Tailwater

Put in at Hammond and floated down to some nice riffles around Rainbow Spring. It poured rain the night before, so the water was running well. I tied on an olive mohair leech, fished it deep, and caught seven nice fish, all over 12 inches and brightly colored. Biggest one was about 17 inches and had me dancing down the river just to keep up. I was really glad I was fishing a 4X leader, or he would have broken me off. Always heard this river had great fish, and am very thankful I decided to float even with the water up. I'm even more glad that my wife was patient and let me fish while she read a book in the canoe!

Fished for about 3 hours just down from the trail from the parking lot across from the hatchery, after eating too much turkey the day before. Once I found some current, I landed 3 dink stockers on a copper midge, and then decided to fish a trailer size 14 prince nymph. About the 3rd cast, I had a violent strike and then a meaty splash from a big fish (at least in my book). He gave me two real hard runs towards the dam, and stripped me down to my backing in about 10 seconds. I turned him, got some line back on, and then had two more runs to the backing. With help from my Dad, I landed him, took time to measure him at 19", and then safely released. Absolute PIG of a fish, with great colors, and obvious strength. Heck of a time to forget my camera in the car, but what a Thanksgiving memory! I think we all are very blessed to have such an outstanding fishery, and long live the length limit at Taneycomo! I would much rather have the chance to catch a big fish than harvest a few stockers every now and then.

Typed this thread too quickly. The chained object is actually at the bottom of suicide hill, not cardiac.

Fished the Meramec last Wed (7/2) and stumbled/slid my usual way down Cardiac. Got to the bottom and noticed a large gauge chain around a large tree with a nice rootwad that I like to fish for BIG browns. The chain goes down into the rootwad and has a blue tag that I couldn't read, but looked like a setup for a furbearer trap. Could also be a water temp gauge, or who knows? The MDC fisheries biologist in the region didn't know what it was when I called him, but furbearer trapping season isn't until the winter..... Anybody have any idea what this could be? I called and left a message for the area agent, but wondered if any fishermen had some inside info.

Gotta agree with ekl on this one. I fished all day on 5/8, and caught lots of fat, hungry trout on leeches and a black madame X. The fly zone looks MUCH different than last year, with lots of nice holes and undercuts to fish. They were hitting almost everything, and the overcast skies and 60 degree temp helped quite a bit. Biggest of the day was about 17", and the majority were in the 14" to 15" range. Most were nicely colored and gave the drag on my 4wt quite a nice run. I released all of mine, and was even polite to the guy in full camo who was thoughtful enough to stand directly above a hole I was fishing and give me some unrequested "advice."

Walked down to the pilings from the trout park and can't believe how low the water is. I only saw a few fish in about 3/4 miles of the river, and most of the good runs are now slow moving pools. With the water crystal clear, I had no luck with subsurface or dries. Weather was great, but we REALLY need some rains before we have a fighting chance at some fish.

Since I was fishing at 140, and the water is now at 400, I guess it's anyone's guess as to how the suicide stretch is fishing right now. Most of my favorite stretches were too low to fish, and only the deepest holes had a decent number of fish. Browns were especially spooky after any bad casts. I've found that's a really good zone on the weekdays when the aluminum hatch hasn't been buzzing, but a bad stretch on weekends with more pressure. I had a great time with the still stretches along banks downstream of suicide, as I caught about 20 longear, some of them were hand sized slabs. Looks like the water level is really good (for now)--best of luck in your trip!

Tried to fish Blue Springs Creek on 9/6, as I had never been there before and needed to drive to Sullivan on some business. The creek was VERY low, and gin clear, with little to no movement in most stretches, so I put the rod back in the car and headed to the Meramec. Looked like a neat place to try, but it will take quite a bit of rain to give mere mortal flyfishermen like myself any chance to catch fish.

