Summary Of River Fishing, Warm Season '07

[Al Agnew]

Well, the year isn't over and there is still smallmouth fishing to be done, but I kinda consider cold water river fishing to be so different from fishing during the warm season that I decided to see how this year's warm season fishing went. While there is no exact date, nor even an exact water temperature, that separates warm season from cold season fishing, the lures and presentations used is certainly different, and there is usually a trip in the spring where I first start catching fish on the stuff I'll use all summer, and a trip in the fall where that stuff no longer works well enough to keep using it. This has traditionally happened sometime around the second week of April and the third or fourth week of October, but with the warmer weather we've had the last few years, it's getting earlier and later.

This year, the first "warm weather" trip I had was actually on March 14. My dad and I fished the middle Meramec. The week before water temps were 45-51 degrees, and the fish were still in their usual winter holes. On that day, I caught some very nice smallies on winter presentations. But by March 14 the water temps were in the mid-50s and the fish were gone from the winter spots. We caught about 15 fish, none over 16 inches, mostly on spinnerbaits in typical summertime spots...good current, fairly shallow, near cover. The only difference from typical summer fishing was that the fish were positioned in the eddies behind obstructions where they would be out of the current but close enough to dart out and take food in the current...in the summer, they are more likely to be on the upstream side of obstructions.

Two weeks later, on another Meramec trip, the river was much higher and murkier, the water temps were up around 60 degrees, and the fishing was tough. Spinnerbaits still produced a few fish, but my total catch was 5 fish, biggest only 14 inches.

On April 2, I waded my favorite small creek for the first time of the year, catching 16 fish, biggest 16 inches, mostly on tubes. Later in April, I floated Big River with my brother--30 fish, nothing over 15 inches, fished Current River with Dad--great trip, 31 fish, Dad caught a 17 incher and I caught a 17 and a 19. Water temps that day were barely over 60 degrees. And I floated Courtois Creek and caught 39 smallmouths, biggest two were 17.5 and 17.

May was the beginning of the bad part of the year. My mother was sick the last part of the month and died on May 29. I was also in Montana for nearly a week. So needless to say, I didn't get in a lot of fishing. I floated Huzzah Creek one day in mid-month, one of the best trips of the year with 82 bass caught, including two 17 inch smallies and a beautiful 20 incher. The next afternoon I did a short float on the upper Meramec, catching 35 bass and an 18 inch smallmouth.

In June the bad stuff continued with my dad breaking a hip, and I was injured myself (a sports hernia). I did a float with my wife on the Meramec, terrible fishing, only 6 fish caught and none over 12 inches. Did a short float on Big River with my brother, catching 25 fish and a 17 inch smallie. I did two half-day wades on small creeks, catching 25 fish on one with a 17 and 18 inch largemouth, and 45 fish on the other, including an 18 inch smallmouth and a 19 inch largemouth.

In July I was in Montana for much of the month and only got in one float trip in Missouri, with my brother on Big River, catching over 50 fish but nothing over 15 inches. I was also in Montana in August. In late August I floated Big River and caught 85 bass, with two 18 inch smallies and a 20 inch largemouth. I also waded my favorite small creek for the second time this year, catching 30 fish with nothing over 16 inches--it just didn't produce fish this year like it has the last few years.

In early September I was in Alaska. Later in the month I fished the lower Meramec one day, only catching 16 bass with nothing over 13 inches. Two days later I floated the lower Bourbeuse River and caught 39 bass, mostly spotted bass, but I did catch an 19 inch smallmouth. And five days after that I fished the middle Meramec with my friend Cory, catching 46 fish, including a 19 inch smallie and several more between 16 and 17 inches.

In October I fished the middle Meramec one day, catching 26 fish, with a 20 inch smallie, a 17.5 inch smallie, 3 more over 16 inches, and an 18 inch largemouth. My wife and I floated the middle Current River one beautiful misty afternoon, catching only 11 fish with nothing of any size. The next day we floated the upper North Fork, catching 30 smallies, the biggest about 16 inches. That would be my last warm season outing.

So...statistics for warm season Ozark smallmouth fishing, 2007:

18 total days fishing (several trips were only half days)

19 different stretches of 9 different streams

688 bass caught from my boats (I include both mine and my partner's catch)

average approx. 38 fish per day

10 17-17.5 inch smallmouths

5 18-18.5 inch smallmouths

3 19-19.5 inch smallmouths

2 20 inch smallmouths

5 largemouths, 17-20 inches

The following lures caught those notable fish above:

spinnerbait 2

modified Wiggle Wart 6

Sammy topwater lure 7

soft plastic jerkbait 4

homemade crankbait 5

buzzbait 1

It was a worse than usual year for numbers of fish, average year for bigger fish. It was the first year I can remember when my homemade spinnerbait failed to produce a single notable fish. On the other hand, it was the best year ever for my modified Wiggle Wart deep-diving crankbaits. And you have to go fishing with me to learn how I modify them!

Hope you enjoy reading these ramblings.

[Kicknbass]

Thanks for the report. Informative and enjoyable.

EB

[Phil Lilley]

Thank you very much, Al, for sharing your fishing experiences.

Very nice.

[Terrapin Station]

Al, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us.

[RSBreth]

I have done well this year on both hard and soft jerkbaits. Usually catch the biggest fish of the year in winter on suspending jerks or float and fly.

Always love your reports.

[creek wader]

Al, Thanks for the year end summary. Very informative. I look forward to all your posts. I wish that I could do half of the fishing that you are able to do. Unfortunatley, my free time limits the streams and time, that I am able to fish. Also, I usually go with my standard soft plastics. This summer, I started using senkos with very good results. I personally have not used spinnerbaits or crankbaits, very often for smallies. Evidently, I'm missing out on some good action. I guess I should expand my smallie arsenal to include them. Thanks again for the posts, please keep them coming. P.S. I sure would like to get a look at your homemade spinnerbait.

[Al Agnew]

Yep, creek wader, I'm fortunate enough to be able to fish at least one day a week during the middle of the week. Actually this summer I did a lot less Missouri river smallie fishing than usual, due to circumstances beyond my control.

As for using crankbaits and spinnerbaits, they are a lot more effective than many anglers think, BUT it's a situational thing. If you are only able to wade or otherwise fish small areas, concentrating on those areas with soft plastics is probably the best way to go. And if you fish the most heavily-pressured rivers (those that are fishable by jetboat) on weekends, soft plastics will probably be most effective. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits and topwaters are good for combing lots of water seeking reaction strikes from active fish, and thus are best suited for float-fishing from canoe or johnboat, or otherwise covering a lot of water. It's simply two different philosophies of angling...one way you cover a relatively small amount of water very thoroughly and attempt to catch a good percentage of the fish in that small area, the other way you cover a large amount of water, put your bait in front of a whole lot more fish, and cherry pick the "easy" ones. On an average day of fishing I'll cover 7 to 14 miles of river and make a couple thousand casts.

[creek wader]

Al, Thanks for the reply. When I get a chance, I usually wade fish a mile or so, on a small stream, if time permits. But, fortunatly, once a year, my wife allows me to do an over nighter/canoe trip on a larger stream. So, I'll be trying the cranks and spinners, next trip. Thanks again. .. Wader

[Gary Lange]

Don't overlook the Topwater Plugs this winter on the rivers. Some of the guys from my old group out of Illinois Smallmouth Alliance were having good luck last winter with them on some area streams.

[Mark]

Good report Al. You're always welcome to join the SG boys on our Eleven Point trips.