Newbie To Wading

[Tim Smith]

Sounds easy enough. I like the jaw comparison method. Maybe I haven't caught enough spots to know one when I see it? I usually creek fish Swan, Beaver, Upper Finley. Thanks

Another two characters no one has mentioned yet are the regular rows of spots on the belly of the spotted bass (some largemouth can have this too) and the fact that their spinous and soft dorsal fin have no gap between them. If you're not sure after that, check for the tooth patch on the tongue (you may have to stick your finger in to feel for it). The jaw thing can be misleading sometimes.

[ozark trout fisher]

Hi everyone. I’m de-lurking here in St Louis. Gas prices are keeping me out of my bass boat and since I don’t own a canoe, I’m looking at wading some smallmouth streams. I won’t ask for your favorite places, and I don’t mind paying some dues by getting wet.

I’ve read back through the Forums for tips, I own the MDC Canoeing Mo book, I have 200 Smallmouth Adventures from the library for a bit longer, and I have some places in mind to try. I assume (risky, I know) that I’d be better off far enough upstream that I am above most of the canoe traffic; is that right ?

I am used to having about 8 rods and thousands of dollars worth of lures with me. Is what I need for wading as simple as grabbing a spinning rod with 6 or 8 lb line, or a medium casting rod with 10 or 12 lb, and a few lures, and just start fishing and exploring ?

If I have a buzzbait, a jerk bait, a spinnerbait or two, a very few shallow or mid-depth cranks and a couple hands full of plastic ( tubes, craws, and a few jigs) will that cover what I need ?

Suggestions are welcome. Thanks for the information so many of you make available here.

Larry

Get a whole bunch of Rebel Wee Craws and an ultralight spinning rod...All ya' need for all kinds of fun on most any smallmouth stream this time of year. Run them through the riffles and the deep holes on any decent smallmouth stream and you'll probably be in fish all day long. On those you'll usually catch lots of small to average sized smallies (occasionally you'll catch a good sized fish on a rebel craw, but that is kind of the exception), goggle-eye, longear sunfish, and just about everything else that swims. Summer smallmouth fishing is everything that is good about the Ozarks, clear, spring fed streams, beautiful country, and while it can be tough at times, the fishing isn't usually that difficult.

And yes, above the canoe traffic is a good way to go. The upper sections of just about any of the areas popular float streams can be awesome for wading. There are also countless good creeks, streams, and branches that are too small to float that are great for wading. I will not be giving away too much by saying that some of headwater streams throughout the Meramec basin can be very good. For the most part the specific streams I have in mind are small and fragile, the kind of streams that you just don't name to anyone but the closest friends. But get out and explore and you will not be dissapointed.

[Al Agnew]

Yep, it takes some exploration. And occasionally you'll run afoul of an irate landowner on the smaller creeks. My rule of thumb is, if there is a house VERY close to the access you want to fish, knock on the door and ask. Otherwise, check out the bridge crossing or other potential access, and if there is an obvious parking spot and no signs or purple paint, you're good.

I just like baitcasting gear so much compared to spinning that I'll usually use a very light baitcasting outfit when wading, something that you can cast lures down to 1/8th ounce or so if you have to. 8 pound mono. My usual wading baitcaster is a 5.5 ft. medium light power rod (hard to find) and something like the smallest Curado reel or the BPS Prolite Finesse.

On the creeks I fish, topwater works nearly all the time. Smallish walk the dog topwaters, poppers like Pop-Rs, maybe a Tiny Torpedo. 1/4 ounce buzzbaits. That's about all I carry in hard baits. Don't need crankbaits or spinnerbaits, though I'll carry a couple of my homemade twin spins. If by some chance the fish aren't on the topwaters, I carry a handful of 2.5 inch and 3 inch tubes, with whatever kind of tube rigging you like, and some 4 inch Senkos. If you don't catch much on those things, you probably wouldn't catch much on anything else either.

I have an over the shoulder sling pack in which I carry a couple of Plano boxes, one for hard baits and one for soft baits, and a big bottle of water and maybe a snack of some kind if it's going to be more than three or four hours on the creek. Of course, the creeks I fish call for traveling fairly light, because it might be several hundred yards between good pools, and I might cover three or four miles of creek in a half day.

Keep in mind that on small clear creeks, the fish can be skittish. Doesn't mean you have to go very small with your lures, just means you have to wade quietly and make longer casts. If the water is really clear, DON'T cast directly to cover, make your cast land 4 or 5 feet past or away from where you think the fish are. If it lands on top of them it may spook them, but if it lands 5 feet away they usually charge it and blast it.

[kevthebassman]

Tell you what Larry, next time I'm thinking of heading down to fish, I will look you up on here. Probably will be waiting for the worst of the heat to break though before I make another trip. Check back come September.

[LarrySTL]

Thanks for the tips everybody. I knew you'd have things that would not occur to me, like working both upstream and downstream so that its never too far back to the starting point.

I'm continuing to thin down the tackle although I will probably leave some in the trunk of the car as a security blanket. I can't be out of town this weekend, but the week after that looks likely. I'v got a couple places I have done some scouting about.

I agree with not killing smallmouth and its been probably 25 years since I kept a bass that was not clearly dying. I do have a question on the KY's and that is are the smallies better off if folks who catch KYs either keep or kill a legal limit of KYs rather than releasing them?

I'll post my results, but not the locations. Thanks all

[TroutRinger]

Thanks for the tips everybody. I knew you'd have things that would not occur to me, like working both upstream and downstream so that its never too far back to the starting point.

