# Reading a river



## bobberboy (Jul 9, 2016)

Being from MN, the Land O' Lakes, almost all of my water time is on lakes. As a kid my parents owned a resort for a while and my brothers and I were practically amphibious we spent so much time on and in the water. Now I live within a mile of the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers but never spend any time on either. I realize that I've never learned to navigate a river. The fact that the water in a river is moving makes it different that being on a lake. Plus changing water levels and speeds, snags and bars all seem like they would make river boating different than lake boating. I know there are many here that spend their time on rivers and would appreciate any insight or advice on how to learn to read and navigate a river.

I should point out that drowning is hands-down my bottom of the barrel way to go and my inexperience makes me a little unsure of myself.


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## richg99 (Jul 9, 2016)

I, also, have limited experience fishing rivers. However, just today, I came across this article on Yakfish about fishing rivers for bass. Seems like it would apply to any one interested in "reading a river". richg99

https://www.scout.com/outdoors/kayak-fishing/story/1673157-fishing-river-current-breaks


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## bobberboy (Jul 9, 2016)

thx


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## Kismet (Jul 9, 2016)

BobberB...

just a thought--might be worth your while to actually hire a guide on the big river, and maybe even on some of the more active smaller ones. 

Self-taught river running could be perilous.

Be vewy vewy caweful.


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## overboard (Jul 10, 2016)

I fish the Delaware River between PA and NJ. 
All I can suggest is to go slowly at first to learn where you need to be, even then you will probably bang up a prop or two. I've seen areas where you think you need to avoid and you need to head at them, and areas you think you should head into that aren't the best choice. Then there's some areas you just aren't going to be able to get through with a prop, and that becomes the limit of how far you can navigate/fish that particular area.
Sometimes when we're going up through riffles, we are barely moving and one of us is on the bow trying to watch for rocks. 
I just picked up a jet so I can access much more of the river that I have never been able to, they are almost a must if you want to run shallow rivers.
Hope someone who fishes the Susquehanna River here in PA will chime in, that river is way worse than the Delaware and a lot of their hulls look like someone beat on the bottom of them with a ball peen sledge hammer! Like they say, it's not if you hit, it's when you hit! 
Even with the jet, I will still go slow until I learn the unfamiliar parts of the river, lots of shallow areas rocks and ledges to try to avoid, and sure don't want to hit them at full throttle. Maybe with a high end inboard jet with a reinforced hull you wouldn't need to be quite as cautious, but normal aluminum hull fishing boats won't take the hits like they will. 
Yup, be careful, very very careful, until you learn to navigate the areas you want to fish, easy to bust up a prop or lower unit, put a gash/hole in the boat, or bust up a foot on an outboard jet. Once you learn where you need to be you can probably run full throttle through those areas after that without worry.


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## richg99 (Jul 10, 2016)

The TVA rivers around here can vary in depth by 5 or more feet, all in an hour or two. It all depends on when the dam generators are running, and how many are running. 

If your two rivers are dammed for electrical power upstream, and if you can get a dam generator schedule (TVA has a web site), then driving alongside the river at low water may produce some valuable knowledge. If they are not dammed, then viewing as much of the river as you can at low water times would still be fruitful. A kayak might be a useful tool, too.

I know that I read about trees and other junk floating down Texas rivers, after a big rain, as being even more problematic than any fixed obstacles.

The backwater areas of the Mississippi are some good fishing sites.

richg99

p.s. any bass/walleye/fishing clubs around that you can join, as a non-boater, to help learn the rivers?


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## JMichael (Jul 10, 2016)

OK, I'm no expert, so take everything here with a grain of salt as this is based on my experiences with rivers. Most of the rivers around here are small and shallow for the most part, but they fluctuate a good bit with heavy rains. If you are going to be running in shallow rivers, you need to be able to identify where the channel is, and that is not so easy at times. In curves of the river, the channel will always be toward the outside of the curve. Sandbars will develop in areas where the channel is over to one side, like the inside of a curve. Current is faster to the outside but slower to the inside, so a sandbar will develop a lot of the time. If the water is smooth, look for disturbances on the surface. If you see even a slight hint of swirl/disturbance in the water, it's a good indication there might be an obstruction (log/rock) hidden just below. If you see a small twig sticking up out of the water, keep in mind that those twigs grow on trees and if that one is sticking out of the water, it may still be attached to a good size chunk of that tree it grew from and has now fallen into the river. Watch the bank of the river as you travel. If the bank is steep on one side and shallow sloping on the other, the deeper water (channel) is generally going to be closer to the steep bank side than the middle or the other side. Try to make a few trips at slower speeds until you get familiar with the river before you start running it at full speed. And remember that rivers unlike lakes, are constantly changing. What was yesterday, may not be today. If there has been any heavy rains since the last time you were down it, there's a better than average chance that there are some new obstructions out there waiting. That's been my experience with rivers, your mileage may vary. BTW, my experiences have been limited to mud/sand bottom rivers where the channel can and does move, not the rock bottom rivers that some have.


