Wanting To Fish The Meramec For The 1st Time

[abkeenan]

Sorry for the delayed report fellas but there is nothing really to report on unfortunately. Got out last Thurs. @ 10AM from Pacific Palisades and ended at Allenton @ 3PM. I threw everything but the kitchen sink at them and they were having none of it. Water was dirtier than what i would have thought and it was blue bird skies all day with no clouds. I started off with a small 5 inch brown/green/purple roboworm on a shakeyhead and got no takers. Then switched after about 30 min to a topwater zara spook puppy and had no takers on that either....not even a blow up. Gave up on that and tried a white Manns minus 1 shallow crank bait....nothing. Switched to a green, orange, chatruse spinnerbait....nothing. Then switched to a black and chartruse jig with a black and chartruse crawdad trailer......nothing. Didnt have any bites and it was just horrible. The last 2 miles my friend and i didnt even fish as we just paddled constantly to get back to the car as fast as possible since the fish werent cooperating. Its was not a good first experience fishing the Meramec to say the least. It was a bit tough controling the canoe to get proper boat positioning and being able to properly fish areas that i thought would hold fish so that probably contibuted to the SKUNK. Only thing that i did see was a school of fish i couldnt identify in a pool of water of about 6 inches deep and they got spooked when we got within 10 feet and took off like rockets into the river. Dont know what they were but looked like they could have been white bass or drums?? I dont know if drums school together or not???? Saw a few gars going down river surfacing for air from time to time but that was the only fish that we saw. It was a really frustrating day to say the least. For future reference should i be targeting faster moving current or the slower deep pools? Will the fish be on the upstream side of structure or downstream? Like i said i am new to river fishing so im sure i didnt fish everything correctly.....but im sure they werent biting cause i threw EVERYTHING to no avail. Hope this helps although i certainly can not tell you what they are biting on.

-Brett

[Bman]

Brett, too bad the fish weren't cooperating. For me the Bass are either on or off. Yes there is a lot of Drum in that stretch. But I don’t know if that is what you saw schooled up. Shortly after your put in, on the left of the river is an area that was dredged out by the gravel plant. I have seen Asian Carp in there. I’ve had them almost jump in the jet boat.

I’ve had my best luck fishing a jig below good sized riffles. When I see Drum tailing in the water, I will pitch a jig down steam of them. I find usually a nice Bass hanging out near them.

I’m sure Al Agnew would be able to shed much more light on what you saw, and how you could have done better. Search his posts, they are chock full of great insights

Thanks for your report.

Bruce

[405z06]

I live in Fenton, outside of St Louis, and I fish the Meramec a little bit, but never the section you floated.

Is there a reason you fished this particular section of the river? It's about one hour drive for me to get down to a really good stretch of the river, either 10 miles downstream or upstream from Onondaga.

The Meramec at Steelville is not the same as the Meramec in Pacific is not the same Meramec in my back yard at George Winter Park. I think it would be worth your effort to explore the river a little further west.

There are public access points throughout the area and also outfitters like Ozark Outdoors and Blue Spring Ranch you could utilize. I have my own canoe, too, but find it easier - if floating alone - to simply rent from one of the above and leave the canoe at home.

Good luck.

[ozark trout fisher]

Sorry for the delayed report fellas but there is nothing really to report on unfortunately. Got out last Thurs. @ 10AM from Pacific Palisades and ended at Allenton @ 3PM. I threw everything but the kitchen sink at them and they were having none of it. Water was dirtier than what i would have thought and it was blue bird skies all day with no clouds. I started off with a small 5 inch brown/green/purple roboworm on a shakeyhead and got no takers. Then switched after about 30 min to a topwater zara spook puppy and had no takers on that either....not even a blow up. Gave up on that and tried a white Manns minus 1 shallow crank bait....nothing. Switched to a green, orange, chatruse spinnerbait....nothing. Then switched to a black and chartruse jig with a black and chartruse crawdad trailer......nothing. Didnt have any bites and it was just horrible. The last 2 miles my friend and i didnt even fish as we just paddled constantly to get back to the car as fast as possible since the fish werent cooperating. Its was not a good first experience fishing the Meramec to say the least. It was a bit tough controling the canoe to get proper boat positioning and being able to properly fish areas that i thought would hold fish so that probably contibuted to the SKUNK. Only thing that i did see was a school of fish i couldnt identify in a pool of water of about 6 inches deep and they got spooked when we got within 10 feet and took off like rockets into the river. Dont know what they were but looked like they could have been white bass or drums?? I dont know if drums school together or not???? Saw a few gars going down river surfacing for air from time to time but that was the only fish that we saw. It was a really frustrating day to say the least. For future reference should i be targeting faster moving current or the slower deep pools? Will the fish be on the upstream side of structure or downstream? Like i said i am new to river fishing so im sure i didnt fish everything correctly.....but im sure they werent biting cause i threw EVERYTHING to no avail. Hope this helps although i certainly can not tell you what they are biting on.

-Brett

Just a tip.... Most likely, because of the dirty water, I have always had better luck fishing live bait for bass than anything else on the Meramec below the Bourbeuse confluence. I have caught nice bass on crankbaits and tubes there, but I consistently catch more fish on live bait, especially nightcrawlers, crawfish, and minnows. Of course this brings up the problem of having to take a bunch of catfish, sunfish, and drum off the hook. I know some people have a pretty strong objection to this technique, but its just a suggestion. Take it for what its worth, which is probably nothing.

If your not into that, I have done pretty well on spinnerbaits (1/4 ounce with a couple silver Colorado blades is a good option, preferable with yellow or chartreuse on the skirt). Some crankbaits also work pretty well, especially Bombers. Sometimes a topwater like the devil's horse is a good option.

One more thing... There really isn't any truly fast water on that section of the Meramec, but you'll want to focus most of your attention on the water that at least has moderate current. You'll pretty much only find drum and catfish in the really slow, dead water.

[Chef Matt I Love to fish]

I can show you a way to catch great fish. You drive and I will teach you

[MOsmallies]

I can show you a way to catch great fish. You drive and I will teach you

A 6 year old thread brought back to life with a creepy post.... Hahahahaha... Gotta love it!

[Smallieguy87]

A 6 year old thread brought back to life with a creepy post.... Hahahahaha... Gotta love it!

He sounds so convincing though!

[jtram]

banjo music anyone?