I'm continuing to thin down the tackle although I will probably leave some in the trunk of the car as a security blanket. I can't be out of town this weekend, but the week after that looks likely. I'v got a couple places I have done some scouting about.

I agree with not killing smallmouth and its been probably 25 years since I kept a bass that was not clearly dying. I do have a question on the KY's and that is are the smallies better off if folks who catch KYs either keep or kill a legal limit of KYs rather than releasing them?

I'll post my results, but not the locations. Thanks all

It would be better for the smallmouth population to keep the spots. Officially, I would caution you to not (at least not publicly) kill them without eating them. It's probably a violation of the Wildlife Code.

Unofficially, kill them all!

[Al Agnew]

Just to clarify, though...spotted bass are ONLY a problem in the Meramec river system, the Gasconade river system, and in small streams directly entering the Mississippi downstream of St. Louis. If you are fishing the Meramec, Big, Bourbeuse, Huzzah, Courtois, Mineral Fork, or any creeks running into those streams, please kill all spotted bass you catch up to the legal limit, which in the Meramec river system is 12 spotted bass with no length limit. If you are fishing the Gasconade and tributaries, feel free to kill a limit of six spotted bass over 12 inches, while NOT killing smallmouth. Same thing on the small creeks entering the Mississippi. If you venture south to the St. Francis, Castor, Whitewater, Black, or any other south flowing Missouri Ozark stream, the spotted bass are a native and valued species which co-exists with smallmouth with few if any problems, so treat them as you would smallies.

As for IDing spotted bass...the tooth patch on the tongue is far from a sure thing. All spotted bass have it, but 10-20% of largemouth have a tooth patch as well. On largemouth it will probably not be as rough to the touch, but you have to feel both to know the difference by feel. But the tooth patch is a good starting point. If it doesn't have one it ain't a spot. Second, if it does have a tooth patch, look at the upper jaw in relation to the eye. The back edge of the upper jaw on ADULT spotted bass will actually be almost even with the back edge of the eye, but will never go back farther than the back edge of the eye, while on largemouth it will always go back past the back edge of the eye. Keep in mind, though, that you have to check it with the fish's mouth fully closed.

If you're still not sure, look at the connection between the spiny dorsal (back) fin and the soft dorsal fin as Tim says. Actually, there is not a "gap" between the soft and spiny dorsal fins on largemouth, but the membrane behind the last spine of the spiny dorsal will touch the back at exactly the point where the first ray of the soft dorsal emerges from the back. On spotted bass (and smallmouth, by the way), there will be a membrane CONNECTING the last spine of the spiny dorsal to the first ray of the soft dorsal.

And if you want one more structural, rather than color pattern, way of telling them apart, look at the scales on the lower cheek. On largemouth, there isn't much difference in size between the scales on the lower cheek and the scales on the upper cheek. On spotted bass (and, again, smallmouth) the lower cheek scales will be very noticeably smaller than the upper cheek scales.

Best way to do it, though, is to hold a specimen of both in your hand and compare, with somebody there who knows the difference to point all this out to you. Once it's pointed out a couple times there shouldn't be much problem in telling them apart. Heck, I can tell them apart by FEEL. Spotted bass scales are rough-edged, and when you run your hand along their sides, they feel slightly rough, while largemouth feel very smooth and slimy.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Just to clarify, though...spotted bass are ONLY a problem in the Meramec river system, the Gasconade river system, and in small streams directly entering the Mississippi downstream of St. Louis. If you are fishing the Meramec, Big, Bourbeuse, Huzzah, Courtois, Mineral Fork, or any creeks running into those streams, please kill all spotted bass you catch up to the legal limit, which in the Meramec river system is 12 spotted bass with no length limit. If you are fishing the Gasconade and tributaries, feel free to kill a limit of six spotted bass over 12 inches, while NOT killing smallmouth. Same thing on the small creeks entering the Mississippi. If you venture south to the St. Francis, Castor, Whitewater, Black, or any other south flowing Missouri Ozark stream, the spotted bass are a native and valued species which co-exists with smallmouth with few if any problems, so treat them as you would smallies.

3 CSR 10-4.110 (7) Clearly states: No person who takes or possesses any wildlife shall wantonly leave or abandon any portion of such wildlife commonly used as human food.

In other words, you're going to have to take them home and clean and eat them to be legal and ethical.

[LarrySTL]

Thanks again folks. Yes, I'll be in the area that Al identifies as the "spots are problems" area. As far as ID-ing a spot compared to a smallmouth or a LM, a few decades on Table Rock have me pretty good at that.

Chief and TroutRinger, I had been pretty sure the Code said that something I kill counts toward a limit, and I prowled through the code before I posted and found that memory to be correct. Thanks for pointing out to me that "kill and pitch" is a violation.

I suppose it makes sense in the context of the areas where some folks used to kill deer just for the head, or just to piss off the law, and leave the carcass lying around for buzzards. Flip side is it seems a shame in this context, because I am not going to go wading with an icechest or tote spots around all day. It is, however, good to know the rules for sure.

[ozark trout fisher]

3 CSR 10-4.110 (7) Clearly states: No person who takes or possesses any wildlife shall wantonly leave or abandon any portion of such wildlife commonly used as human food.

In other words, you're going to have to take them home and clean and eat them to be legal and ethical.

I agree with that. Too many Meramec and Bourbeuse anglers brag about killing spotted bass and throwing them on the banks. That is no way right or ethical, nor does whatever small benefit it is doing to the river make up for that. I do keep them, all of them up to the legal limit. But I can assure you each and every one gets eaten. They can become the main ingredient of a very nice shore lunch.