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## dootech (Jul 11, 2016)

The area there is the first place I had my boat in a river. Always around water having grown up with a cabin on a lake but never been on a river til about 10 years ago. 
There's no channel markers in that area so you pretty much stay near the center and avoid eddies and floating garbage. They maintain a navigable channel jjst past valleyfair, there is a sign there that warns boaters that beyond that sign the river is "not maintained" or something. 
Good luck out there, I wish I could offer some in person assistance, but with 2 kids in diapers right now, free time is in short supply


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## jasper60103 (Jul 11, 2016)

bobberboy,
I thought about the big river, but I wouldn't do it alone.
I have experience on the TN river with my Dad. Having a knowledgeable fishing buddy goes a long way.

Just a few weeks ago I fished the canon river (near Canon Falls) from the bank.
I noticed water was fast moving and I didn't see any boats. 
Anyway, I caught a few Walleyes. I would definitely give it another try from the shore.
Good luck.

jasper


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## BigTerp (Jul 11, 2016)

All good thoughts and advice so far. Something I did when I started running the Upper Potomac here in Maryland with my jet was to create a spreadsheet on Google Drive. I use it to log waterfowl hunting days so we can sort of predict where the ducks/geese might be given time of year, temperature, weather, etc. I also created a river level section. Each time I'd take my boat out I would note the river level in the area I was running along with detailed notes about where I can and can't go, where the shoots are through the nasties, etc. Makes it really nice to reference when I'm deciding where to go. And once I get there I know if I have to take it easy, need to watch out for a certain area, etc. Takes the guess work out of it.

I've also learned the hard way a few times. Have put 2 holes in the hull and destroyed a jet foot in the last 4 years.


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## bobberboy (Jul 11, 2016)

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies.

It's interesting to read between the lines in the above the amount of healthy respect people have for the possible danger of being on the water. There's no doubt people love to be on/in the water. There's also no doubt that being there can get you in trouble. For me there are just situations I can't see myself being on water - in a kayak BTB, on rapids beyond class III in any kind of boat, lots of situations I'd never put myself in. Call me chicken but I'm very conservative when on the water. As I said above, drowning is the bottom of the list of possibles for me. When I was a kid on my family's resort we didn't even have life jackets in the boat. At that time it I knew I'd live forever. I'm not so sure anymore. :mrgreen: To me it's one thing to bottom out on a gravel bar in a few inches of water but quite another to be on a large river with an uncertain bottom and current. I'm about 10 blocks upstream from Lock and Dam #1 on the Mississippi and no more than a mile from a public access. Seems a shame not to take advantage but obviously I need to come to grips with my attitude. Anyway, thanks again to all.


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## overboard (Jul 11, 2016)

Last thing I think about is drowning, if that is of concern just wear a life vest at all times, the inflatable ones are pretty comfy.
Having said that, I have a pretty darn stable boat with the 1654 FB GRIZZLY. I wouldn't want to be on the river in anything less than a 1448, bigger is better IMO! 
Just like you, there is a section of the river named foul rift that is a long section of nasty rapids, some guys run through it with jets, NO ME! I will either launch below it and fish up to it, or launch above it and fish down to it. 
Only problem with going downriver is if a problem occurs with the motor, then how the heck do you get back upriver #-o ! I prefer to go upriver from a launch just for that reason, at least I should be able to float back down to the launch and maneuver the boat somewhat using the oar/oars.
I have had my 17' StarCraft on the river, but only at 2 spots that I know very well, and the area I fish is very limited and learned while fishing in smaller prop boats. 
Don't be scared, just be careful!


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## jethro (Jul 13, 2016)

I think a lot of it has been said so I'll keep my input simple... a good rule of thumb for shallow, swift moving rivers is the outside corners are generally deeper than the inside corners. Notice I said generally, not always the case, but sand, silt and debris tends to build up more on inside corners than the swifter current found on outside corners. There is often a much deeper channel on outside corners. Also there is a much greater risk of encountering debris on a river like logs so proceed with caution.


