With the water at 3' you can go up river about 1 1/2 miles to the first set of riffles. Depending on your ambition, you could, walk/pull your boat thru the lower section and carefully work up thru the rest of the fast water. Once up and thru, you have good water for about two miles until the next riffle at Blue Cliffs. If you decide to trek up past the 1st riffle, stay to the left side, walk up the left shore line (about 50 yards), then at the top of the swiftest water, motor up the rest of the riffle by staying closer to the island then, cutting across to the left at the large rock on the
left hand shore, then up thru the rest. Always look ahead and avoid any
V waves created by an underwater rock. It's not very hard if you take it slow and look ahead. We did all that for 5 years before we went propless! If you want to go past Blue Cliffs, stay to the right side and about a 1/3rd way from shore. That is not a very difficult passage.
To go
down stream: keep to the
right side of the riffle under the I -80 bridge and you should be all right. Watch the area just past the bottom of the riffle as there are several flat rocks, that don't make waves, which could hit the prop. After that you can go down stream past Parker.
If you decide to fish the river from Emlenton. Just across from the launch, and between the two bridges, is one of the best fishing areas along the river.