Wild Trout

[snap]

Next question Brian! After the shock, are the fish "loop de doo" for a while and not in the biting mood, or, will it be no different than normal? The reason we ask is we are planning to fish Turner to Whiten Thursday...but if they might be shut down, we might want to do the whiten to riverton route. Thanks in advance!

[ozark trout fisher]

I'd have to agree with that...before they started stocking again...a 4-5 fish day was pretty good in the blue ribbon area. After stocking a 10-20 fish day would be slow. When they started stocking it again, I emailed the biologist as for the reasons why. He said fish counts were incredibly low for the size of the river around 130-150 fish per mile, and they hadnt turned many young of the year rainbows when they sampled. His theory was that many of the fish were stockers that moved up from the White Ribbon Area. Will be interesting to hear what turns up this year. Cheers.

Interesting..... Sounds like the Blue Ribbon Stockings are really helping the river. I'm gonna try to get down in May or June and float Greer to Turner day one, and Turner to Whitten day two, and see if I can't catch a trout or two. One sort of off topic question. Should someone who is somewhat of a beginner with a canoe try to run Mary Deckar Rapids, or would I be best to get out and portage it? And just in general, is the Eleven Point an alright river for someone who doesn't have much experience in heavy water? About the worst I've done is the lower end of the Jacks Fork River. Or would I be better to float somewhere easier, like the Current or the Meramec?

[Brian Sloss]

The Eleven Point is not that hard to run, it is all class 1 and some class 2 stuff. You can run Mary Decker, but you may want to walk it so you can fish it. Given the numbers we saw in the sampling site from Turner, I'd do Whitten to Riverton.

The elctroshock trip was fun and educational, as it is every year. The blue ribbon area had a reasonable amount of fish, but as per usual, the numbers have thinned over the winter. We saw some nice wild fish and nice previous year stockers. There were a few of 2008 fish that looked good, but a number of them that looked poor. They have been showing up like that since they spawned starting in Nov. There are still quality fish in that section, but the numbers are down a bit. This simply confirms the way the fishing has been lately, which has been a bit hit and miss. If the conditions are right we have been doing pretty decent, but the next day could be tough. We went through part of Turner to Whitten looking for 2008 blue ribbon trout and I don't think we found any. Hopefully they will stock the Turner stretch soon, but I don't know when.

[Mark]

So since we are coming in this weekend, would you suggest Whitten to Riverton for better fishing in White Ribbon area??

[Brian Sloss]

Can't say what the fishing is like down there recently as I have not been down there lately. But, like I said, that is where I would try. NO guarantees though.

[Mark]

OK Brian, if we go Whitten to Riverton and don't catch any fish, ...............

[Brian Sloss]

.....not my fault.....

[Mark]

Give us a hollar if you see us the next 3-4 days. Snap has a camoflage riverboat jet prop - his first trip with his new toy - and I'll be in an Old Towne with a 2.5 Mercury on it. Depending on how many we end up with, we may give you a call for an additional canoe. Staying at Summre Cottages.

We'll give a report next week.

[ozark trout fisher]

Give us a hollar if you see us the next 3-4 days. Snap has a camoflage riverboat jet prop - his first trip with his new toy - and I'll be in an Old Towne with a 2.5 Mercury on it. Depending on how many we end up with, we may give you a call for an additional canoe. Staying at Summre Cottages.

We'll give a report next week.

Is it pretty much a safe bet that the entire White Ribbon area will be stocked by Late May/ Early June?

[Brian Sloss]

It should be getting stockings periodically by then.