The James River and Assault by Asian Carp

Four years ago, the SDCKA organized a 12-mile cruise on the James River that began near Mitchell, SD, and that made the announcement of a cruise that took place yesterday especially attractive to me. Under the leadership of Dave Finck and Larry Braaten, this cruise was organized to put in at the Highway 44 bridge over the James River and continue 9.5 miles downstream to the Wolf Creek Hutterite Colony.

Six paddlers gathered at the truckstop near the Canton exit ramp from Interstate 29.  Five kayaks were loaded on the Finck trailer, and with Larry Braaten leading the way in his pickup, we headed west to the “put-in.”  Leaving Larry’s pick-up at the “take-out,” we all clamored into the Finck van and drove to the Highway 44 bridge over the James River, a few miles west of Freeman. 

There is no public access area defined for launching into the river at that point, but we just carried our kayaks and gear down the embankment and over a dried flood plain to an easy “put-in.”  Leaving the van parked off the road, we launched and set out downstream.

The James River, sometimes called the Longest Un-Navigable River, originates in North Dakota and flows 710 miles south to its confluence with the Missouri River near Yankton, SD. The river as it flows on the course of the cruise yesterday is about 100 feet wide, surprisingly deep, with a current that is virtually unnoticed.  As I checked the depth with my long double-blade paddle, I found that sometimes I could not reach the bottom.  I would guess that the depth within the channel ranged from four to seven feet. The landscape along our route included some low hills along one side or the other, but most of the area was pretty flat.  There were lots of dead trees along the banks, a result, I would guess, of flooding last year along the river. In addition, there were occasional submerged branches or tree trunks that were invisible because of the lack of current; I bumped over a couple of these and became centered on one in deep water for a couple of anxious moments. The course of the river on much of our route was serpentine.  While there was a stiff headwind at times, the constant twisting and turning of the river meant that the wind strength varied markedly along the route.

We passed by a couple of Hitterite colonies, and heavy earth moving equipment in operation left us in the dust for a while.  The operators of this equipment were the only people we saw along the route. We also passed a homemade boat that had been hauled up on the bank.

Shortly after we set out from under the Highway 44 bridge, we came under assault by dozens of Asian Silver Carp.  These fish were a constant concern as we made our way downstream.  These silvery fish with white bellies would leap out of the water several feet, often higher that a seated kayaker.  It seems that we must have spooked them with the passage of our kayaks.  They would appear by the dozens and bracket kayaks with their splash.  The scene of kayaks ahead reminded me of ships being bracketed by naval gunfire. One of our group twice had a carp land in his lap, and another member was struck in the shoulder.  All of us had plenty of near misses with the carp striking near our kayaks and showering us with water.  Some of these fish were 15-18 inches long and must have weighed two or more pounds.  It is hard to get an accurate measure of them since we didn’t catch any and our glimpse of them was fleeting.  We saw hundreds of them during our three and a-half hours on the river.  Anticipating the next eruption of jumping carp took the tranquility out of the cruise; we were all somewhat on edge with apprehension about being surprised and tipping over in the deep water and muddy banks.

I found a vivid you-tube video done by KELO about the Silver Carp lower on the James River that gives a good overview of the growing infestation and impact.  None of us on this trip had ever seen anything like this on any waterway.  The further spread of these Asian Carp is very troubling to anyone who uses the area streams and lakes.

We stopped about halfway through the cruise for a fifteen-minute break along the bank.  There were lots of mussels and many bones along the river.  One of the group saw a beaver, and we all saw large cave-like holes in the banks that seemed like dens of some sort. There were several great blue herons that flew along with us for a while, always flying ahead as we approached. 

With the imperceptible flow of the river, we were all continuously paddling.  The anxiety of anticipating the carp and long paddle left us all quite tired by the end.

We left the river just above a rocky ford at a public access area. After retrieving the van from the Highway 44 bridge, we loaded up the kayaks and headed for a late dinner together at the Pizza Ranch in Lennox. 

