Smallmouth Bass Fishing

[Gavin]

Never have fished SW Missouri but I don't see many 20" fish pics from those streams. Thinking the Gasconade, Meramec, and James drainages should be on your list. Current, Eleven Point, & Jacks Fork too. The Castor is a weird one. It's a waisting stream, meaning the flow goes underground for long stretches, and it's air clear. Long walk or a drive and a long walk to find small areas that hold fish. More LMB than smallmouth usually but the shut in a Amidon is worth the trip.

 

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, Gavin, I told Murv about the Castor not because it's the best place to go, but because it's about the closest place to him with a good public access and enough smallies that he should be able to catch a few.

We've had some discussion of SW MO smallmouth size before, and the idea is that SW MO smallies have different genetics, more influenced by the once native Neosho smallmouth genes, and that may cause them to have slower growth rates and lower top end size. I'd be interested in hearing from Chief Gray Bear as to what the biggest smallmouth he's caught from SW MO was, since he's fished those streams extensively. I haven't fished them much at all, but if I had to guess, I'd say that if you ranked river systems as to the size of smallmouth they produce, the Neosho/Grand watershed would be at the bottom of the rankings.

[Johnsfolly]

Gavin - I fish a river in mid-Central MO that can be a waisting stream during the summer months. I have found that once you find those holes, the fish tend to be ultra-aggressive. The water coming in from under the gravel is often several degrees cooler which means more oxygen and the bait in the holes gets rather depleted as the summer continues.

[jdmidwest]

I just drive to TN for the nice big river and lake smallies.  3 to 4 pounders are common there.  And I take my Tracker boat with me.