Canoeing Green River - Mammoth Cave NP

Hello all,
I've been following threads in here for the last few weeks and decided to join in the conversation. This is my first post!

Planning a canoe/camping/fishing trip at Mammoth Cave for the first weekend in June. Would like to put in Saturday morning and take out on Sunday. Will have to rent a canoe. Hoping the water levels are good by then. Hopefully there are some people here that are familiar with that stretch. I have a few questions...

- Where should I put in and take out for a 2 day 1 night float? We plan on taking our time fishing. Would like to be able to float and fish and take our time.
- How is the fishing?? I know there are smallmouth and bluegill. Many largemouth or crappie?
- Any tips on techniques/lures to use?

Thanks everyone!

I've done a day trip on that stretch before. The canoe places will designate where you launch from and the pickup is at the ferry crossing. My wife set it up and I can't remember who we used but I think they all are about the same. We made the run in July and there was plenty of water and little to no white water. It was a very relaxing\easy trip. I saw several spots that would have been awesome for camping. You simply pull your canoe up at the crossing, get in your car and leave. Of course you drop your car off at the pickup spot before being taken to the launch site.

Thanks Duayne.
I'm looking at putting in at Dennison and taking out at houchins. I've read the best fishing is from munfordville to dennison tho, but can't camp until you get to the park.

Did you do any fishing on the float? We're others fishing?

not sure if this applies to the area you are talking about or not.

[url]http://fw.ky.gov/Education/Pages/Green-River---Hart-County.aspx[/url]

I wasn't allowed to take fishing stuff.. LMAO My wife set this up and it was all exactly how she wanted it. I didn't see anyone fishing either. But I did see LOTS of bass pops and areas I would have loved to fish. My wife decided half way through that maybe I could have brought some gear. Of course it was a little late at that point.

Dennison to Houchins is your best bet. Be mindful that the river gets a lot of action in the summer and especially weekends. If oyu tent camp it can be hard to find a spot that isn't already occupied.

If you hammock camp you have much more options obviously but the farther you go downriver the banks are more steep mud banks and it is harder to get out on the bank.

Also you are not supposed to camp within a certain distance (maybe 1/2 mile?) of the ferry crossings (now just the one unfortunately).

Plenty of fish in the river to be caught. Be mindful of the flow. Too high and it is dangerous and there are no gravel bars to tent camp on. Too low and you are dragging through riffles on the front end of your trip.

Smallmouth up near dennisons, largmenouth and crappie the closer you get to Houchins. It makes a dramatic change in character going through the park. The L&D at Brownsville impacts the river about 3 miles above Houchins. After that it is mostly all slackwater.

Another good trip is to park at Nolin Dam and go to Houchins. You can camp at Second Creek lower campsite.

Make sure you get your permit form the visitor center. And tell them to open back up ferry operations at Houchins.

Duayne - Been there before. My wife is actually coming along for the trip and she's cool with me bringing my fishing gear. She may regret that decision after realizing I'm going to want to take my time and fish.

tacklebag23 - If you back up to the list of blue trails, I'm interested in the Green River - Mammoth Cave NP section.

smashdn - thanks for the info, man. I'm new to stream/river fishing, been fishing ponds/lakes all my life. Depending on how much I like it, I might invest in a canoe or kayak and hit up the other streams in Kentucky. I know the river is up right now due to all the rain we're getting, but what would you say is it's normal depth? Like you said, I don't want to be out there when it's too high or too low. And is the fishing bad in the area with slackwater?

Thanks everyone!

The river in Brownsville is up some right now, but not terribly, just VERY muddy. If the rain will quit, you should have good water by then. Haven't taken a canoe trip, but all of the rental/guide service groups I've seen usually travel in a strung out pack just paddling mostly. Haven't seen anybody fish or have fishing equipment. June/July is a good time of year to take a spinnerbait (1/4 or 1/2 oz) and throw around all of the logs in the river. You can usually catch several bass and normally get a muskee or two to look at your bait.

Slackwater isn't bad, just different to fish. Where on the upper end fish are going to be on current breaks or right at the head of pools waiting to ambush stuff coming through a riffle, down in the slackwater fish are all over.

I don't go up there enough to know what is normal and what is not to be honest. There have been times I have went to the green river ferry and turned around due to it being too high.

If green is a muddy mess Nolin might be better. The highwater in green will back up Nolin and keep it clean and still. Downside is if you take out at Houchins you have to paddle back upstream about a mile from the mouth to the ferry crossing.

Love throwing a spinner bait, but didn't know if that would be as effective on a smaller river.
I've seen a little about Nolin, but not a whole lot. Seemed like it was too short for an overnight trip.

Thanks for all the input guys. I just need to get down there and go.

If you are fishing it is plenty long enough. Second creek is a good midway point.

I did a 3 day from dennison to houchins last may, it was a heck of a trip, plenty of wildlife and great sights. Theres a cave right after dennsion to paddle up into. As far the fishing goes, i caught a plentiful amount using shakey head/drop shot. If youre looking to do a one night from dennsion to houchins it might be a little much, i dont know though, each person paddles differently, we were all in our kayaks. As far as scenery goes the best looking water was from dennison to the green river ferry, after the green river fferry the river gets deep and the water slows, if i were to do it again id to a one night two day from dennison to the green river ferry, that way you can relax, fish and get a good campsite decently early, and if its like it was when i went the water wasnt moving too fast so i was able to paddle upstream from the campsite to fish as well. There is an incredibly nice campsite virtually in the middle of the dennison to the green river leg on river left or you can just pick an island if you're tent camping. Either way you'll have a great trip. Let me know if you have anymore questions and ill try my best to help out!
Nick