Description of Water
The Meramec River trout water begins at the Hwy. 8 bridge (just north of the Trout Park) and flows past the spring creek flowing out of Maramec Spring Park, and continues for another 7 miles to Scott’s Ford and trout can occassionaly be found below Scott’s Ford, especially during the cooler months.
Much of the trout water lies within Woodson K. Woods Conservation Area, which is located approximately 3 miles downstream of the trout park and offers two of the most popular public accesses to the river. Cardiac Hill Access and Suicide Hill Acccess are both along the river with trails of varying degree of difficulty. The trails get thier names for the degree of difficulty when traversing them to the river. To this date, I still won’t take Suicide Trail — especially after looking up at this access from the river.
During the summer, the stream is alive with canoe traffic and is often brings with them headaches to the fly fisherman that are on the river. However, if you access the river in Woodson K. Woods, you are only downstream from the upper access point by 3 miles and the river has low canoe traffic after 2:30pm.
Popular Access Points
- Hwy 8 Bridge Access (Google Earth Download) (Garmin Waypoint Download)
- Cardiac Hill Walk-In Access (Google Earth Download) (Garmin Waypoint Download)
- Suicide Hill Walk-In Access (Google Earth Download) (Garmin Waypoint Download)
- Scott’s Ford Access (Google Earth Download) (Garmin Waypoint Download)
Maps of Stream
USGS Stream Flow Data
- USGS Stream Gauge Link for Meramec River at Cook Station, MO
- USGS Stream Gauge Link for Meramec River at Steelville, MO
Fly Recommendations
- Mohair Leech (Size: 10)(Color: Olive)
- Crackleback (Size: 16)(Color: Sulphur or PMD)
- Elk Hair Caddis (Size: 18)(Color: Natural)
- Tungsten BH WoolyBugger (Size: 8)(Color: Black, Olive, or Brown)
- Tungsten Flashback BH Hare’s Ear Nymph (Size: 16)(Color: Natural)