FreeWine

The Oklahoma Flatwater Paddlers Group is planning on making a group float trip down the Lower Mt. Fork River (LMF) in Broken Bow, Oklahoma August 13-15, 2010. The LMF River is mostly Class I with only two spots where it is Class II. Timid paddlers can portage Presbyterian Falls which is the only real Class II whitewater spot… but it’s only a 3-foot waterfall. The Caddo River in Arkansas is also being considered as a secondary destination.

I hit the LMF River last weekend and had a blast! I try to catch the Lower Mountain Fork River when it is at a level between 400 and 2000 CFS. There is only about four miles on the average float trip, so take your time passing through the three main sections of the LMF River float trip: The Rock Garden, The Chute and Presbyterian Falls. The mild whitewater is fun, but it is the scenic beauty of this river and its clear, cold waters that keeps me coming back. The Bald Cypress trees and Spanish Moss will remind you of Louisiana, making it one of the most exotic Oklahoma kayaking spots for nature lovers and kayak photographers.

Spring started fairly early this year in Oklahoma this year.  Low amounts of rainfall have the rivers are not running slow, so my wife and I went kayak fishing for catfish.   Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I have far too short of an attention span for fishing. However, I can stay interested in watching Dianne bagging the catfish and gar and that is just what she was doing this weekend.  Check out our OklahomaRoadTrips.com page on the Deep Fork River for more info on this nice little paddling spot, just off Highway 266 east of Dewar, Oklahoma.

Limb lines are a fun way to fish from your kayak for slow biting fish like catfish.  We set out a couple hooks on each line, tied to a springy branch that stretches over the water in a deep spot. We like fairly lively bait, like gold fish and we run the lines every four hours.  You can harvest quite a few catfish like this, even in a little plastic boat like Dianne’s Old Town Vapor 12 Angler XT.  I follow along in my Perception Swifty to take the pictures.  This weekend she reaped in about 20 lbs of fine blue catfish form her limb lines on te Deep Fork River.   I got to enjoy paddling several times in one day and taking pictures of her smiling over her catch. 

That is my idea of a win-win situation.

If you enjoy fast flowing Ozark whitewater rivers like the Lower Mountain Fork River in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, you will love the Mulberry River.  My wife, Dianne and I just made our first short float trip down the Mulberry River a couple weeks ago.  We had a blast! Although we decided to paddle the Mulberry in our recreational kayaks (Dianne took her Heritage 9.5 Angler kayak and I took my Perception Swifty), you can rent boats when you get there.  Two outfitters have been servicing the Mulberry River for ages: Turner Bend Canoe Rental and Byrd’s Adventure Center.  Both outfitters rent rafts, kayaks and canoes as well as providing shuttle service private boats. If you use the Turner Bend take-out be sure to take a moment to admire the electric boat lift they use to bring canoes & kayaks out of the water. Such luxury!

The Mulberry River offers about 40 miles of seasonal whitewater fun that runs through scenic forests. In fact, if you want to save some coin while paddling the Mulberry, try camping out! Economical camping is available at the several U.S. Forest Service campgrounds including : Redding Campground, (479) 754-2864; Shores Lake, (479) 667-2191; Wolf Pen, (479) 754-2864; and White Rock Mountain, (479) 667-2191.
Kayak paddlers should certainly snap on the sprayskirt for the Mulberry River. At a little over 2 feet, according to the Turner Bend gauge, it was not as rocky as the Mountain Fork River. Because several small creeks dump water into Mulberry on this run, there are loads of standing waves. Sometimes it can be difficult to see rocks that are just below the surface. The river descends at a consistently swift pace through rapid after rapid, so we didn’t do any flatwater paddling to speak of. Although we took the short trip from Redding Campground to Turner Bend, I’m told the bigger rapids are on the section that runs from High Bank down to Redding.  I can’t wait to give that section a try!

To photograph this river without losing my camera, I dry bagged the camera for runing bigger rapids.  However, for most of the trip I just kept it around my neck but INSIDE my PFD. This protects the camera from most of the splash and spray as long as you keep your kayak upright!  More Mulberry River pictures can be found on my Flickr photostream.  Visit my Float the Mulberry River page for more details on kayaking the exciting whitewater near Clarksville, Arkansas.

The long hot summer has set in here in Oklahoma. However, you can still find flowing water on the Mountain Fork River in Southeastern Oklahoma. We drove the kayaks up there last weekend for some paddling and swimming. Hydroelectric dam releases keep the Lower Mountain Fork flowing at a few hundred cfs and you can even paddle down the all-natural Upper Mountain Fork River, if you don’t mind some walking. The fishing is pretty easy when the levels are so low.

The Illinois River near Tahlequah still has just enough water for some easy family floating. Some rain would definately be a blessing, but don’t expect much until Fall.

After a week of school closings due to icy roads and temperatures below freezing, the forecast for my part of Oklahoma this weekend calls for some 70 degree days again. If the wind isn’t too strong I think I will do a bit of winter paddling on the Deep Fork River this Saturday.

My Dad has been seeing a Bald Eagle frequenting the River near Nuyaka Creek Winery, I think I will paddle my kayak around a bit and try to get a picture. The bald eagle population in Oklahoma has really been growing in the last few years. It is really a joy to see these majestic birds hunting the rivers and lakes close to our home. I haven’t been out in my kayak for weeks now, so I am really looking forward to unwinding on the water for a few hours.

