Any New Reports?

[Buzz]

I just finished reading the previous topic and didn't hear anything about flies or lures to use. I will be camping at Alley Springs and will canoe both Saturday and Sunday. I'm taking both fly rod and spinning outfit. I didn't hear anything about trout. I thought Jacks Fork had trout also. What are they hitting on and where should I concentrate my efforts? The photos were awesome , I can't wait to get on the river. If the aluminum hatch happens maybe it will spawn a topless Betty hatch also. Maybe I should bring beads????( LOL) Any info would be helpful. Sorry about the late notice just decided to go yesterday.

Buzz

[Al Agnew]

Nope, no trout in Jacks Fork.

It should be pretty much of a zoo this weekend down there. Water levels will probably be good, and the weather looks like it will cooperate, so it should be a full-fledged aluminum (and plastic and rubber) hatch. I wouldn't expect the fishing to be very easy.

[Buzz]

Thanks Al,

I guess I was ilinformed. Oh well, I will still enjoy the view of a new river and hopefully catch a couple of fish as well.

[steve l]

Here's a report...

Floated the river for what was planned to be the 14th throught the 17th Buck Hollow to Alley.

The 14th was a pretty good day overall. As far as fishing mostly smaller stuff. It rained that night for maybe 3 to 4 hours or so, and was raining when we got up. We stayed in the tent longer than usual, but it did taper off early enough. Had to have the rain gear on for a while as we began to break camp, but the rain stopped, and we were able to get everything packed w/o a problem.

Got on the river, and it started a light rain, and then shifted to what I guess I would call a steady light to mostly medium rain. We had sweat shirts and long pants on under the raingear, so were able to stay mostly warm. I worked a Yozuri top water for much of the time it was raining. Rather productive, with the best being a 1.9 – although never got the big fish blow-up I wanted. My wife pulled in a 1.3 using a plastic fluke she picked out (she was pretty pleased about that), and we both caught quite a few smaller fish.

It ended up raining for about 4 hours, so we were glad to see it end. The raingear worked pretty good, but you still end up getting wet. Breeze picked up a little, and we were beginning to get some blue sky patches here & there, so the rain was over.

Got to the gravel bar I planned for. It is a nice spot, and has the bonus of an old logging road that we could use as bailout, as with the rain I was a bit worried about the river coming up. Sun was slowly coming out, so we were able to get everything spread out & starting to dry. Got about a foot high water stick in, and got firewood gathered. Before dinner we got the canoe & gear somewhat organized on higher spots. But the river had only come up maybe only an inch & a half or so, not too bad.

Kung Pao chicken for dinner. That was really a good meal after a rainy day. Dinner is done, and its still a bit early to fish, and we’re sitting in the chairs when one of us noticed the water stick was now showing about a 6 inch rise. As we watched we could see the water rising on the stick. We decided that we should start moving stuff higher. And then things got a bit hectic.

You can see the result to that time on YouTube.

It is also found under steve jill float 2008

My “not see four more feet” was wrong. The river kept coming up & kept coming up. We collapsed the tent, put almost everything into the canoe, and staged everything we could as high as we could in the "safety zone" area. Kept watching the river, it kept coming up. We had a level picked out where if it got there we would move out of the safety zone, which was just at the fence posts you could see in the video.

Well, guess what, the river got to that point. By that time we had to have flashlights out. We could get higher by going back into woods, but there wasn’t anywhere to put the tent. The logging road paralleled that river for a ways, and then climbed about 30 or so feet up to a flat open spot where the road split. That was maybe more than an 1/8 mile but less than a 1/4 mile from the camp spot, and that was where we hauled the tent, sleeping bags, chairs, and coolers. Dragged the canoe up the road a ways (and then decided that we had better drag it further yet), and tied it off.

So that is where we spent the night, at least knowing the river wasn’t going to get up there. It turned out the river peaked just short of flooding the zone, ending up with about a 7 foot (or more) rise.

How we eventually got off the river is another story in itself, but suffice to say it was all an adventure. It was not how we wanted the trip to go, but it has made for a good story.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Wow. Every inexperienced overnight floater should read that story. The Jacks can really come up quick.

So how did you finally get off the river? I'm assuming you didn't try to float out.

