Beaver Creek Trip 2/9-2/11

[cullinby9]

We put the canoe's in saturday night at about 7 pm night floated in a steady rain down to the first wintering hole below the second Bradleyville Bridge. Set up camp in a flash and managed to get a fire going. The rain fell all night I had to check on the boat several times. I woke with dawn and the rain let up the creek was still clear when I finished cofee and set the boat in the water. The fish were stacked up I hooked up almost instantly with a solid 2 lber that had several fish with it I actually had two hooked up for a split second as the other fish tried to steal the crankbait out the mouth of the one hooked up. I landed the fish as I swung it in she regurgatated a couple crawdads. The first hour was looking good I caught another on the crankbait and two on the tube. My buddy got on the board with a solid 15 incher and a couple of dinks. We were pumped to think we are still in the first hole and catching multiple fish,but around the bend was the first bad sign of things to come, a little feeder is pumping brown water in the creek. Things began to change quickly the steep rock banks where they wanted to be started to flush to fast to fish. The smallies seemed to dissapear in an instant leaf and stick clutter the surface making the crankbait uneffective. The creek had rose a couple feet in a couple hour's. High flow muddy cold water not a great scenerio but we kept a line wet as much as possible and figured out the fish had moved to the head of the pools and were setting up in the eddies on the mud banks I manged to catch 2 more smallies and a couple of largemouth. The floating was great the influx of water had the creek cresting at 700cfs and catching a few in Febuary on the creek is always fun.

[Smalliebigs]

Beaver Creek is a great creek. I hope too many people don't start to go out there though. Went there last summer and had a great time.

Glad you had a nice trip, Cullinby, we sure needed that rain.

lol.......too late

[Wayne SW/MO]

You guys are tough, thanks for the report. Where did you take out?

[cullinby9]

The creek was as clean as I've seen it in a couple of years it got rolling pretty good a few weeks ago and flushed the leaves and algea off bottom.

I think there are two kinds of fishing pressure, inteligent pressure,and everyone else maybe 5% of the anglers can put the boat in the right spot make the right cast,adjust to conditions to consistanty catch the bigger smallies the other 95% could read this go to the creek maybe catch a few thats why I don't worry about posting these reports. Of the 5% that can really catch them I'd like to think they will practice catch and release if they choose to use the info posted.

[cullinby9]

You guys are tough, thanks for the report. Where did you take out?

Kissee Mills although I prefer cross timbers. We camped Sunday night down from Cane when those winds came in I thought my tent was done for. A friend lives down there he picked us up monday morning at the bridge.

[Guest]

Deleted

[Wayne SW/MO]

That's a long float normally in low water so I suppose the rise was a blessing. The creek doesn't seem to get much pressure overall. Probably because it's not commercialized. I don't think the outfitter on it does the creek below them.

[cullinby9]

That's a long float normally in low water so I suppose the rise was a blessing. The creek doesn't seem to get much pressure overall. Probably because it's not commercialized. I don't think the outfitter on it does the creek below them.

Kind of we were going to fish all day monday but the rise in water made for a quicker descent. We also had a monster head wind sunday afternoon and monday making us paddle stretches that I know were holding fish but if I stopped paddling it would blow me back up river. There are no outfitters below Bradleyville its a long float with not very much access. At 3 ft. plus there are several false lines were the main flow runs into strainers if you don't know the lines it coud make for a long day when its cold out.

[Smalliebigs]

I know, right.

And it could be even better with better regulations. Lots of fish, but not a lot of big bass. When you let people keep 6 smallmouth over 12" a day these little creeks are easy to exploit.

Also gets a little too low in the summer for a good float. Lots of dragging.

LOL....I don't care what the regs are I throw them all back, if I have a need to eat some fish I have some Crappie fillets and soon to have some Walleye fillets.To be quite honest I think it's funny someone would give me dung about my stance on wanting more regs to improve the fishing. I have fished Beaver, Bull, Swan, Cowskin, Little Beav, and any ditch east over to Bryant since the 80's and they are all killer little creeks that are very easy to catch nice Smallies out of, I wouldn't advertise. If I only lived closer than St.Louis I would hit them way more often, too much for a day trip for me. On Beaver once I came across two loosers in April of 2001 who were floating in a Jon boat who had two stringers of mostly Smallies and few Largemouth, each stringer had anywhere from 10 to 15 bass on each. When I made conversation and told them not only were they keeping Black Bass out of season, they had way too many if they were in season, they proceeded to say if you aint the cops in really doesn't matter and then argued with about when you can keep a bass on a stream in Missouri. So some of us know that these marginal ozarks creeks are there and we are deffinitely fishing them we just don't post it.....no offense just trying our best to preserve what little killer creeks we have left in this state.

[cullinby9]

LOL....I don't care what the regs are I throw them all back, if I have a need to eat some fish I have some Crappie fillets and soon to have some Walleye fillets.To be quite honest I think it's funny someone would give me dung about my stance on wanting more regs to improve the fishing. I have fished Beaver, Bull, Swan, Cowskin, Little Beav, and any ditch east over to Bryant since the 80's and they are all killer little creeks that are very easy to catch nice Smallies out of, I wouldn't advertise. If I only lived closer than St.Louis I would hit them way more often, too much for a day trip for me. On Beaver once I came across two loosers in April of 2001 who were floating in a Jon boat who had two stringers of mostly Smallies and few Largemouth, each stringer had anywhere from 10 to 15 bass on each. When I made conversation and told them not only were they keeping Black Bass out of season, they had way too many if they were in season, they proceeded to say if you aint the cops in really doesn't matter and then argued with about when you can keep a bass on a stream in Missouri. So some of us know that these marginal ozarks creeks are there and we are deffinitely fishing them we just don't post it.....no offense just trying our best to preserve what little killer creeks we have left in this state.

So whats the point of having a smallmouth forum if we can't talk smallmouth fishing. Is it just to get on here and complain about the mdc?