First Buffalo Trip 8/23-8/24

[scottt]

First post here but I hope to be here fairly often over the next few years. A friend and I will be taking our first trip to the Buffalo this weekend, the 23rd to the afternoon of the 24th. We'll be camping and fishing for smallmouth. I know the water levels aren't ideal but it's when we can go. We're looking at Rush Landing to Shipps Ferry or North Maumee to Rush Landing. Rush to Shipps looks like a long trip for a day and a half but we like the idea of fewer people. Do you have any suggestions on which stretch? I've heard the fishing slows when the water is low, do you have any suggestions for two first time smallmouth fisherman? We will mostly be spin fishing but will have a fly rod with us. I've been reading as much as I can but don't know how much the heat and low water will change what usually works. We're both extremely excited about the trip but are concerned about the water levels. Thanks for your help.

[Ham]

Rush to Shipp's Ferry in 1 1/2 days isn't a fun trip, it's a death march. DO NOT TRY THAT WITH THESE AIR TEMPS AND THIS WATER LEVEL.

I think you're crazy for camping with these air temps at all, but hey whatever makes you happy.

You're other trip option is much more doable and enjoyable.

[Plastic_worm]

If you decide to do Rush to Shipps...leave the fishing poles at home. No chance to fish, you'll be busy paddling or walking. Maumee to Rush would be my choice. Most likely you'll see other floaters but the temps are going to keep a few campers off the river. If you camp at the gravel bar just after Buffalo point you'll have about 6 miles of water to fish w/o floaters on Sunday...assuming you leave early.

As far as the fishing...probably not ideal conditions. But if this is when you can go don't sweat it. You'll be in awe of the river. Take tubes/wacky worms/floating 4" worms and you'll catch some. Clousers and craw patterns work on the fly...I'd take a few hoppers and poppers and test the top water bite early.

I've had a few trips in the ozarks this year and posted fishing reports in my blog.

[scottt]

Thanks for the quick replies, Rush to Shipps if definitely out. Do you think it's worth the 5 hour drive in these conditions or would something closer to home make since right now and try for the Buffalo later in the year when conditions improve? Our goal is floating, fishing and camping. We haven't fished for smallmouths before so it sounded like fun. I'm sure we would have a good time but don't want to drive 5 hours each way if something closer to Tulsa would be just as good this time of year.

[Ham]

I want overnight lows to be no warmer than 65 degrees. You can get lucky and fish falling water any time of the year, but Apr, May, and June are the normal months to do overnight tips on the Buffalo.

[Al Agnew]

As long as you have a tolerance for warm nights, go for it. Pick your gravel bar judiciously; try to find one that's been shaded much of the afternoon so that the gravel isn't hot.

As for fishing...it can be good even during the middle of the day, you just have to get over thinking that "dog days" mean the fish turn off. They don't, the anglers do on these streams. Think cover and shade, not necessarily deep water, and think long casts and reaction bites, not sitting on a hole and dragging plastics. I'll give you a bit of info...the best late summer trip I ever had on the lower Buffalo, the fish were eating buzzbaits all day long in water temps that had to be in the high 80s and air temps that were close to 100.

[hoglaw]

I'm with Al, the hotter it gets, the better the fishing gets. I've had some great days in the worst heat of the summer.

Have you floated the Illinois above Tenkiller? Not sure about gravel bar camping over there, but it's some decent water that's closer to you. If you stay farther down on the river you won't have as many folks to deal with. That's a lot closer to you than the Buffalo if you're concerned about heat and water levels.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Rush to the White is too far period in a day and a half. It's an interesting trip if there is enough water, too much to miss on a quick trip. We did it in '08 with a starting temp of 104 and low water, never again, it's too far to walk in 3 days!

[1969Larson]

So how was the trip?

[scottt]

To sum it up, the trip was good but I'll never go back with water this low and temps so high. Like every trip with this friend we had a couple of moments that made the trip memorable. We arrived around 2 am Saturday morning and decided it wasn't worth setting up the tent so we slept in the car in front of a small church. Between driving to the take out and getting back to the put in we didn't get on the water until about 10 am. The first thing we noticed was just how little water flow there was. The outfitter guessed we would float about .5 mph without paddling but that may have been a little generous! We didn't notice any algae at the beginning of the float, but the fishing was slow. This was partially from our inexperience with rivers but no one else was doing good either. We caught six or seven fish Saturday on white spinnerbaits and buzzbaits and one on a weightless pumpkinseed senko. Two were panfish and the rest were a mix of smallmouth and largemouth.

