Thomas Rogers

Fishing tournament Sunday from St Elizabeth my partner had to back out if anyone is interested let me know I got an empty seat

I was out this week dodging rain drops for two days put in Udall fishing was out of control on top water early 32 bass between two of us wiggle warts, 6 xd and plastics on the bottom once the sun came up most fish were still 10/20 ft of water then went down to darn for late evening couple hybrids on top water as well as few bass next morning from 5 am till about 8 am was hot bite slowed way down after that put in at red bank managed 11 hybrids 3 white bass 7 bass all on top water only one dink on the bass off the water by 9:30

Thanks for the reply Seth I currently run my flat bottom jet that is 1648 and it's fine as long as chop is not to bad just hopping the wider and longer will help

Looking into 1752 sport blazer I know modified v would be better for the waters of northfork, bull shoals and table rock but I also enjoy river fishing spend alot of time on big river , mermac and current and with the 40 horse limit on the current not sure I can get the modified v with out going with bigger motor my question any body run the 1752 on these lakes with out getting there teeth rattled out in a little choppy water ?

Thanks for the reply I guess the richwoods through me off when I looked at the gauges looks as if the rain had virtually no effect on the levels should be a good day

Any one been on or near the big river today ? Got a chance to get out in the morning for a float thinking from the park down just curious before my buddy drives down from Alton

Jim I put in yesterday in St Clair ( 30 Bridge) which is a little more down river from were you are talking about went down about 5 miles and then up about 2 miles from the bridge I had no trouble at all navigating the water ,Water temp was 49/50 yesterday when I put in very very clear fishing was good steady all morning from 7 till noon 17 fish to the boat biggest was 15' spot 11 spots 1 white and 5 small mouth all small mouths were in the rocks biggest though was 14' the spots were in the deep rocks or under cover most action was on slow retrieving crank baits 300 series or wiggle warts did have a few on 4" chomper and several on ned rig just when I got bored but most success on crank baits

After seeing some promising reports from the lower Mermec thought I would try another new area Sunday as I continue to learn my way around the lower Meramec decided on Palisades down to the Big River After waiting once again for the nephew did not wait long this time still hit the river @7;30 water temp around 51 degrees action just off the boat ramp throwing a zara spook missed the first blow up before hooking a spot that ran the tape an very nice 18" few more blowups but not hook ups before a huge blow up that i would loose just before the boat that looked to be 18' range stuck with combination of sexy dog and zara spook but just could not get them to hook up decided to switch to a crank and the fun was on between black pearl bomber earlier then switching to blue gill colored wiggle wart was able to land 11 spots from all 13-17 and 1 brownie unfortunately maybe 10 inches not sure how it was going to get that wiggle wart in his mouth but he did wack it pretty good. defiantly a good day the river was navigable and alot clearer then I thought it would ever be. Update decided after a great Sunday morning to go back to Palisades Monday morning had till 10 to burn before having to head to the shop I felt like the top water bite Sunday was there and I missed it. I was actually able to get the nephew out of bed was all excited after my day Sunday to turn him on to some fish unfortunately I learned a hard Mermec lesson just cause they were there yesterday don't mean they still are put in @ 7:30 water temp just a little lower then Sunday but the action was just not there not a single blow up on top water quickly switched to crank baits , jerk baits even some plastics managed one spot caught off slow water just after a riffle on a wiggle wart other then that just a wind burn water was a little choppy as the morning went on but defiantly got some learning to do

Sorry guys for the late response business has been keeping me swamped. Appreciate the responses I did get out Tuesday morning after doing a little more research online reports were saying that Flam city was real low I figured give it a shot if low George winter was a good back up even with reports warning of low conditions there as well. Well after a 45 minute wait for the nephew to get out of bed only to have to drive off with out him (I will never wait more then 5 again) my plans were to be on river by 7 with the wait it was now almost 7:45 decided to just head to George winter to put in the ramp was in good shape no issue didn't event get my toes wet. Spent quite alot of time just getting to know the river as this was the first time in the area aside from the leaves clogging up the grate every now and then . The lower is no current river scenery but despite the more populated area still a beautiful river color was more clear then i expected as i said did not fish hard went up to 141 bridge and back pulled out @ 9;30 was able to land 2 buffalo which was a first for me both on crayfish colored wiggle wart couple missed opportunities with two spots but for light fishing more exploring trip sure beats being in the shop. Thanks for the input guys

Smalliebigs Thanks for the info !! much appreciated I am going to check it out in the am and indeed I will report back hopefully with some nice snap shots.

