creek wader

I guess I was a little off on how far. It’s about 4 to 6 hours drive with stop or two, depending where we go.

I’m located in St. Joseph, mo

Thank you for the info. The Big Piney SMA was one I was considering

Special Management Areas. I’m referring to the Smallmouth special management areas. I’m open to any streams. We just want to catch numbers. Size is secondary.

My grandson is wanting to do some stream smallie fishing. It’s been years since I’ve done any smallie float trips. Not sure which river or sections to go. I really want to avoid the crowds and have some solitude. Where we can mainly fish. I’ve seen they’ve had a lot of flooding lately. Does any have any recommendations for us. I thought about one of the SMA streams. We’re open to any stream . We just want to catch smallies. It’s about a 6 to 8 hour drive to any good streams, from my house. So, I’d do two short one day trips. Spend a few nights in a motel of VRBO. Preferably, do a different section each day. We’d need an outfitter for rental and shuttle. Open to any suggestions.

I saw your record fish on the MDC email. Congratulations

Live minnows can make a bad fisherman look good. In our world catch and release are the norm. Unfortunately, in the rest of the world, catch and release fishermen are the minority. Many people have the “I keep everything I catch”, mentality. Found out the hard way when I let people to fish my ponds, it got pretty ugly. Just wish they’d target the Asian carp instead.

Please give a report after your trip. I was thinking of doing that stretch, soon. I fished Barclay down early in the year. Water was high and swift. Couldn’t get very many casts while moving because of controlling kayak. Tried drifting over riffles but usually snagged. Very few places to fish from bank. Still caught fish, but had to work for it. Unfortunately, I don’t get to pick when I can fish, rather fish when I can. Part of fishing. Like to try the river when it’s a little tamer. Please give a post trip report.

From Mountain Creek to Lead Mine/ Berry Bluff, is 16 miles. Mountain Creek said they could shuttle. It’ll probably be next year before I’d have time again.

I used Mountan Creek for shuttle. I had a good day. Not a great day. Caught around 25 smallies. Several nice goggle eye and a nice rainbow. Most smallies were less than 12”. Biggest smallie of the day was a 17”. Im not used to fishing a stream with such a fast flow. Shot right by a lot of spots without getting a cast. When I tried to cast while moving, I snagged a lot. Lost a lot off tackle. So I switched to weightless soft plastics. Neds, flukes, swim baits, and senkos. Started catching fish, then.

I’m heading down tomorrow morning early. Gonna try Barkley down to Mountain Creek. It’s roughly a 4 hour drive each way. So that cuts into my fishing big time. if I have any success at all I’m going to try a 2 or 3 day float to Lead mine, later in the year.

Welcome to the site. You’ve came to the right place for advice. A wealth of info from a good group of guys.

Ok thanks, I got honey do’s this week. I’m shooting for next week

Okay. I was researching. That looks like a good place to put in. Thanks for your help. Now it’s up to the weather.

Ok thanks. I may try that lower stretch. Sounds more like I’m looking for. Overnight or two would be great.