Fishing The Big River

[flyfshn]

Anybody fish the Big River? If so, what part of the river, what to use, etc. We are going to be camping at St. Francois State Park over the 4th of July and I would like to do a little fishing. Any suggestions?

[joeD]

Depends. What species? smallies. spots, catfish, bluegill? Are you wading? Canoeing? If canoeing, how far do you want to float? How far do you want to drive to get to your fishing spots? Can you do your own shuttle? Kids? Wife? Do you have enough fireworks? Get my drift. Details.

[Al Agnew]

Joe's right, details are important...

St. Francois State Park is at the lower end of the section of the river that's most badly affected by lead mine tailings. You'll find the river to be shallow with a lot of fine gravel (the remains of the crushed lead mine ore) on the bottom. The park is also pretty crowded on weekends. It's nearly all easily wadeable except for the fact that you often sink 6 inches or more into the fine gravel with each step.

Smallmouths, spotted bass, and largemouths are all found in decent numbers in that part of the river. There's a decent population of channel catfish, and the occasional flathead. Lots of suckers, especially carpsuckers, and some big carp here and there. Goggle-eye are present but not in great numbers or great sizes. Lots and lots of longear sunfish and green sunfish.

There's a canoe rental at the old 67 highway bridge just south of the entrance to the park. I haven't talked to them in a long time, so I don't know which floats they run canoes on. It's about 1.5 miles from the lowest access in the park to their campground. The next more or less public access above the park is at the old 67 bridge just north of Desloge, and it's 10 miles from there to the park. There are no truly public accesses below 67 bridge where the canoe rental is (it's north of Bonne Terre and not to be confused with the one that's just north of Desloge), until you get all the way down to the Highway 21 bridge near Washington State Park, where that park has a good access. That's about 18 miles or so from the park, way too far to float in a day. The canoe rental may use some private accesses, however...I don't know.

[flyfshn]

Joe/Al, thanks for the reply. My son (20) and I would like to do some wet wading to fish for any bass or blue gill (catch and release), not much on catfish. I dont mind driving or walking to fish another area, but I am not familar with the area (was planning on printing the recommendations and talking to someone in the park). Wasn't planning on canoeing, but would be open to it if that is the only way to get to the fish. We will be there Thursday-Sunday, so I thought we would probably try to fish Thursday afternoon or Friday, before the crowds come down. I am mainly a trout fly fisherman, but I have some poppers that I made last year, so it would help if you also suggest what to use. Appreciate the help!

[Gavin]

Mike, Cherokee landing services that area..It changed hands a couple years ago. The new owners are named Steve and Christine and they are really nice folks. Its mostly a weekend operation but give em a call and see what they have available. I think they have a lower float available, but I'm not sure.

As for flies...Poppers, Sneaky Petes, streamers..youll want em to be 2-4" long if you want to keep the sunfish off. Floating is definetly the way to go on that stretch of river because pockets of good habitat are the exception rather than the rule...Use the canoe to paddle over the lead mine tailings areas (looks like a sandy bottom but its not) and through the long slow holes and focus on the areas with current, clean gravel, rock, willow weed, wood, and combinations of the above. Cheers.

[Al Agnew]

Gavin's right...although you can wade the river just about anywhere above Cherokee Landing if you don't mind sinking in the mine tailings, it's often a long way between good spots. If you want to get in some serious fishing around the park, it's best to use a canoe. However, you might also be surprised at the places where you'll find bass in that section. They can be in some pretty shallow water if there is any kind of cover.

[joeD]

I would use the park as your "base" of operations, wading around there early and late in the day, and float the river during the day. Honestly, the Big just doesn't lend itself to effective wading, unless you have access to non-public areas. You also might try Washington State Park on Hwy 21. They rent canoes and float from 21 back down to park, about 3 miles. The spots have definitely made inroads, but there are still smallies there, some quite large. It might be busy, but not in the Huzzah or upper Meramec sense. Call ahead though. If you can get there early (or late) enough, before the tatooed human circus innvades the park "beach," there is a nice wadeable stretch right below the park, where the river makes a sharp right hand turn. I've had luck there before.