Brian Sloss

Most of the fish come through the floods just fine. We may lose a few, but normally they are fish that were in poor shape and were going to die soon anyway.. Every now and then a fish will get caught in low area away from the river and can't get back to the river. It is not significant in my unscientific opinion. All and all they will be fine surviving the floods.

We usually start seeing the stocking truck in April. During the busiest part of the summer they are stocking about every other week. They do not announce stocking dates. Sometimes they do one stocking in Dec, which I think they did this year. I say this because I know someone, who knows someone, that claims to have seen the stocking truck in Dec. Take that for what it is on the reliability scale. They have stocked in Dec some years though. We might get one in Mar depending on weather and roads.

There are plenty of turkeys in the area, we have people come here every year from out of state to hunt this area. I see turkeys regularly. Hunting a forest is going to be more challenging than areas with open fields. You could put in at Whitten and float just under a mile down to White's Creek Float Camp and set up base camp. There is a trail that connects with the Irish Wilderness trail. Basically the float camp connects you to over 16k acres of public land. You can paddle out the creek to the river and fish in the afternoon. You could start as far up as Cane Bluff and float all the way to Riverton (27.5 miles), stopping to hunt all the way down, but you need to get a good map and know how to use it. The are a few pieces of private land with river frontage (that is marked well) and some areas where the private land gets closer to the river than you think. Sometimes that land is not marked as well.

Looks like the arrests have started, but not without gunfire. One militia member dead and another injured, six in custody including Ammon Bundy.

know there is one blockage just above Greer Spring and probably 1 or 2 more above Greer, there always is after floods. The first island below Greer boat ramp was blocked on the river right side. was sorta cut out, but still ify. I would go left at the island until someone clears the right side properly. There is a big sycamore down at Turner just above the lower South boat ramp. Inexperienced floaters could get in trouble there because they won't get to the other side of the river soon enough. There have been plenty of changes to the river from the flood that most people won't really notice. Always is. I don't think there is anything a person who knows how to operate on the river can't handle. Have not been able to get out much myself to give first hand info on everything.

Most likely they self report the amount of cattle they are running on BLM land. The BLM probably does a random check every now and then when ranches round up cattle. That is just a guess. In the outfitter business we self report our activity to the forest service. On rare occasion the forest service will have someone count outfitter canoes on a given Sat at a particular access. When we turn in our logs, quarterly, they cross check what they counted. If there I a significant difference in the count and the log (not just a couple canoes), they will contact us. I have never had a big difference in count with them, but I bet they would talk with me if there was.

Next weekend, the last weekend in Jan, is supposed to have an average high temperature Fri through Sunday in the low 60's. My advice, take advantage and do some floating, fishing, hiking, sight seeing, or all of the above. We have plenty of rental cottages open. The 11 Point is calling your name. We operate by reservation only this time of year. Call 417-778-6497 to reserve. www.11pointcanoe.com.

I care because if these militia guys get away with it there, it sets a precedent for them to get away with it in other places, such as our backyard.

Planning on doing Patagonia in Argentina next year at this time

Of course there are FBI agents in the county and it is not surprising there are a couple undercover. They are committing federal crimes, which invites federal law enforcement. That changes nothing. They still hijacked a wildlife refuge armed to the teeth. I am glad law enforcement is doing something about it. They should have been charged and removed long ago. They chose an indirect, less confrontational path to avoid a Waco and making them martyrs (which probably is wise in the long run). Plus they brought kids with them and that is a concern.

It was bought via the Louisiana Purchase. Key word "purchase". During the time of the homestead act they gave a lot of it away to ranchers and other individuals who were willing to homestead. A lot of land was not claimed, so they (gov't) continued to own a lot of land. The only group that might have a claim on gov't land are the native Americans as they actually had land stolen and generally got screwed over during the time of manifest destiny. As for victims...Anyone that wants to use the wildlife refuge besides them. Granted it is winter and it isn't high tourism season, but as someone who lives by a federal river, even during the winter when numbers of users is lower, there are people who use it. They have no right to do this. The surrounding community has closed schools and beefed up security because these guys are intimidating people. All that costs money. They have vandalized the property, using gov't backhoes and trucks. They have accessed the buildings computers to get personal info on employees and threatened said employees. Followed people around town who express opposition to their cause and watched them form their cars in their homes. That is a short list of who they are victimizing.

