Brian Sloss

Eleven Point fishing update The blue ribbon section of the Eleven Point (Greer to Turner Mill, 5.5 miles) has been hit or miss lately. A population survey of the upper half I helped the conservation dept. with earlier this month was a little disappointing, as far as number of trout captured goes. The fished looked in great physical shape though. That being said, the lower half has been fishing pretty well and drizzly days like today have been quite productive from Little Huricane creek down to Turner Mill. The white ribbon section has only gotten one confirmed stocking this year and I think it was a smaller one. I saw a MDC boat leaving the area yesterday, so I'm guessing they put in their larger stocking for that area then. We have been expecting them to put more fish in by the end of this month. The White ribbon area extends from Turner Mill 14 miles down to Riverton at the 160 bridge. Large stoneflies heavily weighted have been producing well and the Don's crawdad is doing alright as well. Eggs are producing a little as well with the suckers starting to spawn. The smallie spawn hasn't really gotten going yet, but should be any time now and when it does, Cane Bluff to Greer will be the place to be. Brian Sloss

They put a small stocking in from Turner to Whitten the first week of April. They were supposed to put a larger stocking in before the end of the month. I saw a MDC boat going back towards West Plains today, so I think that it might have been done today.

It was good to meet you as well. I got the shower money, thanks. Yeah the fishing has been hit or miss lately. I got out Friday evening for a couple hours with a friend and the fishing was pretty spotty. They should be stocking the entire white ribbon area soon.

To anyone who was offended by my post, I'm sorry. I felt I was attacked for simply asking not to play the blame game. I have met Crippled Caddis at the river before and found him a very nice fellow with a generous spirit about fishing. This got my ire up all the more when it was said I read no right speak about the Bill of rights or the Constitution. I have cooled down down and hold no ill will and apologize for any offense I have caused to him anyone else as well. Though my opinions are mine and are not about to change. I believe in responsible gun ownership, but there are, in my mind, places that it is not appropriate to carry a gun. The biggest thing though is this was a tragedy no matter where you stand and that should not be forgotten. Sorry to Phil if this got out of hand on his forum. I'm going to get back to fishing and try to keep in that realm from now on.

bojack, By your last response you seem to imply that a gun in the classroom is ok by pointing out criminals carry guns. Well, a lot of seniors in high school are 18 and therefore of age. Should they be able to carry guns to class? They are of legal age after all. Of course they shouldn't. Remember Columbine and the other school shootings over the last ten years or so.

Cripple Caddis, I have met you and have had a plesant conversation with you on the Spring river and feel you mean well and in person are very nice. That being said, the condescending and, yes, arrogant last paragraph of your response to me is staggering. "You" have a fair handle on the root causes of the problems in the world and American society..." No, you have an opinion, no more valid than mine or anyone else and I dare say you have a slant that can be validated by the right, the far right. But guess what, other opinions can be validated as well. As for, me being a product of a liberal education and therefore can't think for myself. Not exactly what you said, but a good summery of your train of thought I think. Well, I do form my own opinions and they don't adhere to just one dogma or another. I think for myself and am not brainwashed by liberal universities, and the idea that you think I am is insulting. As far as your right of self defense. I agree that everyone has right to bear arms. But I don't want to be in an office or a mall where everyone is carrying a loaded weapon. Not everyone is stable and responsible and you never know who is going to go on a rampage with said weapon or carelessly miss use it. So yes, there are limits, such as on others private property, which a business is. Do you think the federal building in Oklahoma City is going to let citizens carry loaded weapons in their building. No, it is a public safety issue and the University has the same right. Would you want to be working the register at a convenience store in a bad neighborhood, when people are walking in at all hours packing. It happens enough illegally, I don't want to legalize it for the criminal. Here is another arrogant statement: "You obviously have no educational background on our Constitution and Bill of Rights to even voice the question" Who the hell do you think you are. You have no idea who I am or what education I have had! That just pisses me off. Sorry for the language folks, but that is uncalled for. By allowing some one to carry a weapon into a classroom and then if they did something bad with it, that would really be reckless endangerment. As far as a government being totalitarian because they do have some restrictions about where you can bring a gun. Give me a break. By your line of thinking, the rest of the world is therefore totalitarian. How many gun murders were there in all of Europe and Canada? I'd wager a lot less than say Texas. They probably had fewer murders period. They are not totalitarian regimes. People hunt and own guns in Canada and throughout a lot of Europe. They have the same video games, movies and if you spent time over there at all, the problems are much the same. I'm not for banning guns, but your "old west" attitude is dated and ultimately more dangerous. As for the liberal feeding frenzy, I saw good old Sean Hannity on Fox asking the same questions they were asking on the other networks and you know as well as I, he will be spinning this and exploiting it as soon as he can. As will Rush and all the others of their political persausion. I'm sorry to everyone if that came accross as rude, but I feel I was attacked in a very arrogant way and want nothing more than to get back to fishing.

