First Timer / Summer Float.

[hoytman]

Do you guys think the Cane Bluff put-in will be floatable by June 28th? We were thinking of putting in there to start and take advantage of the smallmouth fishing. It sounds like it usually isn't floatable that late in June though? Thinking of shortening the float as mentioned, and if we where able to put in at Cane Bluff and float to Whitten, that would give us a solid 20 mile float and we would have the best of both worlds between trout and smallies. Also, anyone have any experience with Richard's Canoe rental down there? We are currently set up to rent some canoes from them and was curious to how the operation was.

[Al Agnew]

People that know me know that I like covering a lot of water...while smallmouth fishing. For trout fishing, however, it makes little sense to cover more than 5-7 miles per day. To effectively trout fish, especially if fly fishing, you really need to get out of the boat and seriously drift nymphs in every nice run and riffle you come to. If I was going to combine the trout with smallmouth, I'd go Cane Bluff to Turner's Mill, plan on covering the water the first day while smallmouth fishing, camping somewhere pretty close to Greer, and concentrating on the trout the second day.

[Brian Sloss]

Cane would be good this year as long as the forest service gets up there to cut a couple of trees that fell up there over the last 2 days.

[Mark]

Good advice by all - I would definitely shorten the trip. I suggest Turner Mill to Riverton (16 miles) or Greer to Riverton (21 miles). The smallmouth water will be in the later part of the trip closer to Riverton. No disrespect to anyone, but we use Hufstedlers canoe rental in Riverton almost exclusively, and would make sense if you take out at Riverton with less time shuttling and your vehicle would be at takeout. Some rental places want you to be at the takeout at a specific time and can be a worry about getting to a specific spot on a strange river at a specific time. I understand not wanting to leave canoes unattended at accesses but Mike Jones at Hufstedler's will simply ask about what time will you be getting off the river and leave the canoe on the bank. His place is just a short walk from the river too, if you want to leave your vehicles at the store, although no one has ever messed with our vehicles on the Eleven Point anywhere. I just never like being on someone else's time schedule on the river - too many variables.

[Brian Sloss]

The smallmouth fishing at Cane Bluff is the best though. By the way, on weekends we take a lot of boats out at Riverton and yes we set up pick up times, but we are pretty much there with a team all afternoon until the last group gets in. So we have 4 o'clocks showing up at 6:30 and it is not a problem. So there is not a real difference on weekends, though we do drive people 15 minutes back.

[Brian Sloss]

Cane Bluff should get cut out Fri so it should be fine for your float.