First creek trip of the year

[Lloyd]

On 4/26 I did my first creek trip of the year. Based on what I've read here, creek fishing is best from June to September, but I was prepared to learn that the hard way. On 4/20 I visited the same creek and it was completely flooded. This time I kept my eye on Big River gauge at Byrnesville, since the destination was a tributary of the Big River. At Byrnesville the flow was down to 1600 CFS, compared to around 10,000 CFS the week before. I was expecting the creek to be totally manageable, but I was surprised that it was still a lot higher than I’m used to. Wading through certain sections was difficult, both because of the strength of the flow and because the water was so high I had to worry about dunking my backpack (which I did). Also, it was cloudy and breezy with air temps in the mid 50s. The water was cool and after about an hour my teeth were chattering.

I started with a Zoom Speed Craw on a ⅛ oz. jig head, and I stuck with that almost the entire time. I think it was a good option, since the strong current would have made a weightless fluke or wacky worm difficult to fish, and the water was probably too cold for a good topwater bite. Maybe a small spinnerbait would have been good, but I forgot to bring those. Anyway at the tail end of the first pool upstream of the bridge I saw about a 14 inch smallie cruising back and forth. I couldn’t get him to bite, but I was happy to see a bass.

I got no bites at the next several pools that were hotspots last summer, and I was starting to get discouraged. Finally, after about two hours of nothing, I caught an 11 incher from a narrow run. It was a sorry looking creature with a hump back, but it was my first smallmouth of the year and I was grateful to lip it.  

I didn’t catch another decent fish until I got upstream of all my known good pools. It was at the pool just upstream of the farthest one where I caught a good fish last year. This pool LOOKED good then, but it seemed to be devoid of fish. This time, about midway up the pool I saw a big splash right next to the bank, and I was confident it was a nice bass. I made several casts to the spot but didn’t get a bite. Then I threw upstream to the head of the pool, in the middle of the strong current, and immediately I hooked a 15 - 16 inch bass. Man it felt good to have a nice smallie pulling drag on my spinning rod again.

A little farther upstream I caught maybe a 12 incher, but I didn’t have much confidence in the creek upstream of there, so I decided to check out the pools downstream of the bridge. In retrospect I’m not sure whether this was a good idea. Perhaps I would have done better had I continued upstream. Oh well, I didn’t have time for both. I walked/waded downstream of the bridge about half a mile, intending to fish my way back up. At that point there was a broad, shallow section and I saw a handful of bass, some of which were on beds. But I didn’t catch any fish in the shallows (less than four feet deep). It was only when I got up to a pool where I caught a bass last year that I got action. First, when my casts were getting close to the head of the pool, I saw a nice smallie chasing the Speed Craw but he didn’t take it. Then, when I cast to the very head of the pool, just like earlier, I almost immediately hooked up. This fish was a chunky 16 incher. I made lots more casts throughout the pool, but I got no more hits. Maybe it would have been worth trying a different lure, like a jerbait or a fluke.

Further upstream, and probably within 100 yards of the bridge, there’s another deep cut where I’ve never done well. There was a small tree sticking out into the water, and casting near the tree led to several hits, from which I caught two or three smallies, the biggest of which was maybe 13 inches. At that point it was a little after 7 pm and I called it a day. After about 8 hours of fishing I only caught three photo-worthy fish, but considering that this was my first April smallmouth trip, I wasn’t disappointed.

What was interesting to me about this trip was that I didn’t catch any fish in the sections of creek that didn’t concentrate the current. I had figured that with the cooler temps the fish would be chilling in the slower sections (and some fish were, but they weren’t eating Zoom craws), out of the main flow. Nope, the fish that were willing to bite were in the strongest current at the heads of deep, narrow runs.

 

 

 

[basska]

Thanks for the report! Great, healthy-looking fish.

[Lloyd]

Thanks, basska! They were indeed healthy, and they fought hard, especially in that swift current. Looking forward to another creek trip on Saturday.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

You're not far from me, I'm in Festus.    Glad to hear they are turning on.  The water fluctuations have been wild this year so far.  

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

I'm in Festus. 

[BilletHead]

2 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

          "Marshall Dillion, Marshall Dillion"

[Lloyd]

2 hours ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

You're not far from me, I'm in Festus.    Glad to hear they are turning on.  The water fluctuations have been wild this year so far.  

Festus is a much more favorable location than St. Louis for smallies! And yeah you definitely have to pay attention to those gauges. I was looking at the Joachim gauge in De Soto and dang that thing can spike.

[Flysmallie]

You guys are convincing me that I need to spend some time fishing when I’m working in that area. 

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

On 5/8/2025 at 8:11 AM, Flysmallie said:

You guys are convincing me that I need to spend some time fishing when I’m working in that area. 

Do you really need an excuse?   The waters are not as clear as the traditional Ozark streams, but they fish about the same.   

 

....and we have smallmouth management areas,  that's gotta be a good thing, right? 

[Flysmallie]

5 hours ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

Do you really need an excuse? 

No. But unfortunately (?????) my Herculaneum location runs really smoothly. They don’t require or want a whole lot of attention.