Nordegg To Rocky on the river. Advice?

[MikeyB]

Not totally a fishing question, but this was the only place I could think to ask.....

So this year a friend and I want to take a multi-day trip from Nordegg to Rocky Mountain House on the North Saskatchewan. I have an eleven foot Zodiac that I am hoping will be up to the task.
So My first question is would an inflatable zodiac be an appropriate boat for that stretch of river? I know there are some rapids, but I hear they are easily avoidable, so I'm not too concerned about flipping or anything. I am more concerned about shallow spots tearing my hull. Does it get that shallow?

Another thing is roughly how long would it take? I have read anywhere from 2 to 5 days? I don't know if we'll fit enough gear for a 5 day trip. I would ideally like to just keep it to three days, and spend two night random camping on the islands and on the bank. Is that feasible for that stretch? or should we put in somewhere closer to rocky?

And lastly, how is the fishing in that stretch? My buddy doesnt fish, so fishing wont be the focus of the trip, but I will probably want to throw some lines while we are stopped to camp. Any suggestions on gear?

Any other advice, tips, suggestions, exciting stories etc. anyone has for that stretch of river would be welcome as well.

Cheers

Mikey

[Cal]

Sorry I cant give you more helpfull advice but if the trip takes 4-5 days in a canoe its going to take you longer paddling a zodiac. Just a heads up. There was a fellow on this forum that did that trip a few times and he had pictures of some nice brown trout and walleye, hopefully he will chime in.

I paddled the stretch from Rocky down, if its anything like that stretch you wont drag bottom too much if you have enough water and stay on the main chanel.

Although I normaly fly fish for trout, on a river trip I keep it simple, a spinning rod and a few lures. If the fish dont like what I'm throwing I'll find some dumber ones around the next bend. For trout usualy a few spoons and spinners, for walleye and pike a few spoons and jigs.

[bsmitty27]

That's a great trip I did it about 10 years ago 5 easy days. I'm sure there's guys with more info than me.
But get a good topo map and at least take out to scout rapids. If I remember correctly there are some shallow areas and little boulder fields. Nothing that couldn't be avoided. I've never paddled a zodiac but I'm sure it will work.
Have fun

Brad

[Mutter87]

Could you take a Pontoon boat down it?



You mention jigs, just wondering how fast the river is moving? Is it anything like the bow? Or slower?

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

Could you take a Pontoon boat down it?



You mention jigs, just wondering how fast the river is moving? Is it anything like the bow? Or slower?

The bow is a trickle compared to that section of the nsr. Yes you could get down most sections with a pontoon .

[Mutter87]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

The bow is a trickle compared to that section of the nsr. Yes you could get down most sections with a pontoon .

So its substancially faster then the bow? When I say pontoon, I mean the inflatable one man type. Haha

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

So its substancially faster then the bow? When I say pontoon, I mean the inflatable one man type. Haha

No sure what the c.f./s on the upper nsr. Yes it's a larger river than the bow . Is there an other kind of pontoon boat ?? Or do you mean a float tube.

[Mutter87]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

No sure what the c.f./s on the upper nsr. Yes it's a larger river than the bow . Is there an other kind of pontoon boat ?? Or do you mean a float tube.

There's Pontoon boats that the Fly guys use on trout lakes that are inflatable, then there's the pontoon boats you can put a family on and use on large water, which are steel.

What is. "C.f/s" ?

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

There's Pontoon boats that the Fly guys use on trout lakes that are inflatable, then there's the pontoon boats you can put a family on and use on large water, which are steel.

What is. "C.f/s" ?

cf/s cubic feet per second it's a measure of flow . Oh you mean house boats .aluminium. your on the fish form we get pontoon . House boat =not very useful for any water activities , sufficiently craps at many for folks to buy.

[Mutter87]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

cf/s cubic feet per second it's a measure of flow . Oh you mean house boats .aluminium. your on the fish form we get pontoon . House boat =not very useful for any water activities , sufficiently craps at many for folks to buy.

Thank you, you addressed my concerns about taking a Pontoon down it. And not house boats, these
http://www.gofishingnaples.com/tag/pontoon-boats

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

Thank you, you addressed my concerns about taking a Pontoon down it. And not house boats, these
http://www.gofishingnaples.com/tag/pontoon-boats

Yeah, I wouldnt put one of those on too many of the river stretches that I'm familiar with, for a number of reasons. Maby the Peace.

[Mutter87]

Originally Posted by Cal

Yeah, I wouldnt put one of those on too many of the river stretches that I'm familiar with, for a number of reasons. Maby the Peace.

Ya, no doubt, just wanted to make sure me and him were on the same page. I'd love to do a 5 day float on my pontoon boat, would be a blast.

