steve l

We saw the ranger, but did not get checked. He was hidden in a very nice spot to view the river. As soon as I saw it was a ranger pointed out we had on spinners & other lures. May have been why we were not checked. He did ask if were catching though. Must be a training thing, as the first question I ever get asked by the rangers is "How's the fishing - you catching anything?" Hmmm, just thinking about it, maybe that question and then your answer establishes that you are fishing so that they may check you out.

Put on Sunday about 11:00 at Greer & took off Friday morning at 142. Blue ribbon area fished well. Action was not as good as last year, but better than generally seeing over the years. Was using black spinners and jigs, and either Husky Jerks or Rebel Craws. The fish are fat & happy. Draw back was the sheer number of jet boats on that stretch. Had probably 12-15 go zipping by. Even had one group at a gravel bar w/the vodka bottle out, loud & happy. Considering that is over what, 5 miles of river you can do the math. Quite simply it was awful, unless you like the whine of the motors from however far away it is you can first hear them & the lingering smell of exhaust. White ribbon area did not do as well with the fish. Some of that is most likely just not getting deep, as I have never done well in that stretch. Jet boats again an issue coming up from Whitten. You know, between the corn dunkers, doughball tossers & Powerbait chunkers hitting every hole over & over I'm surprised there are any trout in that stretch at all. On the bright side it appeared that the jetboats couldn't get passed a section a little below Whitten (which may have explained the number we saw up river), so once we got down there it was a quiet river. Some trout here & there, and an occasional smallie begins to show. I had problems with jigs breaking off, probably need to find a better knot. But I started jigging the spinners. If I was patient enough to get them deep before starting the jigging action I did catch trout. This was the pattern that worked best of all. Didn't glom onto that until later in the white ribbon area though, so will be curious to see how it works next year over the entire trout area. The stretch from 160 to 142 is always quiet, and I always enjoy it. The wife & I saw no one all day. No hits at all until we got below what I call the S-turn. No idea what it's called, but it's an S-turn left & then right with farm land to the right. Not a lot of fish, but enough to keep us happy. Got one nearly 2 lb (1:15) smallie in the exact same place I have caught one the last three years. Plastics, Husky Jerk, Rebel Craw. Boy, the floods sure did a number on the river in some areas. Stretches where banks were stripped clean of all trees, runs where there were not runs before, the rock at Mary Decker that made it tricky gone. Some new gravel, some old gravel cleared out. Even the dam at Boze had some damage that I don't remember being there. I always enjoy floating the 11P, and will be looking forward to next year's float come about the end of January or so.

garret - where you putting in & taking out? a day float, you camping?

Brian - appreciate the reponse & suggestion. Had though about going above Greer but it just doesn't work for the time we will be on the river & known gravel. I also want to go below 160, so that just gets to be too much paddling. Going w/spinning gear. I think I'll have 3 rods rigged, 1/6 oz black rooster tail (prefer 1/8, but we'll start heavier w/the river being higher and see what happens), 1/8 black jig (prefer 1/16, but ditto), probably rebel craw. My wife will have a spinner rigged, and likely something else. Anything you'd add in to the mix? Whatever it is go deep? Kindof curious - how's business been? $4 gas and the general economy keeping people away? Forecast is looking like hot. Maybe summer is finally getting here.

