Float trip short, sweet on Missouri's Elk River

One float, you're sharing the river with thousands of others. The next, you have it all to yourself.

Those are opposite personalities of the Elk River, a ribbon of clear water that flows gently through Pineville, Mo. and Noel, Mo. on its way to Grand Lake in Oklahoma.

It's a party river on summer weekends. Come fall, it's a float-fishing dream. Drift downstream, even on weekends, and you might not see a soul. There's just you and a river full of smallmouth bass.

An autumn Elk River canoe trip was uncharted territory for Alan Bland of Rogers and his fishing buddy paddling in the stern. The pair could paddle blindfolded from Pineville to the Mount Shira access, they'd done it so many times. They'd never done this stretch, three miles from Mount Shira to Noel.

The mission of this mid-October float was two fold. First, to see a new piece of river. Mission number two was to take a gander at a shoreline stabilization project completed last winter by The Nature Conservancy.

Vegetation was only seed and seedlings in March during a tour of the project hosted by the conservancy. What will it look like today, seven months later?

Put-in for the float is at Mount Shira access, a Missouri Department of Conservation property. Take-out is at Noel City Park, right downtown in the Christmas City. Paddlers steer into the mouth of Butler Creek to reach the city park access.

Water in the Elk was lower than it normally is during fall. Trees were starting to show their colors and the temperature was cool, but comfortable. Years of floating the Elk River have taught that fishing is best during spring and summer. The catching slows as autumn moves toward winter.

A half dozen smallmouth bass were wrangled into the canoe and released. One 16-inch beauty of a smallmouth put a grin on Bland's face. The regal fish got fooled by a medium-sized Rebel crawdad crank bait.

Slower fall fishing is the story on most Ozark streams, said Eddy Silcott of Rogers, a wade-fishing fanatic. He doesn't catch a lot of smallmouth bass in autumn, but lands an occasional big one like Bland's fish.

"November's a pretty good month for me," he said. "But it took some time to learn to slow down. You've got to almost leave that lure sitting still, you're working it so slow."

Small tube baits are among Silcott's favorite lures for stream fishing any time of year. Little soft jerk baits like a Zoom Fluke get a smallmouth's attention. Bland proved crawdad crank baits work, too.

This little slice of Elk River is a joy to float with gentle current and scenic banks of forest and meadow. There's plenty of rock and wood in the river, which makes excellent fish habitat.

Kansas City Southern railroad tracks run beside part of this stretch. Bland made cast after cast while a long freight train rumbled by. The river curved away from the rails, then led to a sweeping bend. This is where The Nature Conservancy replenished the stream bank with vegetation to prevent tons of soil from being washed into the Elk River every time it flooded.

What a sight to behold. Those seeds and seedlings are now waist high, thick vegetation. The roots of native grass, plants and trees now hold the soil in place. It's the picture perfect model of a healthy riparian zone along a stream.

Roots keep the soil in place. Above ground, plants filter runoff before it enters the Elk River.

The project met The Nature Conservancy's expectations, said Drew Holt, western Ozarks water coordinator for the group. Holt also visited the site in October.

"It's really held up when you consider it's survived a couple of floods and times when the river's been bank full," he said.

Some replanting is planned in spots where growth wasn't so productive. Overall, the effort is doing what planners hoped.

That is, helping keep the Elk River clean for paddlers and anglers, during party season or fishing season.

Sports on 11/20/2018