Brian Sloss

Hear is another perspective. Now I am not saying they are selling off riverfront property yet, because that has not been made known. But if they did, there would be a public uproar around here (the locals). Why? Because around forty years ago they owned the riverfront land and lost it to eminent domain, mainly because they were too poor to fight it. For instance the Pere Marquette in Michigan has the same designation of scenic and wild and there are still cabins everywhere. Why? They were executives from Detroit and could afford a court battle. Now if they sold the riverfront property to wealthy people or lumber companies there would be some very angry locals down here whose family used to own the land. Beleive me they are still suspecious of the feds because of losing their family land. Many will admit the river is better for their loss today and I agree it is, but if it were turned around and sold to others today, some feathers would be rightfully ruffled. I want this river left the way it is. Just thought I'd throw out another view point I know would be out there.

If it is part of the MTNF it is possible that it could be sold. They are doing it to raise money for rural schools, which would be a one time band aid instead of fixing the school problems. Also, isn't casino tax money supposed to go to schools? It has been looted time and again by our politicians. As for whose district is it in? Just about everyone in Missouri lives around MTNF land. They are supposed to post more info on the sales on 2/28/06. Then there is to be a 30 day public comment period and then the politicians vote. I have emailed Jim Talent just because he was mentioned in an article about this subject, but I have not heard back from anyone that works there. Jo Ann Emerson represents the Eleven Point area and I will be emailing her as well. I don't know how the politicians are leaning on this subject, and not knowing makes me nervous because I have a hard time trusting them anyway. This proposal effects national forest land in a number of other states as well. I did stop by the Winona, Mo office of the forest service and they seemed very concerned. You can find more info at www.fs.fed.us. That is where they are supposed to post more info 2/28/06.

There has been a proposal to sell off parts of Mark Twain National forest and that includes a pristine area, The 11 Point river. I sincerely hope if they decide to do it that riverside property is not included. The Eleven Point is the only river left to be as wild as possible in Missouri and I would hate to see it developed in anyway (ie cabins and such). Has anyone heard more on this topic? Any opinions?

My two cents on the otter issue is that without them for 80 years the landscape of Missouri changed drastically. I don't claim to know what acted as predator for them once upon a time, but we have a lack of predators today and the otter has taken off. They do lots of damage. I have talked to a reliable source around here, the 11 Point river, that has witnessed an otter kill a trout and leave it after one bite. I think it was a mistake putting the otter back, because for better or worse the ecosystem had changed too much. I hope this works out now because, like it or not they are here. As for trappers, I wish more would come here and trap because there are only a few doing so. I thought with the price of pelts more locals would be doing it, but most say they have not done it in years and that it is too hard to bother with. With the average income in this area, I thought more would do it but that is not the case. We could release otter hound dogs into the wild/java script:emoticon('', 'smid_4') smilie Bears didn't really come back on their own, Arkansas released them in northern Arkansas and they eventually moved north.

Either of those ways will work just fine, though I prefer the 63 route. when I go to and from St. Louis, I go 44 to St. James, 68 to Salem, and 19 to Alton. It is a crooked route, but shorter. My shop is at 19 and 160 in Alton. You can rent houses for the price of a hotel that are very nice. I'd call in the following order. Rosemary 417-778-7782 Daisy 417-778-6164 If you can't get a place there, let me know and I'll look for another place. I do shuttles and my number is 417-778-6497. If I'm not there, leave a message and I'll get back to you. We are open by reservation this time of year, so call first. Brian Sloss

There is a company here in Alton, mo that sells a full line of Old Town canoes that are overstocks. They are brand new though and they charge less than retail. The name is Ozark River Co. and I think their # is 417-778-2400. They do a lot of Ebay business and if you did a search, you would find them. Also, we may be selling some of our Old Town's of this winter. www.11pointcanoe.com. Call me at 417-778-6497.

As for your raft, I use a 16 ft. drift boat all the time on that river and know of some one else who takes a raft like you described as well. You will be fine. Gavin did a good job of describing any tricky areas. I own the outfitter mentioned previously (thanks for the nice words by the way)and would be happy to help with any info you may need. Brian Sloss

My business partner was down from columbia, so we hit the blue ribbon area again on an even colder day, but no rain. Ryan got a pickerel on his first or second cast with a rooster tail at the boat ramp and then retired the spinning gear for the rest of the trip. The fishing was a little slower than the previous trip, but our numbers were pretty similar because we fished a little harder. Everything was fished deep and MOATs, stoneflies, Don's crawdads, eggs, North fork specials, and a caddis larvae all took fish. Ryan's first trout had been in some sort of battle and had scars and a deep red wound. It fought hard and acted ok, but I don't know how long it will last with that wound. My biggest fish was 17-18 inches landed at big bluff shoal about 1/2 a mile up from Little huricane. Also caught a hog sucker of pretty good size. I hooked right on the forehead and he fought hard. I would too if that happened to me. Also, I took a spill at Little Huricane shoal. A cold day for a dunking. That is one slick run. Sorry, I must of entered the addresses wrong for the other pics. I'll try again later. Brian

KIt, Drew is an ace up the sleeve. Hope to see you at the TU banquet. Get a hold of Rieley, he has tickets to the banquet.

I look forward to meeting you sometime.

Well come on down and get out on the water. I hope to see you down here.

