Return To The Meramec

[Mitch f]

One of the things that annoy me about many Ozark streams are the cabins that some people actually live in. You would think that a person would have higher standards than that. I guess it's just how you were raised. I would love to live on a nice river but I'm trying to decide the best way to do it and be happy. Like I said on a different thread, a lake would be more practical to live on if you wanted to be close to the water. Someone help me

[Gavin]

Pick up 500-3,000 acres of property, build a nice house and a private (80-100 acre) lake to provide a water view. Build it near the river. Land, home, private lake, near river. It's hard to hit on all four of those criteria...Maybe a permanent spring to stock trout in....Our keep your house...and buy a travel trailer, and a truck big enough to haul the trailer and your boats.

[Old plug]

The reason for that Mitch is some just do not care and others are forced into that kind of life. For others it is the way they grew up. My own home small 1400 sq ft home would bring between 250-300k if I sold it. I bet most of those Cabin's along the river do to have proper sewage disposal either. You can bet it winds up in the river. Septic system are not really workable along streams and lakes.

[Gavin]

Think that most river cabins start as play places...then they deteriorate over time...luxury items left to neglect.

[Old plug]

Yep that is exactly what happens. There are so any structural problem with those places it's best to tear them down and start over. But sewage problems are something they are going to address along water ways. There is a lot if resistance to it but it is going to happen. We got sewers this year.

[Smalliebigs]

I'm pretty sure you are beeing sarcastic......because you know it and I know that isn't that great but, it's better than going to Busch's Wildlife

That river provides much enjoyment for me! In 1 hour I can be at the ramp. Some big smallies at the rate of about 1 per mile

[Smalliebigs]

405z06, you should do yourself a favor and get a quality mask and some flippers and free dive some of these root wads......it will absolutely blow you away......on the Black River it's simply amazing how many big fish are up under the wood.

I'd love to hear stories about the quantities and quality of smallmouth you see while gigging suckers.

There is some cool videos on YouTube of guys on the Jacks Fork with underwater cameras taking the camera under shallow log jams & downed tree roots. Even in shallow-ish water, tons of fish hanging in there, often deep, deep inside the cover.

[Blazerman]

Like a few others on here I started fishing the Meramec as a kid back in the late sixties. My grandparents rented a place a little ways down from the Caverns called Twin Springs where there was a group of cabins with docks. We had the last dock in the row and when you stood on it, you could look downstream a ways to see the big cave opening tucked into the big bluff wall on the left.

We didnt have a boat right away, so most mornings I would start fishing off the dock then wade my wade downstream fishing behind all the big boulders that formed the rapids almost all the way to the cave. Back then all I ever used was a silver/black floating Rapala and a yellow Tiny Torpedo. It had silver bars or stripes on the sides.

At first light, with the mist rising off the water, I would slowly wade downstream and fish the torpedo alongside the weed beds in 2-3 fow or throw it passed, then pull it back behind the boulders and tear up the bass.

Once I got down close to the cave the water would get deeper so I would turn around and head back. By then I had usually been fishing an hour and a half at least and I would switch to the Rapala and catch a bunch more coming back. It was amazing how many fish I would catch in that little half mile stretch and the catch would usually include a few fish between 15-18 every trip. Even back then, I never kept the smallmouth.

Once we got our 14 john boat with the 7.5 motor my cousin and I started branching out to fish a lot more of the river.

The biggest difference I have noticed between now and then is there were a lot more deep holes back then and a lot more rapids with big boulders. Seems like now the deeper holes are not near as deep and the rapids have all been filled with gravel.

Also, it seemed you could catch fish everywhere back then whereas now it seemed the bass have their spots where the group up and there will be stretches of the river that dont seem to hold many fish. The other thing as others have noted, we never caught spotted bass. It was mostly smallmouth and a few largemouth in slack water areas.

Another difference, back then I could sit on my dock, and using worms, I would catch 10-15 goggle eye anytime I tried. And they were big ones some would go 8"-10". I cannot remember the last time I caught an 8" goggle eye.

There were not near as many floater in canoes back then but there were plenty of others from the cabins running around in john boats fishing.

After we stop renting that place I went through the years fishing from canoes that I owned. I probably had 6-8 different canoes over the years and fished the upper Meramec along with many other streams.

Now I have the place by the K bridge with my Blazer jet boat and can run and fish pretty much anytime. But one thing has not changed. I still love the river and still love wading for smallmouth. Even though I can run the river and fish from the front of my boat, I still park it a lot and get in a wade fish just like I always have.

To me, getting into the cool clear water on a beautiful summer day with the lush green woods all around and maybe a bluff nearby has always been the best part of smallmouth fishing an Ozark stream.

The pic here is from the top of the steps leading down to the dock i used to fish from as a kid. The big cave is downstream on the left.

[Hog Wally]

I wish you wouldn't post pictures of my favorite spot

[Hog Wally]

That is the exact boulder riffle where my dad and I tore the bottom out of my boat last year