Someone stated asked, is it a surprise that htis happened on a liberal campus where guns are not allowed? Another mentioned that a well armed student may have ended this thing earlier. That implies in my mind that packing in class would be acceptable. I'm saying that it is not. I am also hearing a lot of anti-Dem. talk because some loon went on a rampage. Not everyone is doing this, but it is there and I think it is not fair. I told myself I should stay out of political debates on a fishing forum, but sometimes I see something that makes want to speak up. I just think it is sad when a tragedy is politicized by either side. The one thing I agree with everyone on is the apathy many people show in raising their kids today. Allowing violent images through games (big problem in my mind) tv and movies. I'm always amazed when I'm at the movies and parents bring very young kids to R-rated, very violent movies. What are they thinking? I don't know if this had anything to do with this case, but it does have something to do with acceptance of violence in our culture. I'm going back to fishing.

This is not meant to draw anyone's ire, but a lot of people here seem to be politicizing this tragedy. Blaming directly or indirectly Democrats or liberals for the crazed acts of one individual. Do you think major corporate offices allow people to be armed in their offices? No, of course not. Why should a university. If that person had a knife, the death total would not have been 33. It is a lot easier to get away from a guy with a knife or chainsaw or over power him with force than dodge a bullet or outrun it. But before you say I want to just ban guns, I don't. But think about it rationally, history class is not a place you should be packing. Now should the administration have responded earlier when the first incident occured, in hindsight definitely! I am not trying to insight anyone's anger or get into a big gun control debate, I have no problem with responsible gun ownership, but just thought I'd address the knee jerk "it is the Dem. or liberals fault".

Took Jim and Glenda from Michigan out for the third time on Thursday in the Blue ribbon section. The upper half was electroshocked on Mon and Wed for a fish survey. I went on Mon and have to say I was a little disappointed in the number of caught fish. Before anyone asks, I don't know what the fish density was, but I thought there would be a few more than were captured. Anyway, The first half of the river didn't produce very well during the guide trip, though we did land a couple. The bottom half, produced better, more like I would hope the whole river would produce during the spring. All the fish were wonderfully colored and well feed. Three of the fish ranged from 15 to 16.5 inches or so. Stoneflies (brown or black) drifted barely off the bottom were definitely the fly most fish were taking. The river is still 5-6 inches high down here, so you can't be affraid to use weight. All and all a good day considering the electroshocking they did this week. JIm and Glenda were great company as always and a good time was had by all.

old Town offers the predator and an ocean SOT kayak that we are considering, but I may look into your suggestions as well before buying anything. Thanks.

From the Current on Tuesday evening you could head straight down 19 to the Eleven Point, Greer would be a good campsite right where you cross the river. Then take 160 over to the North Fork of the White on Thursday and then on Friday down to fish the White or Norfork tailwater near Mountain Home on Friday or 160 straight to Tany. You could get a good variety of trout water doing that route over the course of a week.

There is no storaoge to speak of, rod racks or anchors. The ones we are looking at are wider and more stable. I've gone fishing with the ones we have and was fine, but I am a minimalist and don't take more gear than is needed. If you are a gear hound, there is not a lot of space.

It is fine for canoes.

Turner Mill is a good access point and base camp. It has an outhouse (not flush toilets) and it is a little bit of a walk from the campsites. Good shoal for fishing. Upstream is blue ribbon trout and down is white ribbon. If you have a john boat, the boat ramp will be unuseable until the end of the month when repairs will be made.

We are considering getting a couple of kayaks with the fisherman in mind that you sit inside, has plenty of storage, anchors and rod holders, but will be ordering them when business picks up and more revenue is coming in. In other words in May or June. We have the sit on top kind now that is not condusive to fishing with ease. We are on the Eleven Point.

Maybe a little better, but I would want to land a carp of that size as well. Pretty sure it was a trout though.

I didn't release it, the fish released itself! I'm sure the 4x probably had a nick in it or something.

