Questions On Blue Springs Fishing

[mic]

Last time I fished Blue Springs I had the chance to talk to a regular. He offered some words of wisdom (at least it sounded good). The first, was the trout move upstream in December (which I found to be true) and move back downstream in the spring. The questions I should have asked are...when exactly do they move back down stream and does the fishing above Highway N stay good?

The second advice he gave was to look at the Maramec levels, because he found when output gets above a certain point, the fishing on the stream gets better. So question to you all is have you found this to be true. If yes, which reading station do I reference and what out put is "high".

Thanks In Advance,

Good Fishing

[ColdWaterFshr]

Yeah, thats probably good advice, but I'm not so sure the Meramecs level would be a foolproof indicator. Blue Spring comes up quick and drops just as quick. If you can fish it during a moderate rain or right after would be your best bet. The Meramec comes up fairly quick but doesn't drop out quick at all, so just because it is up doesn't mean BS will still be up. Maybe you could look at the Steelville gauge for the Meramec and if you see it spiking up, then there has been some rain in the area and BS will be up. But . . . it could be blown out or it could have already fallen back to near normal, so thats why I would say its not foolproof. And exacts for when the fish move? What day do geese fly south? I dunno. Just go and enjoy it anytime you can and don't sweat the details. Good luck!

[drath]

I have not fished Blue Springs in close to 15 years but I’m going back soon. Monday the 17th if all goes as planned. That’s why I’m checking out this message board. Therefore, I have no clue as to your second question but I have a theory as to your first.

I’m guessing it’s all about water temperature. In general rainbows prefer a water temp of 55-60. Assuming that spring puts out water at about the same temp as Maramec Spring it’s putting out 55-ish degree water year round. Therefore, in December when the lower part of the creek gets cold the fish move up closer to the warmer spring water. Now, from what I’ve read, spawning rainbows prefer colder water in the 45-50 range. They may move down into the colder water in early spring for that reason and simply hang out for a while as the warmer days heat up the water into that 55-60 comfort zone. Then, as the Dog Days roll around and the temps in the lower part of the stream rise into the 70’s+ range, the fish find their way back up to the cooler spring waters again.

That’s my theory anyway.

Man, I can’t wait to get down there Monday.

-D

[Gavin]

Think your best predictor is a significant rain event in the days before you head down that way...It will charge up the springs and put a little cloud in the water for a couple days. Cheers.