Overnight Float Trip

[Gavin]

If it's just one or two nights it's easier to haul your water v. Buying an expensive filter. I have a nice pump filter but it rarely gets used unless we have a big group and a pile of dishes to rinse. Works great for that.

[joeD]

Bring condoms, drugs, alcohol, and a sense of humor. I'm quite sure your trail mix ,dry bags, and MREs will be safe.

Oh, will you be fishing?

That's a little ways downstream honey.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Not dissing the NFOW, but with what you want to do have you thought about the Eleven point? I suspect it might fit your needs better. The limit changes there after Turner, if I'm not mistaken, and there are river accessible only camping areas.

[ozark trout fisher]

FWIW, hauling water on a 2-3 day trip isn't a big deal at all. Purifying water every time you need it is a pain though, I can state from experience, especially when you need a lot of it for tasks like washing dishes,etc. It's a necessary one of there are portages/other issues to deal with- but not necessary and a hassle if you're just paddling an Ozark stream IMO.

My biggest advice (if you're planning to eat fish) is to have a back-up plan ready. You'll catch (legal) fish on every single trip right up until the one where you didn't pack anything else for dinner except freeze dried meals. A couple cans of chili or stew would be a nice insurance policy for slow fishing, or at least slow fishing for what you're willing/able to keep.

I'm willing to go spartan if it's necessary, but when you are canoeing on an Ozark river, there's no reason not to camp in relative luxury. Not like you have to carry the stuff.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I never purified dish water, I let the boiling do that.

[darbwa]

When I go on an overnight I live in luxury. I bring an inflatable mattress, plenty of water, real food, snacks and plenty of fishing gear. If I was planning on a 3+ night trip then, and only then, I would be busting out the dehydrated stuff and filtering water. But that's just me. There is something very enjoyable about traveling light as well (some say "its the only way to fly") so I'm not judging. Enjoy!

[Nick Williams]

Keep in mind that if you're floating the Blue Ribbon section ( Rainbow Spring to Patrick Bridge) your limit is one fish over 18", and if your'e floating from Patrick Bridge down to the lake (Red Ribbon) your limit is 2 fish 15" or over.

If all goes according to plan, we should be in Smallie water, aka above Blue Ribbon, still for the meal we try to catch. One of our guys even decided he might try to get some suckers/carp to eat. But we shouldn't have an issue with limits, I believe.

Not dissing the NFOW, but with what you want to do have you thought about the Eleven point? I suspect it might fit your needs better. The limit changes there after Turner, if I'm not mistaken, and there are river accessible only camping areas.

Yeah, it's possible that it might meet our needs better. I have just been on the NFOW the most, and know it's waters and levels better than any other river. I haven't been on the Eleven Point river before either. That's one of the main reasons we are choosing the NFOW. We also have some guys going that haven't floated a real river before, so being on a river some of us are familiar with feels like a better idea.