River Rat Trip..

[Gavin]

Hot day on the Meramec on Monday..Went floating with Larry STL from 30/47 bridge down to River Round CA..10 miles I guess...Smallie Bigs wanted to join us....but...I dunked my phone last Friday night...didn't get the text...Sorry man..

Guess we put in around 8:30 am...couple fish in the first mile or so...one on a crank..two on a Ned...never did figure them out...other than where the smallies were...shallow & fast..Occassioal spot or greenie in transition zones....10-15 lures tried...all caught fish...none stood out to beat the band...Hit them on the head kind of day...Mostly smallies for me...maybe 20 smallies in the 8-12 in range...one 15"...handful of spots, and 3 largemouth.........Larry got a nice largemouth...18-19"..best of the trip...He's a trooper, did very well soloing my 17' canoe.

Long day in the 99 degree heat...Went through six hydrating lawnmower beers and a gallon of water between 8:30am and our 6pm takeout...Only one O' Darn moment....had an incident with some horseflies and had to bail out of my canoe in 10' of water...Lost my hat, and a nice spin combo..Managed to grab the other 3 rods that came out with me...Big bluff hole above the L. Meramec. Split Grip with a Pfluger on it...Would like it back if found. On a sad note...the gravel grabbers are bulldozing the L. Meramec confluence hard...it looks like skiing moguls around every clump of hard vegetation....Some great scenery and it moved pretty well for a lower stretch.

[fishinwrench]

Horseflies.... Viscous basturds!

This is crazy but if a bunch of them get after you and you Hum (harmonize) at the same pitch that they do, they'll leave you alone.

I "Hummed" until my throat was sore today. I think they are hatching out of my test tank.

[Gavin]

Had my fill of Zuum, Zum...that is for sure...at least I don't have a painful 1/8" hole or several out of my hide;>)!

[fishinwrench]

What a pretty stretch of river. It screams Jon Boat!

[MOsmallies]

Great Report and pics! No fish pics though??? Congrats on the nice green bass Larry

[ColdWaterFshr]

nice report, G

nothing worse than heat and horseflies . . . but bailing out of the boat so quick that you lost a rod?? wow, that must've been funny to watch. Sorry.

I'm ready for a fishin trip soon and in a bad way. Thanks for the pics and the report.

[Terrierman]

I want to see a picture of that canoe with the wooden deck. Wow the river looks in great shape.

[Greasy B]

Does look nice, haven't been on that stretch in a long time. Guess I need a nice rainy Sunday to quiet it down enough to tolerate. On last weekends trip the horse flies tore me a new one. The satisfaction of feeling their exoskeletons crushing under the weight of my hand wasn't enough.

[Gavin]

Sorry...Only one fair fish pic so far this year...Tad better than average Wisconsin bronze...with Dan Kreher. Woulda loved to have a video of me bailing out on Monday...Add it to the list of river misadventures. Broken bones, bloody lacerations, vengeful insects, poison ivy, lost stuff, meth-head encounters, forgot the stuff that you really needed...extra useless stuff that came along instead. Quit or keep trying until I finally figure this stuff out;>)!?

[Quillback]

Great pics, looks like a nice river to float.