Rush To Buffalo City----Changes In The River.

[kayakfishing]

After several years of discussion and changes to plans due to weather (mainly flooding), a group of friends and myself are going to float from Rush to Buffalo City. I have the Buffalo River Handbook, but I expect there are changes in it due to the flood of 2008. Are most of the gravel bars for camping still available, are there any potential dangers to kayakers (strainers, willows, etc.) not mentioned in the book? I have been reading on this forum about Clabber Creek shoals and the rapid there possibly being a Class III now. We will be floating in Mid-June so maybe Clabber Creek won't be so bad. We plan on taking our time to fish, swim, hike, so we will be doing the float in 3 days/2 nights. Any recommendations on a good campsite for either night? I am guessing around an 8 mile float each day. We will have a mix of sit on top kayaks, and regular flat water kayaks.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[bobber]

the main thing would be the rain! with flash flooding being the main concern. and to find camping spots high off the water. a good first aid kit, and clean water, or filter system.and the take out! i like to go down stream and not have to fight the currents from all the generating.coming out at ships ferry .. i also would make a float plan and call the ranger station 1-888-692-1162 to let them know your on the wilderness section and make sure you call them back to tell them you are off the river as soon as you can. as for strainers, and down trees, you bet they are out there!

[blue]

i would love to take that float someday cant wait for the report on yours

[kayakfishing]

Thanks for the info, Bobber. We should have plenty of water, and will have filtration systems, too. We will be meeting at White Buffalo Resort the night before our trip, and they will have our trip plans. Good idea to call the ranger station with our plans, too.

Looking forward to a wonderful float, but just wanted to get some info on how that section of the river has changed since the 08 Flood.

[Plastic_worm]

Did this section over the weekend and the fishing was great. Even with the extra traffic we caught 4 over 20" and lost count of the fish we caught in the 14-18" range. The fishing was so good I have blisters on the inside of my fingers from my spinning rod. All were released. The rapid below Rush is a class III, stay left, the middle has 4' rollers. There are tree's down but nothing blocking the river. That was last weekend so things could change. There are sand bars every mile or so and plenty of great camping spots. I would also suggest getting out at Shipps Ferry...going up stream would be a bad idea. Other than that it's great part of the river and worth the extra work to float it. Good luck.

[Finley Cranor]

I checked the water level at Harriet and its at 4.1 today, what would be the lowest level to do this float? Thanks

[Dan Kreher]

Great to hear that the lower Buffalo is fishing well for nice sized smallies. Perhaps the one fish 18-inch minimum imposed by AG&F along this secion back in 2008 is starting to pay dividends. See excerpt below from the Bronzeback News, the official newsletter of The Missouri Smallmouth Allaince, below:

Effective March 1, 2008, The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission has placed a 25-mile section of Arkansas’ famed Buffalo River under new quality-based regulations for smallmouth bass. Excerpted from the AG&F Fishing Regulations handbook the regulation reads "From confluence with Clabber Creek downstream to the confluence with the White River, the smallmouth bass daily limit is 1 and must be at least 18 inches or longer to keep." This section of river, although somewhat inaccessible to “day trippers” due to its long length and lack of alternate take-outs, has long suffered from suspected overharvest of keeper smallmouth bass. Designated a Blue Ribbon Stream by AG&F, the entirety of the Buffalo River had been managed under a 14-inch minimum, two-fish creel limit for smallmouth bass since 1994. Still, overnight campers and, to some extent, boaters heading upstream out of White River into the Buffalo had kept an inordinate number of legal fish over the years thus diminishing the angling potential of this stretch of river.

William McMillan, of Arkansas Fly Fishers, commented, “This is an unbelievable section of the river, and it definitely deserves to be titled a Blue Ribbon Stream. In essence, this is the first “trophy” area for smallmouth bass on the river.” Similar quality regulations are in place on shorter sections of Kings River and Crooked Creek, two of Arkansas finest Blue Ribbon smallmouth stream fisheries.

Regarding the genesis of the regs change, McMillan noted, “This regulation change is something that our club spearheaded probably three years ago.

There were numerous letters sent along with other clubs offering up their support for the change of regulation on that section of river.” Arkansas Fly Fishers has historically been quite effective in influencing fisheries managers regarding the state’s cold water trout fisheries before recently directing their activities towards smallmouth bass fisheries.

“It may be only a small blurb on page 80 of the Game & Fish regulation manual, but this is a full 25 miles of river representing a huge step forward. They now are thinking of the smallmouth bass like they should be. This is a big win for the Arkansas Fly Fishers as well as for the Smallmouth Alliance!” he proclaimed.

I've never done this stretch of water but may look to it later this summer/early fall if I get the chance.

[blue]

can u float this sec of river during july aug or sep or is there alot of dragging i would guess that u could since it is so far down river thanks for info

[Plastic_worm]

The level it is now is perfect, 3.5 ft and 758 cfs. It it was below 3 ft I would expect to drag in a few places. I would watch the cfs more b/c there are long pools that require more paddeling w/o good flow. Over the weekend it was falling from 4.9-4.0 ft and ~1200 cfs which was great...it was slow enough to fish but we didn't have to paddle through the long pools...we just fished and floated. Hope that helps.

[Plastic_worm]

Also, watch out for the river boats...they are every where on this section of the river.