Bourbeuse River Public Access Between Mill Rock And Peters Ford?

[MaxDrown]

Are there any public access points suitable for a canoe on the Bourbeuse River between Mill Rock and Peters Ford? Is there any camping in the area?

[ozark trout fisher]

Are there any public access points suitable for a canoe on the Bourbeuse River between Mill Rock and Peters Ford? Is there any camping in the area?

The Wenkel Ford Access. The Bourbeuse is a navigable river, so you can camp on gravel bars- I don't believe there are any campgrounds though.

http://www.missouricanoe.org/river-maps/bourbeuse.html

[eric1978]

There's nothing at Wenkel except a parking lot. Good access, no camping. There's a big bedrock shelf there that's used as a low water bridge, and you could probably camp on it if you really wanted, but the locals use it for their campfire/fishfry spot on weekends, so I'd paddle down a quarter mile or so for some isolation.

If you're going to float the upper sections of the Bourbeuse, get there when the water is up a little, otherwise you'll be doing plenty of dragging with a loaded canoe, especially above Wenkel...and when you're not dragging, you'll be paddling. It's a slow and muddy river, but it does hold some good smallmouth in the appropriate spots.

[MaxDrown]

We would drive down on a Friday night and camp, then float and fish for a day. Nothing fancy. Just allows us more time to fish is all.

[hank franklin]

Devil's Back Floats has a campground below Peter's Ford. Very close by car, river takes a big bend there. The operators' house burned and I'm not sure if they're even open but if you're looking for a campground that's it. In the morning if they are still in service they'll shuttle you, do whatever you need. Others on the board might know better their current situation. Call 573-484-3231.

As far as the river goes, what Eric said. I like to see about 50 cfs flow on the High Gate gage for good upper river floating. You can do it as low as maybe 10 cfs but I like a little more volume.

It's not the most scenic of rivers and it definitely has its very sloooow sections, but the fishing can be excellent, especially for spotted bass. Good luck.

[eric1978]

...but the fishing can be excellent, especially for spotted bass. Good luck.

And in case you didn't know Max, spots are invasive and putting a big-time hurtin' on the smallies in the Bourbeuse, and there's a limit of 12 with no length limit on them (I'm not sure if they recently removed the limit altogether or if that's just an optimistic figment of my imagination...maybe just a dream I had). Keep all the spots you can and have a nice fish fry when you get home. It's not often you get to eat bass guilt-free.

I hope you go. I haven't made it to that river this year and I'd like to hear how it's doing. Like Hank said, it's not the most breathtaking river as far as scenery, but it can fish pretty well and you'll definitely be able to avoid the huge summertime crowds you get on other rivers.

[Fish Ogre]

Devils Back is still open. I did their float from Peters ford to the campground on June 2.

The river was high and the fishing was not good. But the high water made the floating easier.