My good friend and master boat builder, Drew Lemberger, brought my drift boat back down from Columbia, mo, so we had to get it out on the water in the Blue ribbon area. Of course we picked the coldest day we have had around here in quite some time. Being so cold, we didn't get on the water until 11am. It also rained the first couple of hours on the water. We moved and didn't fish as hard as we normally would given the weather and time constraints, but it is safe to say we both caught in the double digits in regard to numbers. We saw a 21+ inch fish chasing smaller trout at island one, but Drew only got one shot at him as we floated by. I don't know why we didn't stop, but we were really wanting to get downstream, given the late start. I rowed us to island 3 where we fished and caught a few fish in the 200 yard run behind the island. Drew took over and I caught a nice one from the boat as we passed island 4. As I was landing the fish, an eagle perched about 30 yards away, eyeballed my fish pretty good and I was waiting for him to swoop down and take him from the end of my line. Just down from there, we had a quick lunch and then Drew got into a groove stinging fish in that shoal. We made our way to Little Huricane Shoal where we landed a few more (note: this is a very slick bedrock shoal) including a fat male leaking milt everywhere. Some spawning must still be going on. Our last stop was Mary Decker Shoal. We caught a few more there as well before ending a cold, wet, fun and productive day. We caught a few more fish here and there while drifting between shoals, but we didn't stop nearly as much as we normally do, so we could have gotten more fish. It was just cold and we got a late start. It is good to have the drift boat back so I can get ready for the spring guide season. Guys this is a great time to be here. Today, excluded, it has been very mild and the fishing is good. Also, you have the whole river to yourself this time of year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I beleive beaver tailwater by Eureka Springs holds all 4 species and that is within 30 or 40 miles of Rogers. Brian Sloss

Now don't take this the wrong way, but the last time I was at Taney, I think I may have accidently step on two or three fish there were so many swimming around. What do they stock in there, 700,000+ trout a year or something? I can't complain about size too much because there were plently of huge ones swimming about as well. Now I don't begrudge you that, but lack of fish in that fishery is not an issue. You could take a couple of thousand of those fish that are about to stocked and spread them to other fisheries and never notice the diference and really make a noticeable diference at the other fishery. I'm not saying they should do that, it is just that I had 50 fish bumping my leg the last time I was at Taney. Also, I don't fish Taney enough to know the ends and outs of everything that goes on there with the MDC policies. Supposedly they are improving the hatcheries and will be able to produce more fish soon.

Hey Folks, Just thought I'd introduce myself. I've been owner with my business partner Ryan Griffin of the Eleven Point River Canoe Rental in Alton, MO for a couple of years now and have guiding fly fishermen for a few years now. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about the Eleven Point, as I feel I have a pretty solid knowledge of it. I also look forward to learning from others about some of the others waters in the region I don't know as well. Look forward to hearing from everyone. Brian Sloss

Ditto what Gavin said. You can do that way but it is a lot more work and won't be able to cover nearly as much water and the best fishing in my opinion is from the 3rd island down to Mary Decker shoals, as that is where it gets fished the least due accessiblity constraints (ie you need a boat to get to it easily). Brian

Sorry I missed you. I was in a Blue van that said Eleven Point Canoe Rental on it. I'd suggest fishing between Greer and Turner Mill. If you go upstream from Turner, go can only go 1.5 miles before you hit Mary Decker Shoals, which a trolling motor is not going to get you through. I'd start a Greer and just float to Turner fishing as you go. Jet boats are not too bad. Mostly they hang out below Turner. They are limited to 25hp and Sat. is the worst time for them. Most are pollite, no where near as bad as lower Current.,

I was able to get out Sat. and Mon. for a couple hours each day to see how the river was fishing. Sat. I went to the 19 bridge and caught about 10 fish using a North Fork special with an egg dropper fished deep. Most took the egg, but a few fell to the North Fork special. A couple of real nice fish though in the 15-17 inch range. Today I fished the bridge again, the set up was the same as well, thugh I only landed about six, but one was a hard fighting 15 incher. I saw a 20+ inch fish, but there was no wy to get to him without a boat. I also went to Cane Bluff to see if any trout had made its way up there like they did last winter. I only fished there for 30 mins. with no luck. I was kind of glad I didn't, because if they are up there, when it warms up they probably won't make it.

If you are coming to the 11 Point, I'd camp at Greer or Turner Mill. If you'd prefer a roof, you can rent a house with everything you need for $35- $45/night in alton, Mo. email me and I'll get you contact info. We have plenty of otter here and need trappers. Brian

Thanks for the help.

thanks. No idea if upper lake, lower lake, spring or fall though?

Anyone have any info on fly rodding for strippers. When is the best time and where is the most likely good spot to give it a try?

There are plenty of otters to be trapped on the Eleven Point, and though there is some trapping going on, there is definitely room for more. Bring your traps and go at it, the otters need to be thinned more than they are on the Eleven Point. $100/ pelt is what I here they are getting for otters.

I might or might not be around depending if I'm called in to my off season job. I hope I see you though. Bring your rod though, the fishing is good now.

Got out for a full day today with Kyle kosovich, in the past he has guided on the North Fork and a little for us. We floated the Greer to Turner section. I caught quite a few fish on a North Fork Special (tan) with an egg dropper. The bigest to hand for me was in the 16 inch range and beautiful colors. I caught a few back behind island 3 that were in this class. I had a legal sized fish on (18 in.+), in that same run, but couldn't get him landed. I'm not sure of Kyle's totals, but he hooked a beast in the shoal just down from little Huricane creek. They battle for five or so minutes before he got off, but it put one heck of a bend in his rod and ran at will. Wish we could have gotten a picture of that one. Anyway, it was a beautiful day and plenty of fish were stung. It is a great time of year to get out around here, we had the whole river to ourselves., Brian