Best Big Trout Stream

[fiveweight]

Never fished the Niangua, but I'd rank the other rivers like this for big fish:

Current (because I mostly wade and therefore have fished it the most)

11pt

NFOW

Current has a ton of fish mostly because of all the stocking going on at Montauk that leaks downstream, and many do live there long enough to continue growing to nice sizes.

I've never caught a big fish at the 11pt, but there are some nice fish and plenty of them for a stream that doesn't get the crap stocked out of it like the tailwaters and trout park streams.

I only rank NFOW last because I'm least familiar with it, only having fished it a few times and never from a canoe like it should probably be fished. Also, I've never felt like I figured out that stream.

[ozark trout fisher]

I've never caught a big fish at the 11pt, but there are some nice fish and plenty of them for a stream that doesn't get the crap stocked out of it like the tailwaters and trout park streams.

The Eleven Point sure is great. I've only fished it twice now (once floating 3 days, covering the trout water, and once wading at Highway 19), but I sure had good luck both of those times. It seems like the fish there are not nearly as picky there as any other non-trout park stream around, so long as you fish deep. Plus it seems like every good run has a fair number of decent fish. My biggest from there so far was an 18 incher, but it was a brightly colored wild fish (gently released of course). I'm headed down before Christmas to try my luck again. Between the scenery and the trout, that stream can just about equal any trout river anywhere.

If only it wasn't 3 hours away!!!

[Matt Tucker]

The North Fork of the White gets my vote.....if you are excluding tailwaters in Arkansas.

I haven't caught any pigs there.....but i know they are there.

[ozark trout fisher]

The North Fork of the White gets my vote.....if you are excluding tailwaters in Arkansas.

I haven't caught any pigs there.....but i know they are there.

I've never heard a bad word put in about the North Fork of the White... I'll have to get down there soon.

[MaxDrown]

I absolutely love fishing the Eleven Point River.

Where exactly is the North Fork of the White River?

[ozark trout fisher]

I absolutely love fishing the Eleven Point River.

Where exactly is the North Fork of the White River?

It's just a bit west of the Eleven Point, it's the main tributary of Norfork Lake.

I just can't get over how perfect of a river the Eleven Point is. I've fished trout streams across the country, and it can compare with any of them. It reminds me of fishing a big old western freestone.

[Gavin]

On second thought...I'd have to agree with Matt...the NFoW is producing more quality brown trout these days...My friend Chris caught a 28" male brown on a fly there last year, and another fellow caught a 30" female last week...both on a Pat's Rubber legs stonefly by the way...Plus my friend Bobber caught a 19.5" bow there last week. The NFoW doesnt hold the numbers that it did in the early 1980's, but its better than its been in a long time...The Current is still better for numbers though and it seems that there are a lot of 16-17" brown trout in that river at the moment. I've caught 7-8 of them that size in the last two trips down there so there must be a bunch of them. Next year should be a really good year for fish in the 18-20" range. Cheers.

[Snow Fly]

Went on the shocking survey Sept 28th from the Park cable to Baptist and there was a very good number of browns in the 15"-17" category brought up. I agree with Gaven, the number of browns in the area of 17"-18" should be greatly improved in the early spring.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I haven't fished all, but the Eleven Point would get my vote among those I have fished.

[Justin Spencer]

I may be biased because the NFOW runs through my front yard, but for a true, wild river, stream bred rainbow fishery the North Fork is hard to beat. That being said you better bring your A game if you expect to catch fish. Like all fishing this river has its good days and its bad days, but the variety of water here gives you all kinds of options to explore. From rainbow spring to roughly Sunburst Ranch you are dealing with mostly stream bred rainbows, from Sunburst to Dawt more stocker browns. The browns get off a spawn every now and then, and right now there are quite a few stream bred browns that are 5-7" and as pretty as any fish I've seen. Should be fun in a few years having a shot at quality "wild" browns. Big fish are common here, landing them is not! Expect to fish faster water than you are used to, and more weight than you are used to. If you fish a run for 15 minutes and don't catch a fish and don't lose a fly, put on more weight until you do one or the other. I still waste a lot of time fishing too little weight before I bite the bullet and put on more. Yesterday I fished for 20 minutes with a AAA (.8 g), and after no success added a BB and quickly picked up a 12" rainbow on a pheasant tail. Changing weight is just as important as changing flies on this river, do so and you can expect more success. The challenge in catching fish on the NFOW is part of its allure, hook into a 15"+ rainbow here and you'll be hooked for life. I also enjoy the 11point as it also has some "wild" trout, you definately can see and feel the difference between the stockers and the stream bred fish. The logistics of shuttles are a little more difficult on the 11point, here on the NFOW you can float right in to your vehicle or campsite and be done for the day (shameless plug for Sunburst!) sorry Sloss. The fish counts for the North Fork are the best we have seen in over 10 years with nearly 500 wild rainbows per mile in the blue ribbon section, and over 1000 fish (90%) browns in the red ribbon section. Why can't I get just 1% of the trout to bite on any given day? Hope this gets you excited about trying the North Fork if you never have, if you have I'm sure you'll be back. For sheer numbers of fish I'm sure we can't compete, but once you've caught a North Fork rainbow, or tied into one of our 25" + browns, you'll have the crystal clear water of the North Fork running through your veins.

Give me a call or shoot an e-mail with any questions regarding the river or rental or shuttle information

Sunburstranchcanoe.com

This post is purely the opionion of a clearly biased businessman and should be taken as such, please ignore it as that leaves me more unmolested fish to toss a fly at. By the way, this time of year you probably won't wee anyone else on the river if you go fishing.