Floating the Big Fork River

[MNBIGBEAR]

I am looking into a canoe trip on the Big Fork. Thinking 3 or 4 days. Would it be better to put in on the lower part of the river or more in the middle? Looking to fish muskies and walleyes mostly. Would love to do the whole thing but not sure how long that would take. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[mixxedbagg]

Wait 5 months.

I'll be watching this thread with interest as I have wanted to do a multi-day fishing trip on the Bigfork as well.

[swamptiger]

For a multi- day trip I would put in at either the first or second bridge on Hwy 6, or Little American Falls north of Effie, and float down to Big Falls. Been years since I've been through there, so I would recommend contacting the hardware store in Big Falls for details.

Be forewarned, the bugs will literally eat you alive in the height of the bug season, so my advice would be to pick a time later in the summer. Middle to the end of May would be okay if the bugs haven't come into full swing and the water levels aren't too high.

[gotum]

If the water is low you may need to get out in a few places or leave some paint on the rocks.

[swamptiger]

Yup, timing is everything in that one - not something you would want to do when conditions aren't right.

[gotum]

I smile when I see lots of paint on the shallow rocks in different stretches of the river.

[Koochfisherman]

Sorry MNBIGBEAR I haven't been paying attention lately. As Swamptiger said the area from the bridges on Hwy 6 to Big Falls is a good area for fishing what you want to fish for. Although if I where to fish it I would fish it from the end of June until the end of July, in the lowest water you can get. You are going to be eat alive with the horse fly's and Deer fly's but that is the best time to fish it. The upper end of the river is slower and deeper then that from Big Falls to the Rainy. That end of the river is better suited for walleye and bass all tough you can still catch muskies and northern there too. The trip between the bridges is a long one, slower and deeper water, from the first bridge from Big Falls to Johnson landing is about 8 miles and a full day if you fish it. Johnson landing is a good place to camp. From Johnson to Big Falls is a long one, it is a mixture of deep and shallow but not a lot of places to camp unless you just get out of the canoe an pull up where ever. Good Luck and have fun, because that river has produced some real big fish for me.

[Scott M]

I'm gonna give it a shot with a 14 foot boat and 25 horse motor and some bucktails this summer around Effie. I heard last summer was pretty good up there.

[BDawg23]

A good resource to utilize is the river level guage on the DNR website. I kept a close eye on it prior to my float last year and was very accurate. Unfortunately, a day before I floated a decent rain dirtied the river up quite a bit and I didn't do so well. Let us know how you do!

[Scott M]

Bigfork River Canoe Route and Info

[MNBIGBEAR]

Awesome info guys. Im looking forward to giving it a shot. Will definitely (or hopefully) post some pictures if we have some success. Cant wait to be casting on open water again!