MOFishwater

we knocked the float out in exactly 3.5hrs the other day on kayaks with some stops for kid to swim and goof around on beaches. been meaning to hit that for many years so finally had wife dump me and daughter off. First part to 109 bridge is fast and great current, really dwindled and river got wider and flatter. The last couple miles were very slow with wind coming up the river, if you stopped to make some casts you would be going backwards, zero current...very slow and lots of paddling to finish. We were just scoping the route out more than anything but fished the good looking spots. Throwing whopper ploppers, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, buzzbaits, grubs and jigs off and on. Zero bites, zero fish seen other than one gar. Other than being able to take out in essentially my backyard that stretch seems pretty worthless, would be worth it to add some drive time if you were serious about fishing I would guess and find a float further upstream... We are going to keep working our way up river when time allows, we'll hit Pacific to Allenton another weekend than Labor Day and then up from there, that's the idea at least.... Water quality is definitely a disappointment compared to what you'll find at Bourbon, etc upriver. Hard to beat any free local float though!

Seems like a topic for a different forum, or perhaps I'm in the wrong place if this is where OAF is headed.

Seems pretty straightforward: Northern Pikeminnow are a native species that eats millions of juvenile salmon and steelhead each year in the Columbia and Snake River systems. The goal of the Pikeminnow Program is not to eradicate Northern Pikeminnow, but rather to reduce their average size by removing 10 to 20 percent of the larger fish from their population. Reducing the number of larger Northern Pikeminnow and thus shrinking the average-sized fish in the population can greatly help juvenile salmon and steelhead make it to sea, since smaller sized Northern Pikeminnow eat fewer smolts than larger fish.

how long did the allenton>Rt66 float take you? Been meaning to hit it one sunday but not sure how long I'd need to devote.

Sounds awesome Al! Do you have any pics or videos of the former setup you had? I've been really wanting to put in a pondless waterfall/bubbler for the birds but it seems overwhelming at the moment after scouring various websites and youtubes for too long. Might have to wait for the 'next house' like all of our other grand ideas and dreams. If any of you other folks have some pics of your setup I'd love to see them also. Its amazing how much of a wildlife attraction a small water feature can be.

sorry to hear about your buddy, sounds like a great guy.

Appreciate the info on the utility rock.

anyone able to provide any info on this one? Found in a creek in JeffCo by a friend. Assuming a bird or fish point of some sort? Many thanks in advance. Pic of the find

Delayed opening until April or May of '23 https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2022/11/17/sunset-hills-bass-pro-location-won-t-open-until-spring-2023

Drove by a couple days ago and it looks very far from being operational any time soon.

Awesome!

never stopped me from trying to hook up with pike or muskies! As my obsession with fishing has waned over the years and moved into other outdoor activities, hobbies, family obligations etc I've gotten pretty stuck on certain lures and havent been using cranks or jerkbaits much. I'll have to dig a little deeper into the tackle box and revisit some old friends. I'm admittedly pretty green on my river fishing abilities and knowledge and usually just fishing something I can cover water quickly with while moving and trying to not get snagged. appreciate the tips and the photos. Hope to get out a few more times before school and sports (and archery season) fully engulf our lives.

Thanks for all of the suggestions folks. Will give some a whirl when the river is back to normal conditions.

Thanks Dave! I will definitely give that consideration on the next outing, I'm more than happy tossing a fly for my rig. Also appreciate the suggestions for being patient with hookset. quite possibly ripping it out too fast due to seeing the oncoming strike or just setting way too hard.

Been out with kids quite a bit this summer near Route 66 and we are encountering a lot of gar. Nothing too big but they sure get the kids excited when they come after a lure and you can see the approach in the (somewhat) clear water. We must've missed 8 bites in a row and never hooked up last time out. Any favorite lures to tempt one of these fish? Kids just want to battle one finally, I am not worried about losing a lure or two in the pursuit. I was actually tossing a craw jig when the action started over the weekend and had one hit it 3x before it tore the bait off completely. I know most of what I have read suggests live bait and i've heard the adage about frayed rope tangling up their teeth but would prefer to just toss some artificial baits. Thanks for any suggestions if you know something that's worked decently.

just the tips

Good stuff, love seeing the excitement. Hopping around and 'whoo!' yells, can't beat that kind of fun. Good job Seth!

We had a bunch of Mississippi Kites in our neighborhood (44/Meramec river bottoms in Eureka) last year, very cool birds! We had lots of time to take long morning walks being stuck home from the pandemic. Been anxiously scanning for them for a month or so and finally saw another one last night taking my daughter to soccer practice. Not sure if last year was an odd year or not; i saw kites down along River des Peres/44 and some at forest park on my lunch break. Hopefully we'll have a lot around the neighborhood again. You can pick em out a mile away, definitely a 'sporty', streamlined shape, easy to differentiate from our normal hawks. Cool birds for sure.

