Middle meramec report

[moguy1973]

30 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Maybe we need an OA event on the Meremec, target spotted bass, with a fish fry to follow.  A little Cajun seasoning and they would eat fine.

SMA does that every year I believe.

[snagged in outlet 3]

42 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Maybe we need an OA event on the Meremec, target spotted bass, with a fish fry to follow.  A little Cajun seasoning and they would eat fine.

I would be all over that

[Mitch f]

22 minutes ago, moguy1973 said:

SMA does that every year I believe.

You are correct sir

[Chief Grey Bear]

 And then they throw them in a great big pile claiming that they are too wormy to eat. But they don't have any knife wounds. 

[MOPanfisher]

The worms soak up the Cajun seasoning even better, and add protein.  I am still in, eating wormy fish in the summer from creeks hasn't killed me YET.

[Smalliebigs]

49 minutes ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

 And then they throw them in a great big pile claiming that they are too wormy to eat. But they don't have any knife wounds. 

I was following you until you made this statement???? you have attended a Spotted bass round up put on by the MSA???

[Chief Grey Bear]

No, just read all the statements on this forum for the last decade. 

[Al Agnew]

All have been eaten in every SMA event I've attended.

I admit to occasionally tossing some of them into the brush behind the house when I get home and start to clean them.  It's easy to pick out the worms, but when there are so many that every bite you'd take would have several in it, I draw the line.  Most of them aren't that bad, and they are excellent eating.  It's usually easy to tell on the water if one has way too many worms, because there will be a lot of visible worms in the fins, gills, and inside the mouth.  I reluctantly release those, hoping that they end up dying from the infestation.

One of the ways spotted bass have caused declines in smallmouth populations in these rivers is through hybridization.  The hybrids are fertile, and backcross with both smallies and spots, making more hybrids (and fewer smallmouth if they cross with a smallie).  So yes, I treat them like spots.  I'm not sure of the legality of doing so, as in keeping hybrids under 12 inches.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Thats good to know that every spot is eaten. Thats a ton of fish. Seems like I remember everyone getting their limit. 

You don't think some of what you think my be worms is actually part of the bivalve reproduction do you?

[MOPanfisher]

Are the worms only in the spots, or are they in the lrgemouth and smallies too?