Frog Bayou Gage Does Not Correlate

[Don Harwood]

Hey all,
Wanted to let everyone in on this, Frog is good at 2.7 on the OWP Gage Page which right now says that is too low to run.
There may be a few locals who can back me up on this, but I can tell you that I've paddled it for 7 yrs and it's our " back yard " run.
Rod C. and I have noticed for at least 1 yr the gage correlation is off again. I remember the last time Fish adjusted the levels for Frog. Fish if you read this, you know that pretty much what we learned about Frog's level correlation we learned from paddling it with you.
At 2.6- 2.7 on the gage the rapid called "Pourover Rapid" is still pumped pretty well. The first big pourover rock only has maybe 6"-8" inches showing at the top. At 1.9 on the gage we paddled it once and thats about as low as I would want to.
But still, it was doable.
We think that the correlation is off about .7 to .8 ft. At 2.7 it feels more like 3.4. to 3.5, especially on the better rapids
like "Pourover Rapid" and "Canyon Rapid". At the put-in and take-out its harder to tell the way they have changed so in recent years. Thats probably why this has gone so unnoticed. The gage being at the take-out.
I invite any locals to try it out and relay what they think to everyone. Right now I think its in the 2.25 range and its still doable.
We paddled it friday and it was good. The gage only read 2.69 that morning.
I personally like Frog lots better than the "Dullberry" for its superior features, squirt lines, ender holes, etc...
If you like to play "the Frogger" beats "the Dullberry"! :)

[FarPastGone]

Great news! I am a whore for Frog Bayou.

- Matt

[Owl]

Thanks for the information, Don. I wish I'd known that on FRIDAY!

The Frog is great but I've had a lot of fun on the Mulberry, too. I don't like to hear it referred to as the "Dulberry".

[Don Harwood]

Sorry Brad! Guess thats not pc.
I've had loads of fun on the Mulberry too! That and Frog is where I cut my teeth.
I suppose I'm a little prejudice though, since Frog is 15 min away and Turner's is 45 min.
I'll watch how I refer to the "Mighty Mulberry" from now on!
I still think that Frog has better features. My 2 cents.
Oh, we told a few people and we got a funny look like they thought we were full of it or something.

[neighth4n]

thanks for the info man.

[Fish]

That gauge keeps changing all the time it seems. THe area where the gauge is near the bridge at Rudy has seen excavation, flooding, etc. that has shifted the level of the gauge a lot over the years. I'll lower the lower end level on the OWP by about 0.7 ft (as recommended) - any objections? How much should optimum be lowered? I always thought the Frog was best at below "optimum" anyway. Too many of the good play drops wash when the river has very much water in it. For low level play, the Frog does indeed trump the Mulberry in my opinion too.

Thanks,
Fish

[BMuu]

Good to know! I have heard good things about the frog

[Don Harwood]

Your right on Fish! 2.7 is low optimum now and 2.0 being low low.
I guess we'll start seeing others on the river now!
I've been meaning to get this out there for everyone.
I think dropping it .7 across the board would be good!

[cyberpapa]

The recommended levels for Clear Cr. are probably way out of whack as well. Before the expansion of Lake Fort Smith the water registered at Rudy came from Clear Cr. as well as what came over the old dam. Now water no longer comes down over the dam so Clear Cr is providing most of the water coming from the upper part of the river. Thought I might throw it out there. A lot of us depend on the stream level chart to make our decisions. I appreciate Fish's efforts to keep it current as well as the folks who give input to keep things up to date. Glad to know the Frog is doable at the lower level. It is a gem. Cal

[Fish]

The change has been made to the OWP gauge page: http://www.ozarkpages.com/cgi-bin/stages.pl?ST=level" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If Clear and Cedar Cr. gauge thresholds need to be changed as well, please let me know. I could just scale them all by 0.7 ft, but I'd rather get eye-witness correlations if possible.

Thanks,
Fish

[prophet]

anyone noticed how the Lake feeds in? Does it ever flow hard now or do they have enough storage to hold the runoff?

[Don Harwood]

Thanks Fish, you should come on down and paddle the Frog with us sometime if you have the chance.
It's still a hoot for class II, if you got a playboat.

[clintonwales]

I did the Lancaster to Rudy trip yesterday, got on at 2.67 and had no dragging at all. The play waves were very easy to get into... so I agree it is the low side of optimal. I went several times last year at optimal and all play waves were washed out, so I agree with the adjustment. That massive sand bar in Rudy seems to be shifting all around the gauge. As to the Clear Creek issue... that is tough. I saw it get twice as big as the Frog a couple times last year. Lake Fort Smith F ed it all up. I will start posting in regards to water level more because I'm in Chester lots.