Think of it this way, I work in the outfitting business on the 11 Point and I am licensed to do so with the US gov't as the own the land and river. I rightly pay the gov't every year to do so. Do I always agree with every decision they make regarding the management of the resource? Of course not, no one ever will. We all have different priorities at times. But if I were to not pay my license fees to the gov't because I didn't like a management decision in regard to the river, but still continued to run my business utilizing gov't property, I would rightly expect to be punished (ie loose my license and then they would go after me in court for payment of said fees). Now, if in protest I armed myself to the teeth and took over the Greer campground and access area, I would rightly assume my next stop would be prison and I assume all the fishermen on here would agree that I should be "sent up the river" for holding your land and recreational ground hostage. That quite simply is what the Bundy clowns have been up to.

You can hunt along the river. Can't shoot deer from boat or shoot across he water

How did the trip turn out?

Took long tme client, Edward, and his son in law, Jason, on 2 half day guide trips this weekend to chase winter smallies in 60 and 70 plus degree weather. The fishing was great, though the weather was windy and drizzly on the Sun trip. Marabou jigs on a fly rod were the ticket both days. Even got a few bonus trout. Here are th highlights.

I guide the river out of a drift boat, like Gavin said, anything below Greer is fine.

no, it is high

Had the first meeting of the Eleven point/Spring Rivers Fly Fishing club. Only 4 of us at the first "meeting" where we chased some 11 Point winter smallmouth. Mark Crawford and Steve came up from Spring River Flies and Guides and fished with Denny and I. Clark and Augie, your attendance is required at the next meeting. We discussed no important issues, just tried to keep the rods bent. My kind of meeting!

He is talking about staffing the new state park that started the thread, not Turner or Whitten.

When the water is up, it has good smallmouth fishing. Have not done it myself, but heard this from other locals. Mostly on private land, so access is an issue. If the new state park happens, a section of it will be easier to access.

Mark, There has never been electric for anyone other than the camp host at Greer. When they tried to put in a few electric sites, the copper was stolen and there was not money in the budget to buy more. As for why the state won't just develop Greer more, because the state does not own Greer, the US Forest Service does. The state is not going to pay to improve their property. Now, if you are interested in hosting at Greer, you can get water and electric and a small stipend. Can get a little more money if you are willing to mow. They are always having a hard time finding hosts and if you are interested, give them a call at 573-996-2153. Last summer the first host quit 2 weeks into the gig and they could not get anyone until the middle of July. If you are retired, I can't think of a better location to spend a summer. I think it is the cake camp host job in Missouri. The crowds are light compared to other campgrounds the forest service runs and a lot less bad behavior there. The distance from town is the main complaint from previous hosts.

The money came from a settlement with a lead mining company that polluted some land and water north of Oregon County. It is remediation money and they talk about the issue in the articles linked to this thread.

They would and no one has any idea what the plans are. They said maybe 10 primitive campsites when it was just Frederick, but now that B4B is in the mix, I can't imagine having that beautiful stone lodge the Beatles stayed in and them not renting rooms out. This seems to be becoming a bigger development.

It is about 2 miles south of 160. Big stone lodge on the left with the Buildings fro Babies (B4B) sign at the gate. With the land from the Frederick Creek ranch, it will extend a few miles down Y hwy to just down from Frederick Creek. Not sure if there is any property between the B4B and Frederick Creek ranch.

Nice report, thanks for coming down. Really nice quality pickerel, 21 inches is a good one. Saw one at the Riverton boat ramp a couple days ago that was pushing 30 inches. Biggest one I have ever seen. Was picking up a canoe and didn't have gear to throw at him.