hank franklin

Amen to that. The one thing I'll be critical of is the refusal to discount the second day of an overnight float trip. I had this discussion with a couple of outfitters: Let's say the private shuttle costs $50 and a regular canoe $40 per day. Well, if I knew I was getting an Old Town or comparable, I might be willing to use their boat and pay, say $65. But all three outfitters I've now proposed this to both said, nope, over night is $80. ($40 per day). Don't really get that. These were not peak period floats, where all their canoes would be out. They're doing the same amount of work either way. No big deal though. A good outfitter is a float-fisher's best friend!

Yeah, that's ridiculous. I pay $35 to $50 for private shuttles on the Current and JF, and really don't mind it much because most of the hauls are pretty long. Canoe outfitters gotta eat too. But $77? Yikes.

Regarding the shuttle fees, are you saying you paid $45 for canoe rental PLUS the $25 shuttle fee?

Al, have you had much luck fishing them in streams for smallmouth? I've thrown them a few times and never had much success with them. Fished them wacky and texas-rigged. My bait of choice right now is the Super Fluke. Can't get away from it.

Thanks for the link. Did that repair kit from bullseye trading post work for you?

Yeah, a couple years back I bought a fiberglass repair kit from an auto parts store. It seemed like a pretty good patch after I finished but my first trip on the river it pretty much broke off. I tried it again with even more care and attention to the work but again, it didn't hold. It's possible I didn't do it right but I really don't think so. The patch held okay on the sides of the boat but directly on the keel it just cracked off.

I have a Coleman 17' Marine canoe, 1977 model, plastic hull. I have a hole on the bottom of the boat and one in the stern. Tried a fiberglass patch, didn't work. Put some epoxy and some superglue on the inside and gets me by but would like someone to put a more permanent fix on it. Will bring it to you if you're not too far away. Thanks Hank Photo here is of my solution earlier today. Didn't last very long as you might guess.

Regarding choices of lures, colors, etc., my feeling has always been that presentation trumps the actual kind of bait. If you hit the spot and present the lure correctly, I don't know that it makes much difference whether you're throwing a chartruese worm or a deep diving wiggle wart. I realize styles of baits (topwaters vs. slow-fished jigs, etc.) can make all the difference in the world in whether you're catching or not. But I think if you put the lure in the zone, and the fish is there, as long as your presentation is good the fish will oblige you.

I think the key is identifying the big fish spots, identifying the best way to reach them with your cast, then executing your cast and assuring your lure is in the zone as long as possible. Sounds simple but the thing that makes me a better angler today compared to 10 years ago is reading the water and IDing the likely big fish spots. As Al says, it's not always obvious. IDing the spot is only step one however. Step two is getting into position not only to make the cast, but also to land the fish if he hits. Step three then is actually making the cast and hitting the spot. Step four is presenting the lure as optimally as possible. If you've executed all this perfectly then chances are the fish will hit. Most all of my big fish of recent years came this way: ID the spot, get in position, make the cast and boom, connect. Occasionally a big fish will "come out of nowhere" but in most instances they are the result of thorough targeting and execution. Sounds simple but on moving water while float fishing often you get only one quality shot at any one quality spot. If you don't get in position, miss with your cast, don't hold the lure in the zone long enough, etc. your best shot is gone. You can often recoup and pull a smaller one out of there but in my experience the big ones usually come first. Great post and great topic Al.

Agree w/ Gavin. River is a bit high for wading in trout area. Middle and lower river ought to be in excellent shape.

This to me seems a reasonable statement. Your right to be there is questionable under the law. I'm on your side, but it's questionable. The landowner has a claim but it's also questionable. So the thing could be litigated. One day one of these cases will be and I'm concerned that the "custom" or "tradition" of right of passage and gravel bar camping etc will be eroded under scrutiny of law. Someone else in the thread said the system is lazy. It is. If you can reconcile without a fight the system will say fine, go for it. I personally prefer the gray area of Elder v. Delcour. Like I say, I fear that a case litigated to the Supreme Court would tend to find for the landowner, especially on these smaller streams.

Nice. Hope to be up there myself in a couple weeks.

Meramec is 3.06 ft and 955 cfs this morning at Steelville. In my experience that's a little high for good fishing but it oughta be fairly good river running. A little up and flush and stained but probably not too bad. I would avoid the river below the Huzzah confluence. Too high.

Meramec has been getting pounded this year. Probably take a few days minimum to recover from recent rise. You asked about Gasconade in another thread--not sure about that section but we were on the Gasconade in the Gravens Resort area this past weekend and river was in pretty good shape. Fishing wasn't very good however. Be ready for a fair amount of paddling through dead spots as well.

