Mid Mo Smallies

[AlexFish1]

I live near columbia but I would really love to fish some streams for smallies without driving farther than I need to. Obviously I would have to drive south my question is how far. Not asking for specific spots just the closest streams/creeks/rivers closest to columbia with decent fishing. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[fishinwrench]

Alex, there are sections of streams fairly close to you in Callaway and Monroe counties that can be pretty darn good Smallmouth fishing during Spring-Summer-early Fall.  The whole creek/river may not be good Smallmouth habitat but the stretches with quite a bit of rocky bluffy type stuff often have Smallie populations that will surprise you.  For decent Winter Smallies you're gonna want clearer water (the clearer the better) so from now until May the closest worthwhile Ozarky streams to Columbia, that I'm aware of, are the Marie's river,  Weaubleau cr., Tavern cr.,  Auglaize cr..  The smallmouth population in those streams are at the very least.... "decent", and two of them are way better than decent but I shouldn't spoil all the fun by blurting it out.  

[AlexFish1]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

Alex, there are sections of streams fairly close to you in Callaway and Monroe counties that can be pretty darn good Smallmouth fishing during Spring-Summer-early Fall.  The whole creek/river may not be good Smallmouth habitat but the stretches with quite a bit of rocky bluffy type stuff often have Smallie populations that will surprise you.  For decent Winter Smallies you're gonna want clearer water (the clearer the better) so from now until May the closest worthwhile Ozarky streams to Columbia, that I'm aware of, are the Marie's river,  Weaubleau cr., Tavern cr.,  Auglaize cr..  The smallmouth population in those streams are at the very least.... "decent", and two of them are way better than decent but I shouldn't spoil all the fun by blurting it out.  

This is great info and more than enough to get me started thanks so much

[TroutRinger]

On 12/5/2017 at 11:28 PM, AlexFish1 said:

I live near columbia but I would really love to fish some streams for smallies without driving farther than I need to. Obviously I would have to drive south my question is how far. Not asking for specific spots just the closest streams/creeks/rivers closest to columbia with decent fishing. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Alex, I recently moved to Columbia from Springfield and have been on the search for smallie water in the area. I have several spots identified through scouring the internet, Google Maps, etc. that just need to be explored via wading and/or kayak.

Shoot me a PM if you want to co-explore any areas.

[Al Agnew]

Try to find a copy of the late Chuck Tryon's book, "200 Missouri Smallmouth Adventures".  While the accesses it lists might not be open these days, it says that the following creeks north of the Missouri River in mid-Missouri hold at least a few smallmouth:

Perche Creek

Silver Fork

Hinkson Creek

Bonne Femme Creek

Little Bonne Femme Creek

Moniteau Creek

Cedar Creek

Middle River

Auxvasse Creek

Crows Fork

Loutre River

Whetstone Creek

He does say that smallies are scarce in some of these creeks, though present.  

[Chief Grey Bear]

If Creekwader was still around, he'd know. He spent a lot of time in Jeff City due to employer. He chased brownies all over that area. You might try to search for some of his posts. 

Does the MSA still have any copies?

[AlexFish1]

I definitely plan on giving silver fork and auxvasse creek a try as soon as I can. As far as i know from living in columbia forever the hinkson and perche creeks seem a bit too urban and polluted for smallies but I could be wrong. Maybe some of the more rural stretches hold them. I will look into some of the other creeks you listed. Thanks for giving me a nice list to go off of. I will keep an eye out for that book as well

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

Try to find a copy of the late Chuck Tryon's book, "200 Missouri Smallmouth Adventures".  While the accesses it lists might not be open these days, it says that the following creeks north of the Missouri River in mid-Missouri hold at least a few smallmouth:

Perche Creek

Silver Fork

Hinkson Creek

Bonne Femme Creek

Little Bonne Femme Creek

Moniteau Creek

Cedar Creek

Middle River

Auxvasse Creek

Crows Fork

Loutre River

Whetstone Creek

He does say that smallies are scarce in some of these creeks, though present.  

Moniteau cr. is not North, it is south of Jeff City and pretty much a waste of time.  The South fork of it (near Fortuna) MIGHT have a few Smallies but you'll be wading with cows on private land trying to find them.

Whetstone cr. is kinda cute, but there's nothing in there big enough to eat a 6" rubber worm.  

Hinkson cr.:  Don't even waste your time. That's where the mayor of Fulton (or whoever it was) was dumping all the dead hogs.

Loutre: Green sunfish and carp.... and darn few of those in the upper reaches.  Further down it's all bullheads, gar, and Asian carp.  I've actually floated it from 3 miles above I-70 to Hermann.  Lots and lots of trash.

Chucky put alot of unnecessary miles on my truck, I'd like to have kicked him in the balls.  But the book did lead me to some really good areas that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

Auxvasse cr.:   Ok time for me to hush up. 

 

[AlexFish1]

9 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Moniteau cr. is not North, it is south of Jeff City and pretty much a waste of time.  The South fork of it (near Fortuna) MIGHT have a few Smallies but you'll be wading with cows on private land trying to find them.

Whetstone cr. is kinda cute, but there's nothing in there big enough to eat a 6" rubber worm.  

Hinkson cr.:  Don't even waste your time. That's where the mayor of Fulton (or whoever it was) was dumping all the dead hogs.

Loutre: Green sunfish and carp.... and darn few of those in the upper reaches.  Further down it's all bullheads, gar, and Asian carp.  I've actually floated it from 3 miles above I-70 to Hermann.  Lots and lots of trash.

Chucky put alot of unnecessary miles on my truck, I'd like to have kicked him in the balls.  But the book did lead me to some really good areas that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

Auxvasse cr.:   Ok time for me to hush up. 

 

thanks for narrowing those out for me. through my scouring of google maps i have a couple spots on the auxvasse creek and silver fork north of columbia that i will be trying when it warms up

[Chief Grey Bear]

15 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Moniteau cr. is not North, it is south of Jeff City and pretty much a waste of time.  The South fork of it (near Fortuna) MIGHT have a few Smallies but you'll be wading with cows on private land trying to find them.

Whetstone cr. is kinda cute, but there's nothing in there big enough to eat a 6" rubber worm.  

Hinkson cr.:  Don't even waste your time. That's where the mayor of Fulton (or whoever it was) was dumping all the dead hogs.

Loutre: Green sunfish and carp.... and darn few of those in the upper reaches.  Further down it's all bullheads, gar, and Asian carp.  I've actually floated it from 3 miles above I-70 to Hermann.  Lots and lots of trash.

Chucky put alot of unnecessary miles on my truck, I'd like to have kicked him in the balls.  But the book did lead me to some really good areas that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

Auxvasse cr.:   Ok time for me to hush up. 

 

I talked to a fella years ago that used to be here. He knew Chuck and told that he barely left his living room when he wrote that. Most info and maps came from outfitters and locals. 

Its a lot cheaper to cover your miles by phone calls and US Mail. 

I was pissy when I got my copy as thought there was going to be some stories!