Well, I found myself at Greer on Thursday evening and I happened to have my fly rod from my last time out in the van, so I decided what the heck. The river is at 2.6ft (2 is normal) so getting to the bottom requires weight. I had a bitch creek stone with a bloody Mary dropper on from last time out, so I just left it on and added a large split shot and went to the bridge. The following is why you should never get lazy like I did. Always inspect your leader and tippet to make sure it is in good shape before using it a second time. After a few casts below the bridge (about 10 yards downstream) my indicator went down, but more like a snag than a fish. Well I set the hook just in case and low and behold it was not a snag. It felt more like a steelhead and it took off like a bat out of hell downstream pulling like only one other fish in the last couple of years has done to me on the 11 point. My nemisis from 2 years ago that I hook a couple of times, but never landed that was probably 7-8lbs. I don't know if this was the same fish or a new brute, but it was big. This was in the same general area of the river though and was every bit the same quality of fish and after a relatively short fight, it snapped my 4x line about 2ft up from the stone fly. Always check your equipment, even if you are just messing around for a few minutes on stream, you never know.

The fishing has been hit or miss lately. The water is about 1/2ft above normal which is reasonable and getting better all the time. You must get to the bottom for success. The white ribbon area was to be stocked toward the end of March, but got delayed until the first week of April, due to supply problems at Montauk. Right now I'd suggest the blue ribbon area.

I don't know of any openings, but that being said I do know that schools in my area seem to hire someone about every year. If you contact West Plains schools, Alton, Couch, Oregon-Howell, or Thayer. These schools are in south central Missouri. You would be moving into a much more rural area, but the fishing is great. Good luck.

I don't have much of a problem with the Keg regulation and so forth, but I do have a concern about the 6 beer limit and it is not because I am advocating people taking cases and cases of beer and getting as drunk as possible. It is because I am afraid the limit would lead to more cans thrown in the river and the forest. People will take all the beer they want one way or another. They will find a way if they want it. What I'm afraid of is they will be less likely to bring the evidence out with them for fear of being ticketed at the access. Therefore, they may just get rid of the evidence before they get there. Enforcement will be the key to any new rules they make, and there has been a lack of resources for enforcement in recent years. The forest service has had their budget cut a lot in recent years.

The Eleven Point may be an option for you, though you did say boat rentals were a not an option. You can wade the shoals here, but a canoe is the best way to really fish the river. Access is limited (all national forest) and the holes are deep between shoals. The banks are heavily forested, preventing easy hiking between shoals. It is a beautiful river with good trout fishing though. In the interest of full disclosure, I do own an outfitter for the Eleven Point. You can rent 2-3 bedroom houses here for $45-60 per night depending on the number of people and they are nice and clean w/ full kitchens, sat tv and laundry facilities. There are pllenty of camping options as well. If you need a changeof pace while fishing here, there is a lot of water on the upper river where you can wade for miles chasing "smallies" and the Spring river is only 18 miles away for another trout fishing opportunity.

Superfly, That fish on the right really has quite the belly, I couldn't tell that from the view-finder on your camera. He may only be 12-14 inches, but he is eating well. Look forward to seeing you guys next time. Maybe I can get out as well.

Hey guys, sorry no reports recently, but I have not been out much latley. That said, I will fill you in on what I have done lately and what I've gathered from others. I took an inexperienced fly fisher out in less than good condititions (high off color water) a couple of weeks ago and frankly had a tough time of it. We got a couple trout, but they were hard to come by. Got out a couple of days ago at graveyard hallow and the water was still high and I fished for only 45 minutes and stung a small trout. I'm not too worried about that as that little stretch ussually starts to slow down going into the springtime. I'm sure I could have had more success at other spots, had I had more time to get to them. The water is getting to the good level pretty soon. It is at about 3 ft (1ft above normal) and 1100 cfs, which is high, but plenty fishable. As the river continues down, the fishing should get better, but like I said, you should be able to get into some fish now, particularly between Greer and Turner. I put a couple of guys out in a canoe overnight on Sun/Mon and about half way down to Greer from Cane Bluff they starting catching the occassional trout. In the evening they fished island 1 on the opposite side from Graveyard (which is the better water down that way) and one of them pegged a 19 incher. The next day they caught a few while "causually" fishing their way to Turner Mill. I just talked to the MDC guys about the White Ribbon area and they said they have not stocked down there since the end of last year and they will start again the 2nd or 3rd week of this month. Of course they never say exactly when. I have talked to guys who have been catching fish down there this winter though. But it will be better soon. Smallmouth have been waking up lately, but they will start peaking probably toward the end of the month through April and into May. The warmer it stays, the sooner they will get hot. Hope that helps.

You have been told about the Sring river in Arkansas for Muskies. There are a number of rivers that have chain pickerel (smaller cousin of the pike). The Eleven Point has a strong population of these and I'm sure other rivers do as well.