Huzzah Float

[405z06]

I've been doing quite a few single-day solo floats over the last couple of months. A few weeks ago I did the Harper's Slab to Huzzah Valley Resort float. Of all the floats I have done, this is the only one where I got skunked, shut-out, no bass.

(As a way of background, the other floats I have done lately are: 2x on the Bourbeuse, 3x on 2 different Meramec floats, 2x Courtois, 1x on the Big Piney, plus the Huzzah float mentioned here)

The water was gin clear. Seriously, the tap water in my sink is cloudier than the water in this creek. I don't think that was a problem in terms of fishing, though. Everything was shallow and skinny. That was the problem. I don't recall too many places that seemed like obvious spots to slow down and fish.

I really enjoyed the scenery,however. Very pretty creek.

I know there is a creek that comes into the Huzzah right there at Huzzah Valley where I took out, so maybe there is more substance to the creek at that point? How is the fishing from that point until it reaches the Meramec? I doubt that I get there this year, but it's never too early too early to plan my spring, right?

[BKB]

I have floated that section a few times and you are correct...mostly shallow and skinny water. I was able to catch a few decent sized smallies in the few holes that there are.

The Dry Creek flows into the Huzzah at Huzzah Valley Resort. I have floated from Huzzah Valley to Scotia several times. While still shallow and skinny in some parts, there are some deep holes and very fishy looking spots. I have caught some very decent sized smallies on this float, although not so much in the last 2-3 years. I don't even see as many large ones as I used to...wonder why?

[cwc87]

I have floated that section a few times and you are correct...mostly shallow and skinny water. I was able to catch a few decent sized smallies in the few holes that there are.

The Dry Creek flows into the Huzzah at Huzzah Valley Resort. I have floated from Huzzah Valley to Scotia several times. While still shallow and skinny in some parts, there are some deep holes and very fishy looking spots. I have caught some very decent sized smallies on this float, although not so much in the last 2-3 years. I don't even see as many large ones as I used to...wonder why?

Hey guy's the game has changed on the Huzzah since Harper Slab bridge now has a clear migratory passage for the fish.

In the fall of 07' the county put in a new middles section in the bridge and now it is free flowing and doesen't act like a dam. In the spring fish migrate upstream all the time until they spawn. The spring of 08' was high water all the time and the bass went up river. And now I don't see them coming back down with all the new hidy holes that the floods made in 08'. O'yea don't fish upriver of Harpers lots of low water and lots of downed trees to traverse.

The Huzzah down river of Huzzah Valley Resort is a hit and miss during the fall and winter. This is probably the most pounded and abused section of the Huzzah (catch and eater's and gigger's). When the Meramec gets a muddy rain event the giggers head to the Huzzah until the Meramec clears up.

[hank franklin]

I've been doing quite a few single-day solo floats over the last couple of months. A few weeks ago I did the Harper's Slab to Huzzah Valley Resort float. Of all the floats I have done, this is the only one where I got skunked, shut-out, no bass.

(As a way of background, the other floats I have done lately are: 2x on the Bourbeuse, 3x on 2 different Meramec floats, 2x Courtois, 1x on the Big Piney, plus the Huzzah float mentioned here)

FWIW we hit the Huzzah in mid-Oct and got skunked too. More a recreational outing since we had our little boys along but we still had lures in the water. This was downstream of H Valley, taking out at Onondaga.

What sections of the Bourbeuse did you float?

[405z06]

What sections of the Bourbeuse did you float?

The Devil's Back float down to Noser Mill.

My last float of the season was a float a couple of weekends back. I started at Butts on the Courtois and ended on the Meramec at Ozark Outdoors. It's about a 10 mile float. Now, I had fished the Courtois a couple of times from Blunts to Butts before, and had some success both times. But this stretch of the Courtois was very similar to my Huzzah float, and not in a good way. There was lots of skinny, shallow, and basically unfishable water. I didn't catch a fish until I hit the Meramec.

I had specifically chosen this trip for a few reasons: 1) I had never floated this section, 2) I figured the water would be better, deeper and more fishable than the upstream section where I had some success (wrong!), and 3) The Meramec float that I like (Bluffs to Ozark) can be busy and full of jet boats on the weekend, so I thought it best to stay away.

I've sampled a lot of floats this year, and by far the best from a smallmouth fishing perspective (and not even really close) is the Bluffs to Ozark float at Ozark Outdoors. Beautiful water and scenery, very nice average fish with some toads mixed in. I am glad that I sampled the Huzzah and Courtois, but I have no desire to fish those ever again, at least the sections mentioned. I may hit Blunts to Bass again, but those other floats just seem to have very few fishable pockets, and although I like the scenery and solitude, when it comes down to it, I am there because I love fishing.

