Crappie in the river

[Kemetek1]

Just wondering if anyone knows if there are crappie in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers near st louis

[Speck]

Yes there are!!!!! I have caught some monster blacks around the rock dikes and structure in side channels.

[south point]

absolutly!!! I catch em a lot in the creeks along the river, and know a few guys that really tear em up behind dikes on the mo. but I know the whole bank fishin deal..... makes it tougher for sure. I hear around the marinas above melvin price can be good, but I haven't went and checked that out yet. I don't know if any of em will let ya fish off the docks, some marinas do for a couple dollar fee. if your fishin the missouri, just look behind any wingdike where there is brush close enough for you to cast to. the rocks can be good too, especially right where the wingdike meets the bank and the rock stops and mud starts. a little brush makes it even better. creek mouths are good too.
I have had best luck with an 1/8-1/4oz orange or black jighead or roadrunner head, with no body and a fairly big minnow or goldfish, hooked through the lips. I fish this rig under a fairly big tip-cork. (the cheap styrofoam ones that have the stick goin through them, and stand straight up when weighted) set your float anywhere from 2ft to 5ft and try different depths. as a bonus, I catch a lot of 5-10lb flatheads and a few other cats this way.
fish relativly slack water but not totally dead, and look for brush or root wads or rocks or whatever may block current. pay attention to light currents. the crappie seem to always hide from the current, behind whatever, waiting to ambush a minnow drifting by in the current. so you are gonna have to present your bait in a natural mannor. cast well up current and try to let your rig slowly drift as close to the cover as possible. the bite almost always comes from the backside of whatever cover is there..... and the bite brings me back to the tip-cork. ya have to have a tip-cork because the crappie like to just gently sip the minnow in and then swim up with it. all your gonna see for a bite is a little twitch of the cork and then it will lay over because the crappie swam up with it and took the weight off the cork, thus letting it fall over. if your using a normal float all you see is one little twitch and never know the fish was there. so use a tip float and watch for the "lift bite". also, crappies are big eaters so use a bait with a fairly big profile, it helps the fish ee the bait in the muddy water of the missouri.

[bugman]

Great river fishin advice south point i'll remember those tips if i ever get to the river,thank you.

[billd2626]

Great tips South Point .. thanks!

[south point]

no problem, guys. rivers are a whole different animal. a crappie is still a crappie but the food chain aint the same as a lake. I grew up fishing the sloughs and oxbows of the missouri, so I had to relearn crappies (and fishing in general) once I started fishing lakes. ya'all taught me how to be a better fisherman and I just want to return that favor. I should be thanking you-uns because while I did have a head-start over some other folks, this site is where I started putting 2 and 2 together. so thank you c.c members!

[DRD]

very good reply southpoint, lots of good tips, may have to try it sometime , thanks.

[Danny W]

Awesome southpoint lived near the MO in Columbia and would pick up a couple of bonus crappie never did any serious fishing for them though. All the neighbors told me they were there and thats all about all they would say.

[brettmc]

I'm just the opposite, I've fished MS lakes all my life and need to learn river fishing since that is about all there is here in the STL area.

I know there are several MDC ramps on the Meramec. Where are the MO river ramps? I've got a 14-ft aluminum v-hull. Would that be safe in the MO?

[DEADEYE]

I would not get in a 14ft. boat on the mo mo.