Planning fall trip

Planning my fall fishing and camping trip. This may be 3 months away and only a couple of nights, but it is helping me pass the time at work, and gives me something to ponder on and look forward to. I read an article in a local outdoor magazine where a couple of people did a 5 day 4 night trip down a river not far away, and gave some details of islands they camped on and shuttle info. This river is a little over an hour away from my home. I have been on it only a couple of times and I know very little about it. I know it is free flowing and runs down from the mountains of North Carolina and empties in a lake near Knoxville tn. It is a good small mouth bass, catfish, and bream fishery and does have some musky in it. I always combine my fishing and camping "Goes Together Like Peas and Carrots". The blue dots are possible camping spots.

Work in progress.

 

Sounds like you have already done most of the "hard" planning. 3 of the potential campsites are relatively close together, is this difficult area to canoe? Good fishing? Maybe, more beautiful country then normal? Are you allowed to fish near the fishery? When you say a river is free flowing, are you saying there are no dams on it or do canoeists have a different meaning? Are these trips 'your' time or do you bring your wife along as a joint vacation? From what I can tell by the picture, it looks heavily forested, is that the case? It kind of sounds like you're getting punchy to get out and stay for awhile, are you trying to 'pre-scratch' the itch by early planning? I say that last sentence tongue in cheek, it's difficult to harness the horses early and then try to hold them back from going! Good luck with plan refinement, keep us informed, it will be fun for us as well...contagion you know!

 

Well let's see...
#1. I don't think so
#2. Yes
#3. Not very mountainous. Maybe some steep bluffs, wooded with some farm lands.
#4. Yes
#5. Yes no dams
#6. My time, wife not to crazy about roughing it.
#7. See answer #3
#8. I am climbing the walls and chomping at the bit
#9. Last over night river trip turned into a bruising, 1 day arduous rock land mine, canoe drag. Trip before that was a 1 fish in 3 days of boring lake fishing, but the camp nice
#10. Itching all over brother. Pre-planning is like calamine lotion on poison ivy.

 

I feel you . I'm itching to get out too. If only we didn't have to earn a living - although I guess that's what makes the time I do manage to get away so great. I have my pack ready to go out last three weekends and something always manages to come up. Going to do an overnight here - only 2 hour drive from home but one of my favourite spots
Pollett's Cove near Cheticamp, NS - a snowshoeing, hiking and back country skiing trail


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I don't know about your jurisdiction but in this neck of the woods the Ministry provides (for a small fee of course) detailed maps of our canoe rivers OR your can go online to get the river reports and other detailed information. Unless that map on the screen is the same thing I'm talking about?

I'm like you - my planning/dream time is also my fun time. Especially the winter when I yearn to be back on the river/lake. I only forgot one thing for my trip to Algonquin - that was a the cover that goes over the door vent. I'm a list man and rarely do I forget anything.

They say that "planning the trip" is half the fun.

 

Wow TroyCA, I thought you was from California. Your way up north, pretty up there to. There are a lot of nice places with in a couple of hours of most towns.

Yes you are right ND, I thought about checking on a river map. I seen a map for another local river before, and it was very detailed. I am going to do some searching on line tonight.

Yes the research and prep I greatly enjoy. My only concerns are, I have no idea what the islands look like. Most of the islands I've seen around here are choked with vines and washed up brush. Sometimes it looks like some creature could be hiding in the thick of that jungle waiting on you. This was an average island I was drifting by No telling what lies up that bank and through those weeds. Yeh I know, I'm a wuss. Another thing is the 2 people that will be joining me, one is my brother and the other is a friend I work with. Both are great to be with, but neither of them have been in a canoe or kayak very much. When I had my brother in my canoe with me last month during that rock infested fishing trip, I could feel every unbalanced, wiggle he was making. And it was very uncomfortable. I remember the first time I was in a canoe. After 4 hours of the rear end muscle tightening because of the unbalanced feeling, I was in real pain. My posterior end hurt for 2 days. Now I am comfortable in a canoe. I let both know that I do not want a passenger in my canoe, which my brother doesn't like canoes. I don't know if it is because of my inexperience or what? But I don't want to spend 3 days with the constant wiggle and easiness of a passenger. I hope I don't sound awful. I'll gladly let one of them use my other canoe. I've got 3 months to figure this out.

 

...I know exactly how you might feel; I've been in that position more than once. So...what do I do? I tend to select a trip route that I'm very familiar with so there are no surprises. If people are up to it I take a teaching moment every now and then. Those canoe strokes are so important and safety too. The other thing that I tend to do is travel on ripple water and avoid the big stuff. Actually I'm at a state now where I avoid all the big stuff - rapids and dangerous eddies etc.

All this takes place in the planning.



I'm like you - I want something inviting.

Baden Bear here. "ND has a thread about canoe trip planning (On the Water) - designed for groups but also good as a general guide."