As stated before, the river is fine downstream from the lock and dam. I use an 18 ft bass rig (Although when I'm set up it doesn't look much like a bass boat) and you will encounter a lot of pontoons out there. Depending on the flow rate (which can change from hour to hour due to upstream dam releases) there can be a lot of floating, and even worse, partially submerged logs and limbs. During the day it's not too bad but night traveling can be very slow going. Give a shout if you need ramps.