First visit in years

[Xraydude]

My sister and nephew are in from Las Vegas and he gets little fishing time, so we ran down to Maramec springs for the day. Didn’t arrive until about 10:30am and by the looks of it, any fish stocked were already on a stringer.
We had a great time though, fished for a bit with artificial lures, bait fishing not really my thing. Gavin had one fish to the net before it got off. I caught one punny rainbow.  I did find a new restaurant - Country Bobs in St. James. It looks kinda sketch but was good. After I ordered a burger, I discovered they had a lunch buffet with FRIED CHICKEN. 😳. I think they intentionally steered this big boy away from the chicky lol.  
Fished after lunch, only saw 2 other fish caught today. This park fishes a little differently for me than the others, can’t really but my finger on it. Maybe it’s all the shallow water or the regulations, or less fish in the stream from natures rath, looked like a somewhat recent high water event - bath ring in the trees about 
8-10 feet up. All in all a beautiful day hanging out with family in God’s country!!

[Quillback]

Fried chicken lunch buffet - my kind of lunch!

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I've been to Country Bob's a handful of times.  It does come across as needing updates,  but the quality of food and service has never disappointed.   

[Xraydude]

That’s good news about Bob’s. We’re up and down I-44 fairly often, but never stop to eat coming east of Rolla, just hammer on.  I’ll have to see what else we’re missing, looking at you Bourbon. 
 

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

8 hours ago, Xraydude said:

That’s good news about Bob’s. We’re up and down I-44 fairly often, but never stop to eat coming east of Rolla, just hammer on.  I’ll have to see what else we’re missing, looking at you Bourbon. 
 

I'm usually in a similar way.  We usually eat before we head out west, and then on the way home, we usually just get fast food.    

 

I stopped in Missouri Hick after many years wanting to try it, we sent to the new location.   I was so excited as it smells so good even in the parking lot.   My son and I were quite disappointed.   Unfortunately it's not just them.   I have yet to come across a barbecue place that I wanted to return to.   With the exception of one food truck.   They are all way over priced in my opinion. Barbecue is much better at home.

[WestCentralFisher]

Sounds fun!

Of all the trout parks, Maramec has the least mileage (less than 1), and is by far closest to STL. As a result, getting there at or around the buzzer is much more important than other parks. I always feel like any fish I catch there after 9 am is more or less by accident. 

At other parks, timing still matters, but not nearly so much.

For me, Maramec serves a role. It's a very pretty, photogenic place that your non-fishermen family members will most likely legitimately enjoy, while you get to catch a couple trout. I am not much for it as a serious fishing destination, though. In the fall and winter, the river below the park can be pretty fun, though. 

[Terrierman]

Meramec's main attraction to me is all the old iron works.  History man, history.  Fish are a bonus.

[jdmidwest]

3 hours ago, Terrierman said:

Meramec's main attraction to me is all the old iron works.  History man, history.  Fish are a bonus.

Take up a trip to the mine dump also.

My first trout came from Meramec.  I had a great Uncle, second hand, that lived in St James.  We went to visit Aunt Bulah and  stopped there when I was young.  Walking thru the races, I "hogged" my first trout.  It was a slippery feller, but I released him unharmed.

Later in life, I ended up there as my first trout fishing trip and have been underwhelmed ever since compared to other places I have been.  But I still stop in at least once a year, but mostly for a walk around the park.

My worst time was when I stopped by on way back from a work trip mid week for a quick fish.  Park was empty, nobody fishing.  Paid my dues and went to fish.  Geared up and walked into stream to see a boat running up and down cutting weeds, water was full of weed trash.  Went back to office for my money back, and they refunded it.  The sign that stated "weed cutting today" was blocked by some other crap. 

[Xraydude]

16 hours ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

I'm usually in a similar way.  We usually eat before we head out west, and then on the way home, we usually just get fast food.    

 

I stopped in Missouri Hick after many years wanting to try it, we sent to the new location.   I was so excited as it smells so good even in the parking lot.   My son and I were quite disappointed.   Unfortunately it's not just them.   I have yet to come across a barbecue place that I wanted to return to.   With the exception of one food truck.   They are all way over priced in my opinion. Barbecue is much better at home.

My daughter-in-law is from Cuba, Mo. Missouri Hick was sold, the new owners products aren’t as good as it once was. We would stop years ago, but our most recent visit last year or 2 years ago was awful. Bandana’s in Rolla is consistent with their chain menu, about the only BBQ I can recommend on I-44 since Tiny’s went out of business years ago. 

[WestCentralFisher]

14 hours ago, Terrierman said:

Meramec's main attraction to me is all the old iron works.  History man, history.  Fish are a bonus.

Also if one has even a passing interest in photography it's just uncommonly photogenic. Most of the prettiest areas are in the no fishing area, though, so it took me a few trips to find them.