Mark

I have a hard time even seeing fish in EP. How do you identify redds and spawning areas? I assume areas would be recently prepared circular beds. Would these be only in shallow waters near the banks?

Discovered this trick - put some garlic or onion on your cooler at night - coons will leave it alone.

5 gallon buckets with tight lids work great - will float just in case, keeps bread and chips from getting squashed, keeps clothes, radio, etc. dry, makes great coffee tables, makes a great tackle box, sleeping bag and pillow fit perfectly - I carry two, one for tackle/sweater/wet suit/bug spray/misc. and one for stuff I absolutely want to keep dry.

Help us out Brian - is the river open or not? Any accesses closed? Any changes or chance of getting canoe confiscated, or getting a citation? Reading stories of people getting told to leave on other rivers and a rumor of a johnboat and kayak getting confiscated. Wouldn't the river outside of National Ozark Scenic Riverways be open regardless? Planning a trip in 2 weeks and expect this BS to be over by then, but wondering if I should have a back up plan.

I am looking into planning a family vacation for a VERY LARGE family- with brothers/sisters/nephews/nieces/great nephews/great nieces - all told we could have 50 plus people ranging from small children to seniors. Some will want comfort of nice housing, some of the younger crowd will camp, a couple will have RVs, so we will need the full gamut of lodging. Blue Springs Ranch looks good on their website, lots to do including floating, pool, zip lines, horseback riding, and lots of houses, cabins, RV sites, and campground with shower, but I did find several bad reviews online, ranging from springs coming out from mattresses to rude staff and overpriced. (I realize some people will have a bad experience sometime). No prices are given on website. Just looking for some general honest opinions for a VERY large group - or any other suggestions and not married to the idea of the Meramec.

Yesterday was a sad day for me. The water I grew up fishing was the lower Saline near St. Marys, MO, (spelled St. Mary on your map, but always St. Marys to locals) separating St. Marys from Kaskaskia, IL. The slough, as we call it, is actually the old Mississippi river channel before the river changed in the late 1880s. I hadn't fished the slough in 3-4 years, and do remember seeing a few Asian carp flying, but yesterday was heartbreaking. From the moment we launched, the Asian carp were flying. Hundreds upon hundreds of flying fish. They have totally taken over this stretch of water. We ended up with about 20 fish in the boat and kept paddles in our hands to take a whack at them as they flew over the boat. I've watched and read of the Asian carp taking over streams in MO with interest and concern, but the invasion finally hit home yesterday as I fear the fishing stream of my childhood is now destroyed for eternity. Certainly made me sad and think of how man (someone had to release the first Asian carp)is continually destroying the delicate balance of nature. The Asian carp has to be bad for other fish and the entire ecosystem of the stream. Is there evidence out there on the depletion of native species due to the invasion of the Asian carp?

Pretty common knowledge that most people will not divulge secret private lakes and ponds. Public waters are different story - without specific holes being mentioned but it's nice to have info on water conditions, type of bait working, etc. - and I'm sure it's good for businesses in the areas to have information out there.

No shame in walking thru tricky spots. Especially with camping gear and novice canoe skills. The toughest spot on the river is "Fisherman's Hook" - BEWARE - from Turner access, it's right after the 2nd big left turn. Looks innocent enough, but a narrow channel with a broken tree hanging over and current sweeps you right into it - easy to walk the canoe thru on the right side though as we always do - have seen lots of canoes dump there.

Agree with JD - it will be a great experience for him.

I like fishing live bait. I feel so ashamed and dirty.

Gosh dangit - found out today my buddies cancelled trip. But I will print off advice. May go by myself and go see Poco. Heard they give a great show!!

A couple buddies and myself are planning an Oct 18-19 trip to the Meramec near Steelville. We are wanting to float/fish somewhere near Steelville on Friday and Saturday, and go to the POCO show at Wildwood Lodge on Saturday night. Makes no difference to us if we fish trout waters or smallmouth waters, but none of us have ever floated or fished the Meramec and are not interested in trout park fishing. We are looking for suggestions for what sections to float and catch fish, keeping in mind that we are interested in short floats in the 6-8 mile range. We are also looking for suggestions on cabins, cottages, or houses along the Meramec to stay in. I realize Wildwood Lodge has lodging but we are staying 2 nights and their lodging is reserved for concert guests - we would have to attend both night's shows to stay there and not an option with cost. Right now, just 3-4 fishermen with maybe 2 couples joining us Sat. night for the concert and would need a place to stay. So something like a 4 bedroom place or cabins next to each other would work great. AL, YOU AND MARY ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US, EVEN IF JUST FOR POCO CONCERT ON SAT. NIGHT. YOU WOULD KNOW ALL OF US. OR WE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN US FISHING AND MARY COULD CATCH A RIDE DOWN WITH SEAWELS OR DRUMMS ON SATURDAY.

Two friends got an early jump on weekend crowd and fished Friday. Fishing was good in White Ribbon area. I joined them on Saturday and the fishing really slacked off, as the canoes and kayaks were out in full force. Saturday and Sunday were both tough fishing days, which we credit to the traffic on the river. I have been to the Eleven Point on a few different holidays, but have never seen the amount of traffic as this past weekend. Not complaining, we knew what to expect, and that's what the river is for. Lots of families with kids camping out on the river. Good for them. Ran into a guy that caught a 26" in the Blue Ribbon area. Got to talking to him and asked what he caught it on - a Gitzit!!! HE was totally unaware of the special regulations - no soft plastics - and admittedly was apologetic - and he did release the fish. Although he did kind of brag about his floating and fishing experience _ "I've floated every stream there is" - and surprised he didn't check on regs before fishing. 26" is a hog!!! All in all, fun weekend, huge bikini hatch, so not all bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree - much easier to use a canoe as a taxi from one wading spot to the next - my preferred method of fishing. With the water at present level, you will be hard pressed to find much wading water around accesses.

