River Update 4/24/09

[Brian Sloss]

The recent rains that blew out many of the rivers last weekend and early last week, largely missed us and the river is in great shape. It is a little higher than it was, which is good. The upper river smallies are starting to feed and I'm guessing they are putting on weight for the spawn. Turner Mill South camping is closing for a couple of weeks for repairs and a new boat ramp. The upstream section will be closed and the downstream section will be open for day use purposes until construction is complete. When finished, there will be 6 campsites on the upstream side and the furthest upstream site will be for parking and boat ramp use only. The downstream boat ramp, which is useless, will be for canoes. New float camp signs are to be put out this spring as well. Bad news in the area is that the graveyard hallow road and Bliss roads will be closed. Graveyard is locked up now and a gate is going on the Bliss road soon. The forest service told me it was because too much trash and illegal ATV use getting out of control. That is too bad, as I used to use the graveyard access to fish a lot. Unfortunately some thoughtless people have ruined the luxury of easy access to those spots for the rest of us.

[superfly]

That really sucks that they locking up the Graveyard Hole. I really liked to fish that area. That makes it a pretty good hike now. Brain do you think FS would give us/you a key? Ha! Ha! Superfly

[Brian Sloss]

I am 100% sure the answer would be a big fat NO. But it would be nice.

[FishinCricket]

Brian, I have been planning to come down and float from Greer to Turner Mill this week, will this (construction at turner mill) effect my take out?

And will the river be floatable and fishable on wednesday, or have the recent (and expected) rains got it flooding yet?

[Brian Sloss]

We have not gotten too much rain as of yet, so the river is fine. You can still take out at Turner. Went out Sunday afternoon and had to work hard for every fish, but the ones I got were of very good quality. You might consider a smallmouth trip from Cane Bluff to Greer as they are starting to bite.

[jibro]

We have not gotten too much rain as of yet, so the river is fine. You can still take out at Turner. Went out Sunday afternoon and had to work hard for every fish, but the ones I got were of very good quality. You might consider a smallmouth trip from Cane Bluff to Greer as they are starting to bite.

Brian, depending on how much rain we get this week a friend and i may come down this weekend. I see you suggesting Cane to Greer for Smallies. I was under the impression the better smallie float would be from Thomasville to Cane. Which of these floats would you suggest for smallies?

[FishinCricket]

We have not gotten too much rain as of yet, so the river is fine. You can still take out at Turner. Went out Sunday afternoon and had to work hard for every fish, but the ones I got were of very good quality. You might consider a smallmouth trip from Cane Bluff to Greer as they are starting to bite.

My 16 foot John boat would have a hard time fitting on that stretch of river, wouldn't it? Please advise.... (and thanks for any and all pro bono advice you give here, I am very grateful)

[Brian Sloss]

Thomasville to Cane or Cane to Greer, either one can fish very well on a given day. I would not take a john boat from Thomasville to Cane bluff. There are at least 2 tree portages Below Thomasville and one low water bridge portage. Not bad in a canoe, but bad in a john boat. The Thomasville stretch gets less pressure, which is nice, but they both have plenty of smallmouth and neither section is hammered with fisherman. Hard to say one is "better" than the other. I prefer Cane to Greer because it is all inside the national forest, while Thomasville to Cane runs through mostly private land, where ranches are visible in places. Fishing can be very good up there though and there are pretty cool springs to check out.

[Brian Sloss]

At least for now, it looks like the graveyard road has been reopened, let's hope people don't trash it and give them a reason to close it again.