This winter my wife Dianne and I have been focused mostly on bowling and dog training. Dianne is looking into adopting a dog from an Oklahoma animal shelter, so we are studying up on the latest advances in Dog Training techniques. Dog training methods seemed to have made some major advances in the last few decades. Positive methods have replaced old methods based on fear and aggression. This is an exciting time to be studying this subject.

Despite the many inches of snow dropped on the Sooner State, the rivers are not up very much at all. The slow melting of the snow and ice seems to have allowed the water to slowly soak into the ground rather than raising the rivers. Obviously, this is not ideal for the kayakers, but the ground certainly needs the moisture. The Oklahoma Flatwater Paddlers are trying to plan a Spring float trip down Arkansas’ breathtaking Buffalo River. I hope I can get sometime off work to join them. I love that part of Arkansas. You can paddle the scenic Buffalo River one day and then kayak the misty and mysterious White River the next day!

This Saturday Dianne and I returned to Broken Bow, Oklahoma for some Class II Kayaking on the Lower Mountain Fork River. We were showing off the river to a writer and a couple photographers from the Chevy Sporting Journal. They are planning an upcoming article on Oklahoma canoe and kayak adventures.

The guys all did a good job paddling the LMF River. Despite being surrounded by folks flipping their canoes and sliding off the top of SOT kayaks, they managed to keep their boats upright and their camera gear dry. The weather was perfect and the water flow was good. It was an excellent day for a float trip with mild temps and a comfortable breeze!

This summer will be the last year that the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission will charge floaters a user fee! Since 1984, floaters have been required to pay user fees to float the river and its tributaries. Find out why they changed the Illinois River paddling policy at OklahomaRoadTrips.com.

Don’t miss the kayak demo pond at the 2008 Oklahoma Wildlife Expo Sept. 26-28, they usually have dozens of kayaks to test paddle. More details TasteOklahoma.com a statewide special events site.

The Antlers Deer Festival and Outdoor Show will be October 3 & 4, 2008

This Southeastern Oklahoma outdoors event has something for everyone, whether you are an outdoorsman, craft/art enthusiast, wine lover, chili or venison cooking genius or just a child looking for some awesome fun!

While you are in Antlers, Oklahoma stop by K-River campground and paddle the wild and scenic Kiamichi River or make the fairly short drive to Broken Bow, Oklahoma to paddle the LMF River.

Any other Oklahoma paddlers out there members of American Whitewater (AW)?

If you are a member of this awesome water stewardship charity group like myself or if you have been thinking of joining… you can help AW protect rivers here in the states and you could win a kayaking trip with Small World Adventures in exotic Ecuador!

With generous support from Smith Sport Optics and Small World Adventures, American Whitewater is hosting a fundraising and membership drive ending on October 1, 2008. Anyone who joins or renews their AW membership or donates at least $10 to support their river stewardship efforts will be entered in a raffle for a week long trip in Ecuador with Small World Adventures and monthly prizes from Smith Sport Optics. 

Click for More Contest Details:

For each $10 you donate, American Whitewater will enter one raffle ticket for you to win both the monthly prize and the grand prize. ($100 donation = 10 chances to win) Monthly winners will be announced on the AW website and contacted by email to claim prizes. Memberships and donations must be received by October 1, 2008. The grand prize trip in Ecuador will be announced on October 15, 2008.

August in Oklahoma tends to be very hot and dry.  This limits our paddling to long road trips or lake paddling.  Lake paddling can be fun if you know where to go and you get out when the light it good near sunrise or sunset.  To the left you see Lake Eufaula in a shot taken from Gentry Creek Campground.  As you can see, it is at a very wide and wavy part of the lake. This makes Gentry Creek popular with Jet Ski and wakeboarding fans.

This week Oklahoma canoe paddlers caught a break.  An unusual week of Summer rain has graced The Sooner State raising the level of the Illinois River. It won’t stay at this exciting level for long I’ll bet.

The Kiamichi River and the Glover River also appear to have caught a little rain.

In nearby Arkansas, the Ouachita River, Buffalo River and the Caddo River have been benefiting from the recent rains. Oklahoma paddlers…start your engine…less…ness!

The Mulberry River at Turners Bend appears to be moving up slowing, but it was still too low when I wrote this blog posting.

This weekend, I let the honey-do’s cut heavily into my paddling time and the weather was no help either.  However I was seriously in need of a paddling.  I finally gave up on the skies clearing and took the kayaks out to Paradise Point on Lake Eufaula near Checotah, Oklahoma.   Even in bad weather, the time on the water does me a world of good.

It remained overcast all day, but we never got rained on. Paddling on Lake Eufaula is fun if you like kayak fishing or riding boat wakes.  The massive Eufaula Lake is like a superhighway for ski boats, wakeboards and jet ski enthusiasts.  To avoid them, I look for narrower sections of the lake and follow the shoreline into into its little bays and feeder creeks.

Anoter great float trip is to paddle down the north Canadian River into Lake Eufaula. You can take the kayaks out at Jack Frisbee Boat Ramp, which has a large asphalt parking lot and cement boat ramp.  For More information on Lake Eufaula kayaking visit the OklahomaRoadTrips.com Lake Eufaula webpage.