This is warning JohnnyCoho wanted me to pass along to everyone as he floated the river at the last high water and there are some major changes. These changes are not for the good and could very well take a boat if one is not careful-very very very careful!!

This is the worst stretch which is marked by a newly planted lifejacket.



I am sure John can fill you in on the details.

I have to say this is somewhat concerning as my buddy and I were planning a trip up there in the near future. I have heard that the Sauk is relatively easy to float.

My home river changes with every really high water, I have to relearn all the channels and do a lot of scouting. Is the Sauk the same way?

It seems to have a relatively benign gradient, can anyone describe the structure and Class of the river for me?

This I believe is the upper drift from the mill down. This float from what I understand changes alot from high cfs flows. It is a sweet drift and If I were going down it soon I would make sure I followed someone who has been down it very recently. Watch out for sweepers and log jams. To the newbee this float can be very unperdictable!

Thanks Ryan; I have no idea how to post pics here so I asked Ryan to do it for me.

This spot is a LuLu, a true Widow-Maker and God was definately looking out for us yesterday. Pulled over above this spot yesterday to relieve ourselves and one of my client's says, "Look down river!!" This is a blind corner and there's no-way Ya would see it until you were right up on it.

I sacrificed one of my boat's life jackets above this spot as a warning to pull over. Picture came out a little blurry here the way Ryan shrunk it a little, but we made an arrow out of sticks, and hung the life jacket 15 feet up in the air.
Below if Ya look close you can see my boat up on the gravel bar, just in front of my bow is the "Widow-Maker" I only hope my life jacket remains there as a warning until another high water remedies the situation. THIS WILL CLAIM A BOAT, and MOST LIKELY A LIFE!!! (We floated numerous sticks and logs down this shoot and every one of them went under and didn't pop back up on the other side.)

Upper Sauk has a ton of changes on it now and as the river drops there are two really bad spots, and a bunch of other tricky spots. Unless Yer gonna' follow someone down that knows it well, stick to the middle and lower floats.
I'm on the river just about every day and know its temperament well. This river changes every single year and just about every high water.

Middle float remains pretty much un-changed. Lower float is entirely "new" down to the mouth, but no major warnings here.

We don't need any more lost boats this season!!

Thanks Johnny, this is one of the best services this BB can provide.

You don't have to divulge secrets to pass on safety tips, safety should be on the forefront of all of our minds after this tragic boating season.

Johnny

Some friends of mine and I fish the Sauk in April. We generally float from(don't know the name of the bridge) down to the native hole. And also from a spot down river a bit(big long bravel bar you can drive out on) to the mouth of the Sauk.. It sounds like from what your saying the new problem areas are above that?

Thanks for the warning and the sacrfice of the life jacket. We don't need any other boat accidents this year.Thanks again

Robert,

Yesterday we floated the middle run you're talking about and it's pretty much the same as always. Had a great day with one of your cohorts from another board. Once Mr. Sinktip remembered how to use a baitcaster, he was chucking eggs into pocket water like an old pro.

Bruce

Hmmmm, And old sinktip was giving me the business about using a ESL :p