Mark

I've often wondered why the streams aren't teaming with bluegill. I realize you can catch plenty of small sunfish, but why aren't streams like the Current River loaded with good eating size panfish. Is it because they get eaten by other fish before they can grow larger. I hear people say all the time that they can catch a meal of panfish anytime in the bigger Ozark streams, but man I have never seen much of any size taken from these streams. Would take a lot of pumpkinseed to make a meal.

Just curious since it was a hot topic. Was there any debauchery? Arrests? I did check out the pictures on the website. Looked like lots of young people having fun and, yes, drinking. Lots of pretty young things too.

Just curious - does anyone else know of other states where gigging of non game fish is legal and a big tradition?

Gigging/spearfishing for walleye is illegal, correct?

A: Because they can get away with it!!

And another thing that ticks me off.... When I go to the golf course on the weekends and it's crowded with weekend golfers. Something needs to be done about it!!

QUESTION: Does the BULL radio station make any $$ on their event? If so, I have a huge problem with that.

Agree. It seems to me that all the issues on our streams could be brought under control with increased law enforcement presence - unauthorized accesses, 4 wheelers, poaching, bad behavior, speeding jetboats, trespassing. But I don't believe that a large group of young kids on a float trip necessarily equals criminals. We've all seen it. Just pull over and wait a half hour and they are out of your hair.

I don't condone it - just saying it appears legal to me. My first floating experiences were some 35 plus years ago on organized float trips with about 30 friends - just the same as many of you. Yes, there was underage drinking and rowdy behavior, even sex if you got lucky!! And some people got busted!!I don't remember anyone of us being litter bugs or just throwing our beer cans in the water or on the bank. I believe most Missourians are more environmentally aware than that. Their going to do it anyway - give the area cops a heads up and make the county some money off it as well. Kids are going to be kids!! Could be a good opportunity to educate some people on taking care of our natural resources. IF I HAD NEVER MADE ONE OF THOSE PARTY FLOAT TRIPS SOME 35 YEARS AGO, I WOULD NOT STILL BE ENJOYING FLOAT TRIPS TODAY. So what is the solution - outlaw float trips involving more than 8-10 to a group?? Baptist or Amish float trips only for large groups? Some of you need to get off your high horse sometimes. If there are 100 of them and they are obeying the law, just like the man said in the original post, just STAY AWAY on that date.

Hey this is America. If 93.7 the Bull wants to host a redneck convention, they have the right. As long as they are not making a dime off of it, or anyone else that isn't a licensed outfitter. Hope the cops are out in force to bust drunks, lewd behavior, and littering. Should be a lot of revenue writing tickets. Just wondering is people sign releases or waivers?? What is someone drowns? ODs? Is 93.7 the Bull responsible. Lots of T&A!!

Planning a trip to EP over Labor Day weekend. I would like to do some smallmouth fishing on the Lower Eleven Point. I have a 2.5 HP motor on my canoe and I am wondering if I can put in at HWY 142 and get upstream and downstream a couple miles in each direction. I have floated that section a couple times and I am thinking I can put in at HWY 142 and have some mobility, but realize the river is now very low. We can deal with some pulling the canoe thru shallow areas, but don't want the hassle of constant getting in and out or not being able to go very far in either directions. Would we be better off going upstream or downstream, or would both be doable. How is the Cane Bluff to Greer? Floatable?

