Enough Already!

[Brian Sloss]

Flooded again. Not just the river this time. We had waist deep water in our parking lot and chest high in the campground. We had an emergency evacuation of vehicles and boats and trailers. The near by creek got us good. Never seen water like that here at the shop. Check the gauge if you want to see what is happening to the river right now. This is getting plain stupid, enough with the rain already.

[smbass43]

Brian,

How long do you think it would take the river to return to its normal size, flow, color, etc...? Assuming that the rains ever stop!

[flyfisherman]

Brian

I agree this is complete insanity, I watch the gauge every day and my guess it will be a min of two weeks closer to three weeks to even approach normal levels. I guess if there is a silver lining, there will be new holes and water should be decent through the summer. Did you get the letter for the dates of Cast and Blast 08? Lets hope it is fishable by then. Stay dry

[Brian Sloss]

It will be doable in a couple of weeks I hope, but who the hell knows really. I've had enough of this spring, we canoed right past the front porch today and I am not being sarcastic. John, I did get the letter and look forward to the festivities.

[roy]

UNBELIEVABLE! I hope you guys are OK

[snap]

Brian, we are thinking of you guys down there and feel your pain!!! I checked the guage.....again....and the past month looks like the stock market!!! We were hoping to get on the river in two weeks, but, we are afraid it will be too high and still not able to be fished.

A number of years ago, when the river was around 4 feet, we floated Turner to Riverton. It was a quick trip and the fishing was tough. At what height do you think one could safely float and fish this river???

[Brian Sloss]

3-3.5ft the fishing might be ok, though challenging. If you are experienced you can float at just over 4ft, but this year I'd wait until reports have come in, to ensure that there are no blockages out there.

[Mark]

Thanks, Brian, we'll keep those river levels in mind.

[smbass43]

I'm headed down in the middle of May with a group for a 3 day trip. From the sounds of it we will be heading up stream around Thomasville. What's the river like up there during normal river levels (as far as fishing, gravel bars, size of river, and water clearity is concerned)? We primarily fish for smallmouth so I'm wondering if this stretch of the river holds big bass.

[Brian Sloss]

It is great smallmouth water and there should be plenty of water this year. Mostly private land until Cane Bluff, though you can camp at Denny Hollow on the upper stretch. Cane Bluff to Greer is really good smallmouth water as well. Thomsville down to Greer is about 17 miles, which can take a while if fishing.