Figure I'll answer my own question here. Sculpin and Hank and the juniors floated Kincheloe Ford to Gravens this past weekend. Smallmouth habitat was great throughout and fishing was decent early. Fishing slowed considerably over second half of the trip, not sure why. Beautiful river for the most part with a few long slow stretches. River was in excellent floating shape however. Thanks to the good folks at Gravens for their service.

Al, I looked at the gages too. Gravens yesterday said it was looking good, haven't called today. I wonder if there's an appreciable difference between the Buzzard Bluff to Wlbur Allen stretch vs. a little farther downstream, near Gravens. Is one section of the river better than the other?

Sculpin and hank are thinking of hitting the upper Gasconade. Never been. Looking at the Buzzard Bluff through Anna Adams area. What to expect river-wise? Been rain in the area lately, any idea on river conditions? All input appreciated.

This one tears at me too. The little one had a lifejacket on so it's hard to come down too hard on the parent. I've had a bunch of kids in my canoe before too. It's likely the operator wasn't that experienced but sometimes things just get away from you. The Meramec has an ugly way about it. The current can be fierce, the water big, and it's easy to get separated from your party, and then hard to re-unite. I've seen this recently in the run just below the Huzzah confluence. Was helping a couple and their kid fish things out of the river after a spill and the man with no lifejacket got swept into some trees and into a tight spot. He kept himself afloat but basically had to climb himself over the tree to free himself. I was looking for a way to give him a hand but it would have been tough. Had he gone under the trees I really don't know what anyone could have done for him. I am very familiar with the stretch below Campbell bridge and fear I know the exact spot this may have happened. It's similar to what I described above in that it has brush and trees at the downstream end of a deep and swift current. I was fishing it one day and my $5 lure got hung in the trees. I waded out a bit to get to it when the water dropped off and pretty soon I was up to my chest and drifting into the trees. I got myself out of there quick but that too could have went bad. It happens. Beware the downed brush in the deep flowing holes! Don't mess with them! I hope I've learned my lesson. My heart goes out to the family of the little one.

I'd Mayer's Landing is wade-able right now though it's probably borderline. I used to fish there a lot but haven't been yet this year. Getting across the chute right downstream from the boat ramp is the tough part. In high water you might want to walk up a bit and circle back on the opposite bank. That can be a little tricky too however. You probably could bushwhack on the north (or west) bank downstream of the MDC area to get to the first gravel bar below. From that point I used to be able to wade almost to the last bend above Lover's Leap, Hartmann Bridge, or whatever they call it now. It's hard to say for sure how a small jet would handle Tea on down. I'd say Tea to Shawnee Ford bridge (Highway AN) is probably ok. Above Kampschroeder Bend (above Mill Rock) gets kind of skinny and twisty. You oughta be able to at least jet to the bend and then get out and walk upstream. Could be some fishing in them parts.

What kind of boat you got? I'd say Tea to Mill Rock would be good right now.

Scale the fish and stick it on a flat rock next to the fire. Flip it over with a stick a couple times, carefully. When you get hungry enough push the rock away from the fire and let the fish cool down enough to eat it. Nothing to it.

Wish I could help you on Noser's to Reiker's but don't think I can. No public access that's for sure. You can't put in at Noser's anymore; you can go up to Devil's Back Floats though just above Noser's. Never heard of Eastwood; there's Greenstreet above Noser's but I don't know where access would be. Angler's of Missouri has a lot of ground between Noser's and Reiker's but from what I've heard the access isn't all that great plus you have to be a member to use it. Regarding the river above Mill Rock, I'd say it's canoe water though you might be able to jet it or use a small prop in strong spring flow. Not in summer though. The river is faster in general though you'll still find typical slow Bourbeuse pools pretty much as high on the river as you can go.

Well, I probably know the exact area you speak of, and we'll keep it between us. Slow gurgling current, rock cover everywhere, we've done good there too. All C & R on our part too. We were on the Black River last weekend. Great fishing as the weather warmed. There were times it was practically a summer pattern. Thinking of hitting the Bourbeuse either next weekend or Easter week.

Wow, riverfish86, those are some nice pics. Where abouts on the Bourbeuse do you fish? I generally hit it in the Tea, Shawnee Ford and Mill Rock areas.

Gavin, we were just down there and the spin-fishing below Cedar was fair. Bad one day, pretty good the next. Fish we did catch had a little size to them, 13 to 15 inches.