Possible Float

[micahthorlawson]

Staying at ROLF (hopefully- haven't heard how much damage they have incurred) over Memorial Day weekend.  Planning on doing some fishing very early in the morning.  Considering bringing my 2 man pond hopper to float as well.  It is a 10 foot- Pontoon type Pond Hopper with a short shaft trolling motor.  Wanted opinions on trying to float in a set up like this.  I have floated the Niangua, Elk, and Big Sugar without much issue, but obviously not the most ideal set up for fast, shallow water.   =I have never actually seen the North Fork of the White, and do not want to bring the boat if it will be a disaster to try to float in it.  Can anyone give me some insight?

 

Thanks,

 

[fishinwrench]

If you could rig the pond hopper up with oar locks it might be fun.  A trolling motor is gonna be worthless.  Either way I wouldn't go over the Falls in it. 

[Stein]

I did just that a month ago with a bass baby and a 55 lb trolling motor.  We did the upper pool right below the dam and it worked OK.  Later that day we went down to the confluence of the North Fork and White and put in and trolled up stream a bit but we had been on that battery for three hours already and didn't want to chance going too far.  The wind was out of the south and pushing us UPSTREAM.  Our plan was to motor up as far as we could and could always drift back but that wasn't happening with that wind and didn't want to get stuck upstream.  Guide told us we could get about a mile upstream before it got too shallow.

Tried a pool on the white the next day and again did fine drifting down and motoring back up.  Tried a deeper long riffle and even with 55 lbs couldn't make much headway.

[snagged in outlet 3]

You might be interested in this post.

http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/topic/59084-hwy-pp-bridge-above-dawt-mill/#comment-497439

 

[micahthorlawson]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

You might be interested in this post.

http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/topic/59084-hwy-pp-bridge-above-dawt-mill/#comment-497439

 

Eeck.  Ya, looks like we may not be staying there.  I heard it was bad, but no details.  Was going to wait to call them and check on things since I am sure they are a bit busy with more pressing matters.

 

Thanks for the info all!  

[Terrierman]

By Memorial Day things will be back in more or less full swing on NFOW.  I cannot recommend a pond hopper.  Canoe, kayak, pontoon or drift boat.  With luck you would probably be OK.  But I am one of the don't count on being lucky crowd.  Without luck, you will dump.  And you won't like dumping with a battery and trolling motor.

[Ozark Sweetwater]

3 hours ago, Terrierman said:

By Memorial Day things will be back in more or less full swing on NFOW.  I cannot recommend a pond hopper.  Canoe, kayak, pontoon or drift boat.  With luck you would probably be OK.  But I am one of the don't count on being lucky crowd.  Without luck, you will dump.  And you won't like dumping with a battery and trolling motor.

I'll have to disagree with you on the NFOW being in full swing by Memorial Day. I would love for that to happen but if you see all the damage, I don't think there is anyway it's going to be ready to go.

Logistically you have at least 3 bridges gone and possibly 4. There's no telling how many low water slabs on the roads to the river are gone. I doubt that many of the outfitters will be up and going. Many lost some ,if not all of their cabins and some of their gear. Last but not least, I'm not sure where you're going to put in. Many of the accesses are gone.

Now to the river. With at least 2 dozen homes gone and washed into the river along with countless number of barns, debris and trees, navigation is going to be very difficult. It's going to take some time to clear the river of all the obstacles.

I hope Im wrong and I am not trying to start an argument with anyone. The river hit unprecedented heights and caused damage that no one could imagine. 

 

 

 

[trythisonemv]

My goodness. Thats awful. I hope everyone gets back on their feet.  Did Justin take any bad losses at sunburst ?

[fishinwrench]

5 minutes ago, trythisonemv said:

My goodness. Thats awful. I hope everyone gets back on their feet.  Did Justin take any bad losses at sunburst ?

I'm afraid so.  More than their fair share for sure.  ?

[Flysmallie]

6 hours ago, trythisonemv said:

My goodness. Thats awful. I hope everyone gets back on their feet.  Did Justin take any bad losses at sunburst ?

Justin and Amy lost a bunch. Said they probably won't open at all this summer. 

Just saw this from ROLF on Facebook.