bikehikefish

I'll jump in a a give a report. Fished it yesterday,caught a couple below the park, including a scrappy smallmouth before heading back up into MS. There are lots of fish that hit on the usual stuff (almost anything). Fishing picked up after the storm came through, but tornados make it tough to keep a tight loop. What worked? Cracklebacks of various sizes and colors, griffiths gats, chamois flies.

I didn't know nuns tied flies, but check out the video of this chamois fly: This version has the chamois hanging off the back of the hook only, instead of being loose on both the front and back. I like it better, as I tie it with some thin lead wrapped around the hook, which causes the fly head to point down, with the tail trailing above it. Deadly!

I quit using head cement years ago. Too much effort to keep it thinned and every time I went to use it it was hardened. I usually lose the fly in a fish or a tree before it starts to unravel. I have two fly boxes full of uncemented, used flies that are not falling apart. The flies look better with a shiny, varnished head, but I doubt it makes much difference in durability. Two whip finishes and done.

Hours are 8 AM to 4 PM, no bait, no plastic worms, trout stamp is required as SIO3 stated. Once, during one the first years of catch release, I was the only fisherman in the park at 8:00 AM. The only thing that would have made it better would be the temperature rising above freezing and if the sleet would have stopped.

Warm water seems like a good bet. I haven't seen too many of the small browns that were stocked last year, so I'm guessing they may have went belly up. And the larger browns we used to hook into a few years ago, obviously not stockers, are nowhere to be be found. Not stocking trout in the Meramec in the future? That may be the choice if the average temperature keeps rising as it has the last 25 years. Scientific American reported in July that 2010 may be the warmest year recorded(average global, land and sea combined) since record keeping started in 1885. And they expect the trend to continue. Not trying to get into a global warming debate; I'm just saying it has been hot. In any case, next trip I'll probably drive right through St. James and go the Current. SIO3 - sorry to hear he passed away. He was a fine gentleman who I knew from my days in Meramec Basin - TU back in the '80s.

The "Dear Cardiac" thread was entertaining, but it brings up the question of what really happened here? Three years ago (I think it was three) it was fishing REALLY well. Every trip I could count on a couple decent browns and a handful of rainbows. The last two years have stunk. What changed? More poachers? I see them on occasion with sub-legal fish on stringers. Has the river changed; warmer? more gravel? Stocking patterns changed? Or have I just been hitting the river at the wrong times and the fishing has been better for others?

Thanks for the information. They shocked it? Just my luck, and not the first time. A few years ago I was fishing the Meramec just below the spring, not catching anything, and a guy in a jon boat checking his traps stopped by and said, "You know, MDC had shocking training in this pool yesterday, they shocked it REAL good!" But I'll be floating and fishing anyway. If you see three guys in yellow kayaks, say hi.

I'll be floating from Greer down this weekend and I'm wondering what shape the river is in and how the fishing is. Any advice is appreciated!

Was it at dusk, and were the fishing rising to them? Above or below Dry Fork? I might have drive down there.

Hottest part of the summer is when I usually see the white flies at Cardiac. Mid July into late August. Fishing can be tremendous for about 10 minutes at dusk, or it can be nothing. Someone called it "the mythical white fly hatch".

I've met John and found him to be a nice guy, even to a city dude like me. He even gave me ride up the hill once! But he has had problems with vandalism and trespassing, so I don't blame him a bit for being impatient with people that can't read the signs. Now for the fishing...we fished it on 7/2 and it was kind of tough. I caught a few in the hole just below where the trail goes to the river, and one down at the next bend. Everyone else I saw that day had been skunked. All rainbows - what happened to the browns? Last couple years the larger browns have been scarce, for me, anyway.

The guage says 2.13 ft, which is about a foot higher than I like to fish it. Seems like all it has to do is look like it's going to rain, and the Bourbeuse rises and gets muddy. Wading near the Mill Rock access is limited - you can't go very far until you get to water too deep to wade. You are better off with a kayak, canoe, or small john boat. I haven't tried to fly fish it, but there is no reason that wouldn't work (when the water is in good shape). Wooly buggers, deer hair poppers, or anything that resembles a minnow could produce.

