Devils Back Float

[Flyflinger]

I am thinking of floating with Devils Back Float this Friday. I did the float one time in the past and I didn't catch many fish, but the water was up and a little to muddy. I am hopeing my next adventure turns out better. I am hopeing someone will give me the thumbs up or down....I must admit my smallmouth fishing has been a real disappointment this year. Hopeing to tuen it around....

[eric1978]

I'm not familiar with that livery. What stretch of the river do they service?

[Mottled Sculpin]

I've floated that stretch several times and would certainly check it out. You will likely be putting in at Peters Ford and floating down to the campground. There are some really nice runs with great habitat scattered between some long slow running pools. I've caught some real nice smallies along that stretch. I've had real good luck throwing a buzz bait in the weeds along the bank. You'll catch some nice spotted and smallmouth bass using this techniqe. Be prepared to paddle for a long time through the slow stretches but in my experience it's certainly worth it. Let me know how it goes. Good luck!

[Flyflinger]

I'm not familiar with that livery. What stretch of the river do they service?

They put you in above Noser Mill, and you float back to Noser Mill. They offer a 7 and 3 mile float.

[eric1978]

I haven't done that particular stretch, but I can tell you the Bourbeuse is an extremely slow river, so 7 miles can be a long float. It can fish very well at times, other times it'll seem like it's devoid of life. I definitely recommend you stay below Wenkel right now, as you would be doing a ton of dragging above there. Around Peters Ford would probably be a good choice at this time.

[Al Agnew]

Actually, I haven't floated that stretch in a long time, but when I did, I put in up at Laubinger Ford (which is a little-known access that may have reverted to private by now--Devils Back used to agree to put me in there, however) and floated all the way to the campground, which is a 14 mile float. I took my Oscoda solo, which is a good, fast flatwater canoe, and basically I would paddle through the long pools as fast as possible without bothering to fish them, concentrating my efforts only in places where there was at least perceptible current. It made for a long and strenuous day, but it always rewarded me with a bunch of decent fish. If I just did the seven miles from Peters Ford, it seemed like about 2/3s of it was dead frog water and I'd end up either feeling like I was wasting a lot of time if I fished it, or if I didn't fish it I'd end up feeling shorted on the relatively little good water that I did fish.

The Bourbeuse was always a feast or famine river for me. Either I had great days or really sucky days. It seemed to depend a lot on how much water was flowing. The Bourbeuse is one river where low water does not usually mean good fishing in the summer. On most Ozark streams, low water tends to concentrate the fish a little more, and probably because of competition for food they tend to be active and quick to strike. But it always seemed like on the Bourbeuse, in low water the spots with good current that should have been good were just too shallow, and the fish kind of hunkered down as close to the current as they could get and still stay in deep enough water to feel secure, but they weren't as often active. On years where we got a lot of rain and the river kept some water in the summer, however, the fishing could be spectacular.

[Gavin]

I agree with AL....floated from Peters to Devils Back a couple years ago. There's probably 5 miles of frog water on that float...Managed to catch some crappie and a few nice LM in the frog water, but the smallie fishing wasnt that great IMO..Much better between Noser & Reiker but youll have to secure private access. Cheers.

[405z06]

I, too, agree with Al. The first half of this float has always been very productive for me for both nice spots and smallies. 1/4 oz willow leaf spinnerbaits always seemed to work even when other baits wouldn't work. The second half of the float is dead water with very little current. Some stretches look bassy, but have yet to pull anything out of the back half. And if the wind is coming at your face, it's a long way back to your vehicle, because there is no current to help you along