Report from Oct. 21 - White Ribbon area

[Mark]

Our annual Oct. trip was well worthwhile this year. Snap, myself, (from Ste. Genevieve, MO) and friends Del and Mike from Memphis set sail in canoes from Turner's Mill at 9 am on a chily Sat. morning with the fog still rising off the water. The water level was slightly up, maybe 6-12 inches about normal, and was clearer than expected due to recent rains. Fall colors were spectactular with various shades of yellow, red, and green leaves on the trees.

Now, friends, we're your ultralight/power egg wade fishing crowd that likes to catch supper, although Mike was a self-proclaimed fly fishing expert with intentions on showing up the rest of us. So away we went to the first shoals below Turner's and after a few casts, Snap and I decided to leave that spot to Del and Mike, and we ventured down to the first island. Quickly Snap had a 13 incher on the stringer. I hear a commotion and notice Snap scampering for his camera, so I investigated and saw Snap taking snapshots of a medium size doe swimming across the river just above the island. Within another 10 minutes Snap had hauled in another fish, while I missed a couple bites because of lack of patience. We eventually pulled out our lawnchairs and waited for our partners to catch up. They eventually floated down to us with a couple fish on Del's stringers. We were all pleased (especially Del who has made a couple trips with us without great success).

We moved on to the next spot with moving water that stretch out for several hundred yards around a turn with a deep hole underneath a bluff and the group spread out to all fish the hole. I prefer the deeper tailwaters of the moving water and positioned myself downstream from my compadres. I quickly got on the board with two catches in the 12-13 inch range.

We fish the river by stopping at the various rapids, park the canoe, and get out and wade. On our 7 mile float from Turner to Whitten, this method allows us to stop at most spots for 20 minutes or so, and make a few casts. So we continued this method into early afternoon when we decided to eat lunch (bologna sandwiches) at Horseshoe Bend. When we stopped we discovered Snap, Del, and myself each had 3 fish, and Mike (our fly expert fishing didn't have a fish). He had given up on the fly fishing and joined us in the ultra light division for fear of getting shown up. Snap and I quickly caught our 4th fish, and turned the fishing hole over to Mike as we sat back and listened to the Mizzou game on the radio as Del began Happy Hour.

Mike quickly caught his first of the day, much to his delight, and within a short time he landed a 16 1/2 incher, the catch of the day. After congratulations and pictures for him to brag to his Memphis buddies, it began clouding up and we decided to start making our way to Whitten. Del continued to fish as we floated and caught his limit much to his delight.

We pulled into Whitten about 4:30 with 15 fish. We stayed at the Rose Cottage in Alton, and had a delicious dinner of fried fillets, grilled trout, and shrimp, alomg with the customary cocktails, served just as the World Series game was beginning. The trip couldn't have been better, except for the Cardinals losing, but still was one of our better trips to the Eleven Point River.

[Quillback]

Great report, glad to hear you guys had a good time..nothing beats a bologna sandwich while you're out fishing.

[snap]

..."except for the Cardinals losing..." Mark...the Cardinlas won Saturday nite !!!...too many cocktails???