Jack's Fork Levels?

[eric1978]

Yikes. Yeah, I just don't mess around with rivers when they're high. Too risky. JF has been dropping since Saturday morning, but it's still really moving.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Yikes. Yeah, I just don't mess around with rivers when they're high. Too risky. JF has been dropping since Saturday morning, but it's still really moving.

You're good Eric... go catch some fish and send us some pics. Have you looked at the gage? Go to the website I mentioned and see Glory Daze' posts. I shouldn't judge on how the accident took place, but Blue Spring is a party spot in warm weather. Like I said earlier... nevertheless.

[eric1978]

Yeah, I've been watching the gage at Mountain View. Looks like if it doesn't rain anymore it should be prime. I'm a little worried about Wednesday.

[GloryDaze]

Eric- I said we floated at 4.4..... not sure what I was thinking but it wasn't that high. Here is a trip report from when I went in March of 2008 with a buddy I always float with-

Jack’s Fork Trip Report: South Prongs Access 0.0 to Alley Springs 31.0- 31 Miles

March 7-9, 2008

Boat: Mad River Synergy 12

Temperature: High Low Water Conditions: (Gauge at Hwy 17) 3.65 is flood level

March 7th 37 25 3.6 foot

March 8th 39 14 900 CFS

March 9th 56 26 ** Perfect Floating Level**

Friday, March 7th:

With snow on the ground Nolan and I took off for a 3 day, 31 mile float around 1p.m. This was my first trip in my new Mad River Synergy 12. Five minutes in, a tree snagged a lawn chair on my canoe, pulled my back end under and ripped the chair into the water. The water could not be more than 40 degrees, so I was already wet and cold. With one lawn chair down, we paddled on with the water level nice and high. The upper section was very technical and had some pretty narrow chutes. The strainers left over from the floods caused the biggest challenge for us. When the water was this level it opens up several chutes to choose from along the way- sometimes you cannot see around the corner of which one will be best, but we only had 1 problem the entire trip. Shortly after the hwy 17 bridge there is a house on river left- there are 3 chutes to choose from- well, what we could not see was a tree had fallen and knocked down the powerlines (insulated) but black and we could not see the line about a foot above the water level. Lets' just say we got hung up and had to bail out and portage the kayaks- Nolan got pinned to a tree and in the chaos, dropped his paddle and it was swept downstream. During the fun, I managed to lose both of my fishing poles as well! We split the paddle in half and we each used it as a canoe paddle for a bout 1 mile. Luckily his paddle was stuck in an eddy and we managed to grab it for the rest of the trip Maybe they have cleared it by now, but it was a little scary. We camped along the river and settled in for a chilly night by enjoying some “traditional foil packs,” vodka and redbull and a good nights sleep. Camped about a mile or two from Buck hollow and traveled about 8 miles today in 4 hours.

Saturday, March 8th:

Woke up to a very chilly morning and goofed around the campsite. We decided to play homerun derby with a stick, rock and the wall was the bluffs across the river. We didn’t break camp until around 11am when the weather warmed up just a little bit. Today went pretty much without a hitch and we didn’t encounter any problems or real obstacles (perfect day of floating) this section of the river is beautiful with tall bluffs, swift water and a lot of wildlife. We had a bald eagle in front of us today but it never got too close and just sat up on the bluffs and watched almost as if it owned this stretch of river and wanted to show us it was king of the valley. Stopped for lunch by huge bluffs and had some turkey and bread (which had been smashed and dried out in my dry bag). We finished the day by camping just upstream from Bay creek at a nice campsite. I remember by this time Nolan was almost frozen to death and swore from now on he would dress according to the weather and not wear shorts. We built a lean- to shelter with a tarp knowing it was going to be a cold, cold night and settled down. We had Cheddar-Wursts for dinner along with some more Vodka and Redbull and Busch Beer. The thing that sticks out most is having all the firewood, most which was pine and how much wood we were burning, but it never seemed to get real hot?? Nolan also snored all night long…I’m talking like a freaking freight train!! Floated about 15 miles today in about 6 hours.

Sunday, March 9th

It was cold last night, got down to 14 degrees (which breaks my record of camping in cold temps…previously it was 18) I slept very little because of Nolan’s snoring and was a little slow to get out of the sleeping bag. Today was going to be a nice warm day and unfortunately we wouldn’t enjoy it since we were getting off the river today. Once again, today was a simple day of floating with no real excitement or problems. The water level did drop a lot from when we started since we did drag a few times on the way to Alley. Today we floated 8 miles in 3 hours.

[eric1978]

Man, looks like the water was really moving your first two days. I'm hoping it won't be that high for us. I'm sure we'll encounter some sweepers and strainers at least on the Prong section, but since the water won't be frigid, no biggie. Guess you didn't do too much fishing on that trip without any rods, huh? That sucks. Thanks for posting that report.

[GloryDaze]

Dude- looks like your weekend trip is going to be perfect!! Perfect weather and I just checked the gauge and it's 2.75 and falling. My guess would be 2.5 or so for the trip- did I mention how jealous I am? While you are living the sweet life this weekend, I'm going to be downtown STL cheering the wife on at a Marathon.... Man, I love my wife, but watching a marathon is like watching the grass grow- I mean, what sport could you get exicted about when you can claim "I finished in 8,756 place!!" Better yet, I get to watch 8,755 people cross the finish line in front of her.

Have fun

[eric1978]

Thanks GD...will do. I must have checked that Mountain View gage a hundred times this week. Things are looking great! Looks like they're gonna miss the rain that was forecasted for today, so the levels should be primo. Perfect temps this weekend, too. Sorry 'bout the marathon. I'll have a beer and catch a fish for ya.

[Flysmallie]

The river is dropping so fast because they are draining it. It should be dry by the time you arrive. You would be better off just driving to Springfield and letting my 6 year old teach you how to change diapers. You gotta get prepared boy.

[eric1978]

The river is dropping so fast because they are draining it. It should be dry by the time you arrive.

Geez, figures they'd drain it the weekend I plan to go. What are they gonna do with all the fish?

You would be better off just driving to Springfield and letting my 6 year old teach you how to change diapers. You gotta get prepared boy.

I still got some time left.