Looking For Long Distance Pontoon Trip Recommendations
My son is due to graduate from college in the spring and I was looking to plan a long distance pontooning trip/expedition as a graduation present for him that he and I would do together next summer. I'm looking for any recommendations on where we could go to do a four day fishing / three night (give or take a day) camping float. We have fairly limited pontooning experience with only about a dozen days floating the Bighorn, the longest trip being a 21 mile day in June when the flow was at 10,000 CFS, so I would like to try to keep it to class II rapids at the most. With our limited experience though we have had to deal with both a punctured tube and a broken oar lock all on a 13 mile float on the first day of our trip this past June.
I was thinking we could average 20 - 35 miles per day depending on the current and fishing and was hoping someone here would have some recommendations on where we could do something like this. I see the camping part I see as the most problematic with the varying trespass laws, then there is the logistics of how to get back to the car or get the car spotted to our destinations.
Any suggestions you could offer in terms of where to go or websites to check for information would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks in advance for your help!
Mark
More of an inflatable kayak ...
... ride than one for a pontoon, from what little I know about either of those watercraft, but you might want to check out the fifty mile float down the Selway from Paradise Campground to above Selway Falls. Later in the summer with lower flows will make it a much more sedate float than earlier in the year.
You need a permit to float it before August 1, but on and after August 1 there are no restrictions on the number of craft getting on the river each day.
This is one of the most remote, pristine rivers you can float, and the fishing for West Slope Cutthroat with terrestrials or bull trout with streamers should be great during August.
As I understand it, there are no restrictions on where you camp. ( The linked article below suggests otherwise. ) Lots of sand beaches along the way. I think most people expect to take five days for the float, but you could certainly cut that down, and still get in some good fishing.
It ain't for the faint of heart, but it would make for quite an adventure. Follow the link for some basic information.
http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/trav...ev_054214.html
John
P.S. The shuttle is another matter. It is close to 250 road miles from Paradise Campground to the take out above Selway Falls. There used to be a shuttle service out of Darby MT, and the cost was a couple hundred bucks as of three or four years ago.