7-31-11, Greer To Turner

[FishinCricket]

Patty wanted to float, so we headed down to Alton this past Sunday AM amid peals of thunder and various patches of fat, sparse rain drops... The radar indicated (and the sky confirmed) that the system we observed had slid past and left us healthy overcast by the time we had put in at Greer at around 10 am... We immediately got into the trout and established a pattern with the teeny craw and the rainbow swimmer She bought:

I think she got the best of me, folks, with this one ... (a photo for those of you with a foot and fish fetish, like Sherwood)

It was a beast!!! (I did my dead level best to put her into every sweet spot I could find, she's very good at taking instructions!)

One of these:

And one of these:

In hindsight I shoulda spent just a little more time on one of those rootwads and I coulda completed the 11pt grand slam with a goggleye! Oh well, such is life, eh?

We floated to Turner Mill and I gotta say I wish the Niangua had been managed similarly... We easily hooked over 15 trout apiece, and only a few of those were small.. I'd say the average fish today was 14 inches!! They were in ALL the suspect spots, if I'd have had the Slo Nuff or an anchor (and an extra hour or two to spare) I coulda seriously slayed em!!

There was a fair amount of jetboat traffic, but only one was an butt that would pace us and used his jet to maneuver while he fished... Then had the nerve to ask "You catching anything?"

Diving into those deep holes was very refreshing!! Some of the camping spots on the float down are absolutely spectacular... And are definitely situated in the right spots to fish the next morning!!

Here's a photo of Mary Decker shoals, we stopped there for about a half hour and those boulders produced 4 or 5 strong fighting feesh...

Anyway, it was fun and it made me remember how much some of you on the OAF live vicariously through others, so I thought I'd share.. (that and I don't wanna be accused of being a non-contributing, cartoon character quoting rabble-rouser who isn't worth his weight in nickels... )

[TroutRinger]

Thanks for sharing. I got to get on that river one of these days.

[fishinSWMO]

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing your trip, looks like you

had a good time. Someday I need to get over there and check

out that river, it looks sweet!

[jdmidwest]

Nice. Great thing about 11pt, built in AC this time of year. Not many floats are that cool in 100 degree weather.

[Brian Sloss]

Looks like a great trip, Cricket! Good work with guiding, fishing, and the camera. Always a pleasure to have you down.

Brian

[FishinCricket]

Looks like a great trip, Cricket! Good work with guiding, fishing, and the camera. Always a pleasure to have you down.

Brian

Oh, yeah, I totally forgot to mention how awesome you guys were.. It should just be a given that if I'm reporting about the 11PT, I'm most likely utilizing the fantastic services of the one and only Eleven Point Canoe Rental!!

(working on organizing a winter Smallie trip, I'll let you know)

[Brian Sloss]

Let me know for sure.

[ozark trout fisher]

Looks like a good time. Got to love the Rebel Craw. You about don't need anything else for fishing Ozark streams in the summer.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Looks like a good time. Got to love the Rebel Craw. You about don't need anything else for fishing Ozark streams in the summer.

While I wouldn't want to leave home without some, I wouldn't say you don't need anything else if you want to have a good day.

[ozark trout fisher]

While I wouldn't want to leave home without some, I wouldn't say you don't need anything else if you want to have a good day.

Well I wouldn't leave home without a decent selection of other lures either. But often the little Rebel Teeny Craws are about all I end up using in a days fishing, especially when I'm after smallmouth.

I would say that they are probably the most versatile lure for fishing in the Ozarks, with the possible exception of Rooster tail spinners (also known as sissy lures:) and small leadhead jigs. Now if you have all three of those then I would say your about set for a day of fishing on just about any Ozark stream.