Different stretches, different results

[Al Agnew]

I've fished most of the Meramec over the years...even did a 12 day trip that covered most of the river (Short Bend to Times Beach) at one time.  And I've had some good fishing on every stretch I've fished (and some not so good fishing).  But when it comes to winter fishing, there is one 20 mile stretch that, well, just doesn't seem to produce all that well for me.  I'm not yet convinced that it can't be good fishing.  I've caught plenty of small fish from it, just not many big ones, and there have been more trips on it where I didn't catch much.

So yesterday's forecast being for warm and sunny weather before the big cold front comes in today, I had to get out and fish, and I figured others I know would have the same idea.  I called my brother first, but after trying most of the day before to get caught up on his work, he had to decline my invitation.  I called others, and all were already going with buddies.  So in the end, I went by myself.  What I also found out from the others, though, was where they were going.  I didn't want to be fishing the same waters, so that left me with somewhere on that 20 mile stretch.  I "knew" that I could catch a bunch of mostly small to medium size fish from one particular pool, so I planned on spending a lot of time on it.

I caught the first fish on a tube (something I'd decided to try that I don't usually fish in the winter) in a small eddy along a rocky bank in a pool that appears to be pretty marginal for winter fishing.  The river was still a good foot or more above normal, with visibility of 3 feet or so (Maramec Spring is still putting in a LOT of murky water), and the water temps were hovering around 40 degrees.  The high water meant that a lot of spots I'd normally fish were just too fast and heavy current for fish to be likely to hang out in water that cold, and so in one way, the places where fish would likely be were much more limited than normal and theoretically it would be easier to find them.  But in that little eddy, and in a few other small eddies in that pool, I only found that one fish, a nice 15 incher.

Then I got down to that pool where I expected to catch some fish.  It' deep, rocky, and had some really nice eddies even in the high water.  It should have been good.  It wasn't.  I fished it for a good two hours and got two bites, catching two 12 inchers.  Arrgghh!

I headed back upstream.  It was such a nice day and the fishing so discouraging that I wanted to just run up the river a few miles to see what kind of damage the flood had done.  There were a number of alluvial banks that had been torn up considerably, though there were also long stretches with little apparent change.  I finally stopped to fish a pool that I'd never fished before in the winter because it's not particularly deep and fairly nondescript in structure and cover.  A backwater at the upper end produced nothing.  But toward the lower end, in slower water along some rocks and a big log, I caught a very fat 17 incher on a hair jig, and then a 15 inch largemouth on the tube.  

I fished a couple more pools, adding one more 12 incher to the total, and then it was getting late and I headed back to the car.

The other guys?  Two of them caught 19 fish, with nothing over 16 inches, downstream of me, and the other two caught 50, with a couple of 17 inchers, upstream from me.  So I was definitely at the bottom in numbers, at least, and I'm still wondering...did I do something wrong or is it just that stretch of river?

[Hog Wally]

I only fished for a  hour and a half but only bite I had was jerk baits. 2 keepers. 

[Mitch f]

8 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

I've fished most of the Meramec over the years...even did a 12 day trip that covered most of the river (Short Bend to Times Beach) at one time.  And I've had some good fishing on every stretch I've fished (and some not so good fishing).  But when it comes to winter fishing, there is one 20 mile stretch that, well, just doesn't seem to produce all that well for me.  I'm not yet convinced that it can't be good fishing.  I've caught plenty of small fish from it, just not many big ones, and there have been more trips on it where I didn't catch much.

So yesterday's forecast being for warm and sunny weather before the big cold front comes in today, I had to get out and fish, and I figured others I know would have the same idea.  I called my brother first, but after trying most of the day before to get caught up on his work, he had to decline my invitation.  I called others, and all were already going with buddies.  So in the end, I went by myself.  What I also found out from the others, though, was where they were going.  I didn't want to be fishing the same waters, so that left me with somewhere on that 20 mile stretch.  I "knew" that I could catch a bunch of mostly small to medium size fish from one particular pool, so I planned on spending a lot of time on it.

I caught the first fish on a tube (something I'd decided to try that I don't usually fish in the winter) in a small eddy along a rocky bank in a pool that appears to be pretty marginal for winter fishing.  The river was still a good foot or more above normal, with visibility of 3 feet or so (Maramec Spring is still putting in a LOT of murky water), and the water temps were hovering around 40 degrees.  The high water meant that a lot of spots I'd normally fish were just too fast and heavy current for fish to be likely to hang out in water that cold, and so in one way, the places where fish would likely be were much more limited than normal and theoretically it would be easier to find them.  But in that little eddy, and in a few other small eddies in that pool, I only found that one fish, a nice 15 incher.

Then I got down to that pool where I expected to catch some fish.  It' deep, rocky, and had some really nice eddies even in the high water.  It should have been good.  It wasn't.  I fished it for a good two hours and got two bites, catching two 12 inchers.  Arrgghh!

I headed back upstream.  It was such a nice day and the fishing so discouraging that I wanted to just run up the river a few miles to see what kind of damage the flood had done.  There were a number of alluvial banks that had been torn up considerably, though there were also long stretches with little apparent change.  I finally stopped to fish a pool that I'd never fished before in the winter because it's not particularly deep and fairly nondescript in structure and cover.  A backwater at the upper end produced nothing.  But toward the lower end, in slower water along some rocks and a big log, I caught a very fat 17 incher on a hair jig, and then a 15 inch largemouth on the tube.  

I fished a couple more pools, adding one more 12 incher to the total, and then it was getting late and I headed back to the car.

The other guys?  Two of them caught 19 fish, with nothing over 16 inches, downstream of me, and the other two caught 50, with a couple of 17 inchers, upstream from me.  So I was definitely at the bottom in numbers, at least, and I'm still wondering...did I do something wrong or is it just that stretch of river?

Al, I've never seen you fishing wrong! Did you take any water temp readings?

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, Mitch, it was a low of 38.6 in the morning and got up to about 41 by mid-afternoon.  Now I'm kicking myself for not trying jerkbaits.  I was just sure that the jigs and tubes would be the best type of lures to use.