Jacks Fork Trip Report May 17-19Th

[Gavin]

Think CWF went Prong's to Rymers...the river seems to flatten out and get shallower below there...I dont blame the article...Think I've talked with folks from out of state on most of the trips that I've made there...Last trip...group of 10-12 from Minnesota and some folks from Texas....

[ColdWaterFshr]

17 to Rymers, and yes I double checked the gauge - it was around 117 cfs Friday through Sun. Very little dragging if you picked the right course.

I can't blame the article either. I think the crowds were out in force due to a lot of things. Previous weekend was Mothers Day weekend, so probably few were out. Prior to those weekends the weather has been dicey or the river too high.

[Smalliebigs]

see ya

[Flysmallie]

Scott, no offense but that's a poor idea. I can't find enough time as it is and now you want me to take a couple of classes over the course of a couple of weekends to use up some more of my free time? Plus I will probably have to pay dearly for those. But no harm because that will never happen.

There are other rivers out there with less traffic. It's a little farther to drive sometimes and a little harder to get a shuttle but worth it. People have been talking about the Jacks Fork forever so you will never stop it's popularity. Eric caught some nice fish so I don't think it's hurting. The biggest problem with the Jacks Fork is that it is connected to the Cesspool Current River and all the trash it brings out of STL. Beautiful places but they are a waste of my time.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Looks like fun CWF, kid time on a river is hard to top.

My take on overexposing some rivers is as simple as me, you don't invite 200 people to a party with food and space for 50!

[Mark]

Also not in favor of any kind of special classes and/or permits to use the rivers. For all the same reasons, plus the people who want to make a once a few years trip on the river will not go to trouble of special classes and will just skip the float trip, denying perhaps their kids out of the enjoyment of float trips.

The biggest problem I see is trash in some rivers and their access areas. I don't think special classes are going to change the mindset of those yahoos.

[eric1978]

Count me in for the classes and permits. Anything that keeps some boneheads off the river is fine with me. I'll take outlawed liveries, too (except Brian and Justin, of course...but they only get to service me and people like me). If someone is interested enough in getting on the river, they'll jump through the hoops. Everyone else is just riff raff screwing up my serenity.

But like Ronnie said, that will never happen. Never. Too bad.

[ColdWaterFshr]

I like the idea of classes and river monitors, but its a pipedream. I think a much simpler solution is daily limits. Max # of boats launched from a given access would be set at 50 boats. Outfitters or personal boats, makes no difference. You get there first you're in, too late and you lose. Get your permit to float, its dated and you're good to go. Don't have it and you get caught, big fine. Big sawhorses go up once the daily limit is reached - ACCESS CLOSED. Probably talking about about less than a dozen weekends Friday/Saturdays that this would need to be policed. Mid-May to July 4th and then a couple weekends before school starts. Of course the outfitters would never let this happen -- another pipedream.

[Smalliebigs]

see ya

[eric1978]

I'm not alleging that I caught a few 16-17...I did catch a few 16-17. But I wouldn't call them great fish. Decent fish. But I don't know what that has to do with anything. Regardless of what size fish are in that river and how many you catch, or if there were no fish at all, 200 floaters ruins a trip. So does 100 and so does 50. And there's nothing can be done about it, but I still wish MO Conservationist and everyone else would just shut up about all rivers, especially the ones that are already swamped with idiots.