Even with the drought, the James River is in good shape for padding on the course we took yesterday.  The arrival of Asian Carp, however, takes the bloom off river paddling for now.  Perhaps some way will be found to deal with them, but there is also the potential of these fish growing in both size and numbers over the near term.  We all need to keep alert to developments in their spread and in possible ways to control them over time. 

For those interested in the full set of photographs of this cruise, please go to my Flickr account at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157631025942498/

The James River: South from Mitchell

James River – August 2008

Under the leadership of Jarett Bies, a South Dakota Canoe Association (SDCA) fleet of 16 kayaks set out for a 12 mile cruise down the James River this Sunday morning. The “put-in” was at a public access point at the bridge on State Highway 38, just a couple miles east of Mitchell. An easy launching area along with ample parking is available for canoes or kayaks at this site.


Jarett Bies organized a shuttle service, and a few cars were positioned twelve miles downstream near a bridge at 258th Street, just four miles east of the bridge and three miles south of Highway 38. The highway mileage from the put-in to the take-out is just over seven miles, although the river distance is twelve miles.

There were three boats from Pierre, two from Vermillion, two from Brookings, and others from a variety of communities, many from the Sioux Falls area. The put-in is about 70 miles west of my eastside Sioux Falls home. The informal standard for kayak trips for me is “less time on the drive than on the water.” The roundtrip drive took me about two and a-half hours, and the cruise took about four hours. On this trip, there were no canoes; everyone was in a kayak. There was, however, a tandem kayak along on the cruise, one of the boats from Pierre.

The weather for the cruise was perfect; there was sun the entire day, only a little wind toward the end of the trip, and the temperature was in the high 70s and low 80s. Even wearing a hat with a wide brim, I came home with a red face. There was plenty of depth to the river along the entire course. I never went aground in my kayak, and the water in the channel was usually between five and seven feet deep. Passing under a railroad bridge, previous flooding along the river was quite evident with tree limbs caught in the bridgeworks twenty feet or so over the current level of the river.

The river was, according to the estimates of two civil engineers among us, generally about 150 feet across, and there were no hazards to navigation at all: no rapids, no sand bars, no shallow water, no deadfalls or sweepers across the river, and no fences. The shoreline is varied, but not as much as along the Big Sioux. Generally, there is a high bank on one shore and agriculture just beyond the shoreline. There are usually trees along at least one side of the river, often large trees. We saw little wildlife on this trip. With 16 kayaks moving along the river at mid-day, it is likely that birds and other critters just waited for us to pass.

The river is a little slower than the Big Sioux. One of our group had a GPS, and he informed me that our speed was generally about 3.3 miles per hour. We made one stop along the way to stretch it out.

Even with 16 kayaks on the water, we were spread out for over a mile. Sometimes I paddled along with no one in sight. Other times, I paddled along with one or two people. Conversation groups formed and dissolved as we cruised along. No one was in a hurry; we just cruised along. If someone fell too far behind, one of us would slow down and wait a little while. One of our group was on his first kayak cruise in his brand new boat; he was a novice and learning as we went along. Others were veterans of many kayak trips in a variety of waters.

None of us had been on this stretch of the “Jim” River, and many of us had not been on the James at all before today. We didn’t know what to expect of this river. All of us, though, left with a very positive image of this paddling opportunity. This was a perfect stretch of water for a four-hour cruise. Mitchell isn’t really so far from Sioux Falls, and it is also only a couple hours from Pierre. Kayakers from Pierre often participate on SDCA outings, and it was good to finally have an event within a decent drive for them (Check out Pirates of the Missouri from my kayak links). I drove out on Interstate 90 and just cruised along with no trouble. On the way back, I decided to take the scenic route along Highway 38 and drove back on the two-lane listening to “the best” of Bruce Springsteen on my car CD player.

So, as Jarett Bies would say, “ the intel for the trip was great, and this was a good op.” We all had a great time on the Jim.

You will probably find further descriptions of this cruise on the following blogs which can be accessed through my links: SDCA, Kayak SoDak, Peddle and Paddle, and Pirates of the Missouri.