Haris122

You guys got advice on what larger sized animal to pursue in the winter, that's legal. Feral Hogs, Coyotes, Bobcats, that kind of stuff. I struck out Deer season and I really wanted to get one bad this year, so I've still been interested in getting something relatively the size of a deer, when it's too cold to go fishing instead. What do you guys think is a doable target. Something that's not too elusive.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't actually go yesterday. I was planning to, but decided not to hedge my bets on it, seeing how for me it's a bit of a drive just to find out the lakes are frozen. I distinctly remember last winter heading up there on a nice sunny day not too cold day, that followed several rough ones, only to find every single lake I went to frozen over. That time I just wound up going to the Missouri River at Weldon Springs, and not catching anything there either, but at least there, I could access water (as opposed to Ice). That's why I didn't roll the dice on it. I really wish I knew how to get the river fish to cooperate from the bank when it's as cold as this, cause there's a lot of flowing water closer than Meramec Springs to me. But as far as my best bet of any action, so far that's it when it gets to that borderline of lakes freezing.

I was going to make my way up there today, but in the back of my mind I pictured the lakes frozen over for the most part, so I went to the Meramec instead, with nothing to show for it. That's the thing about winter here that kind of sucks, especially if fishing from the bank. As far as I can tell, all other species become very inactive once it's this cold, even where the water keeps moving, and yet the only places with trout available nearby, are lakes/ponds that have probably frozen over and thus are a no go. Maybe next week I'll try to hit up St. James, if I get up early enough to make it worth the drive down that far.

One summer night a few years back when I was leaving Unger Park in Fenton, I think I saw one running into some brush near one of the homes by that soccer park. It is really surprising how far up eastbound I-44 road-killed Armadillos littered the side of the highway when I was driving back from a friend's wedding in Oklahoma. Never hit me that they were so far up north and east already. Them and major highways really do not mix well.

How far down the lower Meramec did you go Al. Was it down to Route 66 or even further down.

Are the catch and release lakes any easier to get some action on, than the put in and take lakes? It seems to me like the regular lakes, unless you catch them right around stocking time, are almost always thinned out a lot. I was at lake 22 today. Out of the 5 or so people/groups of people fishing only 1 guy caught something, and it was a single fish.

Out of curiosity, how do you guys fish a body of water that seems so shallow, clear and narrow. I quickly checked out Kingston Access on a trip to a state park recently, and I think I'd have some incredibly difficult time catching anything if that's the normal features of much of Mineral Fork, or even other creeks, like Blue Springs, or La Barque. I usually have my best luck with crankbaits and inline spinners, but for the life of me can't see either of those working there. Too shallow for cranks, as well as most of them seem too big for anything that might be there, and very little distance to get anything following inline spinners to take them there, much less continue chasing it once it sees you with the clear shallow water and all. I mean I'd be fine with anything even providing a fight even Bluegill sized there, but it seems like there's very little of even the size of a normal bluegill there. I don't think this creek style fishing is all that interesting to me as mid-size river or lake fishing, but it'd be nice to manage to get a sucker or some decent goggle eye, sunfish, or small bass from streams like that if that's all that's convenient to fish on at the moment.

Seems like a pretty nice deal for $50. I got to start prowling craigslist for stuff like that again, myself. I wouldn't know where to put it, but one can dream. I still haven't rigged my kayak up for fishing though, so that should really be one of my primary goals.

Me and my sister took the kayak out to Butler Lake (South St. Louis county), and while kayaking around, we saw those things going into a jumping frenzy. I'm talking about a good 30 or so of them just jumping like crazy for a good 5 minutes. We went back to get a camera and we tried to get them to do it again so we take a picture, and we couldn't get them to go nuts, just a few here and there jumped, though that's a good thing considering people get their jaws broke by them, but funny part was a few literally jumped over me and the kayak, and one actually fell into the kayak while my sister was using it, and she freaked out, came to shore and I tossed it back (she didn't want me to keep it, and I didn't see the point of killing it just to kill it when there's tens more in this tiny spillover lake from the Meramec anyways).

Thanks Al. Looks like I got to figure out a way to talk my sister into driving me out someplace, and picking me up. She might be up for it, if she gets over her fear of kayaking in rivers, so we alternate between the person on kayak, and the shuttle driver. So far I've paddled it around on a few local lakes but its not as scenic or fun as actual rivers, and the outfitter thing, seems steep to do frequently.

I never personally saw any outside of little clear creeks, and the Black River at Johnson shut-ins. I must not be a good crawfisher. That's why I wondered.

Do you guys know what the usual fee is for these outfitters to take your kayak to an access and pick you up.Shuttling or whatever it's called?

That whole bit where it seems to be inside one of the tracts of land that make up Mark Twain National Forest had me thinking it might be public access. Good to know. Not a lot, but with all the free lakes there are, I'll probably hold off on it.

