Fishing in Missouri’s Wine Country

If wine is your ‘cup of tea’….then St. James, Missouri might just be a destination; I will add that not only is the famous winery located here at exit 195 on I-44 just west of St. Louis, but there is also some very good fishing. Meramec Spring Park is also just a few miles down the road and the spring offers some excellent fishing at any time in the year…but particularly good in the winter when the now warm spring water (56 degrees year round) pulls big smallmouth bass up into the spring to avoid the much cooler river water.

Meramec Spring Park is a private parcel owned and operated by the James Foundation and the Meramec River flows directly through the middle of the 1860 acres and the spring, which is Missouri’s 5^th largest, flows from the head of the spring directly into the Meramec River….and it is at this point that the fishing gets very interesting. Last year I was high atop a knob when the wind and sun overhead was perfect and I could see clearly down into the water that was flowing from the spring branch into the river; the warmer spring water was a blue hue and could easily be seen from the colder and clearer river water. The edge at which these two temperature gradients met was a sight to behold as there must have been 100 smallies lined up, butt to butt, waiting for the next meal to flow out of the spring and into the river. To say I caught a few last year is an understatement…and a major reason I made the five hour drive back to St. James over MLK weekend this year.

Vickie and I were up early on Saturday, January 19^th and en route to St. James in her new car; a 2013 VW Passat. I have to say that the car was awesome and drove a little differently than my old Suburban…and I hope the old red Suburban doesn’t know that I “cheated on him”? We cruised into St. James at straight up noon and by 12:30pm I was on the stream and watching the 100 million gallons of clear, cold Ozark spring water ebb and flow in and around different structures that were sure to be holding fish; brown and rainbow trout, small and spotted bass along with a good number of rock bass. It was a beautiful day and to no surprise there were a number of other fisherman at pockets along the way….I moved on past most of the them and slid into a narrow portion of water that had been ‘good’ to me last year, tied on a brown/olive wooly that I had tied the previous week onto my 6 weight sink tip fly line and started making short casts, trying to get the feel for the stream and the fish. The first piece of structure I came to was a down tree that covered about half the stream and just looked like a place that a big fish would be waiting to ambush it prey. I made a cross stream cast and mended to allow the fly to dip and pass as close to the tree as possible without getting snagged-as the fly moved in front of the main limb I saw a shadow appear behind the fly and the fish followed the fly through the current and down into the water column…took a look and then returned to its lair. I had been snubbed just like a pimply faced boy at a school dance! Same cast and one more time the fish followed my fly but this time I made an upstream mend that allowed the fly to pause in the water column and then I gave a short strip and that act of fleeing was what it took to get the ole boy to strike; I set the hook and the next few minutes were the highlight of the trip, back and forth we went, the fish trying to get back to cover and me trying to keep him in open water…the struggle was what ‘we’ fly-fisherman live for and frankly, to my surprise my 4X tippet, along with all the knots held and eventually I was able to slip my net in and under a magnificent fish; 21 inches of streamlined rainbow trout-a big male (buck) that really gave a great fight.

Now….It doesn’t always happen like this, but on this day, at this point….well, it did and I won’t forsake any good fortune that comes my way. A fellow fisherman from about a hundred feet above had heard and watched part of the commotion, he politely made his way downstream and asked if I wanted a photo and for sure I took him up on the offer and above the column you can see the product of the battle. Oddly enough I caught several more nice fish during my trip but the first fish of day two was a big, chunky 16 inch smallie that really put up a fight, then on Monday morning, in 16 degree temps, the first fish was a nice, brightly colored rainbow trout that was 16 inches and gave me several high flying leaps that punctuated my 3 days on the Meramec!

If you are someone looking for a mid-winter fishing adventure then make your way to the middle of Missouri, to a little community called St. James. Vickie and I stayed at the Days Inn and the hotel was clean and the staff was totally pleasant and helpful….we started our day off with a complimentary breakfast as well. I will add one more ‘local’ tip…just north of the Days Inn, about ¾ mile is Country Bob’s restaurant and if you are looking for Grandma’s cooking, then Country Bob’s is the place for you. On the weekend they have a buffet that is out of this world! During the week they have lunch plates that are modestly priced in the 5-6 dollar range and is more food than you can eat.

Monday morning, with the temperature at a balmy 16 degrees, no other fisherman on the stream…sunshine overhead and flowing water at my feet; I knew the rest of the world would be busy with jobs, inaugurations, special MLK events, etc….but for me, this was a day to Enjoy the Great Outdoors.