Wife & I going next Sunday 7/20 thru Friday Greer to 142. Hopefully we don't have the same type of adventure we had on the Jacks Fork in May. Floods leave any interesting spots not there before I need to be aware/careful of? Trees down etc? River still humming along pretty good? But looks like its possible it may even drop below 4 foot. I saw the reports on the trout waters, any reports on the smallie bite 160 & below? Hmmm, that seems a bit sparse. Lot of packing & getting what can be pre-cooked or prepped pre-cooked or prepped today. How about our menu for the week? Foil wrapped mahi-mahi with tomato & parmesean and a bit of ginger sprinkled on. Wild rice as a side. This will be an ok dinner. Marinaded buffalo steak with mashed potatoes, mushrooms, onions. Need to be careful not to overcook the tatonka, but hard to wrong w/steak & potatoes. Buffalo slow cooked w/chipotles, Anaheims, diced tomatoes, onions, and a touch of lime on hoagies with refried beans as a side. A really good meal - already looking forward to it. Dry-rubbed pork tenderloins wrapped in corn husks cooked either over or in the coals w/sweet corn on the cob. Penne paste w/shrimp & morels in a cream based sauce. This is also a good meal, but hopefully the pasta holds being pre-cooked. Dried morels, will soak and add on the river. And I see a beer or two to go along with dinner. Dang, getting hungry just typing that. Any favorite meals out there to consider in the future?

Snap, how does gravel look - have the floods opened the gravel bars at all? Hopefully the 22 inch rainbow is still there to be caught another day...?

Yes, the JF can come-up real fast. While we were prepared, the reality is if the water had hit a earlier when we were out gathering firewood or even later after we went to bed the story may very well have turned out different. Then tent had originally been pitched higher, but not in the so-called safety zone. We had gear on higher areas and around the canoe ready to be thrown in if needed (and it would have been tied off) after dinner, but scambling in the dark would have been tougher. Lessons noted and won't be forgotten. Here's the rest of the story, although it may be a bit anti-climatic... No, we didn't try to float out, but there's a real good reason for that (beyond the obvious). Even with the river dropping a good 3 plus feet overnight, we weren’t going to put on the river that morning. I thought that by noon or 1:00 or so it might drop enough for us to get back on. We had a complicating factor in that we had to be out of Alley by 10:00 or so Saturday morning for my wife's parent's 50th wedding annivesary in Quincy (IL). I have many years canoeing experience, and have been on rivers when they are high, but it can certainly be argued over whether that would have been wise. My primary worry would have been a tree down when coming around a corner, or perhaps just making a mistake with little room for forgiveness in the fast moving water. So we moved everything back down to the zone, carrying it back down from the hill. I had figured there would be rangers coming by to check that everyone was safe, and sure enough after a bit we heard the motor. The rangers stopped by & checked that we were safe & hadn't lost anything. While talking they told us that the Park Service shut the river down, no one was to be on the river on Friday. Now normally that would not be a problem, we would just stay where we were and head out the next morning, but the 50th wedding anniversary dinner was Saturday night, so I told them fine, but we had to be out of Alley by 10:00 Saturday morning and the reason why. One of the rangers began to ask our experience level, but the other ranger cut that discussion off really quick. They didn’t have any solutions right then, but told us to hold tight & they would be back. We did just that, having our breakfast of egg, sausage and cheese wraps. The boat comes back in a while w/just one of the rangers. The plan is he will take the canoe back to Alley on the jet boat, and the other ranger will 4-wheel drive as far as he can along the logging road and then ATV to us to get our stuff out. So we carry the canoe onto the boat, and then haul everything back up to where we had the tent the night before and wait and wait. After several hours (watching the river drop & no fishing & resorting to taking bird pictures to amuse myself, not that there's anything wrong with that) we hear the motor. It is the ATV, as the ranger was able to get the truck to within about a ½ mile of us. We loaded up the ATV a couple of times and on the last run my wife & I walked to the truck. Had to to load the ATV into the back of the pick-up, and then all of our stuff was lashed to the top of the ATV (coolers & dry box) or piled around it in the back of the truck. It then took a good 30? 40? minutes to get to pavement from that point. The trails were a bit washed out, so the going was slow. There was one incline we were barely able to climb. But we finally we hit pavement, and it's off to Harvey's to get the car. As a note aside, I do have to give full kudos to the Park Service and the rangers. The answer to us in the morning could very easily have been sorry, nothing we can do. I note crticism of rangers & troopers in these forums from time-to-time, but in this situation I have nothing but praise. By that time it was 4:00, so not really sure what to do. Didn’t feel like going home (Springfield, IL, about 5 hours) just to get up & go to Quincy the next day. Didn’t feel like camping at Alley (nothing against Alley, we're just not campground people). So we went into Eminence for a milkshake (which was pretty darn good) while we tried to figure out what to do. Ultimately we ended up at Alley, which we were glad to see was mostly empty. Got a couple of bundles of firewood, had our steaks (elk) and potatoes and asparagus and drank a few cold beers before bed. Then it was up early the next morning and off to Quincy, where everyone had a nice time at the anniversary dinner. I most certainly would rather have had the last day and a half or so floating & fishing for smallies, but the river gives you what it does. Will be back for the same weekend next year, but hoping for a little drier weather.

