What To Fish For From Palisades And Down?

[Donn]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a boat for duck hunting over the winter and would like to get out and do some fishing and the meremac is the closest river to me (also just installed a trolling motor). I've been out on the Meremac a few times and haven't had much luck fishing. About the furthest upstream I can safely navigate my 1860 mod V w/ 90 Merc (no jet) is the Palisades, any further than that the water starts getting too skinny. I was wondering what type of fish should I target in the stretch of the Meremac from the Palisades down to say, George Winter or past? I have primarily only fished for Large Mouth Bass in lakes and ponds as well as catfish every now and then around here, but really have no experience fishing the rivers. I'm really just looking for a little action as I will be releasing anything I catch, so anything that fights is fine with me.

I've seen my share of Gar and Asian Carp, but haven't seen much else besides blue gill. Do Large mouth bass inhabit the Meremac as well? I know SMB do, but I have a feeling the majority of the smallies are further upstream in the faster moving shallower water.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

John

[Bman]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a boat for duck hunting over the winter and would like to get out and do some fishing and the meremac is the closest river to me (also just installed a trolling motor). I've been out on the Meremac a few times and haven't had much luck fishing. About the furthest upstream I can safely navigate my 1860 mod V w/ 90 Merc (no jet) is the Palisades, any further than that the water starts getting too skinny. I was wondering what type of fish should I target in the stretch of the Meremac from the Palisades down to say, George Winter or past? I have primarily only fished for Large Mouth Bass in lakes and ponds as well as catfish every now and then around here, but really have no experience fishing the rivers. I'm really just looking for a little action as I will be releasing anything I catch, so anything that fights is fine with me.

I've seen my share of Gar and Asian Carp, but haven't seen much else besides blue gill. Do Large mouth bass inhabit the Meremac as well? I know SMB do, but I have a feeling the majority of the smallies are further upstream in the faster moving shallower water.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

John

Wow, you are running a prop on a boat of that size? In that area? IMO it's just a matter of time until you are going to say good bye to your prop and or lower unit. When the river reaches the normal summer levels...watch out!!! That's a real nice boat you have. You would be safer down from Valley Park or G. Winter. I've run across schools of Whites around G.Winter.

To answer your question, down to the Allenton ramp is the best Bass fishing for that stretch of river. I have caught decent Smallie's, Spots, and Largemouth Bass. Yes there is better Bass fishing upstream.

Here's realtime river data for the area, http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=07019000

Be careful.

Good Luck

[ozark trout fisher]

That part of the river is pretty underrated. It's not as clear as other parts of the river, but the fishing can actually be pretty good when the water isn't muddy. You'll catch lots of largemouth and spotted bass, some smallmouth, bluegill, catfish, freshwater drum, crappie, and there is there is also a pretty good chance for hooking up with White bass and walleye. The times I've fished down there I've done best where the water is a little bit on the quick side.

[Donn]

Thank you both for your replies.

Yes, I have run this rig up above Allenton and quickly found out that I couldn't go much further upstream because of how shallow the water got. Though this boat is a modified V, it's only 8 degrees and only drafts about 8" of water and can operate in a little less than 2 feet with the motor trimmed up, although the going is slow (about 5mph), and this is when the river was up. I also have a "river runner" attached to the skeg which has taken some hits, but I was going slow and being cautious so there was minimal prop damage.

I will not be going back to the Palisades (or above) when the water is lower, plus the boat ramp there is terrible as it faces upstream making loading the boat onto the trailer very difficult when the water is moving fast.

Like I said, I purchased this boat for duck hunting the bigger rivers and it does great, comfortably handling the big water on the MO and Mississippi, but the Meremac is the most convenient for me.

It is definitely less stressful navigating the waters from say Castlewood on down, but I really haven't had much luck with the fishing. I have been using a wide variety of large mouth bass lures and targetting underwater structure, but have only caught one small large mouth in about 6 trips.

If you have any suggestions on what type of lures to use, and what type of water, cover, etc to target, please let me know. Also, I assume when the water is high and muddy, the fishing is typically poor, it that correct?

Thanks again for your help.

John

[Bman]

If you have any suggestions on what type of lures to use, and what type of water, cover, etc to target, please let me know. Also, I assume when the water is high and muddy, the fishing is typically poor, it that correct?

Thanks again for your help.

John

John,

Search this website for posts from Zipstick, aka the Smallie Guru. Also posts by Al Agnew.

The answers to all your questions will vary depending on time of year, river level and conditions.

Good Luck

[Shores]

I can give you two pieces of advice. I fish that area quite a bit,I do find the ocassional school of crappie and white bass, few large mouth and cats. However this area seems to be a trophy drum area. I would say get a buddy pack a cooler and just tight line with worms or minnows. Minnows will catch just about everything there. I myself love bass fishing and I get tired of this rather quickly.

Option two (what I do all the time down there)

GET A BOW AND START SHOOTING ASAIN CARP

You can shoot till you get tired of shooting.

P.S. Be very Careful just north of GW, stick to the right(east bank) water on the other side gets very shallow, got the jet stuck a few times.

Good Luck

Shores