# October in the Ozarks and new PB trout



## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

Spent the last 4 weeks at our house in north Arkansas flinging flies after trout. Fishing was good with high numbers of trout most mornings. Both the White and Norfork rivers were running lots of water 24/7 so no wade fishing there. The lakes were being drawn down from the big rains earlier this summer.

We spent most of our time on the Spring river and made 3 exploratory trips to the Eleven Point river in southern Missouri. We were really impressed with both the fishing and scenery on the Eleven Point. It's quite remote and on an all day float we never saw another fisherman. The fall colors were just reaching their peak when we left.

Best flies were eggs, stonefly imitations and the good old olive woolly bugger. One thing we did learn is that you need lots of weight and extra long leaders to get the flies down on the Eleven Point.

Here's a few pics..

Caught this toad on the Spring. He weighed 8.75 on my hand scale and is my new PB trout.










Nicely colored male from the Eleven Point










Wife fishing the Eleven Point










Cutthroat from the Spring










Wife with an Eleven Point bow


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

The Eleven point was one of my favorite streams when I lived in Missouri. I have floated it and camped out on gravel bars, numerous times. I guess I have floated on most of the rivers in Missouri, mostly for smallmouth, but whenever there was a stream like the Niangua, Eleven Point, etc., we always put in up river where the trout were too. It's been eleven years, and now I don't even remember some of the names anymore. Closest to home for me was the tailwater below Tablerock dam. Great night fishing and huge browns in November/December.

Great report! I kinda miss that place, but imagine the rivers are a lot more crowded now. Glad to have experienced it when I did.

Where did the cutthroat come from? Never caught one of those in the Ozarks. I assume they were stocked as a test project....but when?


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## Unbound (Jul 12, 2004)

Looks great.


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## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

Permit Rat said:


> The Eleven point was one of my favorite streams when I lived in Missouri. I have floated it and camped out on gravel bars, numerous times. I guess I have floated on most of the rivers in Missouri, mostly for smallmouth, but whenever there was a stream like the Niangua, Eleven Point, etc., we always put in up river where the trout were too. It's been eleven years, and now I don't even remember some of the names anymore. Closest to home for me was the tailwater below Tablerock dam. Great night fishing and huge browns in November/December.
> 
> Great report! I kinda miss that place, but imagine the rivers are a lot more crowded now. Glad to have experienced it when I did.
> 
> Where did the cutthroat come from? Never caught one of those in the Ozarks. I assume they were stocked as a test project....but when?


The Eleven Point was great. No crowds this time of year and the blue ribbon area (mostly C&R) was empty. If you want to go, then plan a trip with Brian Wise @ Eleven Point canoe rentals in Alton, Mo or better yet book a fly trip with him in his drift boat. Great guy and knows the river.

Also if you want a great trip on the Spring for rainbows and some of those big cuttys, call my friend Mark Crawford @ Spring River Flies and Guides.

As far as the cutthroats, they were stocked by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission hatchery at Mammoth Spring. They also stock rainbows and some browns.


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## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

Ops sorry, that's actually Brian Sloss at Eleven Point canoe rental.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Great pictures. That's the area I grew up in...so loved seeing those pictures. 

There just aren't many places more beautiful than the Ozarks in the fall.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Netboy....since it appears you float these streams on somewhat of an irregular regular basis...let me ask you what you think of all the floaters on the trout waters, in terms of putting the fish down for any length of time. In my day I was lucky and could float/fish mid-week when the rivers were all but empty. But even before I left, the rivers started to become very popular and a mid-week float was no guarantee of solitude, especially the Niangua River, which draws people as far away as St. Louis.

I remembered New England....specifically Maine, where every stream or rill that passed under a road, was loaded with brook trout and one of the best places to fish was under the bridge.....point being that the trout had acclimated to the noise of all the cars passing over. Just wondering if you feel the fish have acclimated themselves to canoers passing by. By this I mean true floaters.....not party-ers who make a lot of noise and may even be in the water themselves.


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## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

Permit Rat, 
I think the trout up there are not bothered much by canoe traffic. Many times we catch fish immediately after canoes pass by. That said, we usually don't fish on Saturdays during the summer canoe season. There is not much canoe traffic during the week days in summer and hardly any canoes from October thru April. Most of the campgrounds and outfitters close down from November thru April.


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