npierceuark Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Saw the nice weather and a rise in the water levels so I figured this could be a good chance to hit the river and see what I've been missing. Planning on an early morning float starting around 6:30 to beat the crowds and hoping to be off before noon. Any floats you all would recommend? We will be using and shuttling our own canoes so public access is a must. Think the fishing will be any any good after these floods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Saw the nice weather and a rise in the water levels so I figured this could be a good chance to hit the river and see what I've been missing. Planning on an early morning float starting around 6:30 to beat the crowds and hoping to be off before noon. Any floats you all would recommend? We will be using and shuttling our own canoes so public access is a must. Think the fishing will be any any good after these floods? The water has a good steady current that's for sure. I like to wait until the crowds are thick, then go out in the afternoon. Start wading upstream of the put in and catch a few before leaving out. I always catch fish and the crowds are kind of entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 The fish are biting, did you go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
npierceuark Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 Yep made it out at 6:30 sat morning on the Big Sugar and had a phenomenal top water bite. Pop-r's, zara puppies, and buzzbaits. Didn't matter which, they were smacking them all. 5 of us floated a little over 5 miles and caught over 100 for the group. No monsters, biggest one being 14". All very healthy and well fed. Couldn't have asked for better weather and water levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusearlt Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 npierceuark: Sounds like yall had a great trip on the BIG SUGAR. We were thinking about 4 miles on the Big Sugar and 4 on the Elk. So how did the Big Sugar look? Was there lot's of downed trees and debris that made the float difficult? I just called Shady Beach and they said nobody has done that float since the heavy rains and they weren't sure how it was looking. We really want to do it but don't want to bite off more than we can chew. "If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 npierceuark, where did you put in? Buzz and I floated the big as well, but on Sunday morning. We killed them as well. This higher flow has them feeding like crazy! Between the two of us we figured we caught around 80 or so in 4-5 hours. We had several doubles on at the same time and Buzz caught a nice 17" largemouth. I mainly caught smallies, but we didn't catch anything big either, except his largemouth. Fishing for us didn't pick up until after 9 in the morning too. Marcusearlt, the water looked great. Our float was an easy one with no downed trees in our way. I was expecting a few on the stretch we took, but we didn't encounter any. Ed over at Sugar Island has been putting people in at Cyclone too. "you can always beat the keeper, but you can never beat the post" There are only three things in life that are certain : death, taxes, and the wind blowing at Capps Creek! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chub minnow Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 We scoped most of it on Sunday. No major log jams from Powell on down to Big Rock. It did look a little hairy before the Crag-O-Lea bridge, but you could easily walk around that one if you're not comfortable shooting it. I can't speak for anything down below there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusearlt Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Alright, thanks for the info guys. We are going to do the trip from Deep Ford to Shady Beach in the morning, fly and spin. Sounds like now is prime time, I can't wait. Only been up there one other time and loved it. I'm going to hit'em with the infamous "ned rig" and see how they like that. I'll report the results afterwards. Thanks again guys. "If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
npierceuark Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 We put in a little up stream of deep ford and took out at 71B access. I may be going again this weekend, can't beat this weather and water levels. Let me know how the ned rig treats you, we had pretty good luck on finesse worms our last float. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusearlt Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Well, we ended up putting in at Deep Ford. Shady Beach was very concerned about safety and reluctantly took us up there. The fishing was phenomenal as far as I am concerned. We caught'em on all kinds of stuff, threw the Ned rig only a couple casts. They were hitting small tubes tubes and olive or brown wooly buggers so well it was a no brainer. Cast behind you, quarter downstream, fish a hole behind a root wad, just keep your fly/lure in the water and you get a fish pretty much. I will say the the Elk was a huge slow moving pool that was not near as fun or productive as the Big Sugar. The water levels/cfs/structure are just plain fun right now. We didn't catch anything huge but man we had fun. We're probably going back this weekend too but doing Cyclone to Sugar Island this time. "If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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