Post-dispatch Article

[joeD]

Did anyone read Kathy Etling's column in the Saturday 8/9 St.Louis Post-Dispatch, "Outdoors" section, in the sports section? Basically, she was fishing with an experienced river angler, one who fishes river tournaments often, and he had said that his biggest smallies were 6 pounds something and 5.9 pounds, both caught on the Meramec river. I have no doubt that he's an accomplished angler, but 6 pounds? In the river? I've caught my fair share of smallies in the 20 - 22" range, but they were nowhere near the 5 or 6 pound weight class, even in the spring with eggs. It's nothing really, but , is it true? I'm sure it's possible, but...

I'm probably just jealous.

www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/0CC1C97624930BB1862574A0000B8551?OpenDocument

[Wormser]

Hmmmm.. I'd like to see a picture or 2. I have caugh a 19 and 20 incher as my 2 biggest on the Mac, and they were in the 2.5 lb range (guessing).

[Gavin]

Those would be some huge river smallmouth... Our river fish run skinnier than lake fish and northern smallmouth.. I figure an 18" river smallie runs about 3lbs, a 20" fish around 4lbs, and if I ever caught a 22" I'd call it a 5lb fish.... Guess a 23-24" river fish could weigh that much but I've never seen one that big. Cheers.

[Al Agnew]

Some of it depends upon what time of year they are caught. Late autumn to early spring smallies are almost always heavier than summer fish. And I have noticed in recent years that the smallmouth on the Meramec seem to be thicker, healthier fish in general than they were back when I fished the Meramec religiously years ago. In the past I caught several Meramec smallies that were 21-22 inches, and the heaviest of them, caught in mid-summer, weighed 5 pounds even. But I've caught a couple of 20 inch fish in the last few years that were probably well over 4.5.

For that reason, I much prefer to judge river smallies by length instead of weight. A 22+ inch river smallmouth is a HUGE fish no matter what it weighs, and just as old, just as rare, and just as tough to catch no matter whether it weighs 4 pounds or 6 pounds. My biggest ever was 22.5 inches, and I've only heard of a very few that were longer...and I've only seen two or possibly three that would have gone past 23 inches. I know some excellent river anglers, and it seems like their biggest fish are also right around that 22 inch mark. So, while I can envision the possibility of a 22-23 inch Meramec smallmouth that weighed 6 pounds, I too would be very interested to know the lengths of the fish mentioned.

[shawncat]

Biggest smallie I ever saw caught out of the Mac' was 20"+ about 4-5lps just downriver of Ondagoga bridge on a blue plastic worm in late October.Biggest one I ever caught was 19" about 3.5lps in the rapids below Sturms cabin at Cardiac Hill.Living 5 min. from the Mac' below the old river town of Pacific,I hear story's from locals of the good ole day's of 5-6lps. smallies,but yet to see one.Catch 3or 4 up to 17" a year,but mostly 12-15".

[joeD]

That's why scales are called "De-Liars." How many times have we been on the river and, in a random encounter with another angler, the other guy says "Well, so-and-so caught a 6 pounder just upstream from here a few weeks ago." Or a 5 pounder. Or downstream. I guess all you can do is raise your eyebrows, nod your head, and move on.

Besides, you shoulda been here yesterday...

[bikehikefish]

Not that it makes much difference, but I think the article was about a guy fishing the Gasconade, not the Meramec.

[joeD]

"The stories of huge largemouths and Kentuckys that Bruder has weighed in — and released again — are legion, but his lunker bronzebacks border on the unbelievable. His largest so far weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and 5 pounds 9 ounces and were taken while fishing the Meramec"

Yes, the article and interview/fishing trip took place on the Gasconade, but the above quote caught my eye. Hence, my query on this site.

Honestly, I don't believe him.

I've seen 5 and 6 pound smallies (Lake Pickwick and the Tennessee River in TN), those fish are monsters and they're not in our Ozark river system. Period.

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, but the article said his two biggest fish came from the Meramec.

There WERE good old days on the Meramec. I started fishing it in the 1970s, and back then I'm certain it was the best river in the Ozarks for big smallmouth. I fully expected to catch at least one fish over 18 inches every time I went. Back around 1980, there were a couple of articles in MO Game and Fish magazine touting the lower river in the St. Clair area, with pictures that were obviously of fish as big as they said they were...fish in the 21 inch, four to five pound class. The stretch from St. Clair to Moselle was full of really big smallies, and the whole river harbored some big fish, even Shawncat's stretch down by Pacific. Why so good? The Meramec had it all, fertile but cool water, excellent cover, and not really a lot of fishing pressure. As long as you avoided the weekend aluminum hatch and didn't use lures that were too small, you stood a good chance to catch big fish.

But the fishing dropped off drastically starting in the mid-80s. The spotted bass exploded on the lower river below St. Clair, and jetboats proliferated on the river, bringing greatly increased fishing pressure (and illegal gigging pressure). By 1990 or so much of the river was a far cry from the great fishing it was before. I'd go so far as to say your chances of catching a truly big fish on the Meramec dropped by something like 90%.

The river has since rebounded a bit in some sections. I've been fishing it more often the last few years after just about giving up on it for a ten year period. I catch a few 18-20 inchers every year now from it.

Of all the Smallmouth Special Management areas, the one on the Meramec is the most disappointing to me, because that stretch is just about the LEAST likely stretch of the river to grow lots of really big fish. It's too cold yet from Maramec Spring, and not quite the habitat that some stretches are. Nevertheless, as Shawncat mentioned, even the trout management area can produce the occasional big smallie. I've caught several from it that went 18 inches or so.

Weights--I gotta assume, without evidence to the contrary, that the guy in the article actually weighed those fish and didn't stretch the truth. But I agree that it's almost a given that the average angler greatly over-estimates the weight of river smallies. I think one gets so used to catching the usual 12-14 inch fish that when they stumble onto an 18 incher it looks so much bigger that they think it just has to weigh four or five pounds. In actuality, a healthy Ozark river smallie of 18 inches will weigh 3 pounds or a bit under, and a 20 incher will usually weigh a bit under 4 pounds. Catch one during the early summer after the spawn, and that 20 incher will probably weigh 3.5 at most. If you catch it in late fall/winter and it's in very good condition it will weigh 4.5, although I've caught 20 inch winter fish that wouldn't make 4.

[shawncat]

Well I did'nt read the link the first time,but when I seen it had reference to Bruder.......I went back to check it out.Seeing how my cousin Laura[refered to in the article is married to him].Rick is a good fisherman who fishes the Meremec alot,turned me on to a few good spots in the past.I'll investigate the big fish claims..........maybe a few pic's.