Winter Smallmouth And Spots?

[ozark trout fisher]

I fished the Bourbeuse about two weeks ago (near Union) when the temp was in the low 40s, and was trying to catch some bluegill on nightcrawlers ( I didn't think bass would be biting this late in the year) and was surprised to catch a spotted bass. I was just curious if the bass fishing remained good in throughout the winter in the Meramec/ Bourbeuse system. I was just hoping to get some decent bass fishing in between trout fishing trips. Thanks

[Bman]

I fished the Bourbeuse about two weeks ago (near Union) when the temp was in the low 40s, and was trying to catch some bluegill on nightcrawlers ( I didn't think bass would be biting this late in the year) and was surprised to catch a spotted bass. I was just curious if the bass fishing remained good in throughout the winter in the Meramec/ Bourbeuse system. I was just hoping to get some decent bass fishing in between trout fishing trips. Thanks

Try searching past posts on the subject by Al Agnew.

[Al Agnew]

It's a lot different in the winter, but fish can be caught. I fished the Meramec on the day after Thanksgiving; water temp about 43 degrees, air temp in the upper 40s, mostly cloudy, river very low and VERY clear, visibility at least 7 or 8 feet. Caught 10 smallmouths, 8 largemouths, 3 spotted bass, and 2 crappie, all on suspending jerkbaits. Biggest fish were an 18 inch largemouth, 18.5 inch smallmouth, and a deformed 17 inch smallmouth with a 20 incher's body but a very short, crooked tail. The cold weather we've had since then will only make the fishing a lot tougher. Once water temps drop into the 30s it gets very difficult.

[msamatt]

A friend's family own a river camp on the Bourbeuse in between Rikers and Mayers landing and we fished the very long hole in front of their camp on the day after Thanksgiving. While we didn't catch a single smallie I caught 4 spots, with the largest running a fat 13.5" and my buddy caught 4 spots and one largemouth on a suspending jerkbait. While we caught most of our fish in deeper water, we did find several spots which were more activle feeding right out in the middle of the river. This took place later in the day and in a kind of transition area of the river. By this I mean it was just at the tail end of a run where the water was flowing into some timber. The fish were right out in the middle of the river in fairly shallow water. One bass even followed my bait (I was throwing a superfluke rigged on an 1/8 oz. jighead at the time) all the way from the bank out into the middle of the stream and busted it on the surface as I was rapidly reeling it back in. If you're interested in winter fishing for smallies and live anywhere near the St. Louis area you ought to come the January 21st meeting of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance. Long time member Mitch Fields is going to talk about fishing for our Ozark Smallies throughout the winter. We hold our meetings at the MDC's Powder Valley Nature Center in Kirkwood. Check out www.missourismallmouthalliance.org for more details.

Matt

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[hank franklin]

Nice report Matt. Glad you're on the board. My parents and friends used to have a clubhouse between Reiker's and Mayer's on the Bourbeuse. Haven't been on that stretch in quite some time however. These days I mostly fish the Bourbeuse above Peters Ford, or even higher.

[msamatt]

Nice report Matt. Glad you're on the board. My parents and friends used to have a clubhouse between Reiker's and Mayer's on the Bourbeuse. Haven't been on that stretch in quite some time however. These days I mostly fish the Bourbeuse above Peters Ford, or even higher.

Thanks Hank. I enjoy fishing pretty much the entire length of the Bourbeuse though it is admittedly much easier when you have some private access points. The very upper reaches are awfully nice to fish in the springtime.

[ozark trout fisher]

Thanks for the help Would have replied sooner, but I didn't have much time to get on the computer in the last couple days. Really appreciate it.