405z06

i will be interested in the responses. I have never floated this stretch as I was under the impression that this is not a good area to target smallies due to the cold water from the spring.

No, sir. And we did the same float again 8/20. I've never caught a walleye on the Meramec so far. And I have only caught 1 white, and that was about 5 miles below Onondaga.

That's awesome! About 10 years ago my dad and I were fishing a point at Lake of the Ozarks with Wiggle Warts. My dad had a fish that broke his line. Never saw the fish, it didn't jump. About 5 minutes later the trebles on my Wiggle Wart snagged his broken line (which we couldn't see) and it was a monster spotted bass.

Wood and Water Online "It’s rare, but they apparently do get that old. The surprising thing to me was the bass’s relatively small size. Then again, bass grow pretty slowly up north, and Kalispell lies just a few miles south of Montana’s border with Canada. From the Associated Press: KALISPELL, Mont. — A 10-year-old Kalispell boy using a rubber worm caught a largemouth bass in Western Montana that wildlife officials say is nearly twice as old as he is. Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Mark Deleray said the bass caught and released by Garrett Frost in Rose Creek Slough on July 16 could be as much as 19 years old, which may be the oldest on record for Montana. The fish was 20 to 22 inches long and weighed about 3.5 pounds. Garrett removed a tag that had been placed on the fish in 1997 in another Flathead River backwater area about 5 miles away. Biologists estimate that the fish was 5 years old when it was tagged, based on the fact that it was just over 14 inches long and weighed 1.5 pounds at the time. “We can be pretty confident about that age,” FWP spokesman Mark Fraley said Wednesday, adding that a bass can’t grow as big as 14 inches long in less than five years in Montana. Tyler Frost told FWP officials his son hooked the fish on a rubber worm and landed it himself. Most literature says largemouth bass can live to be 15 or 16 in the northern United States, Fraley said. Fish tend to grow slower and live longer in colder waters.

This is my favorite part. He goes gar snagging and grabs 10x as many paddlefish as gar. Ridiculous.

Well, I Googled Richart Spring and it came up with this MDC map. I cropped it and attached it here. This map indicates that the name of the spring is "Roaring Spring". But when I Google "Roaring Spring" + "Meramec" something about Stanton, MO comes up?

we put ourselves on about 6:30, so we had the river to ourselves for the first couple of hours.

I don't remember where it was exactly, but somewhere about 1/2 way thought this float on Saturday there is a spring immediately off the river on the left hand side (as you are floating downstream). I thought that it was really neat and kinda odd. Does anyone know what I am referring to, and if so, is there a name for it? I wish I had taken a picture. We stopped there and fished for a while and also swam in the cool water. Fishing was good to very good. We caught a ton of fish, mostly on spinnerbaits. Most were smallish with the exception being an 18 1/4" smallie caught by my buddy on a shakeyhead that is our biggest of the year so far.

LMAO!

In a turn below Onondaga last week I caught on back-to-back-to-back casts a smallie, then a spot, then a white bass on a 1/4oz tandem spinnerbait. It's the first time I had caught a white on the Meramec. And I don't catch many spots at all in that area, either (thank goodness). Still looking for my first walleye on the Meramec, however.

I've fished the Meramec 2x in the past 3 weeks. Once the 10 miles to Onodaga, and once the 10 miles starting there. I (we) also have been catching only smaller fish. Talking with my buddy, we kinda attributed it to trying to cover too much water too fast in the hot weather, but who really knows? Anyway, Sunday we are gonna hit the water real early and float a shorter float and slow down and pick apart the best areas, as opposed to running through everything fast with a spinnerbait or crankbait as we usualy do.

thanks for the report!

Those are spotted bass. They got their name from the black spots on their belly. just kidding Those are 100% smallmouth

I fished the Meramec on Friday for 10 miles ending at Onondaga. I noticed the stained water, too. I had never seen it like that before. It wasn't particularly high either. Corey certainly knows that area a million time better than me, but I didn't see a much jet action until later in the day and once I got past the Huzzah. The fishing was def. below average from what I normally expect in that stretch.

I gotta agree with JoeD here. In fact, I floated the B this past Saturday via Devil's Back (Peters Ford to Noser Mill). It was the 1st time I floated it in a couple of years and I forgot how utterly disappointing it is. The guarantee of solitude doesn't mean much to me if the fishing is poor. I caught 8 bass total in 6 hours (2 SM, 2LM, 4 spots), one fish over 12". The horseflies were horrible, too.

Good work. I wanted to throw up when I saw the stringer, but then I saw that you released them. My Mother's husband said he tore them up on Friday. He said it seemed like every fish was 4lbs.

It's funny, because depending on when you have been down, your perception could be completely different. I've only been done 3 times this spring, but all 3 times have been astounded at the quality of the fish. It seems like everything is 16+ inches. I haven't caught anything 5 lb+ yet this spring, but the overall quality of fish has been the best I have ever seen.

A buddy and I stayed at Wilderness Ridge last weekend and floated the 6x to Ross on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday I don't think we saw a single canoe or raft, and we got on the water about 8am. Saturday was busier, but it wasn't too bad, and most of them were pleasure floaters, not fisherman. The smallmouth were very willing on both days. Had a great time. I absolutely love that stretch and can't wait to get back.

Itching to do my first float of the year after a crazy Spring so far. I would prefer to do the Meramec, which is my favorite, but if the water is still high, we may have to choose between the Huzzah & Courtois. Which do you recommend and which outfitter to use (we will be renting a canoe). I usually like to float ~10 miles, give or take, and will be fishing for smallmouth. Thanks!

Caught 2(!)smallmouth on the Meramec near Onondaga with lampreys on them this past weekend. Had never seen one in person before, only pics. Then I catch 2 in one day. Also saw 3 deer cross the river right in front of me + a bald eagle (another 1st for me).

:lol:

Floated on Saturday and the fish were really biting. Had 4 smallies within 15 minutes of getting the canoe in the water. Unfortunately, the wind really picked up later in the morning and made fishing literally impossible over the last 2/3 of the float. In all I caught 17 bass (all smallies except 1 LM and 1 Spot). Would have easily been a 40-50 fish day if not for the heavy wind. Caught all fish on 1/4 oz chartreuse double-willow spinnerbait. Nothing of any significant size, but man, what fun when those guys are eager to bite!

did it have a patch on it's tongue?

I, too, agree with Al. The first half of this float has always been very productive for me for both nice spots and smallies. 1/4 oz willow leaf spinnerbaits always seemed to work even when other baits wouldn't work. The second half of the float is dead water with very little current. Some stretches look bassy, but have yet to pull anything out of the back half. And if the wind is coming at your face, it's a long way back to your vehicle, because there is no current to help you along

Wow, those look good!