July: Eleven Point River

7/26/2011-7/27/2011: Eleven Point River… Jim and I drove to Greer and rented a canoe from Richard’s Canoe Rental for an over night trip on the Eleven Point River. The water was up at least four inches as a result of the epic rain in May and the river continues to flow high due to the charged springs. In past years the MDC will annually stock this stretch of water the first of July, even though it is a Blue Ribbon stream. The ability of the trout to naturally reproduce is not sufficient to keep the number of trout in line for satisfactory fishing according to the MDC.The water down stream near

Turner Mill is stocked once a month. We took our time fishing the islands hooking some nice rainbow trout, again on a clouser fly dangling in the holes. As we fished our way down stream we saw many changes as a result of the high water and fast currents with familiar campsites gone due to gravel bars lost to the river. There were some outstanding fishing in some of the runs with six to a dozen trout were caught and released. We camped above Little Hurricane creek. It was very hot out of the water with temperatures in the high nineties.

One of the most memorable sights was a spicebush covered with butterflies.

Video clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uEBpybfHoE

We could not wade in some of the areas due to the fast flow. It was great getting back to this river, which I consider the best in Missouri.

June: Familar rivers

6/3/2011 – 6/5/2011 Discover Nature for Women. Kevin Smith, Warren Wilkerson and I spent a three-day weekend at Windermere resort on the Lake of the Ozarks. We returned to teach fly tying. We taught four sessions with each session lasting four hours. There was a spark of interest with a few participates joining us on the water to experiencef ly-fishing for crappie at the docks. We had a great weekend

6/11/2011 – 6/12/2011: FFFcertified caster school, Cotter AR, Fulton Lodge

I attended a work shop hosted by Bill Gammel and Chuck Easterling which was held at Fulton's Lodge. Our guest instructor was Lasse Karlsson of Denmark. Lasse is an amazing caster and has tremendous insights into casting. If you follow Sexyloops or keep a sharp eye on Youtube casting videos you know of Lasse. Lasse serves on the BOG and has administered CI and MCI exams in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and many countries in Europe. You cannot be around Lasse without learning a great deal. He provided insight to casting in Europe. It was a great weekend with new friendships.

6/28/2011 – 6/29/2011: North Fork… Jim Scheve and I set up camp at Petite’s Canoe rental along the North Fork of the White River near Dora. After getting the tents set up, we contacted Craig to shuttle up stream to Kelly Ford. We spent the entire day fishing a five-mile trek back to Blair Bridge. Jim and I caught a few trout but the hook ups were far and few. The next day we broke camp and packed the gear in the truck and started our day from Blair Bridge and fished past Patrick Bridge and finished the day at James Bridge. The fishing was better below Patrick Bridge with more people on the water floating. I did the best with a clouser fly by throwing it down and across and letting it swing and dangle down stream.

May: Epic Rains, high streams

5/4/2011: Jim Scheve and I had made plans to fish for white bass when we set dates our first of the year. All of the local streams were high and nearly impossible to fish.We decided to fish Roaring River. We drove to Eagle Rock and checked out the lower stretches of Roaring River before and the waters below the park before starting the day in the water. The biggest lesson, was large trout took a large fly in the deep hole by dangling it with the rod underwater.