Little River drift boat trip

[Jay]

I went duck hunting on Sat. with a friend of mine and we floated the Little thur Rockford. We saw about 20 woodies but all the shots we had were quite long and we were not able to bring anything down. I was really looking forward to getting some free CDC from a couple of those woodies!
I had never floated the Little river before and it was absolutely beautiful, so on sun. We put my drift boat in at Perrys mill and floated down to an improvised take out on River ford road. We were casting Clousers, woolybuggers and tube jigs for smallmouth. We did'nt put the hook to any fish, but then again I expected it would be too cold for river smallmouth fishing, I just had to scout it out. This is going to be one fine mid summer smallmouth trip I'm sure. The water is beautiful with many deep pools interspersed with several shoals, perfect smallmouth water. We did see one smallie of about 3 pounds or so! I'll bet it is loaded with them in the summer. Looking forward to a summer float here big time!!

[Rockyraccoon]

Jay,

I've heard some great stories about the section of Little River that your refering to! I imagine once the weather starts to warm a bit that we're going to hear some more of those stories from you! Oh...and good luck on the free CDC...you know catching fish on flies that you tied yourself, with feathers you've obtained from a hunt, has got to be very rewarding! Can't wait to hear about your next float there!

Rocky

[gverholek]

I've fished a few spots along the Little River downstream from Waland. Access from the road is hard to find, but I've managed to pick up a Smallie or two. It is a nice river and has great Smallie waters.
I have always wanted to drift the river, but I've heard the snags like to eat canoes. Is a canoe a good way to drift the river? How long did it take you to run from Perry's Mill to the takeout?

[Jay]

gverholek,
The float from Perrys mill to river ford is only about 2 1/2 miles and without fishing you could probably float that in an hour or so. This would be a very good canoe trip. I have canoed from the low head dam in Townsend to almost Perrys Mill, it's good stocked trout water up that far. The whole river from Townsend all the way to Rockford would be very canoeable. You should'nt have any problems. There are quite a few takeouts for canoes, some that you might have to carry your boat a small piece but not far. Just drive down all the roads that follow the river and look for the well worn paths leading to the river. It's a little harder to find places to launch and land a 450 pound drift boat, so options are limited in that regard. I have found a couple of other places if I can get permission from the land owners.
You should give the river a try from a canoe and tell us how you do.
By the way welcome to the board!!
Jay Easter

[gverholek]

Jay,

Thanks for the info. That's support enough so that I've promised myself a trip on the Little River this year.

Gary