River Level... How High Is Too High?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I don't know about a crowd on Labor day, we went in late July and saw two groups in the first couple of miles, one group drove in and were probably less than a mile below Rush. The second camp had an outboard and we weren't sure but what they were going back up river. We never saw them after passing there camp. The next time me saw humans was when we ran in to a couple who were 2-3 miles from the mouth and coming up river.

[Jump n Fish]

Absolutely no cell service of any kind. No towns and the only way out that I know of is a two mile hike from middle creek.

I don't think the river will be crowded

Nice! Sounds like my idea of a vacation.

It sounds a bit more isolated than I expected, which is good, but I may reconsider my options if I can't find a float partner.

[GloryDaze]

Go for it!!

Man, you just can't beat a solo trip down any river. Last one I took was 3 nights/4days down the Buff- what a great trip. I think half of te adrenaline rush is the fear of the unknown "what if I..............." fill in the blank. Of course I bring some items, firs aid kit, whistle, and leave a float plan with my wife and the rangers.

It's absolutely amazing sitting around on a gravel bar, at night, by yourself talking to the fire and listening to the sounds of nature.

Have a great trip!!

[Wayne SW/MO]

It sounds a bit more isolated than I expected

On our second night out we were about 3-4 miles from the mouth, we heard a train whistle which quickly made us realize that we had not heard or seen any evidence of humans since shortly after putting in.

[Al Agnew]

Some good advice above. I do solo overnight trips fairly often, but I'm always aware of weather forecasts. I'm just about as afraid of being in a serious lightning storm or high winds as I am of getting flooded out. The lower Buffalo can come up fast, but if you're aware of the possibilities and don't choose stupid campsites it should be fairly easy to escape the rising water. Just don't camp on potential islands...look for gravel bars that rise to a higher bank, not bars that are high in the middle and lower next to the high bank. And if you think there's a chance of flooding, make sure your boat is pulled up to the same level of the gravel bar your tent is, and keep everything you don't really need in the tent in the boat all night. The lower Buffalo has a lot of really high gravel bars, but there are some sections of two or three miles even down there where there aren't real good choice bars.

I'm fortunate in that I have a lot of flexibility in when I go on a multi-day solo trip, so I don't usually go if there's a real good chance of heavy rain or big storms.

[gotmuddy]

the spot I suggested has a really high gravel bar. I have not done a two day trip on the buffalo yet this year and I need to soon.

[Jump n Fish]

Yeah, I'm gonna go for it if the weather holds out even if my float partner is a no go. If we don't get any rain this week though at the rate the river gauge is dropping, it's gonna be really low by the time I go. I anticipate a good bit of dragging which will be somewhat of a hassle with as heavy as my canoe is gonna be loaded down. I just hope the smallies are going. These cooler nights should help bring that water temp down a bit and get the bite going. Hot diggity, I can't wait!

[flytyer57]

Yeah, I'm gonna go for it if the weather holds out even if my float partner is a no go. If we don't get any rain this week though at the rate the river gauge is dropping, it's gonna be really low by the time I go. I anticipate a good bit of dragging which will be somewhat of a hassle with as heavy as my canoe is gonna be loaded down. I just hope the smallies are going. These cooler nights should help bring that water temp down a bit and get the bite going. Hot diggity, I can't wait!

Water temp peaked at around 85° today and got down to about 76° last nite.

[gotmuddy]

Yeah, I'm gonna go for it if the weather holds out even if my float partner is a no go. If we don't get any rain this week though at the rate the river gauge is dropping, it's gonna be really low by the time I go. I anticipate a good bit of dragging which will be somewhat of a hassle with as heavy as my canoe is gonna be loaded down. I just hope the smallies are going. These cooler nights should help bring that water temp down a bit and get the bite going. Hot diggity, I can't wait!

you will have a great time.

[Jump n Fish]

Just got back from the 3-day, 2-night trip. Had an awesome time. Thanks for all the advice. Fishing was downright tough though. The smallies were not where they should've been and although I picked up some small ones in the fast stuff, the big ones were all in the pools. This made them very tough to pinpoint the water to fish as there was no pattern to where they were holding. Some shallow, some deep, some in the sun and some in the shade. You could spend a whole day working each pool so trying to weed through the unproductive water was tough and usually involved sight fishing. But, With the water as low and clear as it was and bright bluebird skies the whole time, it was downright impossible not to spook the fish from either casting a long ways or getting too close. I did manage enough action to keep me entertained though and Sunday was a heartbreaker of a day with losing about 4 big fish in a row.

I also got out the buggy whip and scored two nice rainbows and 3 little brown trout right before taking out on the White.

BTW, there are some world record gar in the Buffalo. Those things are scary huge, and tons of them.