Next year I want to fish downstream of Onondaga, which I have yet to do. Blue Springs, perhaps.

[Al Agnew]

Just keep in mind that late fall fishing will almost always be very tough on the smaller, very clear streams that aren't heavily spring fed. Once water temps start dropping, the fish in those streams SEEM to disappear. We've been having an interesting discussion on Riversmallies.com about just what happens to them. I THINK that some may move out of them, into the Meramec in this case, but most of the fish just find very good hiding places under rocks, logs, root systems, and cut banks. They seldom come out, so they aren't really fishable. The fish seem to instinctively know that in low, clear, cold water they are very vulnerable to predators, so security is more important to them than feeding.

Float those same creeks in late spring and you'll find lots of fish, even in places that look like poor habitat, and you'll wonder where they all were back in the fall. And with the higher water levels of spring, the habitat looks better, too. Streams like Huzzah and Courtois look like different creeks in the spring compared to autumn and winter.

The Meramec between Onondaga and Meramec State Park is probably about as good fishing as it is up above Onondaga, and certainly just as beautiful. But it's also crowded in the summer!

[405z06]

Thanks for the info, Al. Perhaps I will give them another try in the spring then. I started really getting into the smallmouth floating right after Labor Day this year, so next spring will be my 1st spring targeting these smallie waters.

Not that this is on topic, but I wanted to throw it out there for whatever it is worth. I have been primarily a reservoir fisherman my entire life and almost exclusively a largemouth angler. In the past 15 years you could count on one hand the number of times that I have caught a bass on a spinnerbait. I just never used them a lot, I had little confidence in them, and I got better results with other baits (wiggle warts, soft plastics, etc)

But my smallmouth fishing improved dramatically once I starting throwing a spinnerbait on these creeks and rivers. It was on a Devil's Back float on the Bourbeuse, and I had had almost no action on my then-go-to bait, the 1/8 oz texas-rigged Senko. I tied on a 1/4 oz double-willow chartreuse and white spinner and I have thrown that 95% of the time on all the rivers I have fished since.

I still have a lot of confindence in the Senko and other soft plastics, but in a canoe, especially floating by yourself as I usually do, there just isn't time to fish that slow.

The other thing is, and I think it was a post that you made, Al, that got this in my head, but I exclusively use a baitcaster now for my smallmouth fishing. When I first started, based on what I had read, my instinct was to downsize the baits and use a spinning road. But the level of accuracy with a heavy bait (spinner) on a spinning reel leaves a lot to be desired and the trajectory needed for distance created too much noise and commotion on impact. With a baitcaster, I can just flip that bait right on the bank without so much as a splash and not spook fish. My last trip on the Meramec I was with a buddy and we were both throwing primarily the same spinners. He was using a spinning reel, and I my baitcaster. Now, I am by far a more experienced angler, so that wasn't the only variable, but I literally out caught him by a 5/1 ratio. And he was really unahppy about it A lot of that was due to the accuracy and stealth water entry of the baitcaster vs spinning reel, imo.

[Al Agnew]

Yep, light baitcasting is definitely more accurate, more efficient, and more pleasant to use when casting hard baits on streams. If you did an ergonomic study, you'd find that you use fewer movements and the movements are shorter and quicker. When fishing from a canoe, as you've found, every little bit of added efficiency helps, because you're fishing while moving and in between controlling the canoe. Of course, this pre-supposes that you are competent with baitcasting tackle! But all other things being equal, you can get in more casts and fish more efficiently with baitcasting. I have yet to find anybody fishing with spinning tackle who can match me for accuracy and efficiency under the conditions of floating a stream.

However, spinning tackle has its advantages as well. I use it almost exclusively for fishing with soft plastics and jigs, because I seem to be able to feel what the bait is doing better and it just feels more comfortable. And you can skip soft plastics like tubes and soft jerkbaits underneath overhanging limbs with spinning tackle.

The problem most people have in selecting equipment for stream fishing is that their spinning rods are often too light and their casting rods are too heavy. If you're using ultralight spinning rods on Ozark streams for smallmouths, you're very limited on which lures you can fish effectively, and you're either missing out on a lot of the better fish because your lures are too small, or you're fishing lures that are too big and heavy for the equipment and thus not casting them well or setting hooks well. On the other hand, if you're using typical baitcasting tackle, you are probably going to be having trouble fishing lighter lures and getting enough distance on your casts in clear water. My canoe fishing casting rods are all 5.5 feet long or less (my topwater rod is 5 feet), and all medium to medium light in power (and medium light rods are not easy to find commercially). My reels are the small, light baitcasters, spooled with 8 pound mono. My spinning rods are all medium power 5.5 and 6 footers, with reels big enough to have larger diameter spools, and have 2/10 or 4/15 Power Pro braided line on them.