Here's a report... Floated the river for what was planned to be the 14th throught the 17th Buck Hollow to Alley. The 14th was a pretty good day overall. As far as fishing mostly smaller stuff. It rained that night for maybe 3 to 4 hours or so, and was raining when we got up. We stayed in the tent longer than usual, but it did taper off early enough. Had to have the rain gear on for a while as we began to break camp, but the rain stopped, and we were able to get everything packed w/o a problem. Got on the river, and it started a light rain, and then shifted to what I guess I would call a steady light to mostly medium rain. We had sweat shirts and long pants on under the raingear, so were able to stay mostly warm. I worked a Yozuri top water for much of the time it was raining. Rather productive, with the best being a 1.9 – although never got the big fish blow-up I wanted. My wife pulled in a 1.3 using a plastic fluke she picked out (she was pretty pleased about that), and we both caught quite a few smaller fish. It ended up raining for about 4 hours, so we were glad to see it end. The raingear worked pretty good, but you still end up getting wet. Breeze picked up a little, and we were beginning to get some blue sky patches here & there, so the rain was over. Got to the gravel bar I planned for. It is a nice spot, and has the bonus of an old logging road that we could use as bailout, as with the rain I was a bit worried about the river coming up. Sun was slowly coming out, so we were able to get everything spread out & starting to dry. Got about a foot high water stick in, and got firewood gathered. Before dinner we got the canoe & gear somewhat organized on higher spots. But the river had only come up maybe only an inch & a half or so, not too bad. Kung Pao chicken for dinner. That was really a good meal after a rainy day. Dinner is done, and its still a bit early to fish, and we’re sitting in the chairs when one of us noticed the water stick was now showing about a 6 inch rise. As we watched we could see the water rising on the stick. We decided that we should start moving stuff higher. And then things got a bit hectic. You can see the result to that time on YouTube. It is also found under steve jill float 2008 My “not see four more feet” was wrong. The river kept coming up & kept coming up. We collapsed the tent, put almost everything into the canoe, and staged everything we could as high as we could in the "safety zone" area. Kept watching the river, it kept coming up. We had a level picked out where if it got there we would move out of the safety zone, which was just at the fence posts you could see in the video. Well, guess what, the river got to that point. By that time we had to have flashlights out. We could get higher by going back into woods, but there wasn’t anywhere to put the tent. The logging road paralleled that river for a ways, and then climbed about 30 or so feet up to a flat open spot where the road split. That was maybe more than an 1/8 mile but less than a 1/4 mile from the camp spot, and that was where we hauled the tent, sleeping bags, chairs, and coolers. Dragged the canoe up the road a ways (and then decided that we had better drag it further yet), and tied it off. So that is where we spent the night, at least knowing the river wasn’t going to get up there. It turned out the river peaked just short of flooding the zone, ending up with about a 7 foot (or more) rise. How we eventually got off the river is another story in itself, but suffice to say it was all an adventure. It was not how we wanted the trip to go, but it has made for a good story.

Orb, that's just such a great stretch of river - you will not be dissapointed. My wife & head down in a couple of weeks for an annual trip going Buck to Alley. Even after 40 years of floating the JF I still enjoy it very much. While familiar, it seems there is something new to notice every trip. Try not to miss Jam-up cave. It is really a spectacular entrance. Just to whet the appetite, how about a couple of photos... Also will look forward to your report.