To all members and friends of St. Louis Audubon: We'd like to call your attention to a troubling bill that is now scheduled for a vote in the Missouri House, although which day is not yet known. It's designated HB 1046, and it authorizes the sale of the Eleven Point State Park. Every conservation and environmental organization in Missouri opposes it. St. Louis Audubon is a partner of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, a private nonprofit that monitors all bills relating to conservation, wildlife, and outdoor sports in the state. They support some bills and oppose others; right now they take this bill to be one of the two most serious problems to arise this year. On the CFM website is a Legislative Action Center that allows each of us to send our opinion on a bill to our own representative by a simple click. We urge everyone to take this action by going to https://www.confedmo.org/lac/#/, scrolling down to the second listed item, "Oppose HB 1046," and clicking on the button that says "Save 11 Point State Park." This will require your name, address, zip code, and phone number and will send a message directly to your representative (you don't need to look up their address or even their name). They provide some text already written, but you can edit it or add to it if you wish. This message is going out on April 6, and for your opinion to have the greatest impact, you should take this action right away. If you wish to contact your representative on your own, or give his or her office a call, that's excellent, but the CFW website allows you to do this in the quickest and easiest way. We strongly recommend that you express dismay over this proposal and ask your representative to oppose it. Note that we are hoping to see this bill fail in the House. If it passes and goes to the Senate, we will let you know and will again ask for your help. Many thanks, Dennis Martin, President Bill Rowe, VP for Education and Outreach Jean Favara, VP for Conservation

Update: Last night HB 1046, sale of Eleven Point State Park, passed out of committee and can now be heard on the Missouri House floor anytime. Vote could come as soon as today, here's a link to contact your reps if you'd like to voice your opinion. Done. Please contact your State Senator and Representative and ask them to oppose HB 1046, the Eleven Point State Park sale.Please ask them to vote to remove this language if it is amended on to any other legislation.This site was purchased legally from a Superfund settlement using no significant state tax funds. The park funds cannot be used for anything else, like remediation or clean-up for residential areas. $40 Million specifically went for cleanup in the place where the damages happened. Then the approximately $35 million additional dollars were to be used only for natural resource protections by acquiring equivalent resources.According to the Oregon County Collector, taxes on the parcels comprising the more than 4,000 acre park were $4,542, so the economic benefits from tourism will far outweigh the property tax revenue loss. Local economies will flourish as our state parks have an annual economic impact of $1.7 billion dollars, and every dollar Missouri spends on their state parks, the economy sees a $26 return. http://t.congressweb.com/t/?YYWRNCKCXOMWUHS&publicGRRecID=23DBECC2-5056-92E0-690691BB47D5FD3D

Awesome pics and wonderful review. Nice to see someone share some actual information as well for once instead of just brag posting, might even help another OA member catch a few more fish. We floated the last Weds of September and fishing was very tough, similar conditions. Didn't see another person on the river all day, it's really a great time to get out when most folks have hung up the fishing gear. Only hooked up a couple fish on a ned and one on a zara spook near the end, was def one of the slower catchin' trips in recent memory but can't beat a float over a workday. Thanks for sharing and for the offering up some tips/suggestions. Looks like a great time.

Pretty vague article, hopefully you're right and it's a good thing. I haven't seen much about it but heard rumors it would be happening from a friend that just floated a couple weeks ago. Outfitter didnt seem confident it was beneficial but this is the first tidbit i've seen related to it.

One of the best, most pristine areas I've floated in MO. Hope this won't alter the serenity or the landscape... https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-ordered-to-sell-parts-of-planned-state-park-along-eleven-point-river/article_51144355-74b1-5d2f-a92b-34c317ba627e.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest JEFFERSON CITY — An Oregon County circuit judge has ordered the state of Missouri to sell parts of a planned state park along the Eleven Point River in the southern part of the state. The ruling by Circuit Judge Steven Privette, issued Tuesday, is a loss for the state and state parks boosters. Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon engineered the purchase of the roughly 4,200 acres in his second term. Van and Elizabeth McGibney sued the state in 2017, arguing that roughly 625 acres of the planned park was located within a federal easement along the Eleven Point River. At trial in August, the state argued the planned park wasn’t in conflict with the easement and that the easement may be modified in the future to allow public use, according to the judgement. The state also said the McGibneys lacked standing, but the judge said they did have standing as members of the public challenging use of public funds, and that the McGibneys were subject to the same easement as the Department of Natural Resources. Privette on Tuesday ordered that the defendant “Department of Natural Resources is hereby directed to divest itself of ownership of those lands located within the bounds of the Wild and Scenic Easement.” House Republicans have voted several times to force the sale of the property and many local officials had long slammed the purchase.

glad you made it out ok. lost a friend in high school when he and a buddy were out in a pond prowler on a farm pond with a spillway which drained down a STEEP rocky cut. not sure what they were thinking but they got too near the spillway and the flow was more than the trolling motor could fight. they both jumped off a side and only one of them made it to the shore. still think about that all.the.time...easily avoidable. never underestimate the power of simple water.