Pickle Creek

[Terrierman]

I thought everyone had forgotten Hawn State Park.  It's a beautiful place.

[Al Agnew]

Pickle Creek has been floated by whitewater enthusiasts in high water from the bridge on the upstream end of Hawn down through the campground.  But I floated it with a buddy in normal springtime water level, with the goal of coming out onto a hard to get to section of River Aux Vases, which Pickle Creek runs into.  We were able to actually float about 3/4ths of it without having to get out and walk, and fortunately there were no log blockages--there usually are.  That was back in the days when I was "floating" everything in sight just to see it and fish it.

[Al Agnew]

On 10/17/2024 at 5:21 AM, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

I would imagine it would take a good rain for any consideration of a float.  Or possibly in another section. It was very low in both Hawn and the nature preseve, as seen in the pictures.  I did see what I believe was shaped and colored like a sauger streak by.  No pickerel that I seen.

I only fished in Hawn, the preserve had a sign that requested not to disturb any animals.   I took it to include fish.  

No way it was a sauger.  Could have been a logperch.  There is not a huge variety of fish species in the sandstone creeks of Ste. Genevieve County; the habitat is too specialized and not very fertile.  I've seen a few small smallmouth in Pickle Creek from the shut-ins in Hawn on down (it's about three miles from the campground to River Aux Vases), and a largemouth or two that were probably roamers from farm ponds in the area, but it is not good fishing for normal game fish, and not the best for chasing microfishing targets.  Green sunfish and longear are about the only species of fish usually caught on hook and line that you can target and expect to catch.  River Aux Vases on the back side of the park (above where Pickle Creek encounters it) is slightly bigger and used to be decent fishing for smallmouth and rock bass, but the last time I hiked back there to fish it, there were more otters than smallmouth!

Geologically, Pickle Creek is entirely within the Lamotte Sandstone, oldest sedimentary formation in the Ozarks, except for the stretch within Hawn where it has eroded deeply enough that it encounters the igneous rock of the St. Francois Mountains.  About a half mile downstream from where it enters River Aux Vases, that stream crosses the Ste. Genevieve Fault system and leaves the sandstone behind.  River Aux Vases then has about five miles of typical Ozark landscape and fishing before it begins to slow down and the sand coming from the Lamotte formation settles out in high water, and from there on down it's slow, shallow for the most part, and mediocre fishing at best.  I've caught walleye that come up from the Mississippi to spawn in the spring in every other creek running into the Mississippi between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, but never found any in River Aux Vases.  

But it sure is some gorgeous landscapes in those creeks running through the Lamotte Sandstone.

[Quillback]

I'm always curious about place names, so I googled "Aux Vases".

"Aux vases" is a French phrase that translates to "with mud" or "river with miry places" in English. It was the original name of Auxvasse Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi River, which was named by French explorers. The name refers to the quicksand and soggy conditions around the creek, especially at crossings.

[Al Agnew]

On 10/20/2024 at 4:55 AM, Quillback said:

I'm always curious about place names, so I googled "Aux Vases".

"Aux vases" is a French phrase that translates to "with mud" or "river with miry places" in English. It was the original name of Auxvasse Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi River, which was named by French explorers. The name refers to the quicksand and soggy conditions around the creek, especially at crossings.

I suspect you might be a victim of Google's AI.  I've never known, nor seen on any map, the River Aux Vases called Auxvasse Creek.  There is an Auxvasse Creek in MO, but it is tributary of the Missouri River.  Locals all call the Ste. Gen County stream River Aux Vases (pronounced more like "River of Oz", though).