Local smallie recommendation

I’ve had some success on the Meramec. Floated Hwy 8 just outside Steelville to Scott’s Ford and caught smallmouth with fly rod. Also, below Scott’s Ford all the way to Meramec State Park in Sullivan, MO holds smallmouth and fewer trout as the river warms. The Smallmouth Alliance is a good resource as well. The 7/22 edition of MO Conservationist magazine featured an article “In Brief” about the Smallmouth Slam and a list of rivers and creeks on page 6. Perhaps we can pursue them in my drift boat. Al Harper, FATC member.

Yes, this is an old string, but I thought I’d add my two cents’ worth.  Another local good Smallmouth river is the Bourbeuse River in Franklin County.  It is slow and meandering, and hardly gets much pressure at all, but it is great for fly-fishing from a kayak.  If you put in at the Mill Rock Access, off Highway H between Gerald and Sullivan, there is about a mile or more of fairly deep, slow current upstream that is very easy to paddle against, then drift down.  You’ll rarely see anybody else fishing this river.  Besides the Smallmouth, this river is loaded with Kentucky or Spotted Bass, and of course the usual Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, etc. in abundance.

• This reply was modified 1 week ago by MichaelCfffg.