July 28-29 Float, A Few Questions.

[kevthebassman]

I'm planning on doing a float the last weekend in July, chose the 11 point because I hear it's not as crowded and is stunningly beautiful, though I know we will have company on a weekend. I am thinking we'll put in at Greer's and take out at Whitten, camping overnight along the way. My thinking is this will let us poke along, fishing and sightseeing without having to worry too much about our speed. If anybody has any input on that plan, I'd appreciate it.

I will be bringing down my brother and my wife's two younger cousins, I've never been on the 11 point before and neither of them have ever been in a canoe before. The plan is for my brother and myself to sit the back of one canoe each and have the boys riding front. I'm not terribly excited by the idea but I figure we'll keep the boys in life jackets and tie the gear to the canoes. I've heard tell of a few snags along the way that I'm thinking it would be best to not try and stumble blind into with novices in the boat. If anybody had GPS coordinates for them, I'd be much obliged. If I knew there was one coming up we could scout it and formulate a plan to get past it in good order without dumping.

I am going to fly fish, the rest of the party will be using spinning gear.

My plan is basically to nymph deep under an indicator or dry and try a streamer or two, thought I'm not very good at streamer fishing. Any information about how to catch them on a dry fly early or late in the day would be helpful, as I do like fishing on top when I can catch fish that way.

From what I read, I'm going to have the others using rooster tails (1/4 oz?) and rebel craws and maybe a jig (what size?) as well. I'm guessing they'll need to tie on a tippet if they show up with 6-8 pound line, but it'd be helpful to know if they'll need to go with 6-7X or if 4-5X would work.

Many thanks.

[Brian Sloss]

The one snag you will come across is an hour or 2 miles down from Turner and I have the GPS stuff on my web site for Turner @ www.11pointcanoe.com, but not the snag. It is on river left and the best way to get past it is by pulling over and walking the canoe 10 yards and getting back in. Don't count on dry fly action, the rest of your plan looks good, except you may want to go 20 miles down to Riverton, unless you can keep kids interested in fishing enough to make a 12 mile float long enough.

[steve l]

I think the 1/4 oz rooster tail is too heavy. While I use jigs mostly now, when I used spinners I went 1/8 oz, just let them get down. I go with 1/16 oz jigs as well as 3/16. Just get 'em deep.

A good technique on the spinner is to back reel through runs. It slows the relative speed of the spinner and lets it get down. Note if you're not hanging up from time to time you're not deep enough.

[kevthebassman]

Brian, I'm looking at getting down there probably around 10am Saturday, so Saturday is going to be spent mainly trying to get to stinking pond float camp and get setup before dark, grabbing fishing where I can get it. Once I get set up I can do a bit of wading before it's time to light the fire and cook dinner.

Sunday will be the day to fish, for better or worse I tend to pick a spot apart before I move along. I might be able to catch more fish if I moved faster but I seldom remember that once I've got myself parked in front of a good little pocket or hole.

I think I'll stick with the shorter float mainly because it's my first time on this river, and the boys are an unknown quantity.

Steve, what kind of jigs are you using? Regular little crappie maribou jigs, or??? Color and type would be helpful, I've got to get these teenagers on some fish if I've any hope of turning them away from the darn Xboxes. Line recommendations are welcome as well.

Thank you to you gents for helping a guy out, I appreciate it. Brian, you'll be getting a call from me in the next couple of weeks.

[steve l]

I get my jigs from Lilley's Landing tackle store (web). Really like them. I use darker colors, although I suspect there are others on the forum who may have opinions. Let 'em get down and, well, jig them coming back. I suspect the crappie type jigs would work as well, but have never used them so can't say for sure.

http://lilleystacklestore.com/xcart/home.php

[Brian Sloss]

We sell them at our shop. I don't like the crappie jig, not enough marabou.

[kevthebassman]

Again, many thanks fellas.

[2sheds]

Hey Kev,

The Eleven Point River is a premier float trip experience. We've got quite a few great ones in the Ozarks and Greer to Whitten is definitely on the short list. From experience with Scouts at that age, I think you have a good plan. Besides life jackets, teach them to kneel down in fast water or near obsticles (lower center of gravity gives the canoe much more stability) and NEVER to poke or grab at any obstruction outside the canoe (avoid the lever arm). Here's one more thing to keep in mind - temperatures will be warm, so a dump will not ruin the trip. Just be safe and roll with the adventure. Its the warts that they will remember.

Itinerary - The water runs fast on the Eleven Point, so you can float without serious paddling from Greer to Stinking Pond. So rather than push the boys to make faster time, teach them that their bow responsibility is to be a good navigator - follow a river map, read the river channels (recommend which side of a riffle/rock/etc), communicate with the one steering in the stern - get them to take ownership of location and timing of the day. Stop frequently and let them hassle out exactly how far downstream they are and what time they expect to reach campsite (good chance for adults to cast a bit). Also, they will usually find good fishing from the canoe, so its not out of the question for them to cast a bit while in transit.

• Upstream of Turner is a historic rock dam called "Mary Decker Shoals". You will hear the water rushing from a distance. That passage deserves careful navigation. They cast back up into the pools.
  
• Brian has advised on a downed tree, but you might encounter recent rootwads/strainers. Stay clear. Nothing wrong with walking around those.
  
• Be sure to reserve 30 minutes to get out at the north side Turner Mills (Surprise, MO) access and walk up the creek to the spring. There's an interesting surprise along the way. Let the boy's discover it.
  
• Plus, the fishing will pick up at dusk, so its nice to reserve some time after dinner-cleanup. They can stay up late, tend the fire, and watch for bears, sleep late in the morning, and you will still have an easy Day2 down to Whitten.
  

Campsite - Snap, one of the regulars, likes to camp on the gravel bar across stream from Stinking Pond Float Camp. He says its a good fishing hole, too ! I usually camp a bit further downstream; there are several good spots.

Fishing - Concur with everything others have posted on this topic. I like heavy spinners and jigs for spin casting; 6# and 8# line should be fine - in fact will make it easier to salvage the snags; I strongly recommend swivel snaps. For flyfishing that time of year, I like the MOAT and Don's Crawdad - Brian usually has a good stock of both. You can usually fish 4X tippet down to the MOAT, then 5X down to the Crawdad dropper. If water is low, crystal clear, and/or you're in a slower pocket, you can drop those down one more size. IMHO, generally no benefit from using 6X or 7X. For all fishing, the key is to be deep - ticking the bottom and occasionally hanging up, even if it means losing some hardware. I have never had topwater success on that part of the river, too much current.

[snap]

kev..........couple of things to add. For the non fly fishermen, use 4 lb low vis green. 2 sheds is right on with what he says. The gravel bars will be better for camping than the float camp. If stinkin pond is taken, (gravel bar) very well could be late on a satrday, hit the next gravel bar. Fishing is impossible from most float camps IMO. The nasty snag will be after the 2nd 90 degree turn in the river below turner. You make the turn, the river pools for 100 yds or so, and then the river channels to the left. The tree juts out from the left bank angled pointing to 2:00. The little gravel bar on the right is where you need to pull out to walk past. I have witnessed all the canoes tip here my last two trips. Sat in my boat just waitin to help pick up stuff!!!! Do not know how good the boys are at fishing, but if they are novices, you may want to take some worms or corn......a guy could catch about anything and have lots of action on worms.....to keep the boys interest if things are slow for them.

[kevthebassman]

WOW! This kind of topic is why I love this place!