BassMaster#1 Posted April 12, 2014 Posted April 12, 2014 My Buddy and I took off work yesterday to hit the Upper Meramec for our first float of the year. According to the Conservation Report received on Thursday the water was mid 50 and probably hit somewhere around 58 - 59. Right after the bat we noticed the water was only about 6" from normal pool and the water was a little stained for this section. NO big deal as stain can sometimes work to your advantage. We ended up catching 12 a peice with a good mixture of largemouth and smallmouth. Not bad in my opinion for how cool the water temps were. We mainly fished jerkbaits and tubes with me done a lot more junk fishing them him. We got on the water around 7:45 and got off the water at 5. I caught the majority of mine in the morning with the fattest fish of the day coming off a Jerkbait. It was a 14" smallie, but weight 1.75lbs. For being 13", this fish was FAT. This was the second fish I caught and unfortunately I didn't snapped a picture of this on. To lazy to pull the phone out I guess. Around 10 I caught a nice 2.6oz largemouth on a tube. My buddy and I were going back and forth wether or not this was a spotted or largemouth bass. I said it was a largemouth, but he said the mouth didn't go back far enough to be a largemouth. It didn't have the rough scales on the body like a spot so you tell me? This time you can see I pulled out the phone to snap a picture, but that smallie with the big belly was a better looking fish even though he was only 13". Threw some top water dawg baits caught 2 small ones on that, which wasn't bad for how cold the water was. By 10:30 the bite slowed down for the both of us with a few small ones here and there. It was now 3 and the bite had picked back up. My buddy caught a nice 16" and lost another 15" on a tube. We didn't get a chance to weigh that one as the lure punctured the gills and wanted to get it back in the water before it bleed all over the place. I lost all my 4" tubes, so decied to crank a kvd crankbait the rest of the day, which managed to bring in 3 more short smallies for me. Man, was it a great day to be out on the water yesterday and away from the office. Here's the pic of the largemouth and a bonus pick of a smallie with a lamprey eel. The smallie was about 8 - 9" and this lamprey was about 6". Enjoy the pics
Mitch f Posted April 12, 2014 Posted April 12, 2014 I always release the lamphreys, after I cut them in half! "Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor
moguy1973 Posted April 12, 2014 Posted April 12, 2014 Largemouth Yep... You can also tell between a spot and largemouth from the tongue patch that ALL spotted bass have (although a few large mouth do too), and the dorsal fin, where largemouth have a distinct separation between the front and rear fins and spots they are connected... I think that's one of those Walking Dead lampreys. Looked like it wanted that smallies brains.... -- JimIf people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles. -- Doug Larson
Old plug Posted April 12, 2014 Posted April 12, 2014 How long have they been a problem in the river. I never seen one kn all my time down there about 40 yrs ago.
Greasy B Posted April 12, 2014 Posted April 12, 2014 The lampreys are harmless, more of a sign of a healthy aquatic environment. His father touches the Claw in spite of Kevin's warnings and breaks two legs just as a thunderstorm tears the house apart. Kevin runs away with the Claw. He becomes captain of the Greasy Bastard, a small ship carrying rubber goods between England and Burma. Michael Palin, Terry Jones, 1974
Old plug Posted April 12, 2014 Posted April 12, 2014 That os probably right Greasy B. I returned to the Mermen a couple years ago becausse we were attending the burial of a friend in nearby Leasburg. I loved that river with a passion when we were out there so much 40 + years ago. that being so I just had to drive down Hwy H and look at it. what I seen down there made me physically sick and still does. People campers trailers you name it all over the place accompanied by the smell of many people. I swore then I would never ever go back. I do bot have to anyway. I have a permant picture of that mess engraved on my mind. That is the trouble with everything just to many people and very few of them giving a darn what they do besides have a good time.
joeD Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Bassmaster, if you don't mind, what kind of watercraft were you using? You were standing, I saw a paddle, yet it looks like your vessel can accommodate a trolling motor and/or something bigger. Looks interesting to me. Thanks in advance.
cnr Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Bassmaster, if you don't mind, what kind of watercraft were you using? You were standing, I saw a paddle, yet it looks like your vessel can accommodate a trolling motor and/or something bigger. Looks interesting to me. Thanks in advance. Looks like a Coleman Crawdad boat to me.
moguy1973 Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Looks like a Coleman Crawdad boat to me. I believe that is what it is... -- JimIf people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles. -- Doug Larson
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