First Time On The 11 Point

[Wayne SW/MO]

I know ya feel me Wayne!

I haven't been on the river in awhile, but it is one of the best. You'll have a good time.

[Gavin]

The regs change at Turner...which is a couple miles below Mary Decker...The County Sheriff's do like to run up and down in their jet boat allot down there.

[orch]

Orch, you're from that neck of the woods I see. Any pointers for a spin fisherman?

I don't have much experience of the river as i have only lived in America for 18 months, i drifted once last year and caught a few trout but i do not own my own boat so been fishing from the bank in the few spots available, i also only spin fish, never tried casting a fly as fly fishing in England where i am from is a costly sport being as there is not so many places to go, i drifted as a passenger from turner to riverton, its is the most beautiful place i have fished.

[Greasy B]

The regs change at Turner...which is a couple miles below Mary Decker...The County Sheriff's do like to run up and down in their jet boat allot down there.

Yea, I seem to get checked by MDC every time I'm there. I also see the sheriff a lot, if their boat comes by with two officers and you later see the boat with one officer you can figure the other is hiding in the trees spying on you. The woods have eyes, unsettling at best, creepy too.

[ness]

I don't have much experience of the river as i have only lived in America for 18 months, i drifted once last year and caught a few trout but i do not own my own boat so been fishing from the bank in the few spots available, i also only spin fish, never tried casting a fly as fly fishing in England where i am from is a costly sport being as there is not so many places to go, i drifted as a passenger from turner to riverton, its is the most beautiful place i have fished.

Welcome to the US, orch. I had a friend that was an ex-pat in the UK, and the way he summed up land access was 'everyplace belongs to somebody'. Helped me to appreciate just how good we've got here.

[2sheds]

Hey KCRR - This river is outrageously beautiful. My favorite to float and fish. A few thoughts from the perspective of an unfortunately infrequent visitor to the 11 Point.

1. No glass. Can & plastic beverages containers on the river, please.
   
2. Artificial lures and no soft plastic until you hit Surprise (aka Turner Mill).
   
3. While on the river, be sure to walk upstream to see the spring and mill remnant at Turner - north side of river.
   
4. While in the area, check out Greer Springs - 2nd largest in the state. Parking lot on west side of SH-19, a mile or so south of Greer River crossing. Allow a couple of hours one day when you're not on the river. Plan for a short hike 1.5 miles down the hill, plus a long hike 1.5 miles up the hill. Well worth your time to see a major source for this river.
   
5. Another cool day trip stop is Falling Spring. Several miles down a gravel road on east of SH19, a few miles north of the river. Very pretty.
   
6. For spin fishing, I like Jigs, Rooster Tail Spinners, Blue Fox ratling-gear-body Spinners, and anything similar that makes a lot of noise and will run deep in a fast water river. You want to fish deep and need to expect a heavy current that will alter your presentation.
   
7. Rather than ultralight line (which I had always assumed for trout), you are fine with 6# or 8#. In fact, this will allow you to unsnag from the bottom that would otherwise break off.
   
8. Pace your day - Bring a map & compass to keep track of location. Let the current carry you downstream, no need to paddle much except for control. When fishing hard, this is not a problem.
   
9. Leave a few fish in the river for me.
   

Look forward to your report.

-TwoSheds

[KCRIVERRAT]

Thanks guys. I'll watch my p's and q's down there. Seems I get checked more often than not on the other rivers I float. Especially the JF. Never have had a problem with that though.

I've hiked the trail to the spring before TwoSheds. It was pretty cool. Caught a glimpse of a bear after we heard it come crashing out of a tree ahead. The noise startled the c#@p out of us.

I'll let ya know how the trip went the week of the 18th.

[orch]

Welcome to the US, orch. I had a friend that was an ex-pat in the UK, and the way he summed up land access was 'everyplace belongs to somebody'. Helped me to appreciate just how good we've got here.

Hi Ness, thank you for the welcome, fishing in the UK is very expensive and as your friend said, everywhere is owned by someone, it cost on average $18 a day to fish most places or you can buy a season ticket for one lake which could be anywhere from 5 acres up to 60 acres which can range in price from $100 to $1000 for a 9 month ticket, then if you do get the time off work to fish you then have to compete with 4 million plus anglers for a decent spot to fish, loving america and super proud to be able to call it home now.

[Stoneroller]

Here's probably the easiest way to pace yourself on any river/stream. Use google maps, create your own map, and you can actually draw/click lines to measure river mileage to key features, access points, bridges, direction changes in the river, etc. It makes it much easier to have 2 or 3 points throughout each day and a timeline to hit them by. Long/multiday floats are easy to get behind on and there's nothing quite like paddling your butt off for a longer than neccessary period, in the dark. =)