Seth

Thanks for the tip raildog!

What were you throwing? They were hitting a brown/orange marabou jig fished like Phil shows in his videos really well the other day. I was catching a lot more than the fly fishermen I was fishing around. I did best in the middle of the pond hole but caught trout pretty well everywhere. Were there a lot of other people down there?

I hope you get to make it. You are a good example of why I posted this. Most don't get out to fish enough as it is. When you do get the chance to go out, you want to actually catch some fish and make it worth your while. Fishing is fun, but catching is the real reason we go!

I've started using this retrieve while fishing jigs at Meramec instead of the traditional reel and shake retrieve like everybody else does. Letting the jig drop seems to produce more strikes instead of them just following it all the way back to the rod.

Just what this thread needs, an old, mangy stray cat to stir up trouble! You leave them brown bass alone now you hear and stick to chasing your rainbow fish!

Meramec Springs stays in the 40's all year long since it's fed by a big spring. No worries about ice.

Tailwater fishing for me is either feast or famine. I either wack em or get skunked. I rarely have a so-so trip. What kind of baits and rigs do you use when targetting walleye and sauger? I wouldn't mind to try it one of these days but I really don't have a clue about rigging. I know some area's to try for them but that's about it.

I hit that area a bit before three while fishing my way back down to the truck and caught a couple little smallies and a couple trout. There was a pretty good pile of trout just down from there that were hungry for my jig. Of course I missed most of them but did manage to get a couple.

I guess I will have to try it down there a few more times during c&r season to see if it looks like opening day of trout season the rest of the winter.....

Oh I'm not losing sleep over it. I have my own spots/lures/blahblahblah that I don't mention as well but this isn't one of them. This is just about catching fish and having some fun. Most of thee fish are dinks anyways so you couldn't keep them even if you wanted to. If I was taking this stuff serious, I would have been equipped with something other than a sissy stick and 4# test when I went.

I understand completely. There's plenty that I don't post in the open forum as well. This is just one of those things that I don't mind mentioning since I don't fish it much personally and I like seeing others who are limited to bank fishing get in on the action. The water will recede and the jet boaters will be gone. I'd bet money those jet boaters already know about the smallmouth in that area. I don't even know where a guy puts in at to get up there. I'm not a Meramec guy.

Well I apologize for not being a stingy butt about catching smallmouth from a freakin trout park. I don't fish down there much anyways so it doesn't really bother me. I've got other spots I can fish too that require a jet boat and knowledge of the area that I will keep hush hush on. Guys come on here looking for free info but aren't wiling to share any in return. Gotta love it! Fishermen at their best!

I didn't realize a trout park was a big secret especially when you can walk around and see the fish swimming around right in front of you. If this was something on main stretch of river, I'd never mention anything about it. So much for being generous and giving out advice so somebody can go catch a few smallies without having to mess with a boat. You aren't supposed to keep any fish from the spring branch during c&r season anyways right or is that just for trout?

Enlighten me. This is the first time I've been down there during the winter season in several years. Am I missing something? In the past when I went down trout fishing, I never did see very many people.

I had had already started working my way up river before you got down there. The pond hole is what I call the first hole as you enter the park. The handicap hole is at the head of it and then there are some steps at the end of it right before it dumps over a log and the current picks up. Saturday was the day to be downt here. There were several jet boats up there beating the crap out of the area by the mud line on Sunday.

My buddy went back up to Bagnell Saturday morning and said it was dead. He caught 10 white bass and left. Nothing like New Years Day. That's all I got.

Wow! I am glad I went Saturday and passed on yesterday! There was myself and two others fishing from the bank for smallies and that was it! I've seen one jet boat down there before when the water was up but it was several years ago. I had no idea it got that crazy there!

I caught half throughout the park and the other half below the bridge in the riffle where the red ribbon area starts.

I believe you can throw artificials with trebles in the red ribbon area, but not in the park. Neither areas allow plastic.

If anybody wants to catch some, head to Meramec Springs! I went down there today to mess around and caught at least a dozen on my ultralight and a sculpin jig. Nothing huge, biggest was 15", but they were a blast on the light tackle. Also caught at least a dozen trout as a bonus. The best part was I didn't even have to mess with pulling the boat!

I was down there today as well. Were you the guy I talked to for a while down below the bridge and then back at my truck later in the day? I threw one of Lilleys brown/orange 3/32oz jigs all day and landed between 12-15 smallmouth, around the same amount of trout, one largemouth, one kentucky and one govgle eye. The trout were biting really well between 2-3 up in the pond hole. I'd love to go back again tomorrow but not sure I'll have time. It was a great day down there!

Same here. I'm a bad liar when it comes to fishing. Most guys fish the same types of baits in our club so it's really no big secret most times. I do have one technique that has done well for me that few if any are using. I've told a couple guys who have given me good information in the past, but I've yet to see them throwing the same bait. They do decent fishing their way so probably haven't had a reason to try it yet. Time on the water is hard to beat. I have my confidence baits, but I am constantly reading about new baits, techniques, etc to try later on. Pay attention to details and you will start developing your own confidence baits and techniques and become a better fishermen. Listening to others helps as well but always take it with a grain of salt. Most guys I fish against are full of crap most of the time I'm pretty sure. I always take their information in to consideration and try it myself but it doesn't always pan out so I try to find my own spots and patterns instead of relying on other peoples. I'm a good example of this. I started fishing a river bass club two years ago. The first year was rough and I couldn't even weigh in a limit but learned a lot. The second year was MUCH better. I figured out a couple patterns and baits that I had confidence in and stuck with them and was able to win one tournament, get second in another and weigh in a limit at every tournament, even ones where most guys struggled to weigh more than a few fish. I can't wait till this year to try out a few other things I've learned.

The big fish have been rare below Bagnell for several years. It used to take 20 pounds to win below the dam, but anything above 15 will give you a really good chance anymore. There was a club tourney held in fall of 2010 where a guy weighed in a largemouth just under 8 but still didn't get big bass. Another guy weighed in an 8.65! Top two weights were 21 and 20 something pounds.

I've had a 6'6" m/f Cherrywood casting rod that I bought on sale for $15 several years. It's been a great rod for such a cheapy. If I ever break it, I've definitely got my $15 worth! They are well worth the full $25-30 price tag. It's hauled in bass up to 6# and even a 45# blue cat my girlfriend accidentally hooked in a small local lake. I like it for small topwaters and jerkbaits.

My zonker strips and crosscut rabbit finally came in. Here are my first hair jigs. The heads are 1/8oz and 1/4oz spot removers I bought on sale at Walmart with the plastic keeper clipped off. What do you think?