Upper White River: Crosses to Durham

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 Upper White River: Crosses to Durham

For my second blog post, I decided to describe the water conditions and fishing opportunities on one of my all time favorite floats, the Upper White River from Crosses to Durham. Unfortunately, there are no outfitters on the Upper White. This difficulty may put off some fisherman, however it is certainly worth the extra effort to shuttle yourself. The access at Crosses is good and is best at the low water bridge. As for Durham, the access isn't as easy. The road leading to the access works its way along the river. Eventually, a dirt road on the right leads to the river, this road is steep which makes it somewhat difficult to get loaded back up at the end of the day. Attached to this blog are Google Earth links for where to find access. Since the float is about 9 miles, I would recommend to plan for a full day of floating and fishing. When floating, there isn't too much to be concerned with. Towards the end there is one significant log jam that has required portaging to get past but aside from that, its smooth sailing. 

This float has produced some of my biggest Smallmouth to date. Its very possible to catch Smallmouth that are 18" plus. Deep channels, long pools, and plenty of cover make Crosses to Durham perfect for Smallmouth consistently throughout the 9 mile stretch. However, Smallmouth aren't the only fish to be caught. Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Rock Bass, Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish and Catfish are also prevalent throughout this float. 

Paying attention to discharge is critical to float this stretch. The USGS provides streamflow information on their website which is attached to this blog. The gauge at Elkins has the best indication of good streamflow. Crosses to Durham is still a ways upstream of Elkins so its important to take that into account when deciding whether the float is doable. The Upper White is very rocky so it is relatively clear even a day after a significant rain event. When interpreting CFS (cubic feet per second), consider this guide:

 0 - 50 = Tons of dragging

50 - 100 = Floating possible, still plenty of dragging

100 - 150 = Floatable with occasional dragging

150 - 400 = Ideal floating and fishing conditions with minimal dragging

400 - 700 = Fast moving water makes paddling more intensive, fishing difficult

700 - 1000 = Dangerous river flow and difficult fishing makes floating unpractical

Keep in mind that floatable/fishable discharge depends on the stream, so these guidelines don't apply to all rivers. Also, most outfitters go off of gauge height instead of cubic feet per second. Outfitters know best what water level is safe/ for paddlers and fishermen, so its a good idea to call ahead to ask.

Here are a few of my best Smallmouth from this float.






I hope this post was helpful, now get to fishing!

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