Always thought Crayfish were something of a cleaner smaller stream type occurrence. Didn't figure the Missouri would have them, or at least be able to see them good enough to catch them.

Is Sunnen lake a public lake, and if so do you still have to pay a fee to use it or what's the deal. Was reading up on reviews for it, and seemed to come upon conflicting information.

I didn't really see much of a point in commenting on this since it's entirely out of my hands (can't even vote), but +1 to that.

Probably way off on this, but I remember seeing similar scenery minus the water color (or is that shallow water and brown gravel underneath) on the Meramec by Robertsville State Park, so I'm going to say that's where it is.

Sweet thanks. Yeah when I got there and saw all that river grass and other vegetation I thought this was going to turn into a snagfest. Surprisingly enough it wasn't too bad, even with the castmaster. I seemed to hold it just over or at the height of the tips of the vegetation for the most part, so it normally didn't pull any of that with it.

Yeah it was real nice that day. As for the fish, there's always next time. As a matter of fact, went out today in the morning with some friends to a private pond and I caught 7 Largemouth Bass (after careful recollection it was 7 not 6, 3 on buzzbait, 2 on frog leg looking tube, and 2 on Crankbaits) in a few hours. They caught even more, but 7 is still real sweet, became my new personal best trip (old record was 4). So that definitely made up for it. Nothing like a day like this to keep you going. I'll be back to St. James in a bit. The trout won't elude me for much longer.

I remembered. That portion I only tossed the castmaster lure around in. The first time out I caught one on a roostertail there, but wasn't as fortunate this time. The actual trout park on the way back from the red ribbon trout area was where all the other parts of the arsenal got utilized in. Didn't do a good job explaining that. I'm a little anxious about using even 4 lbs line. Man, 2 lbs. Seems like you'd be losing lures each time it hangs up on something on the retrieve back. But then again, desperate times require desperate measures I suppose.

Nice. I went yesterday and did equally well, minus the 4 fish you got on the stringer, .

I was there today, and wound up with a total bust. Had 2 bites in the 6 or so hours I was there. The very third cast of the day, I had one go for the roostertail and took it, only for the stupid drag to be set so low on my reel that a stocker size fish was "pulling line" each time I cranked the reel. By the time I adjusted drag, it got off the hook. The next 3-4 hours involved trout in every section I went to, teasing me, starting to follow whatever roostertail I had tied at that time, only to peel off. Eventually I got to the red ribbon trout area, tried to repeat at least that success from the first trip, and nothing bit there either. At that point I figured I better start throwing everything and the kitchen sink at them. Castmaster, marabou type jig, trout worm with hook embedded in it, Roadrunner type jig with tube, a couple crankbaits (only other hit came on a small minnow type crank), and finally the doughbait type stuff. Tried drifting some of the roostertails, maribou jigs, roadrunners, trout worms and cranks to them through the current. Tried the usual toss and retrieve of roostertails, castmaster, and cranks. Tried leaving some of the cranks and the powerbait to sit and swirl around with weight keeping them in a spot as good as possible given the current. But for the life of me I couldn't catch a single one. I started out with a 6lbs leader attached to 8lbs main line, then eventually just gave up on that and used the regular main line or even 10lbs leader, figuring it really wasn't making any difference anyways. Started thinking of trying to just leave a trout worm lying around for one of the suckers to go for it, but by that time I didn't have the patience for the sit and wait approach for them, with the trout around. Water was pretty clear, but I don't think I saw a single other person or group without at least 1 fish on a stringer. Bummed me out by the time I was leaving. Next time I'm spending the night there if I don't catch at least 4 of them the initial day.

Kind of went on a tangent asking this in a gigging related topic in general forum, but since it's most similar to carp out of the choices there are, I wanted to see just what kind of rigging and bait to use if I wanted to catch some suckers with rod and reel. Also been wondering if there's a way to substitute artificial lures, such as plastic worms or crawfish, for the real deal, while still having a reasonable chance of fooling them some of the time?

I take it when fishing for suckers with rod and reel, it's basically a worm on hook, a egg sinker with split shots over a foot up line, and basically tight-lining it? I accidentally snagged either a big River-Carpsucker or a stocky 2 foot Buffalo on the dorsal fin a year back, and man, what a fight that thing gave me. Aside from that, I didn't see a sucker of any kind until I went to Johnson Shut-ins. If other suckers fight like that, even when hooked in the mouth, going at them with a rod and reel I'm all for. Btw, any way one could try to target suckers with artificial lures like plastic worms, or things of that kind?

I take it overall there's also a much smaller subset of people doing it compared to other kinds of fishing, with the extra equipment and all needed, that also helps keep it sustainable? Not going to lie, it does look pretty fun from the clips on youtube. Just didn't quite see how it was sustainable if a lot of people do it regularly, with 20 or so fish a person caught each trip out.