[jungleboy]

Used to do that trip every year up till about 8 yrs ago in a Canoe . I have done it with my 8 yr old son plunked in the front of the canoe .We usually did with a small group . We always did it on the July long weekend if I remember right and we would start off Saturday and get into Rocky Monday afternoon. 3 days worked well , 4 days was more relaxing. There are some good rapids sets for sure but care and attn got us through without incident. I considered doing it last yr again only with a Zodiac type boat but it didn't happen for me. I do think that would be a nice comfy way to do that trip though.

[coppercarbide]

I did this trip last year, in September.

Shallowness:
I'm not sure if I would take an inflatable down it. There's many parts that are okay, but there are quite a few parts where the river spreads out and gets quite shallow. I have a 17' canoe, and I left a few paint marks on the bottom. Also, this isn't a river where you can really just drift. It's pretty fast and there's parts with undercut and sweepers, which means you need to stay away from the edges at times, which takes some paddling.
You'd probably be better off renting a canoe from Totem (should be 70-80 for the three days I think). It'll store gear better, be more manoeuvrable, and just be more enjoyable.

Speed:
There are some very quick sections here. Further towards the end, there are some very quick sections with rock walls and ledges that you sometimes need to paddle pretty hard to stay away from. Again with the recommendation to take a canoe. The river got to 15-16 km/h on the quicker sections, 5-9km/h on most.

Rapids:
As most folks say, most of the rapids can be avoided. There's a couple smaller ones that you pretty much have to take, and in order to avoid some of the midsize ones, you have to paddle cross-stream in a couple places with a reasonable amount of speed.

Time:
We did it in a very easy three days. We certainly did not paddle all day. If you're worried about making a 'less paddling time, but still 3 days' trip, you can launch from numerous places downstream from Nordegg. If you launched at Saunders, you would have a VERY easy 3 days, or a very achievable 2 day trip.

Fishing:
I got a fair bit of fishing time in. Ended up with some really nice browns. I've heard there's a few rainbows in there too, didn't end up with any. I've heard other folks say it's a really hard section of the river to fish. I had a ton of luck with me that weekend I guess, I was just spinfishing and did great, mostly smaller fish though.

Attached some pictures of the trip. Not sure that I'd recommend as a first trip in an inflatable, there's a few other rivers around that are more suitable to that (slower, less strainers and sweepers). If you've got some experience, it's definitely do-able though. If you have limited experience, and you are going with someone else with a trip or two under their belts, get a canoe and go for it!

Either way, I hope you have a great trip, I know I did!

[Mutter87]

What slower rivers in the area would you reccomend for an inflatable?

[nekred]

Now I want to float the river in my Zodiac...

[Cal]

Originally Posted by coppercarbide

I did this trip last year, in September.

Shallowness:
I'm not sure if I would take an inflatable down it. There's many parts that are okay, but there are quite a few parts where the river spreads out and gets quite shallow. I have a 17' canoe, and I left a few paint marks on the bottom. Also, this isn't a river where you can really just drift. It's pretty fast and there's parts with undercut and sweepers, which means you need to stay away from the edges at times, which takes some paddling.
You'd probably be better off renting a canoe from Totem (should be 70-80 for the three days I think). It'll store gear better, be more manoeuvrable, and just be more enjoyable.

Speed:
There are some very quick sections here. Further towards the end, there are some very quick sections with rock walls and ledges that you sometimes need to paddle pretty hard to stay away from. Again with the recommendation to take a canoe. The river got to 15-16 km/h on the quicker sections, 5-9km/h on most.

Rapids:
As most folks say, most of the rapids can be avoided. There's a couple smaller ones that you pretty much have to take, and in order to avoid some of the midsize ones, you have to paddle cross-stream in a couple places with a reasonable amount of speed.

Time:
We did it in a very easy three days. We certainly did not paddle all day. If you're worried about making a 'less paddling time, but still 3 days' trip, you can launch from numerous places downstream from Nordegg. If you launched at Saunders, you would have a VERY easy 3 days, or a very achievable 2 day trip.

Fishing:
I got a fair bit of fishing time in. Ended up with some really nice browns. I've heard there's a few rainbows in there too, didn't end up with any. I've heard other folks say it's a really hard section of the river to fish. I had a ton of luck with me that weekend I guess, I was just spinfishing and did great, mostly smaller fish though.

Attached some pictures of the trip. Not sure that I'd recommend as a first trip in an inflatable, there's a few other rivers around that are more suitable to that (slower, less strainers and sweepers). If you've got some experience, it's definitely do-able though. If you have limited experience, and you are going with someone else with a trip or two under their belts, get a canoe and go for it!

Either way, I hope you have a great trip, I know I did!

