July 11-12, 2022
Three adventurous FATC members (AL Harper, Denny Garner and Dan Staggenborg) decided make the drive 4 hour from Chesterfield, MO to explore the Eleven Point River near Alton, Mo. in a 2 day fish and float.
The first section selected was from the Hwy 19 bridge (just below Greer Spring) to Turner Mill Landing, a 6 mile float.
This section is a Blue Ribbon trout area which allegedly has 700 trout per mile according to a fish census report. Water level was good: CFS= 768; gauge height=3.40′ <for reference>

We rented a sparse room for 3 (cost $60 total for the night) and arranged for a shuttle through Richards canoe rental (shuttle cost:$50 each day).  We dropped off our bags at our room and got on the water, beginning our float at 2:15 pm (a tad late) on Monday July 11th.

The river from Greer Access Point to Turner Mill (Blue Ribbon Area) was pristine, majestic, and scenic with numerous opportunities to soak in the natural beauty and rugged terrain at various points along this stretch of the river.  Several springs empty into Eleven Point River through the Blue and White Ribbon Areas keeping the water consistently cold.  Water clarity was about 3  & 1/2 feet and appeared slightly milky, but deeper pools had that signature Missouri turquoise color.  As a result, we could not positively identify many trout or smallmouth. [Due to water clarity suckers can be mistaken for game fish. ]
The Eleven Point appeared to have the right attributes and characteristics to support large numbers of trout and smallmouth Bass.  The water was cold, clean and plenty of flow with adequate structure and deep water idea for both trout and smallmouth Bass.
AL and Denny stripped streamers both while floating,  and dropping anchor to fish rapids or deep riffles. Slower, deeper water had a significant amount of moss or vegetation which was a hassle.

Denny caught 1 trout on a white silver bead headed woolly bugger streamer.
AL caught 1 trout on a brown & yellow woolly bugger; gold headed.
Dan fished with a spinning rod and caught 1 trout on a gold sparkle spinner.

There were not as many places (like gravel bars) to stop and fish, (as on the Current River). Dan fished from his kayak (not an easy task), with only minimal success. (Only 1 trout each day).
We only saw 2 other floaters on day one.
We ended the first leg at Turner Mill access at 7 pm.
We loaded up and headed into Alton, MO (a 30 minute drive, about half on gravel roads) to Jason’s Mexican restaurant.
We headed back to our sparse room at Richards canoe rental for a quick shower, some interesting Navy stories and then fell asleep after an exhausting day.

Tuesday, July 12 we were up early about 7 am. (AL Harper always pops out of bed, wide eyed and raring to go…)
A breakfast sandwich & cup o coffee at the Fuel Stop, then we headed to our put in at Turner Mill access, where we taken out the evening before. Again we arranged for a shuttle to have the truck at Whitten access.   We were on the water, floating-fishing by 9:15 am.

The second leg of the float from Turner Mill to Whiten Access Points is a White Ribbon Area. This is a 7 mile float. We encountered many more folks the second day, all were fishing with spinning rigs (no fly fisherman other than AL & Denny). Everyone seemed to be familiar with the river and best spots for catching fish.  Also, most were using power john boats to travel up & down stream to their favorite fishing spots, while we on a one way float downstream, stopping at likely looking places.
One couple Dan met along the way,  had caught quite a few trout said they had most of their luck using corn (ugh!).

AL & Denny fished hard all day from the Flycraft.
AL caught 2 trout stripping streamers: 1 on white with red eyes and blue pearl flash. (Mark Crawford fly); 1 on a multi colored tinsel fly.
Denny caught 1 trout and hooked another nice one trout which got into fast water after running around the Flycraft, finally working its way free.
Denny caught his fish on a black, teal tinsel colored woolly bugger type fly with a gold bead head.

Dan made stops and fished with a spinning rod using small crawdad diver. He caught one 12” trout; hooked another trout but lost it. Dan caught a 5” smallmouth as well.

Arrived at Whitten Landing at 2 pm having made numerous fishing stops along the river. On the road heading back through Rolla we stopped at American Taco, for a satisfying meal before making our way back home.

The Eleven point River lived up to it reputation as a beautiful floating river.
Although it was a fun-packed couple of days, we didn’t enjoy the kind of fishing success we’d hoped for. We attributed this to our limited knowledge of the river and first time fishing the Eleven Point River. Perhaps hiring a guide would have made a difference on our initial trip.
This means another trip to the Eleven  Point River again in the future.

-by Dan Staggenborg & Denny Garner.