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## dootech (Jul 13, 2016)

All great advice. Just keep in mind that the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers up here by us are tame by river standards


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## JMichael (Jul 15, 2016)

dootech said:


> All great advice. Just keep in mind that the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers up here by us are tame by river standards


Yea, the Mississippi river below the bridge at Memphis is anything but tame. The barges put out what appears to be a 2-3 ft swell if they're loaded heavy and plowing up stream, and if the winds blowing right, those become breaking waves. And I've seen whirlpools that look like they could suck my boat under in a few seconds. It's some rough water for a small boat for sure. I've crossed it a few times in small boats but was worried every second of every crossing.


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## duckfish (Jul 24, 2016)

The Susquehanna River is my home river. I would guess that you will not have the same rock/boulder issues we have so it simplifies things somewhat for you. This picture is an example of what we deal with. Taken on a low water level, so imagine boating thru/over all this mess when the water is running with 2" - 3" of water over them. That's what many parts of our river are. At any water level. There's always some "boat eaters" out there, just lurking under the surface.






A lot of good suggestions have already been made but a few that haven't so far:

- _In general_, when running a river and you see a V shaped disturbance in the flow on the surface, if the V points downstream, it is channeling water between 2 obstructions and will be the deeper water and safer pass. If the V points upstream, that is from a subsurface obstruction and you want to go around/avoid it.

- Until you get to know a section of the river nearly as well as you know the layout of the furniture in your own house: *Wear a PFD and your kill lanyard like it's religion* and only go as fast as you are willing to smash your boat into something, potentially sinking/destroying it.

- Find the closest on-line stream gauging station to where you will be running and check it all the time. Link: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt also this one since it gives predictive levels that help you plan ahead: https://water.weather.gov/ahps/
Make notes of the river levels every time you go out and you eventually get a feel for what is safe water levels, when you can get into certain areas, when to stay away, etc.

- Always be watchful for logs, trees, barrels, you name it floating down the river. Can be just as dangerous as a solid boulder under the surface.

- Be vigilant, but relax and have fun. I know I find the more I relax and have measured confidence, the better decisions I make when encountering something out of the ordinary. It's just like driving the highway, certainly can be dangerous, but no reason to be a stressed out wreck about it. Enjoy the ride.


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## onthewater102 (Jul 25, 2016)

Unfortunately, these are the best smallmouth fisheries and once you have a taste of one staying away would eventually bring on withdrawal symptoms that won't subside until you get back out there. The Housatonic here in western CT is a scaled down version of the Susquehanna with all it's delightful navigational entanglements and fantastic smallmouth fishery. I watch videos of the jet-jon guys running upstream in waters with half the flow I'm seeing on a given day in total disbelieve that there is nothing under the surface lurking to kill their boat/motor. 

Logs are the worst - they float but are almost or entirely submerged right at the surface. I damn near tore my thru-hull fishfinder sensor through my hull when I hit a 6~8" log that t-boned me in 8' of water doing <12 mph as I was slowing to enter a no wake zone. Thankfully motor bounced off it harmlessly but that was on the slow deep water at the north end of the reservoir behind the dam - not in the fast rocky water upstream from there.

Take it slow & get to know where the hard obstructions are. Best bet is to get out there while the water is really low (probably now) so you know where some of the sub-surface obstacles will be when the water is higher.


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## Lowe 2070 CC (Jul 25, 2016)

The Lower Mississippi between Greenville and Natchez, MS is a whole other animal from the upper Mississippi. Barge traffic keeps the water churning constantly the USACE keeps a minimum 11' deep navigable channel marked by bouys, but outside the channel the depth varies widely.

Add in rock dikes, revetment, sandbars and the rise and fall of the river and you quickly learn that it's not a place to be careless.

Guage "0" at Vicksburg is 46.23' above mean sea level. this means the surface of the water is 46.23' at a "0" stage. Todays stage is 20.5', or 20.5 + 46.23' = 67.73' above Mean Sea Level.

The record high set in May of 2011 was 57.1', or 46.23' + 57.1' = 103.33' above msl, the record low set in 1940 was -7.00' or 46.23'-7.00' = 39.23' above msl (-2.00 is the lowest in my lifetime).

What you see is a river that can vary by as much as 60'+/- in elevation and spread out into any number of backwater channels and oxbow lakes. These oxbows are great fishing and nursery/spawning areas. White bass and stripers gather in the current behind rock dikes, flatheads like the holes where eddys swirl in the bends, blue cats hunt the sandbars, but all of these turn on and off with a rising or falling river at any given stage.

Go out with someone experienced and learn from them is the best advice I can give.


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