Green River Canoe Thru Mammoth Cave NP

Wanted to get some information on the stretch of Green river that runs through Mammoth Cave NP. A group of us were planning to do an overnight trip on this sat-sun. I've heard alot about this stretch and how great it is. We called the canoe rental place and they said the river is up 9 ft right now from the rain on Sunday. She said it should be back down to normal by Saturday. At least half our group (guys) are mostly interested in fishing this stretch. So I have a few questions:

- Do you think the water level will be back down by Saturday?
- With the water level high right now, will the camping areas along the river be too wet/muddy to camp comfortably?
- I read where they stock this stretch of river with Muskie. How is the Muskie fishing this time of year and what should I look for to find them?
- How is the fishing in general and what type of fish is best to target?
- What is the fishing like after the water has risen and then fallen back to normal?

I don't know how many people know this area but any help would be much appreciated.

There are two stretches that I kayak through the park. Sometimes I go from Dennison Ferry to Green River Ferry and I think this is about a 6 mile trip. The trip from Green river Ferry to Houchens Ferry is 12 miles. I usually catch small mouth and muskie. The stretch from Green River Ferry to Houchens Ferry is better for Muskie and it is slower moving water.
Here is a muskie that I caught on July 4th 2 years ago:

[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/bigbuck39/July4Muskie-1.jpg[/IMG]

I usually target downed trees in the water for muskies.


I use this site to see what the water level is on Green River:

[URL]http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ky/nwis/current/?type=flow&group_key=basin_cd[/URL]

When I float the Green River I usually look to see what the level is at Munfordville under the Green River Basin section of the site. I've went a lot of times when it is around 5 feet. It is currently showing 9.23 feet.

There are a lot of good camping sites along the second stretch that I mentioned, but I don't know what they would look like right now.

Good Luck!

[QUOTE=DKCard;489849]Wanted to get some information on the stretch of Green river that runs through Mammoth Cave NP. A group of us were planning to do an overnight trip on this sat-sun. I've heard alot about this stretch and how great it is. We called the canoe rental place and they said the river is up 9 ft right now from the rain on Sunday. She said it should be back down to normal by Saturday. At least half our group (guys) are mostly interested in fishing this stretch. So I have a few questions:

- Do you think the water level will be back down by Saturday?
- With the water level high right now, will the camping areas along the river be too wet/muddy to camp comfortably?
- I read where they stock this stretch of river with Muskie. How is the Muskie fishing this time of year and what should I look for to find them?
- How is the fishing in general and what type of fish is best to target?
- What is the fishing like after the water has risen and then fallen back to normal?

I don't know how many people know this area but any help would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

I caught alot of spotted bass in the green ferry to houchins ferry stretch years ago on rebel crankbaits. I haven't floated it for around 7 yrs. It was always fairly slow with no riffles.

I fished it a lot of its not going to be much of any good by this weekend for fishing. It takes a long time for the water to clear up

GRL is 3 feet over. They will be releasing it to get it back down to summer pool. Will be good for kayaking. Could probably run the whole park in a day.

Not so good for fishing. Maybe catfish though.

All of the popular tent spots will be underwater. If you hammock camp you are golden. Go up a trib and try to find a camping spot that way. I know a place but don't have coords for it.

If you go and you see a good camping spot early then grab it. With the water that high there will not be very many good camping spots. A lot of the islands will be under water or severely soaked. The banks of the river in a lot of areas are high and the vegetation is thick this time of year.

One year we went and had to paddle an extra 4-5 miles just to find camping and it was dark. It wasn't much fun.