jpb2187 Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 On Fridays during the summer, my employer let's you take a half day if you work an extra hour the rest of the weekdays, so with a forecast for sun and a heat index of 105 I figured what better way to spend it than by going fishing! Well I wasn't too excited for the heat, but I've had things going on with the little ones at home the past couple of weekends and I hadn't been out fishing for a while. Today fishing sounded good, regardless of the temps I was going to wet a line. Today would be the day I finally headed to the Meramec to go after these smallmouth that everyone on here drools over. My goal was to just catch one. I have never been smallmouth fishing. Outside of some trout fishing, I have zero experience fishing on rivers. I can hold my own on a lake, pond, whatever, but I have no idea what I'm doing on the river. I headed out to a spot on the Meramec in the Saint Louis area and started scoping out some fishing areas. Like I may have mentioned earlier, I had no idea where to fish on the river... in the current? in the slack water? before the riffles? after the riffles? by the laydowns? I apologize if my descriptions of the water are off, I don't know how to describe them in technical terms. I didn't start out with much luck - switched between a buzz bait, crankbait, wtd lure, and soft plastic. The only action i had was spooking some carp and the occasional take of my lure by a gar. But I finally stumbled upon a spot that looked good to me. There was a small point looking area on a cut bank of the river, current ran right in front of the weedy point, behind which was some slack water. I tossed my plastic almost right onto the bank by the point, behind the current and slowly twitched it into the water. I gave it about two more twitches and let it sit. My line started darting to the left, towards the current. I gave it a good whack and felt something big. Catfish? Gar? This seemed to big to be a "good" fish i thought to myself. With one leap out of the water, I knew I had found what I was after. She jumped two more times, each time I was praying I had her buttoned up well. I finally landed her and knew I had caught a beautiful fish. Nice bronze color, healthy body, no wounds or sores. This was a fish that has swam in these waters for a long time. Took a few pics and a few measurements and she was on he way home to swim another day. In my excitement i forgot to measure her girth. I was hoping I could come on here and say I hit the magic 20" mark, but she came in right at 19". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozark trout fisher Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 That's one heckuva fish. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch f Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Very nice fish! "Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnr Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Nice. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleRedFisherman Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Well done for your first smallie. Your ruined now.... There's no such thing, as a bad day fishing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goggle-Eyed Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Nice! you should be hooked now!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kcdangler Posted August 23, 2014 Members Share Posted August 23, 2014 Addicted welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillback Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carptracker Posted August 23, 2014 Members Share Posted August 23, 2014 Not many can say their first Missouri river smallie was a 19er. Not really total luck, its clear you know how to fish and made a good cast. Congrats but no cure for the fever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrierman Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Nice one. Incredible for one's first smallie. God job all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now