The cigar was Swisher Sweets? I remember Don's standard line fed to us before we started off - that he knew where to catch the fish. In the mouth!

Thanks for the update. Able to get a sense for the gravel - have bars been cleaned off, built up, reopened etc?

21 feet & 48,000 cfs! If the graph linked to below accurately reflects flooding history, this is either the first or second highest flood since 1916! http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/pea...;agency_cd=USGS July normal is 600 or so cfs? That means there is the equivalent of 80 rivers flowing through right now.

Running at 14 and a quarter at the 160 bridge and still going up. As a point of reference July normal seems to be about 2 feet. And here is what the NWS is saying at 7:00 -- ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES IS EXPECTED NEAR THE INTERSTATE 44 CORRIDOR...WITH UP TO AN ADDITIONAL FIVE INCHES OF RAIN EXPECTED OVER FAR SOUTHERN MISSOURI. Up to 5 MORE? Wow. Go back & look at a thread December 2006 for a picture of what the river looks like at a mere 11 foot. Here's a link. http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4046 Brian, post pictures when you get them. Will be curious to see if this flood will clean out some gravel. If not this it may take 40 days etc to get the job done!

Wader, just to let you know I enjoy the posts. Keep 'em coming.

OK, it's not Ozark waters (but it is smallie waters), but it reminds me of a time I was fishing Powerton lake near Peoria IL (excellent smallie fishery). I'm walking the riprap, and it was a real slow day, but finally caught one. Some guy in a boat across the lake aways fires up the motor, runs over and starts casting right in front of me. I mean come, some people are just clueless. p.s. I don't remember if he had an iPod going or not.

Yup, pretty sure the plan was to sell the land to Haliburton.

My 2 brothers & 5 of our kids put in at Greer on Sunday the 15th at about noon. Went down to 142, taking out early Friday the 20th. Highlights: This marks my 40th year of canoeing the Ozark rivers, with my first float at 7 years old. The biggest change, which will surprise no one was has floated & fished the Ozarks during this time, is the increase in the volume of people seen. My brothers & I lament, but with 90 million or whatever more people in the country how could it be otherwise? The other change, which I believe is a positive, is the introduction of the various fish mgt areas. The 15 & 18 inch limits has improved the quality of the fish caught. No longer are smallies yanked out of the river as soons as they hit 12 inches. Fishing in the blue ribbon stretch was as good as we have seen. I don't know if there was a stocking or what, but we caught many fish of the general stocking size. I mostly used black rooster tails, a black jig, and a rebel craw. I'm not sure it would have mattered what was used that day, as all produced. Once my daughter (13) heard of the big trout living at Mary Decker I couldn't get her away from there. She fished as hard as she ever has. Unfortunately no big trout, although she did catch 10 to 12 or so fish that day. Received enough rain to break out the rain gear, hearing thunder from a storm that passed to the north. A second storm came by as we went to bed. Rained good & steady for some time, but not really heavy. Found out the youngest of the crew (11) does not like sleeping in a (leaky) tent w/her cousin during a storm - off she went to dad's tent. My daughter went to the older (15, 17, 17) kid's tent until it leaked. Off she went to my tent. The older kids had to figure out how to avoid the leaks on their own. Remembering the tube tents my parents afflicted my brothers & I with I didn't feel too bad for their getting a bit wet. Some good lightning strikes just over the ridge. Feeling the ground shake I was glad they were over the ridge. Got up & did some fishing before breaking camp. Noticed a lot of debris beginning to show up in the water. Last time I saw that was on the Buffalo before a rise back in 2001. Sure enough, the river began rising & turned muddy. That shut the fishing down all day Monday. Hit camp Monday & the river was already dropping. Came down about a foot by Tuesday morning, although still muddy. Fishing was pretty much a wash Tuesday, although the river was beginning to clear later in the day. Some fish were caught after we hit camp. At least one good part of the muddy water is we had the river to ourselves. We saw very few of the jet pests. Let's see, clear water & lots of jet boats or muddy water & very few jet boats. Just the fact that I wonder which I would rather have says volumes. OK, done w/my usual griping on that subject. The river really cleared overnight, maybe by 80%+ or so. I was surprised by how rapidly it did clear. I guess Greer has alot to do with that. The clearing was good, as Wednesday is our "down day", were we stay at camp that day & just play in the water & fish & what not. One of my brothers caught the fish of the trip, and his personal best smallie at 3.2 lbs on Wednesday evening. Nice fish! Thursday is our long day, as we have a 9-10 mile day to get down to just above 142. We fish that stretch pretty hard. Fishing in that smallie water was fair to good - not as good as we have seen in some years, but better than others. The old standbys of Husky Jerk & Rebel Craw produced, with some action on plastics. I was disappointed in how little impact the earlier flood had on the gravel bars. They continue to either close up or fully off with weeds. I don't know what kid of flood or floods would be needed to clear the river, but it sure would be nice to see. Maybe the 11P is just slowly reverting to how it looked prior to the logging, but that would be too bad. All in all a good trip. Only 51 weeks to go for next year's!