After missing a last year, two fellow teachers and myself resumed our traditional end of the school year campout on the Eleven Point. We selected Stinking Pond gravel bar as our base camp and used Snap's jetboat to haul in our gear. This trip is more about relaxing after another school year under our belts than it is about fishing. Another three buddies stayed in a nearby cabin and joined us during the day. Except for last year, we have been making this an annual trip for the past 10 or so years as we have found it a perfect way to unwind and relax after the stress of having kids all hyped up at the end of the school year. This seemed like one of the longest years of teaching with all the snow days. A quick fishing report - I would rate the fishing as good and the river conditions as excellent. After setting up camp on Monday afternoon, I caught a nice 14" on my first cast, another on my third cast, and a third on by my tenth cast. Terry landed one on his first cast as well, as we thought we had hit the mother load. Our cabin friends soon joined us, and we decided it was time to start Happy Hour. We set up our lawnchairs, got the hot wings and thighs started on the grill, and enjoyed cocktails as Terry and I picked guitars and Snap joined in periodically on the harp. Fishing the rest of the day consisted of short excursions to usual hot spots with limited results as the bite wasn't what it was when we first hit camp. Still, between the six of us, we probably had 8-9 fish to clean by dusk. The outlook for the rest of the week. We started the campfire and turned on the Cardinals/Royals game as the cabin crew headed home for a more luxurious night's sleep. We barely stayed awake until the game was over - Cards lose. We awoke Tuesday morning with high hopes. Snap and I were on the river early and headed to the deep hole at McDowell's Cave. No luck. We headed upstream to a nice stretch of moving water and each of us landed a fish or two a piece. After an hour and a half of cherry picking the hot spots, the action was only so-so which we attributed to sunny skies instead of overcast we had on Monday and an increase in wind, and we headed back to camp to get some breakfast started. The cabin crew arrived about midmorning and we again made short excursions in jet boats or wading the Stinking Pond stretch. Admittedly, none of us fished that hard and plenty of time was spent on the beach in lawnchairs. Midafternoon, a young couple pulled in to our gravel bar for a stretch. We hit it off immediately with Zach and Muffet, and soon they had pulled up their chairs on the beach with us. Time for Happy Hour again. Zach was quite the interesting character. He and Muffet were from Arkansas and were on a two week canoe adventure hitting numerous streams in the Ozarks. It was their first trip on the Eleven Point. Again it was time to fire up the BBQ grill and guitar picking. Zach was very knowledgeable on every stream in Arkansas and SW Missouri, and gave us lots of information on streams we had talked about floating in the future. Happy Hour went so well that Zach asked if he and Muffet could camp the night with us and the fishing was pretty much over for the day, although a couple of the cabiners did have some success drifting the Turner Mill Access stretch. Zach helped Snap load up the boat with firewood and we had quite the bonfire going. The cabiners left about dusk as we settled in for the ballgame. Zach turned in early and Muffet entertained us with her psychedelic Hoola Hoop. None of us had ever seen one of these - it had blinking and strobe lights that alternated patterns and was quite the lightshow when she twirled it. Very cool - all we needed was Dark Side of the Moon playing! It was all we could do to stay awake again for the game - but all for naught - Cards lose again. We awoke Wednesday morning and it was business as usual. Zach and Muffet were off by midmorning after exchanging contact information (it turns out that Zach's family owns a cabin on the Buffalo River and he invited us all down sometime to return our hospitality - pretty neat to make friends with a much younger couple considering we are all middle aged me), the cabiners arrived, and the day was spent with short fishing excursions and wade fishing at camp. The fishing was on and off, but for the most part we all had enough success to keep up our interest. A fish fry was on the menu for our last night with blue gill, catfish, and trout fillets, as the dark clouds gathered as they had each day late in the afternoon. But it became apparent by late evening that these clouds could bring us rain. The cabiners left early, we started the campfire and turned on the game, and immediately the lightning started in the distance. For the next two hours, we could see the distant lightning build and thunder rumble, as we debated whether we were going to get hit or not. A radio weather report said that a severe thunderstorm had been spotted in the Birch Tree/Winona/Eminence area with warnings until 10:30. Occasional lightning got closer and then seemed to move north. We stayed up until 11:00 listening to the game - Cards lose again - and a light sprinkle started so we headed to under the tarp. It soon quit and we headed to our tents. As soon as we laid down, a light rain started and quit again. I barely went to sleep when BOOM, the loudest blast of lightening/thunder crashed and immediately shot straight up. The following half hour got scary. Close lightning, loud thunder, and then the wind started blowing hard. My tent was trying to blow away except for me inside. There was no where to hide now so I sat up waiting on a tree to crush me. The rain pelted and started leaking in my tent. Not much I could do. Eventually the lightning and thunder slowed down, and it stopped raining. Only a slight puddle in the bottom of my tent. So I went back to sleep, but soon the rain began coming down in buckets again, but luckily no wind or lightning. By now pretty much everything in my tent was damp and I just had to tough it out and sleep on a damp sleeping bag. BY far, the most severe weather I had ever camped in. I have to admit, it was pretty scary for awhile. When we awoke the next morning, we had pretty much had enough fun for three days. It didn't take long to break camp and get on the road. Overall a great trip. Caught fish, good eating, lots or relaxing, and made new friends. The thunderstorm sure made it a trip to remember!! Can't wait until next year!!

But according to Rep. Jason Smith, you just don't understand!! From his webpage; "Our private property rights are under attack from Washington bureaucrats and environmentalists who do not understand or appreciate our rural way of life. Moving forward I will continue to fight any effort that would limit how we use our lands and rivers in the Eighth Congressional District".

At the risk of being scolded, can someone explain to me why any hunter or citizen for that matter, would need a gun/rifle capable of holding 30 rounds that can be discharged with the single pull of a trigger, one bullet after another, as fast as you can pull the trigger. IMO that is the issue - do we allow these types of weapons or not? Don't go all Charleton Heston on me. I am all for the rights of citizens to bar arms.

Wowser - sure is scary to think of what could happen. And to think that we trust these companies to always do the right thing to protect our environment (which they don't) and our government to monitor and regulate these companies activities (which they don't). Thanks to the St. Louis Post for putting this company in the spotlight.

Let's face it - the prudent thing to do would have been to just leave the gravel bar and report the guy to the sheriff's office if he had a gun and was threatening with it. I would have just left - even if I knew I was in the right. Not worth arguing about. Let's not forget the victim had a blood alcohol content of .15 and the shooter tested positive for marijuana. Not that either should matter in the judgment, but neither man may have been thinking clearly.

