Back Home To Big River

[Al Agnew]

Throughout the 50 plus years I've fished Big River, my "favorite" stretches have changed over time. But one stretch has remained a favorite throughout. It's perhaps the most scenic stretch of the river...at least it has more big bluffs than anywhere else on it, and Big River is not particularly noted for great scenery. It's also one of the lesser floated sections, mainly because access is problematical. The entire stretch is about 14 miles long, with two private accesses within it. The put-in is public and reasonably easy, but the final take-out is a real bear. One private access, if used as a take-out, would cut about 3.5 miles off the float and make it reasonable, but I haven't checked with the landowner in several years to see if he is still willing to let me use it, and besides, I hate to miss that last 3.5 miles. The other private access only cuts a mile off the float, and again, I hate to miss that mile. So it's a 14 mile float that usually takes me a good 12 hours to do.

Of course, there's nobody to shuttle you for this float, either, and the parking situation at the take-out is also pretty iffy. So I'm forced to ask my wife to pick me up at the end of the day, which means a good 45 minute drive for her. She's almost always willing to do it, but I don't like asking her.

Because of all those reasons, I usually only do this float once a year, which also makes it a little more special. And because of the length (and it's a lot of pretty slow water, too) I almost never ask anybody else to go with me, so it's a solo float.

After more than a month in Montana with the rivers jumping up and down and the fishing mediocre, and also with having to complete a big painting while I was there, I'm finally back in Missouri, and I was ready for a good solo float, so I asked Mary if she would pick me up for this one. So I put in about 7:30 AM this morning.

The river was lower than normal for this time of year but not exceptionally low; it would be fairly easily floatable. It was also about normal visibility, although on this stretch the visibility can vary from very clear to very murky, and occasionally both at the same time. The long pools can get murky, but the riffle areas can be very clear.

I'd bought a new walk the dog lure...I can't remember what brand it was but I think it is a Strike King. I liked the color--blueish violet on the back and brownish on the sides, with a light gold belly. Don't know why, it just struck me as appealing. And I decided that I'd give it a good try instead of tying on the usual Sammy. Well, it worked. I caught three nice smallmouth, 14-16 inchers, on it almost immediately. But I also had on my usual homemade crankbait and spinnerbait, and was fishing them in places that called for them. I like the crankbait in fairly deep water around rocks and logs, as well as along cut banks, and I like the twin spin in shallower, faster current areas. The topwater is well suited for slower, shallower areas. As I fished down the first mile or so, the crankbait was working, the spinnerbait not so much. But the fishing was excellent in that first mile. I caught about 20 bass, and most were good fish, 14-16 inchers. It was looking like a red letter day.

But then, as often happens, things slowed considerably. I did catch the biggest smallmouth of the day, a 17.5 incher, just below that first mile on the crankbait, but I wasn't catching many any more. And then things changed again. It became a largemouth day. As the day went along, I caught more largemouth than usual, and thankfully fewer spotted bass than usual. And there were some very good largemouth. I caught three around 18-19 inches by noon. Oh, I was still catching smallies as well, but they were coming slower and there were more little ones than good ones. The spots were here and there.

I'd hit small areas that had willing fish, and catch several on a short stretch of bank, but then go for long distances with little action. I even caught a double, a 14 inch smallie and a 12 inch spot at the same time. But mainly there was just enough action to keep things interesting.

As always on this stretch, I found myself running behind schedule as the afternoon wore on. The wind was blowing like crazy, and this stretch winds in every direction on the compass so I'd occasionally find myself in long stretches with the wind in my face, while at other times it would be at my back. It wasn't too much of a problem except that it was putting a lot of leaves and trash on the water, making some areas difficult to fish. There was also a lot of tiny white fuzzy particles coming off some kind of trees, and it was getting in my eyes. As always, there were times when I just put down the rod and paddled, either because the water wasn't too good or because I needed to cover some territory and wanted to soak in the scenery instead of concentrating on fishing.

Fishing-wise, the highlight of the trip came in mid-afternoon. I was using a tandem spin along a deep, rocky bank, fishing it fairly slow and letting it sink a bit. I was retrieving it slowly when I felt a soft take. I set the hook and it felt like I'd hooked a log, but then the log shook its head and pulled back. I knew it was a big fish. It then made a hard, powerful run upstream, then shot out toward the canoe. I kept tension on it, still not having seen it, but then it came up. Largemouth. Big largemouth. It darted back toward the bank, pulling the solo canoe toward a big log with brush around it. The fish dove into the brush and got snagged. the canoe glided right over it. I gave it some slack, and it came out. I put on pressure and it dove into the brush again, but this time I was able to work it away and I knew I had the battle won. Still, it took a few more minutes before I lipped the 21 incher.

I half expected the fishing to pick up again later in the evening, but it continued inconsistent. Mary was picking me up a 7 PM, so I had to move along pretty fast, just hitting the best spots in many areas.

Mary was waiting when I got to the take-out and hauled the canoe and gear up the long, steep hill to the road. She asked how I did.

"89 bass altogether. Some big largemouth. Great day!" I told her.

By the way, the final tally by species was 41 smallmouth, 30 largemouth, 18 spotted bass. Nice thing about that is that this stretch has had at least as many spotted bass as smallies the last few years. I hope the ratio today is signifying the smallies are making a comeback!

[Mitch f]

Glad to hear the smallies are coming back! Great report.....that will teach you to go back to Montana!

[moguy1973]

Glad to hear the smallies were hitting that Strike King top water...I really like the action it has, almost as good as the Sammies, without having the head sticking straight up when you stop it....

[ColdWaterFshr]

Nice report, Al. That big largemouth must've been a thrill.

[gramps50]

Nice report and it sounds like you had a very enjoyable day of fishing & floating.

[Chief Grey Bear]

So it's a 14 mile float that usually takes me a good 12 hours to do.

You are a machine Al. That would take me about 3 days.

But if you want to hit it again this fall, I'll be happy to come up and help you with the shuttle. I'll do my best to keep up with you.

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, the Strike King has a real nice action and I like the profile. Only thing I don't like as well as the Sammy is the rattles...they seem a little too loud. But it worked just fine.

Chief, you'd like that float...the water color usually looks a lot like Shoal Creek did the only time I was on it, and a lot of the cover and water looks similar. I may be a machine, but when I had to drag the canoe up that big hill at the end of the day I didn't feel like one!

I took a bunch of fish porn, and will try to post some later on today.

[Gavin]

Welcome home Al..Glad you had a great day on the river.

[Greasy B]

Thanks for the report. I haven't been Smallmouth fishing much yet but judging by the reports I've heard it's going to be a good year. I'm just looking forward to some wet weather to bump the water up.

[Scott25.stl]

Dang! Nice Al. That sounds like an awesome day!