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Contemplating a trip to the Bear in the morning. River navigation is already hairy enough for me and having never been on this stretch before makes me nervous.
The plan is to launch at Corinne and work upstream. I'll be in a 19' Lund. Is that too much boat? Is the water too skinny in there for my rig? Any major navigational hazards? How high are the bridges?
Fishing south from Corinne is also an option if the river is more navigable downstream. Backup plan is Willard, where there's nothing to hit except dumb skiers this time of year.
As always, thanks for the help fellas.
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Sorry I can't help on that stretch, but I've heard there are hazards like the river upstream in my area... Always be aware of floating logs and shallow mud bars.. I'd say try it, but go slow and be alert... The water will be very turbid, so you won't be able to see if it's getting shallow until its too late... Current flows upstream are good, but I know the canal companies are drawing full streams now, so I'm not sure how much flow is in the lower reaches of the river down there... Sorry I can't help more... Later J
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I agree with what Jeff said. Mud bars can change from year to year and there are always new hazards introduced (logs, trees and stumps). I haven't boated that stretch but the bridges look like they have good clearance. Like Jeff advised go slow and read the current for shallow areas.
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Thanks for the advice fellas. I did exactly that; went slow on the way upstream and watched for hazards along the way. Launched at about 6:30 AM and slowly worked up-river at about 6-10 mph. The turns were plenty deep, but most straightaways were less than 6 feet deep. We stopped going north when I found 3 foot of water near the slaughterhouse, just north of town. Turned around and fished our way back to the ramp. No walleye, just cats. There was plenty of clearance on the bridges,; I had my bimini top up and had over a foot of room below the old bridge. It does appear that the water is down about 2 feet from recent levels.
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