[Phil Lilley]

Good story... but please finish it when you have time

[GloryDaze]

You just can't do that..it's just not right! I'm beginning to wonder if you work for a news station and write all their teasers to keep people watching. Because you got me wanting to hear the rest- Let's hear the rest of the story!!

I just floated that area about 8 weeks ago and am glad I didn't have that happen-

[steve l]

Yes, the JF can come-up real fast. While we were prepared, the reality is if the water had hit a earlier when we were out gathering firewood or even later after we went to bed the story may very well have turned out different. Then tent had originally been pitched higher, but not in the so-called safety zone. We had gear on higher areas and around the canoe ready to be thrown in if needed (and it would have been tied off) after dinner, but scambling in the dark would have been tougher. Lessons noted and won't be forgotten.

Here's the rest of the story, although it may be a bit anti-climatic...

No, we didn't try to float out, but there's a real good reason for that (beyond the obvious).

Even with the river dropping a good 3 plus feet overnight, we weren’t going to put on the river that morning. I thought that by noon or 1:00 or so it might drop enough for us to get back on. We had a complicating factor in that we had to be out of Alley by 10:00 or so Saturday morning for my wife's parent's 50th wedding annivesary in Quincy (IL). I have many years canoeing experience, and have been on rivers when they are high, but it can certainly be argued over whether that would have been wise. My primary worry would have been a tree down when coming around a corner, or perhaps just making a mistake with little room for forgiveness in the fast moving water.

So we moved everything back down to the zone, carrying it back down from the hill.

I had figured there would be rangers coming by to check that everyone was safe, and sure enough after a bit we heard the motor. The rangers stopped by & checked that we were safe & hadn't lost anything. While talking they told us that the Park Service shut the river down, no one was to be on the river on Friday. Now normally that would not be a problem, we would just stay where we were and head out the next morning, but the 50th wedding anniversary dinner was Saturday night, so I told them fine, but we had to be out of Alley by 10:00 Saturday morning and the reason why. One of the rangers began to ask our experience level, but the other ranger cut that discussion off really quick.

They didn’t have any solutions right then, but told us to hold tight & they would be back.

We did just that, having our breakfast of egg, sausage and cheese wraps.

The boat comes back in a while w/just one of the rangers. The plan is he will take the canoe back to Alley on the jet boat, and the other ranger will 4-wheel drive as far as he can along the logging road and then ATV to us to get our stuff out. So we carry the canoe onto the boat, and then haul everything back up to where we had the tent the night before and wait and wait. After several hours (watching the river drop & no fishing & resorting to taking bird pictures to amuse myself, not that there's anything wrong with that) we hear the motor.

It is the ATV, as the ranger was able to get the truck to within about a ½ mile of us. We loaded up the ATV a couple of times and on the last run my wife & I walked to the truck. Had to to load the ATV into the back of the pick-up, and then all of our stuff was lashed to the top of the ATV (coolers & dry box) or piled around it in the back of the truck.

It then took a good 30? 40? minutes to get to pavement from that point. The trails were a bit washed out, so the going was slow. There was one incline we were barely able to climb. But we finally we hit pavement, and it's off to Harvey's to get the car.

As a note aside, I do have to give full kudos to the Park Service and the rangers. The answer to us in the morning could very easily have been sorry, nothing we can do. I note crticism of rangers & troopers in these forums from time-to-time, but in this situation I have nothing but praise.

By that time it was 4:00, so not really sure what to do. Didn’t feel like going home (Springfield, IL, about 5 hours) just to get up & go to Quincy the next day. Didn’t feel like camping at Alley (nothing against Alley, we're just not campground people). So we went into Eminence for a milkshake (which was pretty darn good) while we tried to figure out what to do. Ultimately we ended up at Alley, which we were glad to see was mostly empty. Got a couple of bundles of firewood, had our steaks (elk) and potatoes and asparagus and drank a few cold beers before bed.

Then it was up early the next morning and off to Quincy, where everyone had a nice time at the anniversary dinner.

I most certainly would rather have had the last day and a half or so floating & fishing for smallies, but the river gives you what it does. Will be back for the same weekend next year, but hoping for a little drier weather.

[GloryDaze]

Thanks for the rest of the story.... You know, when we take trips like these we always joke "It's not a good trip unless you have a great story to tell" I think you have topped any story I've ever had on a trip. Glad you were safe and I'm sure you can't wait to get back next year!!