river smallmouth fishing

Plan on going on a 2 day float trip down the south fork of the ky river fishing for small mouth. Anybody have any suggestions for bait or camping ideas?

I been thinking about making that trip with my two boys, looking forward to the responses!

Smallmouth? Suggest yall think bout changing that to SOUTH FORK OF THE CUMBERLAND RIVER. Check out Kentuky Afield articles, Blue Water Trails for info, launch sites, camping and fishing.

I'm sorry it is the South Fork of the Cumberland River, thanks for the article.

make sure you check waterdata.com and the weather forecast. the south fork can come up fast. also there are some places that are very hazardous rapids.

[QUOTE=gocats;548972]Plan on going on a 2 day float trip down the south fork of the ky river fishing for small mouth. Anybody have any suggestions for bait or camping ideas?[/QUOTE]We float Little Barren River in Green and Metcalfe Counties fairly often in the summer and catch a lot of nice smallies on 1/4 ounce white spinnerbaits and 4 inch green pumpkin curly tailed grubs rigged on a 3/16 ounce lead head. The area right above the top of a riffle and rocky walls located on an outside bend are usually the best locations to hook up with a nice one. Be careful with the camping, some landowners can get pretty unreasonable with uninvited campers.

First of all, know that you must have a backcountry camping permit to primitive camp in the Big South Fork National Recreation area. Secondly, know that you will be floating in a very REMOTE area surrounded by steep hills and cliffs and it's a long hike out of there in many spots. There may not be cell phone access here in many or most areas. Third....know that there are dangers.........flash floods, snakes, bears and some white water, depending on where you are. River levels should be checked before leaving and the weather forecast should be taken into consideration as well. A two-day trip is a long shuttle and leaving a vehicle at some of these takeouts may not be a good idea.... I would contact Sheltowee Trace Outfitters for a shuttle and more info on floating the Big South Fork.

[url]http://www.ky-rafting.com/[/url]

The section from Station Camp to Blue Heron is a good two-day trip and one I've always wanted to try. This is the most remote section of the river. There is a portage at Devils Jump to take into consideration. You could also float from Blue Heron to Alum Ford. I hear this section is especially good for fishing. Should also be about a two day float, I think. Fishing is not usually fantastic on the Big South Fork, but can be very good and I assure you there are some very good ones in there. I usually toss tubes in between boulders as I float by, although many methods can catch smallmouth here. There are also Striper, Walleye and even Musky in there, but your chances on them are not as great.

Do your homework before you go...and have a safe fun trip. Would love to see some pics !

Just got back last night from the 2 day trip, it was a blast. We paid for a shuttle to drop us off at Station Camp and left our car at Blue Heron. We didn't get on the water until after 1:30 Saturday. It was raining when we put in and rained for about 3 hours. We fished down the river and caught about 100 small mouth bass and one walleye, not a lot of size but did have several on over 3 lbs that didn't make it to the boat . We pitched camp at about 8:00. We weren't even close to the half way point. Sunday we got up early, broke camp and was on the water at 9:00, started raining a few hours in to the trip ( I love the weather guy!!!). The lower half is much better fishing for quality and numbers, it has huge boulders, swift current and breath taking scenery. We did loose a lot of equipment the 2nd day due to the current; 5 fishing rods, wedding ring, sun glasses, shoes, rod holders and hats. We didn't get to fish very much of the good stuff due to our need to cover water the 2nd day, but still caught over 100 with several good ones and another good walleye. Given the chance to go back we will paddle hard the first day and fish most of the 2nd day. We paddled 11 hours the 2nd day. We were so tired after all the paddling, lack of shoes and fishing 3 sunken kayaks out of the river, we voted and decided we were going to try Devils Jump. We all made it over with out flipping but one boat. We made it to the take out around 7:30 Sunday night, everyone very tired, wet and hungry. All in all it was a great trip and learning experience. I will try to get some pics up soon.

Pleased you had a great experience, and sorry bout the loss of equipment. From my end, have launched at Burnside and motored up the South Fork, until the bolders were the size of VW's , then with due consideration for my lower unit, said enough fun is enough. Would love to do a week float trip, but the Ole man is way past that dream.

Thanks for the report Gocats. I have been thinking about the the S. Fork of the Cumberland off and on for years. I would love to see some pictures!