Hunting the Missippi River, Any Pointers?

[fireplug]

I've never been out on the big river. I've been on the oxbows and out to the edge of the river a few times, but I can assure
you that I don't have to be an experienced river boater to know that you do not put any boat less than 20' on that river right now. Someone mentioned the old guys getting on the river in 14' jon boats..... I know several that have, but it was in the summer time with low calm waters. No old timer that I know would try it when the whirlpools are spitting out 24"-36" diameter trees that look like whales leaping out of the water.

I don't normally give advise, but if I was you, I'd stick to the oxbows with that 16' boat. I have a 15'x44 with 20" sides and I wouldn't even think about launching mine in there right now. I probably wouldn't do it when it was low.

[Buckwabit]

I mentioned it and It is true. I couldn't count all the old hands that done it in 14' and 15 ' john boats with 9.9 motors. They also grew up on that river and knew every square inch of it, and were on it all the time, reguardless of the weather or river conditions.

That's the Difference though...Experience!!!!

[KWAKHED]

not knockin the old timers, but experience don't mean squat when a tree takes you out when you don't expect it. Knowing the layout of the river is one thing, dodging the constantly changing debris and swells is another. and as for going out in the fog, done it once and will never again. it really sucks to get across the river and realize as you slow the motor that you just cut the path of a tug pushin a load of barges.

[BR549]

not knockin the old timers, but experience don't mean squat when a tree takes you out when you don't expect it. Knowing the layout of the river is one thing, dodging the constantly changing debris and swells is another. and as for going out in the fog, done it once and will never again. it really sucks to get across the river and realize as you slow the motor that you just cut the path of a tug pushin a load of barges.

The bad thing about the trees is it doesn't matter what size boat your in! If you are in anything less than a barge and one pops up under you it's gonna take you out! This is where experience comes into play! You stay away from the areas where these kinds of things happen! Im 50 plus years old and I've run every inch of that river from above Memphis to below Natchez. I've run it in 20 ft bassboats at 70 mph plus and I've run it in 12 ft john boats with a 6 hp motor on it. There's certian areas you have to watch for and with a little experience you can tell where they are just by looking at it. Now you throw a little fog into the equation and you can't see those places. That's when you get into trouble. Doing something stupid in the first place. Again I say if you have to ask you have no buisness going out there! You know BEFORE you go or you simply don't go! I too mainly deer hunt out there now and have no problem running it in a 15 ft war eagle with a 25 on it. But, I'm no fool about it either! I know what my limits are and will NOT push em! Be prepaired and KNOW what to do should the situation change in a hurry! No one has ever drowned on dry land! If you get in trouble and you get to land you STAY on land till help arrives or conditions become safe to proceed again. Even if that means all night! Yes you can navigate with a GPS in fog but that GPS won't tell you about that aproaching barge! (and they can't see you either) Stay away from the steep banks too! In bad fog northbound traffic stops to let the southbound have the right of way. There are only certian places this can happen. Look at the maps figure out where those points are and beware. Expect the unexpected! Deep water next to steep points is where 90% of your whirlpools are going to be (on the down current side) Stay away from these areas! I've never seen a whirlpool along a sandbar but I have off the ends of dikes and points. Just avoid those areas all together.

[420racin]

I agree with BR549, if you gotta ask, then you don't need to go. I aint no old timer by no means but i have been on the river my whole life, I go out usually at least once a week, try to anyway, and i got a 17 foot boat with a 50HP, it is plenty. I started out with a 15 ft. tiller handle 25, if you know the areas to watch out for then you will be ok as long as you don't get stupid. I rescued three people in the river one day out of my 15 ft. boat and they were in an 18 ft war eagle with a 90, I knew what I was doing,and they didn't. As far as the posts saying don't go and take out a life insurance policy, etc... It sounds like not many of you need to go out there. I have been in some prretty tight spost before and I am sure I will be again, but if you got experience you should be fine in any boat you take out there, bottom line is the river does not care about you, whether you live or die and if you have to ask, then don't go.