A word of caution, make sure your supplies sit flush with the top of your canoe. We brought a large tote with us to hold most of our supplies and it was just a couple of inches too large to fit between the wooden braces of the canoe. We made do and put one end on the floor of the canoe and the other end sticking up in the air. This worked well until we arrived at a spot where the only water in the river was about 15 feet wide. We found out later this area is usually easily passed on the left side, but there was low enough the only spot with any water was on the right. This created a funnel with somewhat fast current. There was a low hanging branch that required ducking but this was common, we'd done it many times before on this trip and on other rivers in the past. A few feet past the branch was a large log right against the bank. We didn't enter the current like we planned and went directly under the branch. It was like our canoe was connected to the branch with a rope. No matter how hard we paddled we couldn't turn the canoe. My friend was in front and easily cleared. We were prepared to push off the log as soon as we cleared the branch... this is where things went wrong. Remember the tote sticking above the canoe? It couldn't duck. As soon as my friend cleared the limb the two of us were in the water. My friend couldn't keep his footing and immediately floated downstream. I manged to stay upright and tried with all my might to keep the canoe from flipping over. At this point there was a lot of water in the canoe and one end of the canoe was stuck on the log against the bank. I was in water almost to my armpits on the downstream side of the canoe and it was sideways in the current. I'm sure you all can imagine how difficult it is to try and hold a canoe partially filled with water and all your supplies from spilling all it's contents into the river. Remember one end was stuck on the log so it was acting like a fulcrum. My friend yelled for me to let go but if I did not only would all our supplies be in the river but the canoe would hit me in the face and roll over me. That didn't sound too pleasant so I used all my strength to stay upright and keep the canoe from tipping. Luckily it worked, we beached the canoe and pulled out our semi wet supplies. No big deal, it was a fun diversion from the slow float and a great story when we got home. Except... we noticed one of our paddles was missing. Everything happened so fast my friend didn't realize he stuck his paddle in front of the log in an attempt to keep us from flipping. We saw the top of the paddle just above the water. Not wanting to paddle alone for the next 15 miles I struggled upstream and pulled out the paddle. It sounds easy but it took a few minutes and a lot of my remaining strength. It's amazing how much power even a low river can have. We rested and dried out our supplies and decided we needed to make up some time. We quit fishing for a while and got with the paddling.

We were planning on cooking our catch so we only brought trail mix. This has never been a problem in the past, but we couldn't even catch perch large enough to filet! One of the most challenging fishing days we have ever experienced. It's tough fishing when you can't catch perch. Luckily we met up with a couple of guys in kayaks we met that morning and they offered us some brats and chicken. We let them use our cast iron skillet and they offered some meat. I think we got the better end of that deal. At this point we realized we paddled 15 miles on Saturday!

After quite a bit of searching we found a good place to setup camp. While laying in the tent we looked up through the mesh and saw the sky. We had forgotten how many stars are in the sky. It was beautiful. What a great way to relax at the end of a couple of long days.

We woke up Sunday to fog on the river and set out to catch some smallmouth. Our luck was different this day and we caught about 15 in a couple of hours. Most were caught on Pop R's. My friend had a really nice smallmouth on that made it all the was to his hand before getting away. It hit right against the bank in some weeds. It didn't look like there was enough water there for a perch much less a smallmouth of this size. It tried it's best to cut his line on the rocks and made it's getaway right as he touched it's mouth. After a couple of hours the fishing completely turned off. Throughout the trip the further we went downriver the more algae we encountered. It got to the point we had difficulty fishing.

We saw quite a few deer, wild turkey and even a bald eagle. The eagle slowly glided over our heads as we were wading. That was by far the closest I've ever been to a bald eagle. It doesn't happen very often but we saw an animal we couldn't identify. It was shaped like a large ferret and was gray in color. The tail was bushy. It was sitting right on the bank noisily eating the weeds under the water.

We enjoyed the trip and want to go back but never again at this time of year. If we lived nearby we would probably go in late August but the 5 hour drive isn't worth it. We plan to go back early next year. For now our trips will probably take us to NE OK this time of year. Thanks for all the advice.