guide trips 12/16 & 12/17/06

[MTM]

Glad you had a good trip. Looks like you did well. Wish I was alomg Ron

[superfly]

jdmidwest,

Thanks for the instructions for the pickerel. One thing is for sure all Ozark streams fished better 30 to 50 years ago. I am glad that you got to fish it back then. I would like to hear more stories. As far Brain, I think he has payed his dues on the 11 point. Matt

[Gavin]

I'd agree with Jd about the decrease in the size of the average trout on the 11pt, but numbers are way up. Most of the fish I've caught in the last two years have been stockers (look for a left or right pectoral fin clip). In the last couple years, weve usually been catching around 20 trout a day, sometimes a lot more. Before the stocking it might be 5-6 in a weekend but the quality was a lot better.

As for the pickeral, I've never eaten them but I've had n. pike before. Its similar to walleye in flavor and texture. Fillet them as usual, then remove the strip of Y bones that run along the lateral line. Never bothered to filet a pickeral though. The small ones under 18" dont have enough meat on them to justify the effort and the big ones are too pretty to filet. Cheers.

[Brian Sloss]

I've been fishing the 11 Pt since the mid to late 80's. The smallmouth in the blue ribbon area are numerous as proven to me on the last 3 electro shock trips I've taken through there. They are stocking about 6300 trout every fall in the blue ribbon area and the smallmouth are still numerous and of good size. The smallmouth populations are very good as well from Turner to Riverton and they are stocking trout about weekly in the summertime and farily regularly during the rest of the year. I think the 1 smallie @ 15 inches has really helped the population throughout the river. I agree that Cane bluff to Greer is the best and that below 160 is very good as well. All I was saying, is that the Blue ribbon area should not be ignored because of bait restrictions. I also agree that the lower trout area has been producing good sized trout, helped in recent years by the release of "lunkers" by the Mdc in that section. I'd like to see more big trout in the blue ribbon area, but they are there. Just not as many as I'd like to see, but hopefully that will come to pass soon if everyone follows the regs. and the fish that are there are given the chance to grow. I personnally have not kept a fish out of the 11 Point in over 10 years.

A side note, this years stocked fish have the adapose (sp) fin clipped and the previous years were right one year and left the other year pectoral fins.

[RiverRunner]

Do any of you 11 pt regulars ever run into any walleye or sauger in the sections above Riverton. I have caught several in the AR section that I fish for smallmouth and would like to know where I could catch some more.

[Brian Sloss]

MDC stocks them from Riverton to the Arkansas line, though they have found that a good number of them end up running downstream to Arkansas. You can find them between Riverton and Arkansas, but above Riverton is not likely. That is not to say it is impossible, just not likely and it would be a long day if you wnet above Riverton to target them.

[jdmidwest]

That explains the lunker from last summer, I knew he looked out of place. It has been several years since I have had any contact with a fisheries biologist in that area. The last one I spoke to was at a TU meeting in Cape Girardeau. It was the guy who thought about putting browns in 11 pt, can't remember his name. As far as the stories go, I have had the honor of learning the 11 pt from a good friends father who was full of them. He used to stay at the cabins that were along the hill going down to the old cemetary by the 19 access. You can still make out the foundations in the winter. We would wade the river from the spring down past the cemetary to cedar bluff. The west fork of the island was my favorite. My favorite story is about the crazy woman that used to fish around there. He tells a story that he run across her one winter morning at the spring confluence fly fishing in the nude. Back in the 80's and early 90's, 11 pt was almost a weekly trip. We would load up the gear and meet at Wood's or take a canoe and have him move the truck. Nowadays, I only seem to make it 10 days a year, more or less.

[Brian Sloss]

JD,

I'd love to hear more of those stories. We don't get enough naked female fly fishers around here anymore. Stop by sometime, I own the old Wood's canoe rental you used to stop at. I think the biologist you are looking for is Jon Ackerson and he works out of the West Plains office. Nice guy and will answer any questions. Dave Mayer was the biologist before Jon. What I highly recommend is going on an electro-shock trip. We go along every Sept. and would enjoy having another along for the ride. You learn a lot and you have the biologist's ear all day.