Nice report. Whole-heartedly agree that the horse limit should be at least reduced. A total blight on the river. Have never seen a post on the forums explaining why ruining everyone else's experience is the right thing to do. Any takers? I doubt it. A little more detail on the Halls Bay - Fishermans Hook thing? Are you talking about the passage to the left of the island, or has the Bay rapids changed? My brothers & I & kids hit the river on Sunday for 5 nights. The front looks like it will be out of the way, so here's hoping to good weather & (most importantly) fishing.

It will be myself, my two brothers & 5 of our kids. The annual 5 night trip from Greer to 142. We just take our time & fish the heck out of the river. Have watched more & more gravel get covered w/weeds, so the flood last year was nice to see.

Thanks Snap. That first spot you mentioned is our usual first night spot. Is the spot you mention below Whitten where a spring seeps out of the gravel? If so, that's our usual second night spot. It's now known as Happy Toes, recalling the time we sat on a log that used to be there while we dangled toes in the water having a beer before dinner while the kids played. Any other reports out there - any from below 160?

Looking for any reports on if the flood opened or cleaned off any of the gravel bars? Many of the gravel bars, especially those we considered to be back-ups, were closing off due to weeds by last year. Any new ones? Any of the old ones gone? Looking for reports from Greer down to 142.

Gonefishin, I disagree. I think it is a good law, especially with the gravel substate on the Ozark rivers. Too many people will (and still do) chuck their bottles on the gravel, and at that point there's not much that can be done. It does make it a bit tough to bring a bottle of wine or for those of us who prefer craft beers (come on Oskar Blues). But that's a small price to pay to keep from slicing my (or my kids)foot open.

Looks like a bit of a rise with the rain today. Heading down for the usual trip the weekend before Memorial Day, so not much more rain needed. Unlike your friend I intend to fish.

I agree. Don't they look a bit light?

After floating the Jacks Fork a few years ago and catching smallies that MDOC had tagged for a study I had written & asked if they had any results they could share. I received a pdf that outlines a study conducted on the smallie mgt areas on the JF and the Gasconade. Bottom line - that while they exist there just are not that many really big smallies out there. I have floated the rivers for 40 years, and have canoed with some pretty good fisherman, & there is only 1 certified (almost) 4lber caught in all that time. Luckily I have a picture, so here is what a 3.9lb smallie looks like as a point of reference to the 5lbers. Just so happens I caught it, so this is also not a chance to brag. Note that it was weighed on a good electronic scale. I am more than happy to share the pdf. Just send me a pm, and I will forward on. Note it is about 4Mb, so if any of you are still on dial-up...