Kayak fishing the Meramec River

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Friday evening I picked up my buddy Brian D. about 7 pm and we headed a few hours northeast to meet another friend of ours, Ryan B., for some camping, kayaking and fishing on the Meramec River. We camped at Onondaga Cave State Park, which is fairly nice. Well, much nicer than our usual primitive camping that we do. We mostly avoid state parks and campgrounds for less crowded outdoor arrangements.

We got to the somewhat populous campground about 9:30-10 pm. After being momentarily detained outside the park gate by an obviously bored park official, speeding ticket waved (luckily), we met up with Ryan and started to relax fireside. Dinner consisted of hotdogs and Mother's "Three Blind Mice" Ale, followed by a dessert of pipe smoke.

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Saturday morning, 9-9:30 am, we headed over to the outfitters to catch the shuttle to the put-in point. The kayaks we rented were really only good for bouncing off things. They were heavy, wonky-designed, bits of plastic with paddles that seemed a foot too short. They tracked weird and lost momentum easily. But, even a day on a crappy sit-on-top kayak, beats a day in an office, so we still had a blast. We floated 9.5 miles, from The Bluffs to Ozark Outdoors Campground. Roughly eight hours on the water.

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Left to right, Brian, myself and Ryan.

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Ryan, paddling

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Brian, wandering through some downed trees. There were a lot from last year's rainy spring.

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Brian scores the first fish of the day, a long-eared sun perch. We caught between 15-25 fish a piece, but only a handful were of keeping size.

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Another perch that I caught.

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Ryan and a small small mouth bass.

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A small mouth bass that I caught.

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Another small mouth.

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What the river looks like underwater.

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Brian and a Kentucky spotted bass.

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Caterpillar

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Kentucky spotted bass.

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Ryan

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Brian and a goggle-eye bass.

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Another small mouth bass.

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Ryan

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I actually caught a shad minnow on a spinning lure. Weird.

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Brian

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River bottom

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Ryan gets frisky with his catch.

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Me

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Ditto

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Someone's river camp shack.

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Lots of caves line the river.

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Caveman TV

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Pipe and an ale by the fireside. One of my favorite things in life.

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Gigging john boat on the river. Two up front with multi-pronged spear tipped poles and one at the helm. They had banks of lights just below the gigs to light up the river bottom.

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The Subaru did great as a camp vehicle. I slept in the back both nights. Not the most comfortable sleeping, a taller person would have trouble, but it was really quiet. I only woke for an owl and sunrise.

Comments

Evan said…
Looks very relaxing.
Trevor said…
yup! it was nice. i hope to do this sort of thing more often, come spring. i'm going to build a skin-on-frame kayak this winter.
Shawn said…
Great pics- looks like it was good for the soul, as they say. Looking forward to watching the build of the kayaks, but don't forget about the Wa`apa!
Trevor said…
It was great, really! We didn't catch anything big, but we made up for it in numbers. When spring rolls around, I plan to fish quite a bit more often. From the kayak in progress and the Wa'apa. It won't be on the level of the fishing you do, but until I manage to move back to a semi-tropical coastal area, I'll make the best of it.

Spring will bring certain outrigger adventure pics. I've got a couple of solo island camps in the works. I just have to find out if it's legal and wait for warm weather.
Shawn said…
I think you should mount the Wa`apa hull on skis and do some winter sailing. Don't forget the camera! :)
Trevor said…
That reminds me, I need to dig out the plans I drew a couple of years ago for a minimalist landsailer. Something I could knock out for about $35-40. You can see it on my Flickr site. I might have to work on that over winter, if I get the other boats done quickly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12235211@N02/3903090523/
Trevor said…
UPDATE: That shad I thought I caught is most likely a flathead chub.
Trevor said…
Or could be this little dude, the cypress minnow.
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/cypress-minnow

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