I doubt if you and Paul care more about our streams than most on here. And some of us have been on this planet a lot longer than you. I remember days when people didn't care as much about our environment - open sewage running into creeks and streams, litter all over our highways and streams (and yes it was worse 50 years ago), companies dumping toxic waste that eventually made it to our rivers. I believe each newer generation becomes more environmentally conscious and we must continue to try to keep our rivers and planet as clean as possible. To put yourself in a moral superior position is egotistical. Your diatribe about outfitters and clients as pimps, johns, and whores accuses us all as being uncaring destroyers of our natural resources, including yourself expect, in your opinion, you are above all of us. Your post has to be one of the most narcissistic statements I have read in a long time. Get over yourself. True wisdom comes with age and experience, and there are those of us on here that have more than you.

This thread certainly has taken a vicious turn by some. You lose all credibility with me on here when you spew your vile anonymously. I don't agree with adding any more regulations, mandatory floating classes, or canoeing fees to use our streams. The only solution is to step up law enforcement. I have definitely noticed less of the huge party groups since the crack down on drunken float groups a few years ago where I float. But then, I get away from the rivers close to populated areas. And there are lots of places to float where you can get away from the crowds if you take the time to look for them.

I wasn't there either and can only assume how the whole thing went down. I expect a manslaughter verdict as well. I would think that this act resulting in a death would lead lawmakers to finally, once and for all, eliminate the grey area in the law regarding where the public has a legal right to be on the our streams, specifically phrases such as "navigable stream" and "high water mark". My biggest fear, though, is that the general public is not going to like where any clarification of the law is going to take us. God, I hope we don't end up like Colorado, where the landowner owns the riverbank and the stream bed, and you cannot get out on the bank or wade in streams through private ground.

I'm keeping an eye on the gauges. May try to make a trip with weekend. Give me a holler, countryred, if you see a big guy in an Old Towne square back canoe.

And the Whitten access is not on the MDC Eleven Point River Mile by Mile description but it is at about the 28.3 mile marker, just above Whites Creek Float Camp. With the Cane Bluff access at the 9.3 mile marker, a 19 mile two day float from Cane Bluff to Whitten is very doable, depending on the ambition of your group. Where Greer Springs enters the Eleven Point, the river becomes bigger and faster. You will be surprised how fast you will cover the 12+ miles from Greer to Whitten. There is not that many stretches of long slow water. And IMO, the Turner Mill to Greer section may be the prettiest part of the river. If your group are early risers, and you have all day the second day, the 12 mile stretch is not too much paddling and you will have plenty of time to get out and wade fish. It's pretty easy to cover 2 miles per hour at a leisurely pace. Plus the last 7 miles will be White Ribbon Area with a limit of 4 trout and any type of bait, if you want some trout to eat. But I know what you mean about not wanting to pass up good fishing holes because of having to cover too much distance. If you are getting off the river on the second day and still have to drive home, the second day 12 miles may be a stretch. My group likes the 7 mile Turner to Whitten stretch and make it last about 8 hours, all the time we want to spend getting in and out of the canoe. Good luck!

Google "Eleven Point River Mile by Mile" and print off. For me, the Eleven Point accesses are ideal for short 5-7-10 mile floats between accesses. You might consider putting in at Cane Bluff (9.3 mile marker)and float to HWY 19 bridge (16.6 mile marker) for the smallmouth fishermen on the first day. The trout waters start at Greer Springs, just upriver from HWY 19 bridge. Then you will hit the Blue Ribbon Trout stretch from Hwy 19 bridge to Turner Mill - a little over 5 miles. After that, Turner Mill to Whitten is about 7 miles, and then Whitten to Riverton is about 9 miles - both sections are mostly trout water and White Ribbon if you are looking to keep some fish for dinner. After Riverton, you will find mostly smallmouth waters again with very few trout. So to satisfy everyone, Cane Bluff to Turner Mill over 2 days will be around 12 miles with smallmouth the first day and trout the second day.

Sounds like a great trip. I think most people have more luck smallmouth fishing the farther south you get on the river. Not much smallmouth action until you get below Halls Bay, from what others have told me. I've floated from Riverton to Hwy 142 a couple of times with some smallmouth success. I've heard that from the Narrows to Arkansas is the best smallmouth fishing. Definitely a bigger river down south. Talked to a local smallmouth fisherman once at the Hwy 142 bridge who launches there and works upstream and downstream a few miles and consistently catches nice smallies. Guessing much less river traffic and the water warms a bit, although admittedly, the river is not quite as pretty down south. But the few times I have floated below Riverton, you don't see as many people as a whole. But floated there once over 4th of July and it got pretty crazy with lots of jet props with big motors. I would think that weekdays on the southern part of the river would be the ticket. That's also where people catch walleyes.

Great hire and the only choice considering the state of Mizzou basketball. Mizzou was hard to watch this year. Expect to see more team oriented play, defense, rebounding, and some tough bigs. I hope fans give him some time. He'll get some four year players and put a TEAM together but could struggle with growing pains. No more juco transfers and players only interested in stats.

I would like to see Kim Anderson get a chance. I don't know if Mizzou fans will have the patience to give him (or anyone) a couple of years to build a team - one that plays defense, has an inside presence, no more chucking it from 25', and some good hard nose Missouri boys that play hard every night and will be there for four years. We're never going to get the McDonalds All Americans, but it can be done the old fashion way, i.e. Wisconsin.