STL guys: river trip this weekend?

It is supposed to be pretty nice this week and in to this weekend. I was thinking of maybe getting out on the Big River and trying to hook in to some Smallies. Anyone interested in taking their boats out? It may rain a little on Saturday but it will be in the 50's.

I'm not positive on what access we would put in but lets get together and get a line wet. The Byrnes Mill access is a nice place to fish and is very scenic but I'm open for ideas.

sure would be but i have some other plans , i live just north of STL up 55 towards Springfield about 40 minutes from downtown STL . i have always wondered about fishing the Big River , is it any good ?

It is good fishing. Most of the river is a management area so there are pretty strict limits and such. All in all it is good, some days great. The scenery doesn't hurt that is for sure.

Hey Bulldog....I was thinking the same thing, but need to play my cards right with the wife/family before I can commit. I'm already booked on Saturday and we are all supposed to go to Winter Valley on Sunday, but I really don't want to go. If you go on Sunday, count me as a definite maybe. This morning, channel 2 was saying rain on Sunday.

I'll be out of town next week so I have to spend Sunday with the fiance. My plans, if I get my trolling motor mounted, is to head out to Cuba, MO and hit up the management area on the Meramec from Scotts Ford to Birds nest Campground. It is a 15 mile stretch that is supposed to be really good fishing and lots of small mouth in the 15"-18" range. I'm going to absolutely lose my mind if I don't go fishing soon. I'm freaking out!! :shock: :shock:

Fender - let me know if you can make it, I know you have plans so maybe another time.

bulldog said:

I'll be out of town next week so I have to spend Sunday with the fiance. My plans, if I get my trolling motor mounted, is to head out to Cuba, MO and hit up the management area on the Meramec from Scotts Ford to Birds nest Campground. It is a 15 mile stretch that is supposed to be really good fishing and lots of small mouth in the 15"-18" range. I'm going to absolutely lose my mind if I don't go fishing soon. I'm freaking out!! :shock: :shock:

Fender - let me know if you can make it, I know you have plans so maybe another time.

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Bulldog....Saturday is definitely out for me. Have a great time and bring back a good report.

sounds great but we have out of town guest coming in Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon...so maybe next time... but boy does that sound great...enjoy, take some coffee or hot coco and let us know how it went.
peace

Got a slow start today due to a bunch of work I have to get done before I go out of town but the trip was good. I got on the water this afternoon at about 3 P.M. and the upper Meramec is awesome. Really a beautiful river and I'll be back ASAP. Boat ran well and I caught a 15.5" Smallie on a june bug vibra-tube. Only caught one fish but I feel like that is a success. Water was 48 degrees which is a lot warmer than I expected. The locals were very helpful also.

Rained a little bit. I got some rain in my eye and I wiped it out of my eye and when I opened them up I was basically on a beach and ended up beaching the boat. I had two choices: trim up as fast as possible to not damage the motor or trim up while trying to turn out of it. Needless to say I beached it pretty good. That sucked and I did not realize how heavy my boat is. Pretty rookie move but hey it has been a while. Here are some pics:

Pretty eventful day.Nice smallie. Where did you put in at? How high was the river there?

I went up to Scotts Ford and the is not a very good ramp there so I went back down to Riverview Access. Scotts Ford is literally a rock beach to back in to the river. That is fine as I have 4 wheel drive but I was by myself and I was not going to take any unessasary chances. Riverview was a very nice ramp, concrete, and deep. The river was approx. 2-3 feet high. I'm pretty happy it was high because I have never run that part of the river before

Hey Bulldog, like the wrap on your truck!!! That is sharp!!!! Also like your boat too.

Nice report bulldog. Still not sure if I can get out tomorrow or not. The family is still talking about heading to Hidden Valley to do some snow tubing. I'd MUCH RATHER BE ON SOFT WATER in the boat.

We're going to have to talk about adding some vinyl to my boat real soon. I already have the artwork...and, I've seen your Tahoe around town before. Small world.

I'll PM you when I get back in town.

My great grandparents used to live in Festus, and one summer when I was ten, we camped on Big River for a week I had a blast! I remember we had two canoes full of drunk guys pull into our camp to chew the fat. They had been noodling and had 9 big flatheads. I was in awe! Both of the size of the fish, and the way they caught them. They also used to have a cabin on Crystal Lake in southern, MO where I used to spend a month every summer. We squirrel hunted at daybreak, then ran trotlines. Usually did chores, put minnow traps out in a few creeks and messed around in the middle of the day, then reset/rebait trotlines in the afternoon and squirrel hunt in th evening. Talk about heaven for a teenaged boy who loved anything outdoors!

Sorry to hijack your thread, I just haven't thought about Big River in a while. Thanks

My family has had a small "River lot" on the Bourbuse my whole life. I have grown up down there and I have some great memories of that part of the river. It is in Gerald, MO and is in a remote part of the country to say the least. I think in my whole life I have seen one or two boats running the river. My uncle owns the property now and catches massive catfish and crappie big enough to hang over both sides of the lid of a 5 gallon bucket. This year I plan on going out there more and I am going to catch a lot of fish.

I can't wait until Spring!!!