Trout Trip Recommendations

[DainW]

Ok thanks for the advice Mic. You're saying fish either the NFOW or 11 point, in two days, not both. That makes sense to me. 

[mic]

23 minutes ago, DainW said:

Ok thanks for the advice Mic. You're saying fish either the NFOW or 11 point, in two days, not both. That makes sense to me. 

Assuming you can only afford one day of guide work... yes. 

[Justin Spencer]

Both NFoW and 11 point can be fished without a guide if water isn't too high, guide will help however.  Give me a call at Sunburst if you need any info, I do some streamside guiding as well which is a cheaper alternative if you just want a quick lesson on how we approach things on this river.  Brian Sloss is your man on the 11 point, he has good cheap lodging, we have lodging also.

[DainW]

Justin,

The streamside guiding sounds like that would definitely be an option and I've already been considering Sunburst for a canoe rental. Quick question for you, did I read that correctly on your site that you guys rent personal pontoons for the NFOW? That sounds like it would be a nice alternative to a canoe as it would be easier to fish out  of than a canoe, although I have no experience with either. If so, are these more or less limited by flows on the river? I mean is it more dangerous to be out in a personal pontoon than a canoe at higher flows? 

[Justin Spencer]

The pontoons are officially dead, I need to get it off the site, we have a couple jackson coosa kayaks that are okay to fish from, but fly fishing from a kayak or canoe is difficult to me unless you have someone control the canoe while the other person fishes.  Most of the time you will just use the boat to get from fishing spot to fishing spot, then get out and wade.

[DaddyO]

Dain,

You said that you were from Oklahoma.  If you are from the Tulsa area, let me encourage you to join up with the Tulsa Fly Fishers / TU 420 Chapter.  We meet at the Hardesty Library on the 2nd Thursday of each Month, September - May.  We have a very active Facebook page also.  Since you are interested in fishing the Eleven Point river, let me point out that Brian Sloss will be our speaker for our March meeting and he will be speaking on Fly Fishing the Eleven Point River.

Our January meeting, which is tomorrow night, will have a speaker on Fly Fishing the Roaring River which will coincide with our January outing to the Roaring River on the 23rd.

[DainW]

Ok thanks Justin I'll definitely be in touch with you as it gets closer to that time. 

DaddyO, I'm actually from OKC. I attended my first TU Meeting last night with the 89er chapter and am definitely going to join. Besides all the great things they do from a conservation standpoint, it also seems like a great way to meet some people that have a lot more fly fishing knowledge and experience than myself. We saw a presentation on the driftless region that has me considering making a trip to Wisconsin now.

I was actually thinking about making another trip to Roaring River (or two if I can swing it) before the end of C&R season and the weekend of the 23rd is looking like a possibility to make that happen. If I do end up making the trip, I'll PM you as I'd love to meet some fellow okies and OAF forum members.     

[netboy]

We rented a canoe from Brian at Eleven Point and went from Greer to Turners. Had a great time and caught lots of fish.

Really a pretty river and Brian will give you some great advise. 

[Al Agnew]

There are plenty of fish that are reachable by paddling through the deep pools and fishing in and around the riffles on the Eleven Point, same as the North Fork.  While a guided trip is a terrific way to get the most out of your fishing day and learn a lot, if you have basic trout fishing knowledge and skills, you can certainly fish either river by renting a canoe or kayak, as long as you also have basic paddling skills and the water levels are normal.  It's up to you whether you want to hire a guide for a day and then fish the same waters without a guide a second day.  It's a good strategy but not necessary...a guided trip on one of those two rivers will probably teach a lot (if you don't already know) about where the fish are located and how to approach fishing for them on either of the two.  They aren't all that different in size and character, though they are certainly not the same.

I too can highly recommend Brian and his accommodations.

[DainW]

Thank you again to everyone that has contributed to this thread. The input is greatly appreciated. I've heard a lot about the eleven point river as well, and I knew before posting this that Brian Sloss came highly recommended. For this trip, I think rather than hire a guide on both rivers or try to fish both rivers in two days, I'll probably hire a guide on the NFOW for one day and then rent a kayak from Justin and float it the next day. Reason being that the NFOW has just been on the list a little longer and there's something about a river that hasn't stocked a rainbow since the 60's that really appeals to me, although from what I understand the eleven point has a fairly sizable wild trout population as well and I'm definitely planning on making a trip there one day as well.