[BR549]

I agree with BR549, if you gotta ask, then you don't need to go. I aint no old timer by no means but i have been on the river my whole life, I go out usually at least once a week, try to anyway, and i got a 17 foot boat with a 50HP, it is plenty. I started out with a 15 ft. tiller handle 25, if you know the areas to watch out for then you will be ok as long as you don't get stupid. I rescued three people in the river one day out of my 15 ft. boat and they were in an 18 ft war eagle with a 90, I knew what I was doing,and they didn't. As far as the posts saying don't go and take out a life insurance policy, etc... It sounds like not many of you need to go out there. I have been in some prretty tight spost before and I am sure I will be again, but if you got experience you should be fine in any boat you take out there, bottom line is the river does not care about you, whether you live or die and if you have to ask, then don't go.

Well said! That river is just another body of water with a little current in it! Know how to handle it before u go! One thing that has not been mentioned here is about all the trash and floaters. When the river is falling and back in its banks 90% of your trash goes away. Only places u have much is high current areas. Huntin gets much worse too overall. Ducks don't like fallin water! Risin water on the other hand picks up every stick, chunk, log or whatever that's layin on the banks. You have 100 times as much trash to deal with! Your odds of hitting something unseen just went WAY up! But the huntin is generaly better! Fresh food in the water! I can tell u from first hand experience you hit a solid floater @ 70 mph you in for the ride of ur life! If u lucky, you'll just sheer the lower unit off clean! Might do a couple 360's but if u hangin on u should be ok. Other than dead in the water! I don't like to run in the bouy channel either just in case something does happen u are already in harms way. Just pay attention to what's goin on and notice ANY change in how the water looks! Read the water it will tell u if somethin major is there! Rockdyke, sandbar things like that. Like I said it's old man river! Its way older than any of us. Respect it like ur elders! Cause if u don't, I can guarantee u won't like the punishment it can dish out!

[msbigdawg1234]

I ran into a some guys( from GA) 2 yrs ago that were in town looking to buy some decoys...At that time most everyone had sold out of thier dekes...I asked them what happened to the ones they were hunting with and they guys just looked at me with a funny look and said the river monster took them out......they were north of Vburg and were set up said they heard this deep long growl at daylight it was the limbs of a tree rubbing down the side and under the the boat...they said it was the WHOLE tree root ballan all that just came up out of nowhere and took the whole spread out and wentback under...they found 3 dekes..i told them they were real lucky it just brushed the boat...it was 3 guys in the boat at the time but only 2 was going back to hunt ....the other one said he would be at the casino the rest of the trip gambling his money not his life...while his other partners took the chance again......REMEMBER ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN ON THAT BODY OF WATER..!!!!!!!!!!

[Jeff]

Another thing no one has mentoined on this post is a good anchor, chain and rope. Down here we don't have rock dams, it's just open river and 1000' boats throwing 4-8' wakes. If your motor ever goes out you need to make sure you don't end up drifting into the channel. You want to carry a minimum of twice the deepest spot in the river and a good 6' of chain to make sure you can drop the hook and it will hold no matter what the current.

Of course I have a very extensive list of saftey gear I carry in the boat from November to April for running/hunting/fishing the river.

[BR549]

Another thing no one has mentoined on this post is a good anchor, chain and rope. Down here we don't have rock dams, it's just open river and 1000' boats throwing 4-8' wakes. If your motor ever goes out you need to make sure you don't end up drifting into the channel. You want to carry a minimum of twice the deepest spot in the river and a good 6' of chain to make sure you can drop the hook and it will hold no matter what the current.

Of course I have a very extensive list of saftey gear I carry in the boat from November to April for running/hunting/fishing the river.