Thanks!

I'll be there beginning of next week. What color/size Klink? My guess is white and very small, maybe 20's?

I'm glad you asked this question, since I'm going to Taney on Sunday and was considering bringing my kayak. I don't think I will now. I have a Wilderness Systems Pamlico 120 and a Pamilico 100, both have the big cockpits for easy entry and exit. Fishing with a spinning rod from them is great, a fly rod, not so much. For fly fishing, I beach the yak and get out and wade. I like the storage inside the kayak for gear for overnights, and longer (did 5 days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with it, against all advice). The only other advice I have is to go no shorter than 12 ft. A 10 ft boat is very maneuverable, but a pain to paddle in a straight line.

I just go back from there. (2:30 PM) The river is chocolate milk, and the few fish in Meramec Springs ignored everything they saw.

About halfway between the bridge and the campground privy the river is low enough to wade across (usually). You can see the bottom, so just look and go unless it is too deep.

It's probably not closed to protect the spawn, but to protect the spawning fish. They would bunched up and exposed to a lot of fishing pressure, kind of like the outlets at Taneycomo. fyi - when C&R started in the 80's it was allowed only upstream from the 119 bridge in the park. I don't know exactly when the park downstream from the bridge was first opened up for winter fishing.

It would be less of a monetary loss if you tied your own, but jeez, think of all the time spent tying them, all gone in one cast.

Let's see, 33 flies x 6 inches between each one = 16.5 ft. That's a pretty long tippet section. A six pack to anyone who rigs up like this and can cast it. It would be worth it just to see it done.

Gavin, I enjoy reading your posts, as you provide a wealth of good information, but I have to question the statement that cold water is responsible for the slow fishing (I won't disagree with the gigging part). I was fishing in the Meramec just upstream from where the spring dumps in, so the water was as cold as it gets, probably colder than below the dry fork, since the water there is mixed with the warmer spring water. The fish were active and took my flies all morning - they weren't a bit lethargic. Also ,every year I fish the high lakes in Colorado, where the water temperature isn't too far above freezing, and the trout don't seem to mind it. I don't have a good explanation why the fishing below the Springs is usually so slow in the winter. It seems like the trout disappear.

We fished just below the park yesterday and did pretty well. They hit cracklebacks, #14 nymphs, and chamois flys. Morning was better than afternoon, but in the PM there were som BWO coming off and a few fish would take dries. It seems like during the winter the fishing is tough further down river from the park, and I don't know why. Some say it is because of the cold water, but I'm not sure that is the reason. I fished the river just upstream from where the spring comes in to the river, and the water was ice cold because there was no spring water to warm it. It was so cold that I couldn't wade in thigh-deep for more than 10 minutes at a time. But the fish were hitting like crazy for part of the day. So I don't think water temperature is the reason fishing is so tough downstream, where the water is warmer than where I was catching fish. If anyone has other ideas on why the Cardiac area is slow in the winter, I'd like to hear them.

I don't see using lures, etc in the "fly" zone as a loophole in the law. The law is very clear as to what is legal. My advice is to ask an agent, not a park employee, the next time you see one (I will do that if I have the opportunity just to make sure I'm not way off base here). Fisherman have been using those methods for years and years and the MDC has seen not seen reason to change the regs because some fly fisherman want others to use a particular "style" of fishing. The regs are designed to protect the resource (limited number of trout for an ever increasing number of fisherman). btw - I only fly fish in the parks and the trophy trout areas, so the rule doesn't affect me.

I'm going to jump in here a little bit late, but I don't see anything confusing about the regulation. From the current Code: (D) Fly—An artificial lure constructed on a single-point hook, using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait as defined in (A) or ( above, that is tied, glued or otherwise permanently attached. Let't dissect this... "constructed on a single-point hook" does not specify how it is attached, so a single hook on a screw-eye complies "using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait" Doesn't say (anymore) that it has to be feathers, etc., so balsa wood is legal Why would a single hook Rapala be not legal?

Probably less than 3 miles from Cardiac to the park. Kind of a long walk, slogging through the river. Make sure you respect the "no trespassing" signs just upriver from the Cardiac access - the owner prosecutes.