Justin92297

Heading down this weekend for our first trip of the year. What's been working latley? Anyone been out?

Awesome I'll check it out sometime. And thanks I' will definitely try that

I'm heading to bass pro tomorrow to pick up some fly fishing and tying supplies. Need to know which fly patterns work best at Busch or any of the stocked trout lakes in the area. Thanks!

I watched the trout being stocked this morning at Jefferson. Very cool. Caught a lot of fish there in a short period of time. Later on I hit tilles where I also caught some fish, but the lake is very muddy right now and it's making the fishing slower than it should be. Overall a very fun day

Tomorrow I'm heading to the lower big to wade around and see what I can catch. Iv had great luck in the past but right now the Meramac looks high and muddy. How much will this affect the big river and is it still worth going?

I talked to a guy last year while trout fishing at lake 28 who said he found out about a small spring in the lake. He also told me he was fishing for catfish there in July and was catching trout that were stocked in the winter. Not sure if this is true but he did mention hearing about it from the MDC

Sounds good I think I'll do the same. Apparently you have to be 18 to rent a boat out there so do you think I could do any good from shore?

Anyone been Muskie fishing latley? I know this is one of the best times of year but I haven't made it out yet. Is anyone else catching any?

Thank you! Yea it looked like the dogs were having fun. And none of the ones we caught had scars but there were two guys in their boat gigging out of that same hole before you arrived. They said they hadn't hit anything though

That was us! Yeah we caught a bunch out of that hole

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions about the river. We had a great trip. Hit the river at 6AM this morning just below the dam for some walleye fishing. We only caught one (15 inches) but lost a few more all on jerkbaits. Only did this for a couple hours or so before heading to the upper river for some smallies. First stop was the hwy K bridge where we waded upstream and ended up catching about 4 each between me and my brother. All around 8-10 inches. We tried a lot of different things but 3-4 inch tubes fished slow around rocks caught us every one of our fish. Next we went up to the Johnson shut-ins and hiked about a mile downstream. The water here was shallow and extremely clear. Only caught three on this stretch all on tubes again. Didn't see one fish bigger than 8 inches but it was still very fun and challenging to wade. Our last stop of the day was by far the best for us. We started fishing at one of the Lesterville accesses and waded downstream a pretty good way. The fish were biting our tubes anywhere around wood cover and a little current. Here we caught 20+ smallies with the biggest being almost 13 inches. Also the smaller tube worked better for numbers and size most of the day. Didn't catch anything huge but still had an awesome trip

Awesome that is just what I needed. Thanks a lot! I will be sure to report back when I get back

I will be wading a few different accesses this weekend on the upper black. I'm very excited for this trip but have been having trouble narrowing down what to bring. Most of my smallmouth expierence is on the Meramac and big rivers which do not have as clear of water. If you don't mind telling me, what are some of the better lures to use on this part of the river?

Ok thanks a lot. I'm thinking about starting at the Johnson shut ins and working my way down

I'm looking to find a good place to wade fish for smallies. Which accesses would be best for this and are there any other places in the area I should check out?

Oh I thought the silver mines were at the shut ins?

Iv been doing research on smallmouth fishing in southeast Missouri before I go on a trip there in a couple weeks. It looks like the millstream gardens/ silver mines area could be a good place to check out. Has anyone had success here?

I will be in this area a few weekends from now and thinking about doing this float. Does this stretch of river get pretty crowded on Saturday afternoons? If so what would be a better option?

Later this September I will be in the Clearwater lake area and looking for smallmouth streams. I have fished the current and upper black before. Are these my best options to float/wade?

Awesome story and fish! You should try mallard lake. There are so many carp and buffalo too in that lake.

Hit the river today on my raft for the first time. Put in at the kirkwood ramp and floated to hwy 30. Fishing Seemed a little slow but we did catch a few spotted bass and a white bass on grubs and crankbaits. This was my first time fishing the lower Meramac by boat and I can't wait to get back out there.

This definitely makes me want to go fish for some Muskies. But would it also be worth a shot to try for hybrids? Are they still being stocked?

Yea places like that are awesome! From my experiences the ponds that are private or get very little pressure are by far the best. So try that out if you get the chance

Doesn't seem to work on my iPhone. I'll have to try that on my computer

Awesome, good stuff. Haha I knew I should have included pictures! How do you do that on here iv been trying to figure it out for ever.