Spiff

I appreciate the info, Al. I'll keep that in mind for when I head back down...

Joe, when I did the float back in May, the Buffalo river levels were around 6 (compared to around 3.5 currently) and the White river seemed huge - it took around 40 minutes to float the 5.5 miles down to Ship's Ferry, which is where our outfitters dropped off my vehicle. However, it wasn't that bad - we slid toward the left side of the river (that is what side Ship's Ferry is on) and just kept an eye out for debris.

The only thing that concerns me is the water levels. When we went in May, it was around 5.5 - 6 feet, at Harriet, made for a good, although sometimes fast float. With the levels hovering around 3...is that too shallow to enjoy that last 24 mile stretch? Will we be dragging a lot of the time? (I recall some large flat areas that were fairly shallow at the 6 foot level...) Thanks.

It's me again... I floated the last 24 miles of the Buffalo in late May, and had a great time. I'm looking at doing the same float in mid October...I assume the fishing will be good, correct? The river levels are much lower than what we dealt with in May...that can only mean for better fishing. At what point does fall turn too cold to enjoy fishing there? Thanks for your help again.

Ship's Ferry is the public access point on the river. It's about five miles down the White River from the Buffalo / White confluence, on the north side of the White River, and according to our outfitter, pretty easy to see. I'm assuming that Riley's station is at Buffalo City? (We're using Wild Bill's outfitters to shuttle our vehicle down to our take out point...I have my own canoe...) That and having a GPS that will let us know when we're close...should make it easy. I understand what you're saying about a loaded canoe in high / rough water - I've made over 10 trips to Quetico / BWCA and being in some of those huge lakes with a loaded canoe in high winds is enough to make you religious. As far as the water goes, I have a purifier...just won't be *ice* water... Thanks again for everyone's advice...I'll definitely post pics and let you all know when I return how the trip was. We do have a little over a week to let the water come down and hopefully clear up a bit.

The take out point we've been quoted is 5.5 miles down on the White River from where the Buffalo River enters it. (I forget the name) The outfitter I spoke with said that the White is moving but didn't say anything about it being out of it's banks. The websites I've checked don't show it being abnormally high. I'll keep checking until our date for travel gets closer... Thanks.

I definitely will post some pics, and let you all know how the trip was. The bottom third, specifically the last 23 miles, etc...are supposed to be fairly mellow. As far as the water levels, I checked with an outfitter yesterday and he said the water levels are returning to normal. I'm not that frightened of heavy water, but I do use a fair amount of common sense as well, so all I can do is trust my partner does as well. Thanks again for all the info, and I'll let everyone know upon our return...we're floating in a week and a half so hopefully the water levels and clarity will return to somewhat normal.

Thanks for the information, guys. Is there any word or rules for campfires? I've floated the BWCA and they have certain timeframes where you can't have campfires. With the Buffalo being a National River, I'm wondering if there are special rules governing that. Again, any help would be appreciated.

Hey guys. I'm taking a float from Rush to the end of the Buffalo in the middle of May. I've done a lot of smallmouth fishing in the upper Ozarks (upper Niangua, Gasconade, Bourbouse, Meramac, etc) and had some relative success with anything that's crawdad or minnow patterned. I've wanted to float the Buffalo for a long time and finally got some time to do it. My specific questions are as follows: I've got a lot of smallmouth-specific lures...small watermelon / green pumpkin / pumpkinseed tubes and craws, jigs, some small cranks, smoke flukes, etc. Small buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. And some small topwaters. Is there anything specific that they hit the snot out of down there? Is that section from Rush to the end fairly deep? Lots of nice holes to work? (We're taking almost four days to do it) What's the rule for campfires in that section? Any common targets for fly fishermen as well? Thanks in advance for your time and any answers.