New to the area looking for boat ramp around Arnold area would like to put my jet in but can settle for a nice 4-5 hour float if any one has any recommendations. Is the lower even navigable with a jet this time of year ? What species should be targeted ?

Thanks for the info guys I got ahold of jeffs last season but they would not shuttle I love the upper black just always tuff if you dont have someone going with you or cant take two vehicles I prefer the scanoe but was thinking at least the jet I can solo it and not depend on shuttle . Been a few years since I have been below hwy k do remeber some good small mouth even large mouth

Any one have any info on transporttation on the black below hwy k Also if I decided to leave the canoe behind is it jet friendly thinking about running up from clearwater

I am looking for an outfiter that will shuttle vehicle from lestervile to hwy k any one know of any

What section of river do you guys recommend not real familiar with the river other then a trip from scotts ford to birdnest last summer but looking at trying out the meramec again leaving in the morning just haven't decided were solo trip staying over night so not a big fan of having to drag the boat to much on my own any suggestions ?

I have really heard good things about the eleven point and being that it is spring fed like the current should be floatable only thing is i live in jefferson county was trying to avoid the 3+ hour trip back down that direction that's why I was looking at the meramac its closer to me and easier to get transportation thanks for the info

Day 1 We started our trip off with a cheater trip to montauk were we both filled limits rather quickly on white jigs after breakfast in the park we headed down to to carr"s canoe were we put in at round spring and arranged for them to transport my truck and trailer down to two rivers which would be about the halfway point so we could restock water and trolling motor batteries ect to keep the weight down in the boat before moving on to to our take out at log jam and were two rivers would transport the rig down for us After getting in the water about 10:30 I was a little concerned the bite might be off a little but as I have found so many times on the current small mouth just don't stop as just before we shoved off as my buddy packed the small cooler with drinks I could not resist the temptation and grabbed my rod with texas rigged zoom plum u-tail and first cast into the slow water off the Eddie right off the riffles a small but feisty 10" smallie set the mood of the day once heading down stream the bite just stayed on with fish after fish as I had alot of success throwing the plum u-tail but switching back and fourth with equal success with a green u-tail with several smallies above 12' as well as a steady bite of google eye as well as a nice 15' largemouth just of the bluffs past round spring camp ground but the big fish of the day belonged to buddy who landed his biggest smallie ever with a nice 17' on a white pearl fluke as it seamed I had more luck with the u-tails and the nice large mouth but he seemed to hit not as many but bigger fish with the fluke as the day went on we realized we were no were near jerk tail the area were we needed to be to stay on pace for our trip and with the sun setting quickly I put the motor in high gear blowing by several places that just looked like good fishing and with the amount of floaters on the river taking camp spots we missed about 3 miles of river as we needed to get near bee bluff to jerk tail to not make the next day so long Day 2 After a little boat repair from dragging a little to much between round and big creek we headed out about 7 with fish on the bite right away as I switched to a little top water and spinner action with my partner switching off the fluke to a u-tail as well as 4' lizzard as the top water slowed down I switched to a bomber natural shad color crank bait for some of the deeper holes with moderate success but mostly small fish before switching to a purple with watermelon seed 5' worm with a 1/4 oz lead to help get to the bottom with another great day of fishing as we continued to just haul the fish in after a brief stop by conservation for license check as well as to check on any fish I decided to switch to a brush hog as the afternoon bite seemed to slow up we came across another nice eddie forming off of a bunch of trees blocking the river as we were in some really fast water I just caught sight of a big fish not sure what it was as we swept by I tossed the brush hog in just in front of him and it was on 10 min later I had the largest small mouth i have ever caught in three years fishing here in mo 23 1/2 ' 4lbs 3 oz on hand held scale what an amazing fish as well as feeling as I had my hands full trying to get to the beach as well as not loose my fish and thanks to the group of canoes for holding on the side not to inter fear with my line and allowing me to land this beauty after some quick pics on my buddies phone and weighing the fish a couple of mins of a little help getting him going and he was off to make another anglers day after the release we walked up to fish that eddie hauling three more fish one google and 2 smallies including a 15' for my buddy with a green chomper before moving on down river and honestly after that hole we more or less just fooled around and enjoyed the afternoon before making way to two rivers after stopping at two rivers for fresh batteries and supplies from the truck we moved on down river about 2 miles before calling it a night on sand bar Day 3 After a great 2nd day in the books I looked forward to the river ahead as I had never been round spring to two rivers before but have been below two rivers plenty so I know the water the first few miles after two rivers never been real good to me but once we hit the bluffs and owls bend it was on once again this time on a deep diving crank bait dark in color I hooked 5 nice smallies all between 12' and 14' and one at 16' as my partner slowed down on fishing I continued with more success on a multiple range between a green u-tail and plum u -tail and as I expected the fishing really picked up as we got closer to powder mill and so did the depth of water as from two rivers down we dragged once the whole trip before having to get out just after the 106 bridge and just before powder mill after spending the night just past blue spring we prepared for our last day down to log jam Day 4 after another early start slight success on top water but the big fish just never seemed to care for top water after switching back to chompers with some good fishing as in numbers with a range from 8' 12' they weren't big but boy they put up a fight and what lacked in size made up in numbers with solid fishing all day down to log Jam but as much as I love the lower parts of the current for fishing nothing could compare to the monster on day 2 and for the people that think big fish don't reside in the current we had 7 fish over 16' and dozens between 10' and 14' with four days spent on the current I enjoyed every moment form the goggle eyes to the biggest smallie I have ever caught or seen we caught some easy 70+ fish all released safely to be caught again with the exception of the trout I set out on this trip to search out baits and really get a feel for the current and locals all tell me that small yellow and green grubs work the best I seemed to find that 4' to 5' plum , watermelon really seemed to be the ticket in my eyes as the u-tails defiantly brought in the majority of fish with pearl fluke catching a few but with most being on the larger size

