Thank You Brian Sloss, Great Trip, Tons Of Fish!

[Colorado Bassmaster]

Just wanted to say thanks to Brian for all of his help on our trip to the Eleven Point River this week. Also, wanted to follow up on a previous post about our intentions on coming to Mo from Colorado to do a float/fishing trip.

As I posted before, I grew up in Rolla and it has been 20 years since my last float. I have been missing "home" pretty badly so I got with a couple of my best friends and decided to share with them the joy I use to get out of floating and fishing the Ozarks when I was a kid. So a while back I posted here asking for some local advice on where to go. Plenty of kind folks offered up good information. After he posted, I contacted Brian and decided that the scenery, variety and amenities he and his river had to offer would perfectly fit the bill. I planned my trip accordingly and this is how it went...

We drove straight through last Sunday morning and arrived around 7pm that night. Brian had the cottage set up and ready for us. It was a quaint little place, perfect for four fishing buddies offering everything we needed and the price was right! We got to Brian’s shop Monday morning, paid for the cottage, canoes, flies, jigs, licenses and off we went.

Our first day was spent on the trophy trout section from Greer to Turner. We got to the launch and the scenery was amazing. None of my friends had ever been to the Ozarks before and needless to say, they were astounded by the beauty. I was in heaven! The day went very well. We caught probably 50 fish, mostly wild trout and probably 10 over 18 inches. One thing that really stood out was the amazing coloration of those rainbows. Brilliant crimson with the reddish, brownish, greenish backs and red fins; like nothing we see here in Colorado... absolutely STUNNING!

The second day we did the smallmouth run from Cane to Greer. Way different river up there and GREAT fishing! The four of us caught over 350 fish that day, mostly smallies and about 50 goggle eyes, many of which were very nice fish. The average smallie was probably about 12 or 13 inches but we had several over two pounds and a couple pushing three. It's amazing to me how hard those river smallies pull. Little brown freight trains. I did manage to lose two fish in log jams that were well into the three pound range BUT... 8 lb test just wasn’t enough to turn them and I got my butt whooped. That day was the most amazing day of fishing I, and my buddies, have had in a long time, and to finish the day with floating past Greer Springs... well, that was just icing on the cake!

The third day we launched at Turner and floated to Whitton. Another great float with probably over 150 fish, all trout, most of which were hatchery fish but I did manage several wild bows with one, the biggest of the whole trip, tipping the scale at about a tad over 4 lbs. This day was interesting to say the least. A bit over half way down the stretch, there is a sharp right turn with a log that has a reputation. We almost dumped our canoe and my buddy Scott did dump his. He lost a Loomis flyrod with a Tibor reel, a St Croix Legend Elite spinning rod. If anyone finds them and is willing to leave them with Brian, that would be spectacular. Then, we get back to the shop to find out that an old man had passed out while driving and drove into the back of our truck that was parked in front of the shop. Oh well, at least the fishing was great.

The final day was a bit tough. We fished the trophy trout area again but after the previous day it was hard to keep our minds in the game. We caught a few fish but there were a lot more people out that day and the best runs were getting hammered. We were off the river by three and home at 6 this morning.

The trip was great! We caught a ton of fish and had an amazing time. Brian gave us great advice and was willing to go above and beyond for us so to him, a big thank you! And... I hope you got that jar of homemade spaghetti sauce with meatballs out of the fridge and enjoyed it. My wife’s sauce is the best on the planet!

[Justin Spencer]

Good golly, sounds like you need to go to work guiding for Brian, I'd pay good money to have 10 fish over 18" in a day!

[LittleRedFisherman]

Man, that sounds like you had an amazing time. I believe the eleven point is one of the finest rivers to fish in the Ozarks, sounds like you helped prove my point..... Great report, and Brian is one of the best!

[KCRIVERRAT]

Holy smokes! Glad you were able to show your buddies the beauty (and bounty) of an Ozark stream.

Were you guys fly fishing?

[KCRIVERRAT]

Wanted to bump this up. Brian hasn't posted. That's a heck of a report. We were just spin fishing two weeks ago from Greer to Riverton. Didn't do Cane to Greer.

[Colorado Bassmaster]

Hey KC... only one guy in the group was flyfishing, the rest of us were using spinning gear. Marabou jigs, 1/16th oz in olive/peach (perfect sculpin color), olive/purple and olive/orange were best in that order. Location was key. Big fish were holding in the tail ends of holes where riffles began. I suspect with the water droping quickly, they were getting ready to transition into the holes. Bottom contact was essential so you need a jig heavy enough to bump the rocks and light enough to stay out of them. The fish also seemed to be line shy a bit with 4 lb Maxima Ultragreen way outfishing 6 lb. The light line may also work better because it would allow the jig to get deeper faster.

As for the smallies up around Cane, 1/8 oz Strike King Bitsy Bug jigs in brown outfished everything else combined. We also caught fish on Yamamoto grubs but they were a pain in the butt to use because the rock bass would constantly bite off the tails and you would spend more time rigging than fishing. The final mile stretch just before the junction with Greer Spring was best. We had a couple holes right before the confluence that the four of us would pull 30 of 40 fish out of.

[Brian Sloss]

It was a pleasure having you guys down. The sauce is still in the freezer, no time to cook lately. Hope you guys can make it back sometime.