Kings River: Marble to Marshall's Ford

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 Kings River: Marble to Marshall's Ford

    This is one of the most scenic floats in all of the Ozarks, which is really saying something. Giant rock walls, bluffs and incredibly cool rock formations make this stretch of stream consistently beautiful to behold. The beauty of the rock formations match the beauty of the water which at ideal floatable conditions, is breathtakingly clear. Each series of narrow pools has plenty of rock and fallen trees lining the bank. These pools dump out into faster moving, narrower channels and that widen into other pools that start out with deep eddies.

    I have paddled this stretch a handful of times and although the views never fail me, the fishing does. Okay, that isn't entirely true. But I will say that the fishing I've enjoyed on the Upper White from Crosses to Durham has been far more reliable then the Kings. My expectations have rarely been met once I finish this float. That's not to say the Kings doesn't have potential to harbor lunkers. I've heard from multiple sources that the Kings produces 3 to 4 lbs smallmouth. However, out of all the times I've fished it, the largest smallie I've caught there has been about 16" and 2 lbs. Although I have struggled to catch big smallies, it is possible to catch good quantities on this stretch. I've discovered that focusing on the deep plunge pools and eddies rather then the long flat pools are best. Its important to remember that the bite slows down significantly in late fall into winter. My most recent float on this stretch took place in early November on a unseasonably warm day. The bite was understandably slow but picked up slightly when I put on a finesse jig with a rage menace grub trailer. My biggest fish came later on in the day when I switched back to a big TRD Ned Rig.

    Eddy Out Outfitters is the only nearby outfitter on the Kings and can be found right next to the put in at Marble. The shuttle itself is a little long and tedious, mostly due to how long it takes to get to Marshall's Ford. The float is 10 miles long and has a couple log jams but no significant portages. However, these mildly annoying difficulties can easily be ignored thanks to the stunningly gorgeous views. 

    This river has a relatively small basin with few major tributaries. So the Marble to Marshall's Ford stretch runs very low throughout much of the dry season. Just like the Upper White River, it is incredibly important to pay attention to the gauges. In this case, the one available gauge on USGS is at Berryville which is significantly downstream of Marshall's Ford. This gauge also takes into account Osage Creek, the most notable tributary of the Kings which comes in right before the gauge. When deciding whether Marble to Marshall's Ford is floatable, just make sure that the Berryville gauge is at least over 300 cfs or else you'll be in for a long day.










I hope you enjoyed the information as well as the pictures, now get to fishing!











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