I just got off four great days on the current got a few days left on vacation looking to get back at it thought about the big river as well as the black but both look really low on the gauges not really into the 31/2 half our drive back to the current so thinking about the Meramec any suggestions on a 7 mile float that might be float able as well as good fishing ? Thanks

Anybody have any info on the lower black is floating well ? looking at heading down from jeff county tonight for a couple day fishing trip

I have some time and I am considering a four or five day float down the current river can any one tell me about the river conditions flow ,small mouth fishing ect below powder mill ? I have floated from alley to powder several times and always enjoyed that trip I made one trip from emminence to powder few weeks ago river levels were low but did not drag much I am sure alley is out of the question What about from Akers ferry down how is that stretch and how is the small mouth fishing and what about below powder mill ?

Due to time constraints as well as transportation as I can never find any outfitters willing to make a few bucks to transport vehicle I only floated from jeffs put in about 6 miles up from K to K sure there are some spots were you have no choice but to get out but only one spot were I had to drag my boat other then that just get out and walk beside it thru the riffles but as it has been since my first trip in may this year and I have made at least 6/7 trips this year despite low water and heat the fishing has been the best for me that I have ever had on the black with good smallie and google eye and the smallies have been in the 10' to 15' with four yesterday over 15' being I only floated 6 miles I spent more time in spots that I really love and drew several fish out of each one I am dying to get below k as last time I was down there it was very undisturbed water and fishing was good I am considering a 4/5 day trip just not sure if I want to do the Black or Jacks and Current I will let you guys know how the conditions are

Anybody know how the river is below K I know the river is really low and have gone Lesterville to k at least a dozen times this year been a few years since I have been below K but there were some nice fishing grounds and very quiet any info would be great also thinking about a lower black trip

I have floated the the black three times this month all were over night trips from rivers edge to K bridge with loaded canoe 2 people and camping gear several rifles I had to get out to navigate but honestly not to bad in my opinion the party traffic is slow so it makes the trip really enjoyable fishing has been solid with lots of smallies between 10 to 15 inch range with two over 18' and 2 pounds + all caught on either crank bait it the middle of the day or plum colored plastics

thanks for the info guys I think I am going to head down this evening and try from eminence down sure beats being at the house no matter what I have been hitting the black river about every other week time for some thing different

I am looking to fish / float from the bridge in eminence to powder mill I am about three hour drive away is the river float able I see the levels are really low last three trips have been down the black looking for something different this weekend been a year since I have been down the jacks