Spring Is Coming! White Water!

[repocrazy12]

Every spring for the past 4 years I hit the upper jacks from the prongs to 17 bridge during the flood stages. It brings VERY VERY nice class 2 rapids. The ideal time is when the water level is between 4 and 5 feet. Thats when you see plenty of white water and some challenging rapids. I typically go on my kayak and have seen others do it on a canoe.

Some will argue and say this is foolish and dangerous. But understand people use these waters to prepare themselves for class 3 and 4 waters. This is dangerous to the unprepared and unskilled with there water craft. Its a challenge and its fun.

That being said I typically go at it alone every year. Every now and then I will run into others who are up for the same challenges but its only happend twice the past 4 years. Is anyone interested in tagging along this year when the spring rains come and the river is up?

Some may be thinking how is the fishing. The only times I have ever caught pickerel in the upper jacks is during flood stages. The fishing is challenging because your moving so fast but I typically catch A LOT. Nothing really work bragging about and maybe 1 or 2 keepers but the smaller fish bite aggresively.

All in all its a challenge and its fun. If anyone is interested in tagging along this year let me know. Its safer in numbers and also more enjoyable when you see others taking the challenge.

[ollie]

If I lived closer I would hit you up for the challenge, but I don't. There's a couple of creeks around here that I do the same thing.

[bs1827]

Sounds like a blast! Wish I lived closer and had good watercraft for that kind of thing.

[jdmidwest]

I prefer to kayak fish without a helmet. But at least the crowds will be thin.

[GloryDaze]

I've done that section at 3.6 and it was pretty fun. Bet it's a blast between 4-5, but I have no clue how you can fish it. At 3.6 we were hauling arss.

[Al Agnew]

I used to do at least one new creek every spring, a creek that would generally be considered too small to float, but with typical spring water levels would have just enough water. Some were more marginal than others...I did Dry Creek from Spring Rise or Westover or whatever it's called down to the Huzzah one time, and another time Bob Todd and I put in on Pickle Creek in the middle of Hawn State Park and "floated" down onto River Aux Vases and down to the next access. You'd run into log jams now and then, and some pretty decent rapids once in a while, and the fishing would typically be pretty good.

The trick any more is finding access to these creeks. Which is what is nice about the upper end of the Jacks Fork...you have good accesses. I haven't been on the upper end, above Hwy. 17, in a long time.

Mid to late April is the perfect time for creekin'. Usually good water, and it's usually warmed up enough that the fish have repopulated it after wintering downstream or in a few small spots and are active.

[Justin Spencer]

Creekin' is fun. Amy and I floated Spring Creek from Cloud 9 into the NFoW a few years ago and it was a blast, I even took a flyrod and caught a few trout on the way down!