Missouri Trib. Fishing

[ozark trout fisher]

It's been a bit too long since I've done any meaningful fishing (besides some quick evenings on the ponds) so I really needed to spend some time on the water today. I didn't really have the opportunity to make it down to the Current or Meramec or any of the streams that would be my first choice, but I still wanted to fish... and as much as I may forget it sometimes, there are some pretty good streams north of the Ozarks too. So I decided to check out one of my favorites.

It had been awhile since I'd fished this particularly stream (a tributary of the Missouri River) and I was worried about how it would be effected by the drought. It's a pretty large watershed and usually has a good, steady flow, so I still thought it was at least worth a look. It's one of those streams where no one fish species is all that abundant, but on any given day you can expect to catch decent numbers of largemouth bass, spotted bass, green sunfish, longear sunfish, crappie, and various rough fish (drum and chubs primarily). Neither smallmouth or white bass are all that common, but often provide a nice surprise if you're lucky. It's not your typical MO river trib, by which I mean it's clear, quick, and has at least the appearance of being spring-fed.

But as I'd expected, it wasn't exactly looking like its normal self today. The riffles were merely trickles over a wide bed of gravel, and though there was still plenty of deep (4-5 foot) water in many of the pools, the current was imperceptible in places. That said, for a stream only fed by run-off and a few small springs, if anything I was impressed that it had any water at all. And the better pools were still deep and inviting as ever.

The fishing started off slow. In the past, crankbaits and spinners have almost always been the lures that I've had the most success on. But my go to bait, the Rebel Teeny Craw, had one of those ever so rare days where it simply would not take any fish (yes, that does happen every once in awhile.) I tried a spinner as well to no avail, although it did at least elicit a few follows. Finally I dug out an old crappie jig from my tackle box and that ended up being the ticket. By this point of was beginning to wonder if the bass were still around, but after the switch, pretty quickly I had an 11 inch largemouth to hand and had lost what looked to a 15 inch beauty when it took to the air. I caught and released several out of that hole before moving upstream.

The next place I fished didn't seem to be holding much in the way of bass, but still it did not disappoint. It's one of those rare small stream holes where if you waded out in the middle you'd float your hat. I had visions of big smallmouth hiding under some of the rootwads there, but instead I found a nice school of crappie, a fish that I generally don't associate with flowing water but was happen enough to catch anyway. Before leaving I would also miss opportunities at a good sized drum and something else of size that I wasn't able to identify (perhaps another drum.)

One thing I've got to say...if you live in central or northern Missouri, chances are one of the streams you live near that most write off as a mud-hole will actually have some decent fishing if you're able to find the right stretch of water. And I don't mean just for catfish or carp-many of these streams are great for largemouth or even the occasional smallie. It's worth checking a few out, doing so has definitely resulted in me finding some good water in really surprising places.

[drew03cmc]

Pics or it didn't happen

[Wayne SW/MO]

I spent my youth near a river in North Missouri and while it never ran clear, it did run clean most of the time and it had pockets of other fish besides what most expected.

[ozark trout fisher]

Pics or it didn't happen

I just didn't want to torture you all with pictures of 11 inch bass and seven inch crappie.

[drew03cmc]

I just didn't want to torture you all with pictures of 11 inch bass and seven inch crappie.

I haven't caught a crappie in two months and an 11" bass would make my day.