Flies On The Buffalo Etc...

[il_smallie_man]

Hello everyone, I'm asking for some assistance. Some friends and I are looking into a trip on the Buffalo the 1st week of October. We are looking at the lower wilderness area. I would like to fly fish through most of the trip. that being said, what type of water are we looking at? Deep pools? small pools? shallow pools? Are there a lot of downed trees?Is this a good area for fall fishing? Also curious if there are any local flies I should be aware of. I'm assuming as smallmouth are similar everywhere, the standards should work well. Any advice would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

[Danimal]

Leech and Crawfish Patterns. Dan-o

[Terry Beeson]

...what type of water are we looking at? Deep pools? small pools? shallow pools? Are there a lot of downed trees?Is this a good area for fall fishing?...

The answer is YES..... to all those questions... Well, as for the trees, a LOT may not be exactly right...

Leech and Crawfish Patterns. Dan-o

That'll pretty much do it...

You might tie some patterns with flourecent color (neon green is good) ice dubbing with a maribou tail and a bead or dumbell head.

I wouldn't go without a few hopper patterns as well. Might be too cold, but then again might not... you never know...

[Yakfly]

OOoohhh - late summer on the Buffalo! I'll be there too.

I take it you are talking about the lower section - Rush to White River.

That time of year, the water levels will be near lowest of all year. The deep, deep sections (I'm talking 10+ feet) will be pretty much limited to the White River confluence area. You'll see a lot of shallow runs and small pools.

Are there a lot of downed trees? I didn't see a whole bunch this summer, I saw more "bent over" trees from this years flood.

Is this a good area for fall fishing? - YES. Upper Buffalo becomes hard to float due to low water levels. Lower section is better IMHO. More deeper runs, deeper pools.

Flies? Well covered above and yeah, standard smallmouth fare works well. My opinions - Woolleys and more woolleys. Crawfish colors = brown/rootbeer/orange and the like. Go kinda big because by this time of year, you are seeing this years born crawfishies at their biggest size. Black woolley = leech.

Chartruse clousers for minnow imitations.

Oh and heck yeah, throw a hopper up against the banks.

[il_smallie_man]

Hey, thanks a lot guys! It sounds like the lower part is definitely where we want to be. It seems like the same patterns I use up here are working there too. I've found a crawfish pattern this year that is awesome! the Holschlag hackle fly,(SmallmouthAngler.com) is where to find it. Hopefully works great there also.

As this is my first trip to the Buffalo, any sage advice from the veterans?

Now is the hardest part of planning the trip......waiting until it's time!

Thanks for the advice.

d

[Al Agnew]

Just a couple other notes...

At that time of year the river is likely to be as low as it gets, and may be some work to get down in canoes loaded with camping gear, even in the lower section. It's well worth the work, but don't expect it to be easy floating. You'll probably have to drag the canoe down some of the riffles.

Early autumn is a transition period for the fish, and a lot depends upon the weather. Assuming normal fall water conditions (low and clear), water temps and weather conditions will make a big difference on where you find the most fish. So you just gotta try everything from surface flies to bottom draggers, and try them everywhere from deep pools to shallow runs, until you get some sort of pattern worked out.

[Doc Tom]

Hello everyone, I'm asking for some assistance. Some friends and I are looking into a trip on the Buffalo the 1st week of October. We are looking at the lower wilderness area. I would like to fly fish through most of the trip. that being said, what type of water are we looking at? Deep pools? small pools? shallow pools? Are there a lot of downed trees?Is this a good area for fall fishing? Also curious if there are any local flies I should be aware of. I'm assuming as smallmouth are similar everywhere, the standards should work well. Any advice would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

One thing you need to know if you are canoeing is the motor boats.

I took the Boy Scouts on that section 3 years ago. I saw it was a wildrness area on the map and thought we would have only a few people with lots of peace and quiet. The National Park Service as part of the deal that set the park up apparently got the River itself excluded from the Wilderness designation and Jon boats with up to 9.9 HP are allowed and frequent this part of the river.

It was most annoying being checked by the Game and Fish guys running a 25HP motor on their boat roaring up and down the river. They told us they were looking for guys they heard were running a 15 HP motor on the river. (Honest, I couldn't make this story if I tried).

The Buffalo is a wonderful place. Late in the year I'd go more for minnow imitations than crawdads.

Tom

[Phil Lilley]

One thing you need to know if you are canoeing is the motor boats.

I took the Boy Scouts on that section 3 years ago. I saw it was a wildrness area on the map and thought we would have only a few people with lots of peace and quiet. The National Park Service as part of the deal that set the park up apparently got the River itself excluded from the Wilderness designation and Jon boats with up to 9.9 HP are allowed and frequent this part of the river.

It was most annoying being checked by the Game and Fish guys running a 25HP motor on their boat roaring up and down the river. They told us they were looking for guys they heard were running a 15 HP motor on the river. (Honest, I couldn't make this story if I tried).

The Buffalo is a wonderful place. Late in the year I'd go more for minnow imitations than crawdads.

Tom

They have to outrun the crooks, don't they? That's funny though.

[bobber]

9 1/2 hp outboard motors are aloud all the way up to the Eurbie ford . not that i would, but it is legal