Fishing the Eleven Point River

I just got back from floating 20 miles on The Eleven Point River with some friends and coworkers and back and joints are still recovering.  We floated from Greer Spring to Riverton in case you are familiar with the river or in case you are interested in planning a trip of your own.  We left on Monday morning and returned late Tuesday night.  We paddled 12 miles to the Whitten Float Camp on the first day and floated 8 miles on the second day to our take-out point.  Overall, the scenery was beautiful and the float was incredible.  I didn't know what there were parts of Missouri that looked like this and I had never experienced anything like this in my life.

While the fishing was tough, it reminded me that fishing in places like trout parks and Taneycomo is not like fishing for wild fish in wild places.  My buddy Cris probably worded it best when he said, "This was real fishing for wild fish."  He could not have been more right and reminded me that I have a lot to learn and a long way to go in my understanding of fishing in Missouri.  Hooking fish was no guarantee and fishing was tough.  Some of the guys in our group caught trout and others caught multiple species.  I saw rainbow trout, longear sunfish (pumpkinseed), goggle eye, chain pickerel, buffalo, and smallmouth bass landed.  However, I only managed a 4 inch rainbow (maybe my first wild rainbow trout ever though), some silver shiners, a few creek chubs, and a 6 inch largemouth bass.  I feel like I could write a short book on our trip and adventures, but I won't bore you with all of the details and instead just include some bullet points and pictures from the trip.

•  On the way to the river, between Springfield and West Plains, we saw a brown hen chicken sitting in the fast lane of 160 Highway.  Needless to say, this was one of the strangest things I have ever seen while driving.  
• Early in the float, a few guys caught trout on rooster tails and shad-like suspending plugs.

• Not only did I get a chance to see my first chain pickerel, I got to see my boat-mate, Mark, land a pickerel as well.  It was a beautiful fish and was a good representation of the species and its big cousin, the northern pike.

• We saw about 6 bald eagles perched above the river on the first day and 4 on the second day.  
• Mark and I saw a family of 3-4 otters on the bank with one of them being a mother and 2-3 babies.  I am not too macho or manly to feel embarrassed to say, they were really stinking cute!
• I saw a deer (a buck I think) swim across the river downstream from us.  I have never seen a deer swim in person before and this was pretty amazing to me.
• After stopping at a spot that looked fishy and then subsequently striking out, Mark and I caught some crayfish by turning over rocks and tracking down the crayfish after they swam away.  I felt like a kid catching tadpoles in a farm pond and I was reminded that I love the outdoors because of how it returns me to my youth.
• I saw Mark catch 2 goggle eye (I had never seen a goggle eye before either) and three smallmouth using the crayfish we caught upstream.
• I did manage to catch some shad-like fish that I assume are silver shiners.  They had a pretty blue hue to their bodies and a pretty olive back.

• Mark caught some really pretty sunfish that had some beautiful color to them.  I have always heard them called pumpkinseeds but I think their real name is "longear sunfish".

• Mark also caught a small, wild rainbow that was a little larger than the one I caught but similar in the sense that it must have been wild because of its small size and blue spots down the lateral line.

• On the last day of the float, I think everyone in the group tried to hook either a rising brown trout or a group of rising trout.  Cris made the astute observation that it looked like the fish was/were feeding a lane and were not likely to move out of that lane.  Either we didn't cast far enough to hit the lane or we didn't have what it/they wanted, but regardless nothing got caught.
• Saw a BIG smallmouth about a half of a mile before our take-out point.  It was probably 3 pounds or bigger and looked like a football swimming through the water.

If you are considering a trip to the Eleven Point River, I cannot say enough good things about Eleven Point River Canoe Rentals.  They took really good care of us and it was obvious that they are stewards of the stream and care for the overall ecosystem a great deal.  You can find them at http://www.11pointcanoe.com/.    As always, feel free to email me any stories or pictures that you might have or might get if you make such a trip.  I would love to do a follow up story to share the experiences of others and see how our experiences compared/contrasted.  My email is showmeflyguy@gmail.com and I would love to hear from you.