Brian Sloss

He took the fly, no snag. I got a pic with Justin holding the fish after he dragged into the boat with the fly in his mouth because we wanted proof that he ate the CP. Justin had to grab it by the tail and lift into the boat because we did not have a big enough net.

This afternoon I ran over to the NFOW to fish for white bass from Dawt Mill to the lake with Justin from Sunburst Ranch and his friend Brandon. Though we saw fish, the catching was lack luster. Then in sight of the bridge I went hero or zero with a Circus Peanut streamer on a 10ft, 5wt fly rod with 7lb test tippet and was rewarded with this...

Al Having fished both ways and guided guys that have their own preferences, hook bend and your way, and there doesn't seem to be a nickels worth of difference as far as the trout seem to be concerned. I have seen the catch rate too many times be near identical with two rigs using both methods.

I am a big advocate of the 2 fly rig as well if you feel comfortable trowing it. His method will work great or you can just tie about 18 inches of tippet to the bend of the hook of your 1st fly with a clinch knot and then just tie your next fly on the the tippet. If I want to dredge the bottom I may tie the bigger, heavier fly to the bottom and other times I put the lighter fly as the dropper to flutter just off the bottom as Al described. Just depends on the fish's mood.

Aside from using weighted flies, I normally use bb size shot 15-18 inches up from the fly. Start with one bb and add another if you are still not getting down deep enough to get strikes. The rule of thumb is if you are not catching the bottom every now and then, you are not deep enough.

The river is currently running at 1400 cfs which is within the reasonable range for floating, though I don't think newbies would be comfortable. That said, conditions are still not quite right for fishing as the volume of water is still high. Given no rain this week, I think it should be better by the weekend. The white ribbon area has yet to be stocked that I know of this spring, but there should be places here and there to catch a few trout. The blue ribbon area has not fished great for a few floaters that I have had in the last week or two, but the fish that have been caught are nice fish. I was having reasonable success wade fishing below graveyard before the floaters went down. Lots of weight is needed in these conditions. Thomasville to Cane Bluff was reported as pretty clear of obstruction by floaters ten days ago, but no report if the smallies have gotten active yet there. Cane Bluff to Greer have a few tree obstructions (maybe 6 or 7), but only one of them sneaks up on you if you are not paying attention. The one that sneaks up on you can get a little hairy, but experienced people using a little discretion should be able to handle it. No report on smallie activity there yet either. A big tree across the river just upstream of the 19 bridge has prevented me from testing the waters below Greer spring lately. Clarity is still a little murky, about 4 ft of visibility, but clearing a little every day.

If you are going during the week, jet boat traffic will be light.

Looking back on your original question, all the places I listed are probably not far enough downstream for a 2 day float. I would get down to stinking pond just below Turner. Before Turner there is a good gravel bar on river right just past Mary Decker shoals and past Hurricane Creek, not to be confused with Little Hurricane. Don't be afraid of float camps past Turner, as most are not accessible by road. Gps way points are on our web site at www.11pointcanoe.com for the float camps.

River right just below the 3rd island past Greer boat ramp has a good spot, then there is another spot river right at the end of the shoal just past the 4th island, then River right where Little Hurricane enters or river left across from the creek at the head of the shoal is another. Also, the 1st island below Greer, if you go around the left side there is a spot on river left before you enter stair step hole. If you have a small group, there are plenty of other places as well that you will see if you are paying attention. Also, pay attention to the islands as a lot of people miss the 2nd island as it is tiny.

Coldwater I have not seen a bear down here, but we do have some. The conservation guys captured 3 on the land along the upper river while doing a bear study last year. Thomasville down to just below Cane Bluff. It is very rare for anyone to see one, but they are around. I know of a few locals that have seen them on their land, but they live in very remote areas.

Glad you guys gave it a try, not to worry, it will be better next time you fly fish here.

I have thought about the Cosa since last years show. I saw the Tuna as well and though it is a two man, you can turn it into a one man by removing one seat and moving the other seat to the middle. Both the Cosa and Tuna are stable enough to stand on and fish. Looking forward to your review Justin.

She was a bruiser...I just didn't come prepared. Though I can understand some people's doubt, it is a fish story after all.

After doing some chores, I got out at Graveyard Hallow for about an hour and an half this afternoon. After catching a smaller trout I moved to the bottom of the island to try my luck. After about 10 minutes with no luck, I was getting discouraged. Then toward the end of my next drift, I detected a subtle possible take and set the hook. It felt real good and made a run upstream and I could only hold on for the ride. Then the fish broke the surface and landed with a loud concussion like a big beaver tail slap. This was a very good fish. After another run downstream followed by a run across river before convincing the big girl to come close enough to grab the fly and release her without ever having to remove her from the stream. All this in about 3 minutes. I only wish I had a camera to get a quick pic while removing the hook. I'd say she was about 24 inches and very fat; beautifully colored with very nice fins, of which none were clipped, indicating it was probably wild. This will definitely be a strong contender for fish of the year in 2012. Following that I moved around and caught a few more, but after the big one I was more or less done.

