MBCKC Paddle Reports

Upper Fish River
I have been on this trip twice now since the end of June. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for the 25th of August. About 80 degrees when we launched with the sun out. We went to the take out at Big Daddy's first to leave my truck there and then I got into John's vehicle and rode to Bohemian Park on County Road 48. The first time I took this trip in June, we ran into a couple of log jams. The first we had to get out of our boats and help each other pass them over a big log and the second jam we had to get out and push our boats under a log as there wasn't enough room to sit in the boats and make it under. Recent rains must have broken up some of the log jams because we did not have to get out of our boats at all today unless we wanted to stop to swim.
This part of the river is really pretty with a white sandy bottom and clear, cold water moving with a swift current. We had plenty of obstacles to manuever around and in some places had to make fast switchbacks in order to go thru the places that were clear and sometimes very narrow passages between trees and stumps. You also had to take care that the current didn't send you into the tree limbs hanging over the river. It would be easy to see how this trip could change a lot depending on water level because of the number of obstacles and downed trees. A few inches lower or higher would make some areas not so easy to get thru so I guess we were lucky today.We had a duck that swam and flew ahead of us a large part of the trip. We saw plenty of turtles and some jumping mullet.The water was cold and refreshing. We saw a couple canoeing upriver and said they had seen a water moccasin on the river bank. We never saw any snakes but kept our eyes out. If anyone is adventurous enough this is a fun paddle. It took us around 4 to 4 1/2 hours total with a very casual pace and a couple of swim breaks and a little fishing. I'm guessing it's around 5 or 6 miles? 8/25/09 Patti Street
.