I'll be there Thursday night or Friday morning.

I'm not sure if I'll paddle. How long is the paddle, in time, not distance? I'm not sure yet if I'll do that.

What time doest he species contest start? I plan on arriving before that. Either Friday night or Saturday morning.

Ty

The species derby is on Saturday, noon to 2:00.

I think the paddle will be about 6-8 hours.

there is a put in where Torkelson dumps into the north branch. From there it is about a 4 hour float to Eagle Cliff. The drive is about a half hour.

This is where I would suggest putting in.

H

Here's a picture taken 4/27 of the beach/canoe landing in front of the campground - this is where the pre-Roundup fishing took place.

Note the canoe landing sign - note how high the water is. When it goes down the normal beach should still be there.

Despite the high water there were fish all through the River. If you see the slow water directly below the landing sign - you're looking at one of the current breaks where Silvers, hog suckers, shorthead and white suckers where hanging out today. Captain Rainbow's honey hole was fishable - if you had 6 oz of weight.

We have 2 weeks for the water to go down - even if it's a bit cloudy when we fish - there's so many fish running we shouldn't know the difference.

The Beach on 4/27

There is sand on hogsucker beach. Note that the first year of the roundup, we were fishing from up on the bank, as even this sandy beach was under water. The fishing was still excellent.

I think Heath nailed the entry point. That's about 7 river miles to Eagle Cliff. There is a neat old concrete building where the power plant used to be. They drilled a tunnel to route water through the bluff and take advantage of more gradient there. There is also the remnants of the old dam to paddle over. From the map, it also looks like there are several islands on this route. Sounds like prime fishing territory, to me.

We did 13 river miles last year, but we fished a lot early on, and had to paddle with some vigor to get off the water by sundown. Best to plan a shorter trip, and spend more time fishing, IMHO. Plus we are finishing up at camp, which gives us more time; we can easily get the drop-off cars the following morning if need be. The drive isn't more than 15 minutes.

If there's an access there, then that would be ideal. It's not on any of the DNR maps. All I see is a parking lot and a steep hill. ESub or Rich, you've launched a canoe there?

I have not. The landing from Co Rd 21 is another option, which would double the length of the trip. So it would be a lot like last year in terms of time and miles. I think there is a private campground there, or on C Rd 11 upstream.

E Sub, if you haven't been there, I can make it a point to scout possible put-in points on the way down Tuesday, and report back to Corey later in the week.

Rich

Pumpkinfisher - I've never tried minnows - they might get you more trout and fewer suckers, though.

Most of the Horse I see caught on the Ole Miss are taking minnows.

Rich - I have ran that stretch numerous times. My favorite route is swimming it in late July and August when the air is hot and the water refreshing. Its a local thing, just dawn your swim trunks and a life vest and away you go.

Corey - the DNR does have a map however it is not marked as a put in. The put in I am recommending is here. http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/canoe_routes/root.pdf

Its the river mile marked 60 north of Lanesboro where Torkelson dumps into the Root.

Its about a four hour float and the drive is closer to a half hour. The road west off of 250 is through a gorge. It is narrow, windy, and minimum maintenance, which makes for slow going.
The fewer the cars we leave on this road the better. There are no parking areas to speak of. I would be a bit nervous leaving my car there over night.

Thanks -

H

Well, since we're looking at up to 10 boats and 8 cars, that probably won't work. It's a perfect 7 mile run, though. We could eliminate a few cars through the creative use of rope, but likely not many. Since a shuttle run takes an hour, we'd either be driving back and forth forever or leaving a ton of trucks alongside the road there.

What do you think?

The next access up on the North Branch makes for a run of 14.8 miles, longer than last year's 12.6 Eagle Cliff to Peterson. We could do Lanesboro Dam to Eagle Cliff - a short run of 5.1 miles, but then everybody would have to buy trout stamps to fish the South Branch. Nuts to that, plus we'd be dodging elkhairs the whole way through. Peterson to Rushford is 5.1 and would require shuttles both ways. Chatfield to 52 is 7.5, once again needing shuttles both ways.

We could potentially shuttle most of the cars to a lot elsewhere after we drop off the boats. I think the more complicated, the better.

Eagle Cliff's canoe routes indicate an 8-mile and a 16-mile run, and both end at the campground. I really think the 8-miler must be the entry point in question. Therefore, maybe we negotiate a price for the group to haul us all up there with our boats. They probably have a van with a canoe trailer that would get us all there in one trip, potentially. Everyone pays $5-10. No shuttling.

I'll make the call and let you know what I learn. If Eagle Cliff can't do it, there are outfitters in Lanesboro and Whalen who could, perhaps.

Excellent idea - just find out what the 8-mile run is; I might shy away if it's on the South branch but it's probably the run in question.

I'd certainly be willing to pay a few bucks to have the shuttle taken care of.

In fact, the 8-mile run is at the mouth of Torkleson Creek. Eagle Cliff shuttles us at $15 per boat. It's steeper than I wanted, but probably still worth it.

What we need is bargaining power. If we can get a count of all the people and crafts planning on going, we can negotiate a better rate. 8 boats is $120. Maybe we offer $100 for the lot of us, and then everyone pays $10 a head with 10 people going. I also suggest this because the kayakers are paying more, so I am biased. I would hope if we can negotiate a better rate for the crew, folks would be receptive to it.

Of course, if you rent a canoe or kayak from Eagle Cliff, shuttle is included:
http://www.eaglecliff-campground.com/Rentals_Info.htm

There are other outfitters in the area who might give us a deal, but by the simple fact that we are already on site, I doubt we'll do much better. I also figure I could knock off $6 from that price for the gas I save alone.

Feel free to pipe up if you feel strongly about this.

$150 is a bit steep.

Tell you what' I'm going to sticky a second thread for JUST floating the Root discussions, to keep it seperate from the general Roundup discussion.

Chime in on that thread if you plan on floating the river on Friday.

You say a shuttle comes with rental from eagle creek? If so maybe we can try to swing a deal; we rent a couple of watercraft and maybe they can shuttle some of the non rentals with the lot at a reduced rate. This way folks won't have to bring as many boats and associated equipment too. What are rental prices anyway?

how rocky is this (these) route(s)? I might bring my dacron covered 14 foot canoe, but it's getting on in age and might not take a hit like it used to. The last time I did a paddle out of preston the water was pretty low, but not a drag through. I'm getting pretty psyched.

Hmm I am not a fan of renting since we have our own boats.
and I hate to say it I need to watch my costs, the trip over from Wisconsin is going to be a tad expensive for me with gas prices.

Another factor is time.
When about would the trip start on friday? if it is early I wouldnt be able to make it anyway. 11 am I could maybe do.

anywho thats where I stand.

I was thinking noon, to allow people coming from out of the region to get there.