river bass fishing St. Louis

[Patrick Bauer]

Me and my buddy Have been fishing the Meramac river at castlewood park. We bank fish where the kiefer flows into the river since neither of us have boats at the moment. We had one day where we caught some drum on worms lol. We've thrown just about everything at them and had little little luck bass wise. Does anybody know of any parks near St. Louis that are on the Meramac, or any river for that matter that you can bank or wade fish at? Looking to be able to catch bass. Thanks!

 

i don't know why this posted 3 times. My phone glitched out on me.  

[Al Agnew]

Bank fishing the lower Meramec is tough, especially this time of year.  There is a lot of unproductive water, and fish are in a few specific spots.  Once the weather warms up for good, bass fishing becomes a little easier...if the river is reasonably low.  Just look for good current and riffles.  You'll always find spotted bass, at least, around the riffle areas in late spring and summer, along with the occasional smallmouth.

[top_dollar]

I bank fish the lower meremac and its tributaries fairly often from valley park to george winter.  Its a nightmare....quite often youll get covered in mud, and your going to lose lures my the dozen....its very snaggy with various rocks, and pipes, and appliances as well as trees that have fallen in.  Thick mud, steep banks, and the overall gross factor of the lower meremac (sewage smell, garbage, amd such) make it largely unpleasant.  About half the time i go...or even more i curse myself for going and feel like ive just wasted 4 hours, 10 lures and need a shower.

    Sometimes though....you hit it just right and its all worth it.  Those fish are really finicky it seems meaning they are either biting well or not at all.  After a good rain, or when the river is coming up will get em going sometimes.  For the most part the lower meremac fish eat shad and crawfish (balck bass, white bass, hybrids, drum, walleye, crappie and sunfish...youll catch everything there).  Normally i use a flicker shad on a casting rod with 12# mono.  When you snag it usually you can bend out the hooks.  A top water walk the dog bait, and squirrel tail hair jig with a small chunk of brush hog as a trailer.  Im sure any shad or craw imitation works well....but youd be wise to use cheap baits.   When your on the bank and get snagged up your gonna lose it or bend the hook out.

Ill give you a few good spots to check but as i mentioned its so hit or miss that i normally hit several places.   In valley park where the 141 bridge goes over there are two big gravel bars amd a creek that flows in.  1 gravel bar you have to get to from buder park, the other is on the little bike trail side wjere tje creek flows in.  Thats a great area.  There is a deep hole in between those bars as well as below and above.  Just this past weekend i caught 4 whites/hybrids amd 3 drum from there on a flicker shad.  Also you can walk that trail down to where simpson lake dumps into the river, that little creek mouth is also good fishing.  

Also unger park is kind of a do nothing area of the river but ive caught fish there from the various debris that blocks current.    

Emmeneggar park where 44 goes over is another great spot.  Ive caught lots of fish from the gravel bar there and the creek that flows in. Then if the river is low you can walk that rock ledge down to the golf course...another good spot (thanks smallie bigs for mentioning that like 3 years ago....its become one of my favorite river spots).  

Other spots....Castlewood is good.  There is a creek that comes in where the rr is and the river makes an s shape, ive caught fish there before.  Then there is a bike trail that follows the river up a good ways.  Ive never fished that area but have walked the trail and saw some good looking spots.  Also sherman beach park has good current, riffles and holes.  The best spot is right there at the parking lot from my experience.  Long story short....its frustrating mostly, but if you waste enough time not catching anything down there eventually youll be rewarded with a really good day...or at least a really good 45 minutes until they quit biting for no reason.  

[Johnsfolly]

How about sauger in the lower Meramec? Can they be caught around St L. and if so consistently? I would assume that they have a similar spawning cycle as walleye and run theriver late winter or early spring.

[Haris122]

I can't swear to how much Kirkwood parks department cares or not if you cross it, but Emmenegger park has had their bank access taped/cordoned off to use ever since the big flood last winter. They claim the bank is unstable or something. I figured I just don't bother with getting a potential fine so I haven't fished there since that flood. Just a heads up for those thinking of trying it out.

[moguy1973]

No way you could pay me to bank fish from Fenton Hwy 30 down to George Winter after the flood.  Eww....

[top_dollar]

1 hour ago, Johnsfolly said:

How about sauger in the lower Meramec? Can they be caught around St L. and if so consistently? I would assume that they have a similar spawning cycle as walleye and run theriver late winter or early spring.

Yup...although i dont have consistent success.  Nothing is consistent for me there though. 

1 hour ago, Haris122 said:

I can't swear to how much Kirkwood parks department cares or not if you cross it, but Emmenegger park has had their bank access taped/cordoned off to use ever since the big flood last winter. They claim the bank is unstable or something. I figured I just don't bother with getting a potential fine so I haven't fished there since that flood. Just a heads up for those thinking of trying it out.

Eh nobody has said anything to me yet.  I cross it all the time and have yet to fall to my death.  I guess its a possibility though.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, Haris122 said:

Emmenegger park has had their bank access taped/cordoned off to use ever since the big flood last winter

Park Ranger ran me out two weeks ago.  He said "the bank is unstable".  I said, "Yeah it's a river bank, they are all unstable"

He said "Whatever, get out".

[ColdWaterFshr]

Not a fan of the lower Meremac.  If I have to stay close to town, I'd find a subdivision pond to hit.  Also - Fabick park has a couple lakes that aren't too bad.  http://mdc7.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=200815

[Haris122]

Quote

Eh nobody has said anything to me yet.  I cross it all the time and have yet to fall to my death.  I guess its a possibility though.

I wouldn't worry too much about the unstable bank as I would them fining me for fishing there. That flood did sweep away a ton of bank there, and now it's pretty much a sheer 6-7 foot drop for most of it, but I too would just find the areas that don't look unstable, like around the bridge there.

Quote

Park Ranger ran me out two weeks ago.  He said "the bank is unstable".  I said, "Yeah it's a river bank, they are all unstable"

He said "Whatever, get out".

Yeah, the biggest reason I don't fish there much anymore is the Kirkwood parks people. As soon as sunset hits, and sometimes even a bit earlier, they try to get you out of there. At least most of the stl county parks let you stay there for half hour longer, and usually the rangers don't even show up right at that point, and if they do they still don't rush you as much as the Kirkwood ones do. Those guys on the other hand, even closed the gate on me once. They didn't lock it at least so I was able to open it back up and close it behind me, but still, kind of ridiculous when we're talking about an extra 10-15 minutes past sunset.

 

I like fishing the lower meramec more than most lakes and ponds nearby. Mainly just cause of the surprise factor of not knowing what you might catch, and of potentially catching something giant. That being said though, for bass fishing from the bank, it's not easy just cause you usually can't go walk very far before something blocks your path, and even when it doesn't most areas get muddy pretty quick, so it becomes a dirty undertaking. I personally like Unger park a lot. But that being said, I easily caught plenty more other types of fish there than I have bass, and when I have caught those, they've been on the small end.