Spawning Temps Feeders Vs Main Body

[esox niger]

Keith sutton says," Fortunately, it's easy to time the run by tracking water temperature in the stream you plan to fish. When it hits 50 degrees, you'll find schools of white bass gathering near the mouths of feeder streams." "At 58 degrees, the upstream surge begins"

i believe the missouri river is right around 44 deg F +/- and my feeder creek was at 57F the other night.

so am i right to assume the fish have already gathered at the mouth and may be heading up soon? or is the main water body temp the critical temp.

rising water affect them.

Follow this logic....the mouth of the feeder was warm while the missouri river was low. all the creek all the way to the missouri was minimaly influenced by the missouri river itself. now with the large surge of water the river goes up the creek and cools everything down. so the bass head up in search of where the true creek(warm rain water) meets the cold river back up .

and thats probably were they spawn on the receding waters. babies hatch in the creek which holds few predators and a nice bottom. with lots of oxygen.

the rivers gone from 12 to 22ft in 2 or 3 days but is peaking out now. might fish the head waters tonight. just about 2 miles from the main river. not far to swim. had a great white bass day there last spring...(later in the season)...was catching the whites to my right and a couple of drum to my left...then i cast my small estez fly further left by the bank rocks and i thought id snagged so i got a week hookup on a massive fish that just took me like i was nothin! here's the thing i just realized last night. it took me on a long run then it started shaking its head, (then of course the fly pulled out!). i thought it was maybe a big grass carp, but they dont shake their heads. or channel catfish really . or common carp. stripper/blue cat?/flathead? it was huge. keeps me fishin the muddy waters.

[esox niger]

well, no luck up at the headwaters. temp has droped down to 52 in the upper creek. Im assuming the fish are still low in the system...staging at the mouth. might get my kayak down there today or tomorow to check the situation. id realy like to catch a fish...its been a long winter. Only note...lots and lots of beavers and muskrats in the creek. some minimal fish activity with lots of beaver activity. do the beavers come upstream to feed? hmm?

[fishinwrench]

Essox, Does your feeder creek have a power plant discharge ? 57 is incredibly warm for this early.

Be careful around those momma beavers this time of the year.

[esox niger]

Essox, Does your feeder creek have a power plant discharge ? 57 is incredibly warm for this early.

Be careful around those momma beavers this time of the year.

No power dishcarge. when the river is down...the creek gets warm fast with any warm rain/weather at all. its back down to 50. the temps spiked up real fast and dropped, im guessing the majority of the fish are just getting to the mouth. or will be there when the missouri hits 50? i dont know. but im sure ill have to post about it when i catch a fish!

got the first "fish" of the year on the 13th. 13 inch largemouth in meramec feeder. couple more weeks.

i was startled two years ago by two beavers while in my kayak near the missouri river. the banks were about 12 ft up from the water and i hear something large runing, breaking branches. I look up and behind me to try and figure out what the f is going on and i see this huge (like the size of my akita/lab) animal come tubling over the edge and crash into water. Im freaked! trying to figure out what the heck that thing was. then another one come tumbling over the edge and crashing into the water. beavers! wtf. never ever seen beavers so big in my life. First thing i thought was I hope those things arent agressive! then i hightailed it to get some separation. youd think they could find a better way of getting to the water. near weldon spring, maybe they were being hunted? or theyre just reckless beavers.