Who's been after some River springtime smallies yet?

[Smallieguy87]

Hit the Meramec on Sat, 9+ mile float ending near Onondoga. Couldn't get anything going, tried everything, 2 of us in a canoe and I dont think we caught 10 bass combined. I think the total was 2 largemouth, 1 spot (furthest upstream that I have ever caught a spot on the Meramec) and 5 smallies.

May is historically the month that I do best in terms of size on the rivers, so I have that to look forward to, but April has been a bust.

I sometimes struggle to fish well in April and this year(so far) seems to be no exception. Maybe its the cooler temps after the fronts coupled with water level changes. I don't usually get skunked but i don't do as well numbers wise.

[Gavin]

Its still a mix this time of year. Gotta go where you want to go, our nearby water where the fishing might be better. Move, our pick a different float trip if you have the time.

[LittleRedFisherman]

I have still yet to go, I've been able to fish one day a week lately but keep going to the crappie. I may sneak to the current later in the week!

[Gavin]

Got it done this weekend. Did a 7-8 mile float with my bro-inlaw. Real nice guy, Eagle Scout, union plumber and Cub Scout leader. Did a mild whitewater stretch with a couple bouder gardens on it. Scenery & company was great, caught smallmouth too. Still in winter type holes on that creek. Good jerkbait bite, tore up the 4" baits in the slow deep spots. Water was very clear, great fun watching them come out of nowhere and stage to kill your candy! Best three 18, 17,15....great day! Small plastics caught a bunch of little fellers.

[Smallieguy87]

Got to fish The huzzah on Saturday for a bit. The bite was tough for me. A lot of prospects, a lot of follows and pecking on the tail end of baits but no real takers. I did manage to catch a few smallmouth around 10-12 inches on mix of different lures. The first came on a 3.5 tube jig, another on a rage grub, and the last on a 3/16 football jig with baby rage craw trailer. Not the best results but i'm rarely upset about a day on the water.

[Al Agnew]

Hoping to go tomorrow to one of my home stretches of Big River...I didn't float this stretch at all last year, which may have been the first year in at least 30 years that I didn't float it at least once. Gonna have to be creative on putting in, because the old access is no longer available.

[Gavin]

Big looked kinda dingy when we drove past Desloge today

[Norm M]

Big looked kinda dingy when we drove past Desloge today

had an inch or two of visibility near shore in slackwater areas on my river today, did just fine .

[Gavin]

Could have read the newspaper off the bottom in 10' of water on the flow we floated Friday. Come on down for some clear water fishing some time. Not much of that in IL.

[Al Agnew]

Well, Big River was in good shape, plenty of water and fairly clear, but it was cold, only in the mid-50s when I started out. And the fish weren't doing much. I was halfway through the float before I caught my first smallie...up until then I'd caught only 8 spotted bass and three largemouth. Then in one pool the smallies turned on and I caught five from 12 to 14 inches on my homemade Subwalk...and then it was back to being dead. Ended up with less than 25 bass altogether. North wind was blowing straight upstream most of the time, and was a bit aggravating. One of the highlights of the day was watching an eagle being harassed by a redtailed hawk. Redtails look big until you see one next to an eagle!