Started at suicide and fished upstream all the way to the Cabin, with not alot of pocket water to choose from. Word of the day for both dates was LOW water. Had over 20 long ear on a black madame x, with some nice browns and rainbows on a size 10 stimulator near the bank. Action was best right before dusk, as the browns would hit the stimulator about every other cast (gotta love that with 4X tippet). Biggest of both days was a really nice, fat 16 in. brown that took me for quite a ride downstream before finally coming to hand. Looks like the water is way up from recent rains--the river sure could use it. One note--had to do some trash pickup at the suicide lot. It still floors me how people somehow have the urge to throw a used water bottle or styrofoam cup away in one of the prettiest spots in Missouri. Another great 2 days on the Meramec. Saw just a few white flies at dusk--I think we're still a few days away from the big Fall hatches.

The big rainbow was caught on a size 8 olive mohair leech which I high sticked into a deep riffle. A renegade produced lots of activity on the surface, but like I said...lots of frustrating short strikes.

Trekked down suicide hill around 2:00 and found the water pleasantly up compared to most of the rivers in the area. Had more short strikes than I've had in quite a while, and only landed one rainbow (about 17"). The aluminum hatch was in full bloom already, and one group of college students was absolutely plastered when they floated by at about 5:00. The screaming of profanity and insults from their female companion made me skip a second day of fishing this fine piece of water. Lots of fish on top around 5:30 or so, but couldn't get any of them to commit......

Anybody been to the Little Piney that's willing to post a fishing report? USGS site shows water pretty low, but was thinking about a trip down there this weekend.

Thinking of heading to the Current this weekend, but the water levels look BAD. Anybody been there recently for a quick report? Hope Sam's problems get better soon--he's our best regular reporter in the area.

Wasn't able to go over the weekend, as I spent the day with an insurance adjustor tallying up my damages from the hailstorm of the past weekend. Hope to go in the next few weeks, when hopefully the health of my house and the water levels have improved. Thanks again for your local data--I'll be asking again before I go.

Thanks a bunch for the info. Last time I fished from the 63 bridge all the way up to the campground and back and caught quite a few small 'bows. Quite a nice stretch of stream, and the fish fight well even if they're a bit small.

Sam--how bad is the water down there? Looks like it's back down again, but has it changed from the chocolate milk color I'm sure you had after the storms?

I'm thinking of fishing the Little Piney this weekend..any fishing/water reports from folks in the area? Has the USFS campground opened yet? Any help is greatly appreciated.

One other important thing about suicide...don't put your rod together until you get to the bottom! I've seen a few poor guys heading back up the hill after breaking their rods after a stumble or two. Also, be sure to wear treaded boots. Personal experience climbing back up the hill with felt bottom soles in a rain storm was one I'll never forget. I fell back into the river twice at the bottom and nearly ripped the knees out of my waders after a fall on the climb back up. Definitely not a hill for the weak of heart....

As a matter of fact, after seeing your post I did happen to bump into Kruse, and your statement brought a smile to his face. I've had the privelege of fishing with him a few times--all of them very humbling. The guy has done unbelievable things for us MO trout bums, and the best line control I've ever seen.

How bad was the flow? I heard from someone who talked to the hatchery manager there and said they're only seeing about 4.5M gal per day flow at this point--5M gallons is considered a dangerous flow level. If the Table Rock scene (down about 14 feet) is any indicator, those big fish may turn into dried prunes before too long....

Until the water gets any higher, the Little Piney will continue to be quite a tough creek/river to fish. I had lots of luck a few weeks ago fishing the riffles with small griffith's gnats, but caught only small, pretty wild rainbows. Buddy I fished with had luck on a small Prince nymph, but his biggest 'bow was 10 inches or so. We hiked from the 63 bridge all the way up past the campground and had SOLITUDE as we fished all the way back. The big boys are all hunkered down in the holes, and there's not enough flow with the water this low to even think about fishing in their areas. Beavers had been quite busy--I caught a few in small pools right above their dams.

I had great luck on Saturday fishing a harvester midge, but my best luck came when the fish started rising just before the approaching (but much too brief) rain and sleet. I landed a beautiful, jumping 18 incher on a size 16 griffith's gnat that was absolutely inhaled by the fish. Fished with my Dad at the ledge between outlets 2 and 3, and he had great luck with a black flash-a-bugger (also landing a nice, fat 17 incher). The fish got REALLY active with the rising barometric pressue, and the overcast skies seemed to really help with line stealth.