canoe.

You'll probably get a few suggestions, but my recommendation would be to not rule out a canoe. I use a 15' Mad River Legend and it suits me perfectly and fits all my needs. Not saying a kayak won't work, I started with a SOT and it was alright but not exactly what I was looking for. I went to a kayak and once again, it was a great boat but didn't fit the bill. I settled with a canoe only after my previous 2 boats made me realize exactly what I wanted. More space, storage, flexibility and versatile enough for the narrow ozark streams. I only take overnight trips so those factors were critical. With that being said, from what I hear on here the two boats you have listed should be just fine.

Wow... very interesting and thanks for sharing your knowledge

Heck yeah, stay to the left there to get the biggest waves!

I'm a die hard Cards fan but over the past 11 years living in KC have slowly come around to a Royals fan as well. I have to admit, being at the game yesterday was such a blast. My favorite part was when they got the last out, just standing there and watching the sheer excitement of the fans. Other than a game at Arrowhead, this was the loudest game I've been to for baseball. And I've been to at least 8 Cardinals playoff games, NLDS, NLCS and WS

Absolutely wonderful!!!

Reading the caption, it says it's the first caught on the Current. Judging by the size, that dude could have been there a while. Obviously he could have recently migrated up, either way it's sad to see.

https://flic.kr/p/mSTzY2 Here is the link.... what do you think. You can see the spring is on the right just past the bridge. There is a creek running along the left side. If you look at the bottom of the pic you can see the gravel bar

I have a great picture standing at waters edge looking up into the spring. I can't figure out how to get it posted, but think it would be cool to post and then it would be an easy discussion on water level marks.

You know Wrench, I'm not sure that would be considered the high water mark. Simply because the spring itself has that slight burm around it that is right next to that creek. I have been to the spring but quite honestly felt like I may have been trespassing. Let me put it this way, if the owner approached me while I was at the spring I'm not sure I would have a strong enough case to prove I wasn't trespassing.

I realize you have a lot at stake here, no doubt. I guess my point was, you came in here asking for suggestions and received quite a few. Sometimes we are at the mercy of our shitty neighbors.... trust me, ever tried selling your house with a registered sex offender next door, totally out of my control. So I was just getting at the fact my wife tells me all the time- dung or get off the pot.

I rarely jump in these discussions, but trophy, with all due respect you're coming across to me as a keyboard warrior. You're on here talking about how you are not one to be politically correct, you call it like you see it, take no B.S, etc.... Help me understand why you keep coming on here and bitching about every little thing they do. Just man up and do something about it or get over it. Man, seriously if you're as big and bad in life as you have been in this thread you shouldn't have any issues getting this resolved in another manner besides beating up your keyboard every 3 hours.

Now that there is funny!

I totally understand their wanting to mark the spring itself as private property- according to the laws, if you were to meander up to the spring you would indeed be trespassing. What I'm hoping is they haven't plastered no trespassing signs along the gravel bar right at the mouth of the spring and down around the corner. In my opinion, that is a real pretty stretch of that river and from my experience is a wonderful gravel bar to take a lunch break during the heat of the summer, cool down in the water and relax. Last time I was there, about 2 months ago, it looked like someone had been down on the gravel bar with a tractor trying to create a road across the creek right by the spring and all the way up to the river. I hope that nonsense stops......

Here is what we did.... we stashed 2 boats at slabtown in the middle of the woods. Went to Rich's loaded up the other 2 and he shuttled us back to slabtown. I know it's not ideal, but sounds like you don't have many options.

Go for it, enjoy your alone time.... one of the best trips I ever took was a 4 night 5 day solo on the Buffalo river. All the advice given has been spot on. Just be sure to report back to everyone how it went.

Last trip I took we were set up below mountain creek access on a gravel bar. We were wade fishing and a local pulls up on a 4 wheeler, with shotgun in hand and says "you all know where you are?" Me and my buddy tell him we know exactly where we were but thanks for checking on us. He stared at us for about 15 minutes but finally left.... really bizarre. The same trip I also met the owner of the old Oldhams property as he was driving his 4 wheeler around his property. He went out of his way to stop and talk to me for almost 30 minutes. Great guy who told me how much he loves that section of river and how he NEVER has problems with floaters or fisherman. Overall my experiences have been great on that section. I do however hate all the landowners who think they have precedence over the law. Especially, I think it's Niangua Cattle Company who has signs posted there is no camping for the next 5 miles. Bullshit, I'll excercise my rights when I can.

Couldn't agree more...

We used our own boats

$50 for shuttle from Slabtown back to Rich's. That's what they charged us 3 weeks ago. We put on mid afternoon Friday, stayed above the party crowd entire weekend. Probably saw less than 10 canoes the whole trip. Most of those were late stragglers on Saturday evening.

Here's a good day for me..... not working, wetting a line, catching a HUGE buzz, take a picture of the scenery, go to bed. Repeat and repeat makes a great trip. There is my expectation.....

Mine consists of a few things: Put in and take out points Put in and take out dates Color and make of my vessel Color of my tent and lifejacket Phone number to nearest ranger or sheriff's office A detailed mile by mile map This is all on one document... I make 2 copies. Keep one for me and leave one with my wife. I give her a specific date and time for her to call a local ranger if she doesn't hear from me. That date and time is usually 24 hours later than my original take out plan. I only do this on solo trips... you can guess why I add the make and color of vessel and color of lifejacket and tent. But it does make sense if I were to get separated from them.

Did you go above Cedar Camp or below? I couldn't imagine the upper section having any water to float. Bet you had the river almost to yourself though. Thx for the pics, love the boat

Yeah Ness, my neighbor grabbed me tonight and asked if I read the article. I hadn't seen it so he brought the Star over. Rather interesting to put some faces with names as well. By the way, 40,000 people put on the water each year is crazy.