Eleven Point River Fishing Guides and Conditions, Missouri

About the Eleven Point River

The Eleven Point is the quietest of the big Ozark spring rivers and the only one in Missouri designated a National Wild and Scenic River. It starts as a small warm stream near Willow Springs, then Greer Spring, the second largest in the state, more than doubles its flow just above Greer Crossing and turns it into a cold, blue-green trout river for the next 15 miles or so.

Greer Crossing to Turner Mill and Turner Mill to Riverton are the floats that matter for trout. The river here is bigger and more forgiving than the upper Current, with long riffles, deep bluff pools, and gravel bars that wade well at normal flows. Rainbows dominate and reach good size on the spring-fed water; a few browns show up in the deeper holes. Below Riverton the river warms, the gradient eases, and smallmouth bass, goggle-eye, and walleye replace the trout down to the Arkansas line.

Guides run drift boats and rafts on this river more than canoes, partly because the National Forest access points have decent ramps and partly because the pools are long enough to reward a rowed drift. The Bardley gauge sits below the trout water, so read it with that in mind: 400 to 700 cfs at Bardley is a comfortable floating flow for the Greer to Riverton reach, under 350 gets bony above Turner Mill, and above 1,200 the river is high and off-color.

Cell service is nearly nonexistent along the river corridor. Tell someone your float plan, carry a paper map, and expect the drive from Alton or Thomasville to be the longest part of the day.

Access

Thomasville and Cane Bluff: upper river accesses above Greer Spring, mostly a smallmouth float in warm water.
Greer Crossing (Highway 19): Forest Service ramp and campground at the top of the trout water.
Turner Mill North and South: 8 miles below Greer, gravel bar accesses on either bank.
Whitten Access and Riverton (Highway 160): ramps at the bottom of the trout water, 17 miles below Greer.
The Narrows and Highway 142 near Myrtle: lower river, smallmouth and walleye water.
Rafts and drift boats generally launch at Greer and take out at Riverton.

Seasons

March through June: prime trout months with strong flow and hatches in the Greer to Riverton reach.
July and August: still fishable because of Greer Spring, but plan for heat on the drive and the takeout.
September through November: low water, clear pools, big rainbows sighted and stalked from gravel bars.
Winter: open year-round on the spring-fed reach, cold but productive nymphing, almost no other boats.