About Us

 9/16/2018 (10.2 Feet and dropping)

I went with a group of friends to Mammoth Cave National Park for an  overnight paddle & fishing trip on the Green River. The five of us  were in two canoes and one kayak. We rented the canoes from a local  outfitter, who shuttled us to the Dennison Public Use area where we  put-in. Our take out was 7.5 miles downstream at Green River Ferry.

It was hot for September, about 86° during the day and sunny. Fishing  was slow, but our kayaker managed to reel in a largemouth, a  smallmouth, and a panfish on our paddle to the campsite. I fished most  of the way there, about two hours, with only a single strike that  missed.

About five miles downstream, we beached at a hollow that, during very  high water, would be a channel between an island and the shore.  However, at lower levels, perhaps under 20′,  the channel bed is high  and dry, and covered in fine grain sand. This made for an ideal spot to  pitch our tents–laying on sand is a bit of a luxury the typical roots,  rocks and sticks I usually sleep on when camping.

After setting up camp, I fished from the bank. The sun dropping cast  shadows on the water, and I figured there may be more activity. I tied  on a rainbow trout sparkly roostertail, and on my second cast, hooked  and landed a 12 inch smallmouth. He put up a good fight. We took a  picture, and I let him go.

The next morning, we woke up to sprinkling rain. After striking camp,  we paddled the last few miles. We hit a couple of spots requiring some  maneuvering, and one spot in particular around mile 199 that was  somewhat technical: a shallow, fast moving shoal heading into a 90  degree hard right turn, facing into a wall with logs sticking out. The  difficulty was the shoal could grab the front of the canoe, spinning the  boat sideways into a swirl, where a log could grab the boat and tip it  in the fast current. The other canoe in our group was ahead of mine, and  they paddled past the shoal, but got caught on a log, tipping the boat  completely over. The two guys went for a swim, and scramble to collect  dry bags and gear that went over, also. They lost two fishing poles and a  folding camp chair. We beached our canoe on the shoal before the turn,  and portaged over the shoal beyond the turn.

Also noteworthy–a bald eagle was perched on a limb next to the river,  and swooped down a time or two as we made our way down the river. The  other canoe, ahead of us, said the eagle swooped down in front of them,  catching a fish. They shot video and some good stills. Pretty impressive  watching a bald eagle fishing in the wild.

Overall, it was a good trip. The scenery was beautiful, the weather  cooperative. The fishing was okay–the group reported that they did this  trip the same time last year, and caught smallmouth left and right. I  wasn’t skunked, so I felt pretty good about it.