My brother pointed out this movie trailer and I thought the fly fishing tie in might be interesting for some of you. Since I can't post the you tube link, Do a search for Salmon Fishing the Yemen to check it out.

Just got off of the phone with the forest service and your Jon boat does not exempt you from the glass bottle ban. They can and will ticket you for glass in your Jon boat. I Want a Moose Drool!

A couple of guys can't make a friendly bet in fun without it turning into a silly argument. Kind of sad guys. Mark and Snap-you can call 573-996-2153 and get an absolute final answer from the forest service. If I am proven right, I want a Moose Drool too.

The law says on or near the river, I have never seen anything that makes an exemption for the kind of watercraft you are using. My understanding is by near the river they mean about 100ft. You can always double check me by contacting the USDA forest service in Doniphin if you want.

I am not going to get involved with the CC side of the argument because I find these debates never really go anywhere but in circles online. The one argument I find interesting, but disagree with is the one about guns keeping people more civil in country settings. I have lived in the cities and rural areas and live in a very rural area now. People are very laid back here, but that has nothing to do with them being armed. I lived in England for six months where only a few hunters (very few) owned guns and the same condition exists between urban and rural. London is much higher stress and faster paced and a small village in the country moves much slower and it shows in people's behavior just like it does here.

The upper Eleven Point is too small for jet boats most of the time. Rare to see one above Greer and the smallmouth fishing is very good usually in June on that upper stretch

Granted I outfit on the Eleven Point, so I have have obvious leanings, but June is a good time for upper river Eleven Point smallmouth. Cane Bluff to Greer (7.5 miles) is great. An unusually dry spring would be the only thing that might screw that up. If you wanted to add more miles you could continue another 5.5 miles by continuing downstream to Turner and fish the trophy trout (blue ribbon) section. Being late June rather than earlier June, the Thomasville stretch down to Cane Bluff may be too low to run. If going one day and you want smallies, Cane Bluff to Greer would be perfect, if you want an overnighter and fish 2 days, I would go Cane Bluff to Turner and get both smallies and trophy trout (which should be good too). If the water is right and you are good with canoes and can handle a possible portage or two, you could do Thomasville to Greer (17 miles) for all smallmouth water.

NOt unless you have felt soles on your tennis shoes

As many of you know I have been concentrating on winter smallmouth trips lately and following a rise in the water due to recent rains, I took Mike and Tom from Memphis after a few on Friday. We fished marabou jigs under indicators on fly rods about 4-6ft deep depending on where we were fishing. Fishing was good with about 35-40 fish landed over about 4.5hrs and a few others that didn't make it to hand. The largest fish were 15 and a quarter inches (3) and a lot of 11-14.5inch fish. Here is a sample of what they caught. Following this trip I got a call to inquire about going after trout today (Sat). I told them that I had not gone after trout much lately because the smallies have been in demand lately, but that I would be happy to get them out for trout. The short notice trip didn't pan out, but it made me feel like I needed to check out my usual fishing target, so after putting out a few overnight canoers, doing some chores and watching MU beat Texas Tech, I hit Graveyard hallow for about an hour. I wasn't sure how they would bite given the MDC shocked the water the day before while doing a fish survey. I didn't bother taking a jig off from the previous days smallmouth trip and the first cast produced a skinny stocker. The second a fat and fiesty 16 inch wild guy. Then while working my way down to the bottom of the island I got a wild 8 incher. At the bottom of the Island I lost the jig to the bottom and replaced it with an egg and a Pat's Ruberleg stonefly dropper with 2 bbs. The Pat's landed 2 more healthy stockers and a wild 6 incher. Then right before I was leaving I decided on one more cast. The indicator sunk like I had a rock, but then it moved and after 30 seconds it surfaced and I saw a substantial pink stripe and a big head shake sent my flies right back at me. Probably an 18-21 incher, but it was probably 25ft away so no telling for sure. Not bad for an hour considering the flow is up and the wading was tougher than normal and the shocking boats came through yesterday. It was good to get after the trout again.

The streamers don't have to be big, though they can be. Have a wide assortment of sizes depending on thier mood, Fish slow to no current areas with plenty of weed beds. I have had luck with fairly eratic retrieves, though not always. If coming to the Eleven Point you should also consider fishing McCormick Lake (7-8 miles north of Greer on 19) for pickerel. Paddle out into the lake and fish back to shore. That lake has a lot of pickerel.

Just read a nice article about Tany in Eastern Fly Fisherman magazine that had nice things to say about Phil Lilley and also Jeremy Hunt. Pick up a copy if you get the chance.