Some good advice there, and thanks for the pics, got me just itching to do some river tripping now. Next May/ June I'll be going to trade school in GP, hoping I can hook up with some other outdoorsmen and do a few day trips on the rivers out there.

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

What slower rivers in the area would you reccomend for an inflatable?

Most of the Athabasca will work and fishing is typicaly good. The Lesser Slave river would make a pretty good 2-3 day trip and could easily be done with an inflatable. Fishing is good for walleye, pike, and goldeye.

The main thing is that you understand how a boat works in moving water, in short take your turns on the inside to avoid sweepers. When you need to manouver accross current to avoid an obstical, unless you have all kinds of time you should do so by paddling against the current and angled across, either by paddling backwards or turning your boat around and doing so forwards. Keep these in mind and learn how to land a boat in swift water properly and you should be ok.

[Mutter87]

Originally Posted by Cal

Most of the Athabasca will work and fishing is typicaly good. The Lesser Slave river would make a pretty good 2-3 day trip and could easily be done with an inflatable. Fishing is good for walleye, pike, and goldeye.

The main thing is that you understand how a boat works in moving water, in short take your turns on the inside to avoid sweepers. When you need to manouver accross current to avoid an obstical, unless you have all kinds of time you should do so by paddling against the current and angled across, either by paddling backwards or turning your boat around and doing so forwards. Keep these in mind and learn how to land a boat in swift water properly and you should be ok.

Thanks for the advice! Those are pretty wide rivers in that area eh? Or are they narrower like the nsr looks to be.

[Outcast 1100]

i have done that trip 2 times now, with 6 guys in a inflatable raft that i rented for like 100 bucks. launched from the bridge on the forest trunk road sask river. the first leg we go from the bridge all the way to hamburg campground, we dont stay at the campground, there is a nice campsite on the other side just before the bend, then there is a stretch of rapids class 2 at best just around the corner to start ther day off, sweet. the next leg if i remember was to the confluent of the ram river. then we go the next day till the devils elbow, sweeeeeet rapids section, class 2 or 3, depending on water flow then we camp just after there, sweet honey hole for fishin or swimming and talking about that awesome house at the top of the cliff. after that the river widens out alot and gets slow all the way to rocky, i wouldnt recommend going all the way to rocky, find some place before and unload there, unless you have a motor with you... hope this helps out...

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

Thanks for the advice! Those are pretty wide rivers in that area eh? Or are they narrower like the nsr looks to be.

Athabasca is wider, Lesser Slave is narrow. Would not reccomend a pontoon boat on either of them but a quality inflatable should be ok.

[Outcast 1100]

this is very close to what we took out, 340 per week rent.untitled.png i wouldnt worry about your zodiac at all or a good quality (outcast)pontoon boat, 700 denier should be tough enough.

[Mutter87]

Originally Posted by Outcast 1100

this is very close to what we took out, 340 per week rent.Attachment 67822 i wouldnt worry about your zodiac at all or a good quality (outcast)pontoon boat, 700 denier should be tough enough.

For the NSR or all 3?

[Outcast 1100]

6 guys and gear for 5 days fit in that raft. for $340 per week rent. next trip i take will be the raft and two pontoons boats. then 4 guys in raft two in pontoons to make room for more gear and more fishing room.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by MikeyB

Not totally a fishing question, but this was the only place I could think to ask.....

So this year a friend and I want to take a multi-day trip from Nordegg to Rocky Mountain House on the North Saskatchewan. I have an eleven foot Zodiac that I am hoping will be up to the task.
So My first question is would an inflatable zodiac be an appropriate boat for that stretch of river? I know there are some rapids, but I hear they are easily avoidable, so I'm not too concerned about flipping or anything. I am more concerned about shallow spots tearing my hull. Does it get that shallow?

Another thing is roughly how long would it take? I have read anywhere from 2 to 5 days? I don't know if we'll fit enough gear for a 5 day trip. I would ideally like to just keep it to three days, and spend two night random camping on the islands and on the bank. Is that feasible for that stretch? or should we put in somewhere closer to rocky?

And lastly, how is the fishing in that stretch? My buddy doesnt fish, so fishing wont be the focus of the trip, but I will probably want to throw some lines while we are stopped to camp. Any suggestions on gear?

Any other advice, tips, suggestions, exciting stories etc. anyone has for that stretch of river would be welcome as well.

Cheers

Mikey

The Alberta Recreational Canoe Association has a good map of this run. It is called the Alberta River Guide- the North Sask. River foothils region. Nordegg to Drayton Valley ( novice to intermediate) It has the rapids information, paddling distances and descriptions all along this stretch. I bought my copy at Maptown.

You can also get one online at : http://www.paddlealberta.org/paddlin...g_database.asp