Which Watershed

[Al Agnew]

As for the question about the Meramec...I don't think the Meramec has more 18+ inchers than a number of other streams, but it's certainly up there in the top tier, and it used to be the best stream I ever fished in the Ozarks for big ones. I have a theory that I've never seen anywhere else as to why that might be so.

It starts with geology. The Meramec, Huzzah, Courtois, Big, and Mineral Fork all flow through a region where the dolomite base rock has a lot of quartz druse in it. Quartz druse, or drusy quartz, forms as clusters of crystals on the inside surface of voids in the dolomite. It's the stuff that people in the area call "sugar rock" when they find it lying on the surface. The way it gets to the surface is as the dolomite weathers away and dissolves, the much harder quartz crystal structures remain on the surface. At that point they consist of pieces of the original linings of those voids in the dolomite. The pieces have the crystal masses on one side, and a very porous reddish rock on the other side which is all the remains of the dolomite matrix in which they formed.

These pieces eventually get carried into the river, and on these rivers the gravel bars are made up of as much of the drusy quartz as chert (flint). On many Ozark streams, the gravel bars are mostly flint. Flint is smooth-surfaced, but this drusy quartz is very rough surfaced and porous, with hollows and holes all through it.

And therein lies the root of my idea. Gravel bars and gravel bottoms of these streams have a lot more surface area in the substrate, and a lot more holes and openings in it, and all these things give the algae and tiny bottom organisms that are the base of the food chain a lot more places to grow. So the base of the food chain is of higher mass and density, it grows more of the stuff that eventually end up in bass stomaches.

On upper Big River, where the drusy quartz is choked out by the fine mine waste that fills in all the cracks and crevices, the fish still get to be fairly big, but tend to have bigger heads and thinner bodies than Meramec fish do. I believe the food base for them is somewhat lacking in the mine waste section of the river because of those crevices being filled in.

Having said all that...it's a theory I find interesting, but I have no idea whether grow rates at some point in their life cycle are better in the drusy quartz streams. Probably the biggest determiner of top end size is genetics. The genetics are different in each river system, and probably the fish in some river systems have better growth genetics.

And the second biggest determiner is probably simple mortality, both natural and man-caused. You can't do anything about the natural mortality rate. You CAN do something about human causes, especially harvest by anglers and illegal gigging and pollution.

[Chief Grey Bear]

So you live at Sharon Spring? Or just a little east?

I've always been going to stop at the bridge by Wanda and just see what was there, just haven't yet. I have caught them at B City but haven't tried any further up stream.

I haven't ever messed with South Indian or Middle Indian. I like exploring like you are saying. Let's do some wading and see what we can find.

[jtram]

Im game, Yes grew up on the hill above and South of Shannon Springs, my parents still do. Im almost to Fairview. There is a bridge between Wanda and Boulder City (not the one on South Indian) that would be my best guess on the Brown Fish. We shall have to explore sometime.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Ahhh yes Shannon Spring. Sharon Spring is a town in western KS.

I'm booked this weekend but can look at next weekend.

[jtram]

Generally flexible on my end just let me know.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Will do

[rFisherk]

Interesting theory, Al, but I believe the simple answer is the general fertility of the water, as evidenced by either a green or brown (sometimes a little of both) zooplankton bloom. Meramec is one of the most fertile rivers in the state, and I think years ago it may have had one of the highest number of big smallmouth, but it's proximity to St. Louis and the resulting pressure has brought it down.

The Big Piney and Gasconade were also very good, but the Gasconade is also too close to St. Louis and has suffered pollution, so I think for number of big fish, the Big Piney is tops.

[Al Agnew]

Interesting theory, Al, but I believe the simple answer is the general fertility of the water, as evidenced by either a green or brown (sometimes a little of both) zooplankton bloom. Meramec is one of the most fertile rivers in the state, and I think years ago it may have had one of the highest number of big smallmouth, but it's proximity to St. Louis and the resulting pressure has brought it down.The Big Piney and Gasconade were also very good, but the Gasconade is also too close to St. Louis and has suffered pollution, so I think for number of big fish, the Big Piney is tops.

I've never done as well on the Piney as on several other streams. It wouldn't come to mind for me when thinking about the best streams for big ones.

I agree with you on the fertility as evidenced by the color of the water. However, in my opinion THE biggest factor is fishing pressure. In roaming around the Ozarks, I've fished a number of small, very clear streams that had fantastic numbers of big fish for a few years, but then enough people found out about the fishing and started pounding them, and the fishing quickly declined. It doesn't even have to be catch and kill fishing, although that obviously has more impact. I don't know what happens to the big fish, but with more pressure they seem to disappear. Although perhaps we are overestimating the number of catch and kill anglers it takes to really make a huge dent in the population of big fish. In the best of situations, there might be only a few 18+ inch smallmouth per mile on these streams, and if just a couple of good anglers fish it once a week for a while and keep every big one they catch, those 18+ inchers disappear fast.

Streams like the Meramec and Gasconade are big enough to hold more fish per mile, with more places for them to hide. Maybe they can take more fishing pressure.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I don't know what happens to the big fish, but with more pressure they seem to disappear. Although perhaps we are overestimating the number of catch and kill anglers it takes to really make a huge dent in the population of big fish. In the best of situations, there might be only a few 18+ inch smallmouth per mile on these streams, and if just a couple of good anglers fish it once a week for a while and keep every big one they catch, those 18+ inchers disappear fast.

Whoa up there partner. That is along the same lines of what I have been saying to you guy's over the last few years during the gigger bashing and it was vehemently dismissed.

[Gavin]

The bigger more fertile streams seem to be best IMO. Even better if there isn't a public access every 5-10 miles.