skillet283

re: Kings River--talked to a guy two days back who floated it over this past weekend (Aug 12 and 13) and he said it was perfect right now. Plenty of flow and the fishing was fantastic. Just an FYI. I have base camped at Sunburst once in early Spring. We stayed in their little fishermen's cabins and had a pretty good time. That time of year it was total solitude on the NFOW, but it looked like summer might be a much different story up there. Justin and crew were super nice. I have stayed other places on the NFOW that I liked better, but it's a great river in any case. Lots of variety depending on where you float.

Thanks for the info, this looks like what we wanted. Close enough of a drive, easy shuttle. Appreciate the help. Can anybody help with how the fishing might be in that part of the river? jb

Hi all, Some buddies and I have been going to Oktoberfest in Hermann for years and have decided the drunken debauchery in town is starting to get a little old. We still want to get together with everybody but we want to find something else to do on a Saturday in October. We thought maybe a little float fishing would be a nice change of pace. We have a canoe and knew the Gasconade River was close enough for us to get to from our basecamp near Swiss. What we lack is any idea of how good a float the lower river might be or how good the fishing might be. I have done a little looking around online today and found some resources for descriptions of "what's where" on the river, including some access points. I needed some first-hand knowledge and somebody to give our possible plan the smell test. It seems like that lower end of the river (thinking from Paydown on down the river) has a reputation as a slow float. What would a reasonable day trip be for two guys in a canoe who want to fish a bit? We're thinking no more than 4-5 miles. With that in mind, I saw that there is supposed to be a "county road access" about 4 miles down river from Paydown on the right. BUT the Paydown access is on the left side of the river, which makes shuttling ourselves and also getting there take much longer. Any access points on river right in that area? There are also public access points much closer to where we're staying near Swiss, but are they too far apart and/or is the river worth floating in that area? Any tips on private access points in that stretch of river? Basically, we are looking for a leisurely float of, we think, 4-5 miles, within a reasonable driving distance of our starting point in Swiss. We'll be there the first weekend of October this year. Your thoughts and comments are most welcome. Thanks, jb

Tim, we're headed up tonight and don't have much experience at RR. In the absence of good fly fishing, what types of techniques might work well on a spinning rod given the conditions up there? (other than Power Eggs, etc., which I am trying to ween my kids off of!) Thanks! jb