Brian Sloss

Took 2 1/2 day smallmouth trips recently. Both trips got into their fair share of smallies using fly rods with marabou jigs (1/16 white or olive). Lots of 12 inch fish, with a few babies. Some 14-16 inchers and both groups caught a couple of 17+. On Monday we had one 18-20 incher on that jumped and threw the jig. Good fun both days. Going to be in Jonesboro tomorrow to talk to the fly fishing club. If you live there, I hope to see you then.

Thanks for sharing 2 Sheds. Always glad to see the scouts out on this river.

My business partner, Ryan, and I got out for a few hours on Sunday. We did pretty good and hit plenty of smallmouth on marabou jigs with fly rods. I broke off about an 18 inch pig and Ryan lost a big one as well. Caught a number of 14-15 inchers. Had a couple of customers float and trout fish out of personal pontoons. They reported pretty good results on trout using stoneflies fished deep. The biggest being 18 inches. The weather will be climbing into the mid to high 50's and maybe low 60's by next weekend. Try to get out there folks while the weather is nice and the spring rains are not here.

water is a little high and has been since Oct, but well within the fishable range. We have been doing very well with either white or olive marabou jigs on fly or spinning rods. Stoneflies, san jaun worms, Don's crawdads and the usual suspects are doing fine as well.

We are looking at temps around 50 for Sat and mid forties Sun, should be a good weekend to get out on the river. Fishing has been pretty good lately.

I took my buddy Chrys and his son Owen out fishing in the boat for a few hours this weekend. Fishing was good. The little guy caught his first smallmouth and a few more to boot. We mixed in a trout as well. Marabou jigs fished dep were the key. Chrys and I used these on a fly rod about 6 feet under an indicator while Owen did the same with a Zebco. Lots of fun and it got well over 60 degrees. Beautiful day to get out on the water.

I'm sure the North Fork has its good smallmouth holes, but I was referring to the Eleven Point when I said to come over my way.

Well we will be reaching the 50 all through the weekend and if Sundays rain isn't very much, it may be a good time to get out and ditch the cabin fever. All but 2 days next week are supposed to get in the 40's which is like a tropical heat wave after what we have been getting in the ozarks this year. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am hoping the milder winter weather is here to stay. Get outside folks, we are in the mid 50s today and will be on Sat as well.

Hey Justin, give me a call if you want to get out on the water over here this weekend. Feel free to bring creepy if you want and we will get out in my boat for a few hours to go after some smallies.

Do you have a link to the article?

Just because it is folded over, does not mean it is not salvageable. Sometimes they are destroyed, but about half the time, they can be popped back into shape, repaired and used again.

You are not supposed to, as there is less space over there. They allow you to camp on the south side though.

We can get the drift boat up there as well.

We are currently sitting under about 10 inches of snow that we received from about 4 am to 8 pm on Friday. Things are real pretty down here right now, but getting to the river isn't doable at a number of the lesser developed access points. Greer, Riverton and 142 (Narrows) will probably be accessible by Monday, though a 4 wheel drive truck driven slowly might be able to do it now. Just be real careful of Greer hill. Turner and Whitten roads will take longer as those hills will freeze up for a while during the nights and will take a while to thaw because they are so heavily shaded. Plus being gravel county roads, they don't get bladed as much and the hills to the river won't get bladed at all. I am already getting a little stir crazy. About the only outdoor activity for me now is a long walk with the hound through the snow.

I'm sorry, but I don't know her. Thanks for having me guys.

Great fish fellas!

If anyone is interested, I am offering a winter half day (5hr) guided smallmouth trips for $225. I normally don't do half day trips. The fishing has been good lately. The water is a little high now, but is receding. Barring any bad rains between now and next weekend, we should be good by then. Call 417-778-6497 or send me a pm if interested.

Matt, Just wanted to thank you and the club for your hospitality in St. Louis. I had a great time. It was nice to reconnect with a couple of familiar faces and meet quite a few new people. Thanks again.

Got a Winston Spey Rod that I simply never use, so I might as well get rid of it. It is a 10 wt. 15 ft rod. It is a beast and would work well catching salmon or steelhead on big rivers. I'll throw in a pfluger reel with 10wt line on it. I have had the rod over 10 years and have used it maybe 20 times. It is in great shape. Thinking $450 obo for the rod, reel and line. Great set up for someone that goes salmon fishing every year. Could be used for fun on the White river chasing monster browns. You can swing an unreal amount of line with that rod when fishing streamers. I have caught fish here on the Eleven Point with this rod for fun, though it is overkill. Call 417-778-6497 if interested. Would be happy to answer any questions.

He went airborne twice and was a lot of fun to land. My favorite thing about that fish was the big hook jaw. Also had a great assist from Ryan and Tito with one on the oars and the other on the net. A cold but fun day.

The work at Turners is not done, though the new ramp is up and going. The new ramp is at the uppermost (upstream) section of the access area. Not nearly as steep as the old ramp and in a better area where the water is slower and deeper. They are planning to make it longer as it was made too short and if you back in too far, there is a dramatic drp off which could eventually lead to an axle problem for someone. No reports of that happening yet. There is a new parking area for boat ramp users right there, which used to be a popular campsite. It will be tough to get people to not camp there in front of the ramp (sounds silly, but it happens from time to time). The camp area is from the parking area back to the main loop. They have cleared the the camp areas and I am told they will finish them off by leveling and adding gravel. Nothing fancy. There is a new outhouse at Turners. The old ramp is to be the canoe launch. They also cut a new section of road on the loop, as the river was starting to claim part of the loop. They are supposed to post new signs to indicate where you can and can't camp, hopefully by spring. People have been camping off the loop the last couple of years, which the forest service tells me they are not supposed to do. When they finish and post it properly, they say they will start sending law enforcement to get people used to the new lay out and rules. Sorry no pics.

We also experimented with the shoal just downstream from the Riverton bridge. Man that water looked awesome at these water levels. No dice though

It was a fun day! We caught some fish, which was good, though we also didn't fish as hard as we could have. It was mostly about getting the boat out finally. Tito got to learn what wind can do when trying to hold your line in a drift boat as well. He will be an old hand in a few weeks though. Did real well for the first time out. Look forward to getting you out there Grif, see you soon.

Zero development, the most beautiful landscape, fewest people, some wild rainbows to go with stocked trout, etc. For those reasons and many more, the Eleven Point river is my favorite, and yes I am biased because I live and work there. But I chose to because of how much I love that river. That being said, I really dig all the major trout rivers in Missouri, because they are all so different. Each river has something unique and quite frankly if you like trout fishing, you should take the time to visit each of them.

Superfly, I will send you a pm.