Report 7/31

[Haris122]

I went out today for like 3 hours to Emmeneger Park in Kirkwood. When I got there, things seemed pretty promising. Lots of little wakes and bubbles around the shoreline. I wound up casting around a bit with a beetle spin on one rod, and one of the shallow diving bomber style crankbaits on the other one. Since the water was really low, it was quite a task to prevent things from snagging on some branches or rocks, or other stuff on the river bottom.

Anyhow, I walked along the shore and kept casting around, and I got my first Walleye I ever caught (may have been a Sauger but not certain). It was a small skinny one, probably just 7". So it wasn't exactly strong enough to keep itself from just being reeled to shore. I got that one from a spot where the gravel bar protrudes further into the river, so deeper water/less snagging was the idea there.

Anyways that got me pumped, since I didn't catch anything last few times I've been out. So I kept messing around that general area, and then got another bite on that crankbait. This fish was big enough to fight though. Didn't know what it was at first, I just saw the line going away from me fast, and I rushed to loosen the drag to not lose it. After a good 5 minutes and several runs I got it to the shore. Turned out to be a decent size Drum, 13-14" I'm guessing. That was pretty much it after I released that one.

Also saw plenty of regular 1-2' Carp/Carp-like fish hanging out in shallow water, feeding. I was thinking of targeting them, but I figured I was short on time, so I better stick with this, once I caught the first one. Next time though, I will try to fool one of them if they're still active.

By the way, apparently Kirkwood parks close directly around sunset as opposed to half hour past it, like County Parks do. So, just a heads up so you don't get a ticket, as I almost got one today

.

[Haris122]

Went out late afternoon again today for a couple hours. This time at George Winter Park. Caught 2 Gar. One maybe 16", the other probably like 12". First one I got on the same shallow running Crankbait as from Tuesday. The other one I got on the actual river section with a silver/black small minnow type crankbait. First time I got a cut/broken skin from a fish too. The bigger gar smacked into my top lip (I'm guessing with a tooth) while struggling around when I picked it up to remove the lure and untangle the line around it.

[Phil Lilley]

Thanks for the report.

[Haris122]

Sure thing. Not much help for Bass fishing, but I can say neither the gar, walleye, or drum were caught on the beetlespin these times, so that might be the lure of choice to avoid those if specifically going for Bass or something, haha.

[moguy1973]

Unfortunately those 1-2' long carp like fish are most likely Asian Carp that have made their way up the Meramec...

I still can't believe how low the river is right there...I'm pretty sure you can wade all the way across it...

[Haris122]

Since its been kind of slow on the Meramec forum, I figure I give another quick report. I went yesterday for 2 hours late in the afternoon on the meramec down near hwy 21/tesson ferry rd.. I saw a lot of activity, but then again there always seems to be late in the afternoon at this place. Anyways, I was lure fishing from shore with one rod, with one of the cheap $2 crankbaits from walmart and no takes on that. The other rod I had the catblood stuff on under a bobber, and caught a small maybe 12" blue or channel catfish. Had a few more bites on that same type of bait afterwards, but no solid takes. So that was pretty much it. Near the end I saw a small gar swimming towards me before he noticed me and high tailed it out of there. Also saw the carcass of a nice 18" or so bulky gar that probably would've given one heck of a fight. But it was dead, floating in the water. Don't know if from natural causes, or cause someone didn't like what he got on the line.