Not a great river to walk in and wade fish, especially with the water a little high right now. Expect the river to be crowded this holiday weekend and hot weather. Any other time, the Eleven Point is not near as bad as other rivers.

Nothing wrong with the bikini hatch over the holidays

Glad your an optimist Brian, gotta be tough losing a couple weeks of business in the prime business season. Thanks for all you do.

Brian, we were heading down to the river Tuesday morning until the rains hit. We are hoping it will go down quick and we can still get in some fishing later in the week. From your experience, when might it be safe to get on the river and do some fishing.

I would expect an EPA environmental inspector would have to have at least a bachelor's degree plus some lots of specific on the job training. Not a job just any yea who can do. And I doubt if the salary is $100,000+, probably more in the $60-75,000 range. A nice salary and benefit package to be sure, but I doubt if government inspectors are getting rich. Especially considering they would have to have a degree, which they paid for to get a job that is beyond manual labor. The point remains - do you trust big business to regulate and monitor themselves? Maybe you should watch "Erin Brockovich".

Exactly - do we really want to trust big business and the pursuit of the almighty dollar to always to the right thing with regard to the environment? We already know how that will turn out. There has to be regulations and people to enforce the regulations. And I laugh at the suggestion of creating cushy, high paying inspector jobs. Does anyone really think inspectors will be rolling in the dough? Bottom line - big business will do what it wants if left to it's own practices.

A buddy and myself floated Round Springs to Jerktail about 2 weeks ago on a Wednesday - our first trip on the middle Current section. We were pleasantly surprised - only saw 3 jetboats all day, maybe 18-20 canoes with 8-10 of those in one youth group floatilla. We caught fish early on rooster tails and didn't switch - both of us relatively new to smallmouth fishing, rooster tail was catching fish, and didn't see a reason to switch. We caught fish on and off all day, nothing huge, but were amazed at the tons of huge fish we saw. Since it was the first time to Eminence for both of us, we spent a good day and a half just exploring the area by truck - more of a reconnasance mission. We checked out all the accesses on the Current and Jacks Fork in the area with a little wade fishing at each. My gosh, what a beautiful area!!! Even from the truck, some of the scenic overlooks are spectactular. About a mile north of Eminence on HWY 19 is a scenic overlook with a pull off area on the road - this has to be the most beautiful scenic overlook I have seen in Missouri overlooking the river valley. For as far as the eye can see, nothing but steep wooded hills and deep valleys. My buddy Terry commented that most people wouldn't believe this sight was in Missouri. The drive on HWY 106 overlooking the Jacks Fork valley is just as spectactular. The whole area reminded me of upstate New York and New England. Enjoyed checking out Alley Springs Mill too. My personal favorite spot was the Salvation Army access on the uppper Jacks Fork. Huge gravel bar across from a massive bluff, and a deep pool of water under the bluff that must have went for a couple hundred yards. And only a young couple from KC and their young daughter were camping there. I'm definitely working on my trout fishing buddies to take a break from the trout waters and try a trip to the Eminence area. I would love to float the Jacks Fork. I have always heard of the beauty of the river, and from I saw from driving the area and checking out the accesses, it is at the top of my list of must do's. We may have hit the area at just the right time - middle of July and temps in the high 90s and the middle of the week, but we never saw an abundance of people on either river like we expected. Very pleasantly surprised with the whole trip.

I have had 2 scary episodes that could have turned out bad in the past 15 years. On first I buried a canoe sideways in a strainer in the middle of a stream, when I dumped, my first instinct was to dive deep. Fortunately I went under the rootwad. On the second episode, I was wearing brand new knee high boots that must have weighed 4-5 lbs each. When I dumped in deep moving water, boots filled with water and were like 2 concrete blocks on my feet. Very scary episode. I had to learn to respect the river and much more cautious now. I learned to swallow my pride and get out of the canoe and walk around trouble spots. Still, a couple cold ones and I get a little braver.

Has anyone fished Cane Bluff section lately? Is there plenty of water? Brian, do you shuttle vehicles? Thinking of putting in Sunday at Cane Bluff and doing a one night trip to Greer.

Key votes on parts of HR Bill 2218 last week in the US House of Representatives; Groundwater contamination - Members defeated, 192-225, a Democratic sponsored requirement that coal ash disposal structures built under terms of HR Bill 2218 be sufficient to prevent toxins from seeping into water table and surface water. A yes vote was to adopt the motion. Yes vote - Clay (D-MO) No vote - Wagner (R-MO), Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Smith (R- MO), Davis (R-MO) Interstate environmental risks - Members defeated, 176-239, a Democratic bid to require Environmental Protection Agency intervention to keep one state's coal ash disposal from creating pollution problems in other states. A yes vote was to adopt the amendment. Yes vote - Clay (D-MO) No vote - Wagner (R-MO), Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Smith (R-MO), Davis (R-MO)

Hard to believe that some still don't believe the threat is real!!