Yea, I've never fooled around down there much, but yall have some pretty big stuff comin in down there. At least up here you can run hide from the wakes if neccesary! I always run the shortest lines from A to B if possible. Sometimes that takes you thru some pretty rough stuff in crossing over. Especially if the waters rising! But by doing that you pretty much stay out of the heaviest flows on the river. Have to be real careful coming up on the backside of some of those points! Give em plenty of room! I know most of your duck boats don't run like these bassboats will. But let me tell you, at 70mph things happen quick! You covering a football field in about 3 seconds! No room for error! I've torn up more shiatt on that river than I ever have anywhere else! Dikes are usually not a problem if you know how to read the water. Problem is when you act a fool and think you have enough water to clear it! Know before you go! A lot of times you can go over them one way but not the other too! Found that out the hard way too! That was a 14k mistake!

[KWAKHED]

BR549, I'm not trying to be a smart booty, but your experience sure seems to have carried a large pricetag. The way you talk, you hit something just about everytime you went out there for a while.

[mudsucker]

Another thing no one has mentoined on this post is a good anchor, chain and rope. Down here we don't have rock dams, it's just open river and 1000' boats throwing 4-8' wakes. If your motor ever goes out you need to make sure you don't end up drifting into the channel. You want to carry a minimum of twice the deepest spot in the river and a good 6' of chain to make sure you can drop the hook and it will hold no matter what the current.

Of course I have a very extensive list of saftey gear I carry in the boat from November to April for running/hunting/fishing the river.

55' in spots, Doc! I dig it so I know. It's 130+' off Algiers Pt.! A good anchor is worth it's weight in gold!

[greenwaveduck]

I'm new to ducksouth but not to duck hunting. Don't take that boat on the Mississippi River. I have a bigger boat and larger motor and I still don't like dealing with the river. Nothing worse than being caught in big water with a small boat.

[BR549]

BR549, I'm not trying to be a smart booty, but your experience sure seems to have carried a large pricetag. The way you talk, you hit something just about everytime you went out there for a while.

That's what we been tryin to say! No matter how experienced u are u log enough miles out there you will break down! You will hit something! You will loose a prop, a lower unit, blow a motor or something! These things aren't bullet proof! Yes I've totaled 2 rangers out there. Busted the hull on a couple a more on nothing but waves! Get caught out there in 6 footers and have to go 40 or 50 miles in it in a short period of time! You gonna tear it up! You know when u only have 8 to 9 hrs to fish including travel time u got to go! U make a 100 plus mile run one way and back. That only leaves u bout 4 hrs to fish. The rest of the time you got ur equipment pushed to the max! It will fail from time to time on its on! Now if u take chances and run skinny water or jump sandbars or blow thru holes in rock dikes to get to better fishing? Well you gonna tear up some stuff! Part of the game! I was lucky to have factory backing and didn't have to pay for it all either. But the point is u stay on it long enough you will tear something up! I really wish I just had an idea of how many miles I logged in that river fishing tournaments and stuff. Many a thousand miles!

[Jeff]

I know Joe, fortunatley I have 300' of rope and another 20' of chain. Gotta make sure you have stuff to at least try and keep you safe is something goes wrong.

Another thing no one has mentoined on this post is a good anchor, chain and rope. Down here we don't have rock dams, it's just open river and 1000' boats throwing 4-8' wakes. If your motor ever goes out you need to make sure you don't end up drifting into the channel. You want to carry a minimum of twice the deepest spot in the river and a good 6' of chain to make sure you can drop the hook and it will hold no matter what the current.

Of course I have a very extensive list of saftey gear I carry in the boat from November to April for running/hunting/fishing the river.

55' in spots, Doc! I dig it so I know. It's 130+' off Algiers Pt.! A good anchor is worth it's weight in gold!

[teul2]

55' in spots, Doc! I dig it so I know. It's 130+' off Algiers Pt.! A good anchor is worth it's weight in gold!

I know spots around Vburg that are +100ft.
That's just on the down stream side of a rock dyke, but there are some really deep spots.