carptracker

This has been the year of a much higher % of the catch being spots in our section of the Meramec. I mentioned it to Al early and he explained his theory mentioned above. The trend has continued through out this fishing season. In past years it seemed you would catch spots in certain areas but this year it is over over a much wider area. Eating more fish tacos.

Congrats on your special smallie. Looks almost as wide as long, it had to be a powerful fish.

A very Merry Christmas to everyone on OA and to your families. Hope you find some top notch tackle in your stocking and hope to cross paths/streams in the near future.

Congrats on a productive trip and thanks for the report. We found the same thing last weekend, no action in the deeper holes. You had to concentrate on structure around moving water (since it was sunny the shady spots were a big plus too). With the cooler temps the Meramec looks more like mid October water than mid September. Hope to fish with you in the near future.

Perfect weather, excellent food and a great time on & off the water. The river was down 2-3 inches from the week before (low to begin with) and was also clearer. The fishing was good both days but we had to work for them and make the right casts. A lot of river fishing experience in the group and always get to learn something new. A few pictures before taking off for Saturday's shuttles, MSA Matt with a nice spot (he worked them over Sunday morning with his buzz bait).

Congrats, definitely a day to remember.

Seems hard to beat for 2 casts. What happened on the third? Congrats on a memorable day.

Congrats Norm, and yes get in touch if you want to head down to Missouri Ozark country.

Just placed my first order. The website looks real good and this male over the age of 55 had no problems navigating! Hope your phones binged and feeling better about those college funds. What a day, Tackle HD stuff coming and now packing to head to the river.

Brian, Meeting is open and this will be an extra good one. Hope you would like to join MSA after attending, look forward to meeting you! Gregg

Jerry, Welcome to the area, Waterloo is a great location for southern IL and MO Ozark stream fishing. Missouri Smallmouth Alliance is good group, a great way to get to know folks and the Ozark streams (website on this forum). Check out the newer section of Pyramid State Park in Perry Co IL. Many long strip cuts, good ramps and you don't need a big boat (9.9 limit). There is a good restaurant you can stop by at the World Shooting Complex (just north of Sparta) on your way back home. Good luck.

Thanks for the report Al and glad you made it back in good shape. Week before last we had 6 eagles hanging out on our gravel bar, taking advantage of the left over sucker carcasses. The dog thought they were good to roll in and made my wife extremely happy. There were 4 mature birds and 2 still working on their white feathers. Wondering if it was the same group. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on OA.

Keeping my kitchen produced Mitchcraws in a safe place. They are a part of my retirement portfolio....thinking Johnny Morris and the Smithsonian maybe interested in them down the road.

With harvest winding down I've been able to get out the last two weekends. The water color and fishing is more like mid September than late October, which most likely goes with the warmer than normal temps for the month. Both weekends were good conditions, one with a rise in water/more stain and the other with a new moon and still some stain. The fishing was also good with numbers, size and species (lamprey included). No real patterns except soft plastics did well all over. Some wind & leaves the only challenges. This past weekend the google eye were extra hungry and nice to know they are still around. Nice weather, a mature bald eagle and the river to ourselves is bonus time in late October.

Al, what I remember about the spiders and the slide cartoon is at the top a the slide is a plump little kid. Gotta love a little irreverence. My favorite is the duck with the gun splitting the reeds and hiding behind the female cutout decoy waiving her bikini top...the hunters are bailing out of their blind.

Who says fishing isn't a full contact sport? Hockey players don't get that many stitches. Glad you are doing fine and thanks for posting...need to think about what could happen on the river.

Wednesday evening left Hermann and went down to our place by Steelville. Dry Creek was really rolling/muddy and the Bourbeuse was high/muddy. Was surprised to see the Meramec normal and clear. There is some good water coming your way! We had 5-6" Tuesday night in areas around Hermann. At our Hermann location we had two 10' culverts sitting side by side get washed out (2-10 footers can handle a lot of water).

Good post, looks like you had a great day on a great little stream. You motivated me to get my old fly rod out for smallies.

See why the hard fight....he is a fat boy. Nice catch!

Thanks for all the top water wtd talk, it planted the seed to have one tied on one of my rods this past weekend. Took a friend and his daughter out Saturday afternoon for a quick run. Had him rigged up with a senko in the front and I was top water in the rear. We both caught several smaller fish. On Sunday morning went out by myself for a couple hours and the top water really produced. All the top water fish were nice size smallies compared to the senko & fluke caught fish. Appreciate all the good information shared on OA.

Was out Sunday afternoon, upstream from the Huzzah, a mature bald eagle flew over tree top high, turned around was coming back towards us and dived down to the water. His talons hit the water but came up empty...his luck was the same as mine. Tough day of fishing but that was a neat sight.

Sorry I do not need a camper but thanks for posting, the pictures brought back a flood of memories from our families '63 Apache. Can still smell the canvas and how to put it up. Will make someone a fine camper.

Congrats to you and your family Mitch. Always welcome to bring the family on down, enjoy seeing the ankle biters having a good time on the gravel bar.

Big Tony, I have a 16' flat bottom jon (riveted not a heavy boat) with a Mercury 25/20 2-stroke factory jet. You will not break any speed records but have had 3 in the boat and it will move upstream pretty decent. Good rig for two. Looked for a long time for a decent used smaller jet motor. Would think there are more 60/40 jets around. Good luck.

I like to wade fish with 2 rods and my 2nd is shorter (5'6"). Use a small back pack modified at the bottom with a strap and ring to slip handle in (height to keep reel out of the water) and velcro strap at top side of the pack. Keep the stored rod to my left and fish to my right side. Nothing fancy but seems to work. Good luck.