Finally a fishing report...

[Al Agnew]

Cold weather and way too clear water has kept me off the rivers for a while, but today Mary and I headed for the Meramec.  I'd fished for a couple hours on Monday while at our land, and though I don't know what the water temp was on that day, it had to be climbing with air temps in the 60s.  The fish were acting like it; I even saw a couple chasing minnows, and several were in shallow water.  I only caught little ones up to about 13 inches, though, and not many.

Hog Wally had told me the water temp was up to 44 degrees yesterday.  But this morning the temp gauge read 39.8.  There was just a bare hint of color to the water, visibility maybe 5 or 6 feet.  So I started out using hair jigs.

Just as we got in the boat to start upriver, another couple of anglers pulled into the previously deserted parking lot.  They saw us head upstream, and I hoped they would go downstream.  I passed up two good holes before stopping at the first hole I'd fish.  I heard them stop at the hole just below that I'd passed up.  I spent well over an hour in that first pool, and I don't think I even got a bite.  Not good.  The other boat passed me and stopped in the next hole upstream.  Well, if that's the way it was going to be, I'd just head several miles upriver to a pool I really wanted to fish.

I put the trolling motor down and hummed into position to start at the downstream end of the bluff.  Second cast I got a bite; the only way I felt it was just as a slightly heavier weight on the line.  I missed it, not being used to that soft a bite.  Two casts later, same thing, and this time I caught the fish, a 14 incher.  In that first 10 feet of the bank I caught three that size and missed one more...and I wasn't even into the best water yet.  I picked up the rod with Mitch's Craw on it and tried that.  I got bites, but for some reason I failed to hook any of them, the first time that's ever happened with the craw.  I picked the hair jig back up as I got into what I was sure was the best water...and caught a 12 and a 15 incher, but then nothing.  This stretch of bank is a big eddy, big boulders dropping off into 12-14 feet of water, but it's short, only about 30 yards, before you round a point and get into much heavier current.  It was lunchtime, so Mary and I pulled over to the gravel bar on the other side to eat.

While Mary was finishing eating, I made a few casts off the gravel bar into slow current dropping off to 10 feet or more, and caught a nice 16 incher.  Hmm.  I kept fishing off the bar once we got back in the boat, but got nothing else.  Below the bar is about 40 yards of mud bank, with several big logs and very gentle current, 5-6 feet around the logs and dropping off deeper outside them.  There were fish there.  I ended up catching 6 more, including the biggest of the day, a 17 incher.

By this time, I'd been fishing this one pool for more than three hours, including the lunch break.  With the water that cold, you have to fish slow, and I was using a fairly light jig head that sank rather slowly, so each cast took a while.  But I was learning that pool like I'd never done before.  I know that by just concentrating on the obvious bluff side of these wintering pools that we are missing a lot of fish, but it's tough to stay interested when you're out in open water or off gravel or sand bars without cover and not a lot of definition to the bottom.  Yet that's what you have to do to find those obscure spots that sometimes hold a lot of fish.  It struck me that, if one really wanted to learn all the winter fishing spots, you'd have to plan on spending at least half a day in the average big pool on a river the size of the Meramec in this stretch--just fish one or two pools a trip, and a different couple of pools the next trip.

There was one more pool I really wanted to fish, but about that time the other boat went sailing by again.  The pool was back downstream and I figured they had already fished it, along with every other good pool I'd passed up to get to the one where I was fishing.  But I headed back down and tried it.  Got two bites, missed them both.  I stopped at one more pool not far above the access, no bites.  It was 3:30 and time to head to the ramp.

It was mostly cloudy all day, with occasional wind just enough to make fishing slightly more difficult.  Mary stayed wrapped up in a blanket, reading a book, most of the day.  But it was nice to finally get out on the river.  Nice to get home and eat a hot supper and then soak in the hot tub, too!

[Norm M]

 You caught fish, learned a few things , spent time with your wife,  a hot supper and a soak in the hot tub . Sounds like a great day to me . 

[Hog Wally]

I have struggled last few weeks.  I haven't got on the fish when they are biting very well. I have seen some truly giant bass of both species though. The clear water made for some good scouting. 

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

When you say hair jig are you talking about a bucktail, rabbit or something else? How light was the jig? I started tying a few small bucktail jigs last year and had a couple good days last February fishing the Maramec, nothing big enough to get too excited about. I recently picked up the new Do it finesse jig mold because I've been hearing about it all the time and tied a few thin sparse bucktails with them.. I like how they stand up and may tie some bunny jigs as well. Any information would be great. I want to start fishing rivers more this year.

[Al Agnew]

I tie my hair jigs with crosscut rabbit.  Usually two or three different colors on the same jig.  The crosscut rabbit, "palmered" (wrapped around the hook shank) makes for a hair body that only sticks out about a quarter to half inch past the hook bend.  Then I add a small plastic twin tail behind it that I obtain by cutting up Zoom Brush Hogs; the plastic is about two inches in total length.  Thus my hair is not very sparse, but is short, the plastic trailer is slender in profile and the legs have a very subtle movement, adding to the movement of the rabbit.  And probably as important as anything else for me is that they are quick and easy to tie.  I use jig heads that Mitch made for me, which are the same as the Tackle HD jig heads.  I use the smaller heads that Mitch and the guys are going to sell with their smaller Hi Def Craw...I think mine have been 3/16th ounce, but I could be wrong.

[fishinwrench]

Crosscut fur strips IMO are unnecessary.  Once fur is wet it will do whatever the water flow tells it to do. 

The "crosscut" thing is a marketing ploy, it is how they manage to sell the inferior cuts from the side of a rabbit hide.   For all intents and purposes the straight strips from the back of the critter are way better, they are more dense in fur and the hide is tougher. Straight strips are useful in more applications (tailing, winging, palmering).   There is no benefit that I can fathom for buying/using crosscut strips for palmering.  It just makes it harder to manage and takes more wraps to get the job done.

Just throwing out my .02 for free since it was never asked for.  ?

[snagged in outlet 3]

Try mink strips.  I think you'll like the action.

[Gavin]

Hair Jigs  Old post, but it might give you some ideas.

 

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

I've been tying and selling hair jigs on ebay for over twelve years now and use both zonker cut and crosscut for a lot of my jigs. I agree that the crosscut is an inferior hair, especially Hareline's lately. Certain colors aren't cut very well and actually get a combination zonker and crosscut on one strip.The black and white is missing sections and a lot of the hair falls off the skin.I buy whole skins at a time and need to order a few colors but have been putting it off. I appreciate the advice and ideas on what I should be tying for these Missouri smallies. The pictures from the old post are helpful, similar to what I'm doing now. I do like a variety and have close to 50 jig molds now.

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

Ever since Do it came out with the Herring underspin mold in late fall of 2015 it has become one of my favorite baits for rivers and lakes. First time using them on the Maramec caught two nice walleye as well as other species except I've yet to catch a smallie on one. Hooked something big fishing the river beside Unger Park last fall that broke my Owner 2/0 at the bend of the hook, first time I ever broke one and now I'm afraid to use them and switched to Gama 114's. Last picture are 3/32 from the herring underspin that came out this year. I'm a crappie guy and think these will work.