Help or Advice on the Meramec

[duckalot]

Hello everyone,  my 16 year old son and I are planning a trip next week. It will be our first time on the Meramec and his first time ever to fish for Small mouth. Looking to camp (pop up camper) and rent a couple of Kayaks.  We had originally planned to stay at Meramec Springs and Trout fish the Park for a day then fish for Bass on the river the following Two days or so.  I guess I'm open for any and all suggestions as to what stretch to float, what to use, and where to rent the Kayaks? We are not interested in Keeping our catch so CPR works for us, I would just like to see him catch numbers!  One day floats are fine not looking for an over night float. I have been reading previous posts and kinda get lost as to where to start. 

I do appreciate any and all advice I can get,

Thank You

[moguy1973]

You could stay at Adventure outdoors. It’s at Scott’s Ford and they do floats on the 9 miles above their place and then 6 miles below their place.   The 9 miler hits trout and bass and the 6 is primarily bass. It’s not far from Meramac Springs either so you could drive there and fish too. The 9 miler is on red ribbon trout management so you are limited to non rubber lures but it’s a nice stretch.  

[goosetalk]

Lots of options if you want to mainly target bass.  My only experience has been the 9 mile float offered by Ozark Outdoors from The Bluffs back to their place.  It's a little longer than I like to do for my style, and by the time you hit the Huzzah confluence it seems the last stretch takes forever. Lots of jets put in at Onondaga.  If you like to fish fast stuff most of the day then you have plenty of time to fish, even with a few stops if you get out on their first shuttle.  They also offer some floats below their place, but I can't offer any advice on those.  Otherwise, though not the Meramec, I have always enjoyed using Bass (Courtois) or Huzzah Valley (Huzzah) and fishing down to Scotia on one river the 1st day and then down the next the 2nd day. I prefer the Courtois as it is a bit more scenic float.  Both are 6 mile floats.  They also have floats above their place, although I have only done the Courtois trips.

It varies every time I go on what works best, but I tend to carry 3 rods.  One with a topwater, one with a fluke, and either a HD Craw, Chomper Hula Grub, or Ned. My best trip was a great spinner bait bite along with one stretch where the Ned hammered both bass and goggle eye. 

My wife and I will likely be floating from Scott's Ford down to Indian Springs the beginning of July to try out a new section.  

[Gavin]

you could camp at Meramec Springs and have trout and smallmouth within walking distance. Adventure Outdoors down at Scotts Ford usually puts a ton of folks on the Hwy 8 to Scotts Ford float. Would call Green's to see if they can set you up on  a float above Hwy 8. 

 

[Tom Ryan]

2 hours ago, Gavin said:

you could camp at Meramec Springs and have trout and smallmouth within walking distance. Adventure Outdoors down at Scotts Ford usually puts a ton of folks on the Hwy 8 to Scotts Ford float. Would call Green's to see if they can set you up on  a float above Hwy 8. 

 

Gavin - Is Greens still open?  I have not been able to reach them the past couple of years. 

Duckalot - I’ve done most of the stretches mentioned and you can’t really go wrong with any of them.   The Courtois float from Ozark Outdoors gives you a mixture of the Courtois, Huzzah, and Meramec if you are looking for a variety.

The lures mentioned should all produce fish as well.   A curly tail grub might be another option to consider to catch a variety of fish.

[duckalot]

When you say walking distance from Meramec Springs are you saying we can wade fish above and below from camp?

[duckalot]

3 hours ago, Gavin said:

you could camp at Meramec Springs and have trout and smallmouth within walking distance. Adventure Outdoors down at Scotts Ford usually puts a ton of folks on the Hwy 8 to Scotts Ford float. Would call Green's to see if they can set you up on  a float above Hwy 8. 

 

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Yes you can.  I think you can fish right by the campground too.  At least we used to years ago when we camped there.  

[405z06]

Are we talking about on the weekend or during the middle of the week? If it's during the week, it doesn't really matter. If it's a Sat or Sun, there are some nuances and tricks of the trade for the Meramec. 

[Gavin]

The CG is upstream always from the spring confluence and you can access the warm water section of the river Or wade down past the spring confluence to fish for trout: Dought that many trout are above the spring confluence in this heat: