memphis-to-helena

Mile 675.5 — Stumpy Island

John Ruskey

26 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

Three mile long island (at low water) topped with a young willow/cottonwood/sycamore forest with beautiful camping all around. In high water levels best camping is found top end above the trees, and there is ample water flowing through the back channel. (Cutoff resident Rick Howe recalled catching over 100 bass in one outing 20 years ago, and has not caught another single bass there since!) As the water drops sandbars emerge on all sides and the back channel dries. By low water, around 15HG there is no flow in the back channel and generous sandbars are found on all sides, especially above the island and along main channel. Only when the river bottoms out below zero on the Helena Gauge is the full three-mile length of this island revealed, now attached to the mainland woods along the right bank.

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