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Meramec River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Meramec River: an Ozark river that runs 218 miles to the Mississippi below St. Louis, with smallmouth and Red Ribbon trout rules on its upper reaches.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
502 cfs
Air / High
77 / 77 F
Wind
SE 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 07019000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Meramec River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 502 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 5 mph, steady pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 77. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:07 PM-12:07 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Similar at 79 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Missouri requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $14.00 for residents. What a Missouri licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with MDC before you keep anything. The season dates for Missouri, read off the agency, are on the Missouri seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Meramec River near Eureka.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 07019000.

484546607502 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 108 years of October 23

At 502 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 07019000 (Meramec River near Eureka) is at the 17th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 108 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 703 cfs; the highest was 26,200 cfs and the lowest 234 cfs.

p10 463median 703p90 2,594

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 07019000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp77 F
High / Low77 / 45 F
WindSE 5-6 mph
Pressure1021.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:19 / 18:13
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Meramec River this week

The best day on Meramec River this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:07 PM-12:07 AM
Minor period
4:00 AM-5:00 AM
Sun
07:19 to 18:13
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Meramec River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

When to come: the Meramec River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Smallmouth bass
Rainbow trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Meramec River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 3 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Missouri requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Missouri fishing permit. MDC Meramec River rules: 12 black bass a day, no more than 6 largemouth and smallmouth combined; Highway 8 bridge to Bird's Nest, smallmouth 15-inch minimum and 1 a day; Highway 19 (Dent County) to Pacific Palisades CA, goggle-eye 8-inch minimum; Red Ribbon Trout Area (Highway 8 to Scott's Ford), flies and artificial lures, trout 15-inch minimum, 2 a day. Maramec Spring Park: daily trout tag, 4 trout a day.

Access

Meramec State Park and Onondaga Cave State Park border the river; Maramec Spring Park is an MDC trout park with a daily tag.

About this water

An Ozark river of 218 stream miles (MDC) flowing to the Mississippi south of St. Louis. Flow on this page comes from USGS gauge 07019000, Meramec River near Eureka, in St. Louis County.

Fishing Meramec River: the full guide

The river

MDC's watershed inventory gives the Meramec 218 linear stream miles, 201 of them with permanent flow, before it joins the Mississippi. Missouri State Parks describes bluffs, woods and a dramatic cave entrance along the river at Meramec State Park, where visitors swim, fish, raft and boat, and easy access to the river for canoeing and fishing at Onondaga Cave State Park.

Black bass rules

MDC's special regulations cover the whole river: the daily and possession limit is 12 black bass, of which no more than 6 may be largemouth and smallmouth combined, and spotted bass have no minimum length. From the Highway 8 bridge to the railroad crossing at Bird's Nest, smallmouth must be at least 15 inches and only 1 may be kept. From the Highway 19 bridge in Dent County down to Pacific Palisades Conservation Area, goggle-eye have an 8-inch minimum.

Trout water

From the Highway 8 bridge to Scott's Ford, and on Dry Fork Creek from the elevated cable crossing to the river (8.2 miles in all), the Meramec is a Red Ribbon Trout Area: artificial lures and flies only, trout at least 15 inches, 2 a day. Porous-soled waders are prohibited in Crawford and Phelps counties. Maramec Spring Park, one of MDC's four trout parks, is stocked daily from March 1 through Oct. 31.

Maramec Spring Park

The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anglers need a fishing permit, unless exempt, and a daily trout tag ($5 for adults, $3 for anglers 15 and younger); the limit is 4 trout, rainbow and brown combined, and you must stop fishing once you have 8 in possession. From the second Friday in November through the second Monday in February the park is catch-and-release, with flies only.

Common questions

What are the smallmouth rules on the Meramec?

MDC's Meramec River rules allow 12 black bass a day, no more than 6 of them largemouth and smallmouth. Between the Highway 8 bridge and Bird's Nest, smallmouth must be 15 inches and only 1 may be kept.

Where can I fish for trout?

In the Red Ribbon Trout Area from the Highway 8 bridge to Scott's Ford (flies and lures, 15-inch minimum, 2 a day) and at Maramec Spring Park, which MDC stocks daily from March through October.

When is Maramec Spring Park catch-and-release?

From the second Friday in November through the second Monday in February, with flies only.

Is fishing good at Meramec River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Gasconade River71 miCarlyle Lake72 miKinkaid Lake80 miRend Lake92 miCedar Lake93 miMark Twain Lake94 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 07019000 — Meramec River near Eureka
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.5051, -90.5902 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.