Renault found what he was looking for just below the surface in St. Francois County. Mining began sometime in the years that followed, but really picked up in intensity in the early 1900s, when methods and machinery meant more and more lead could be gleaned from mining operations. With the focus being on making money and separating lead from the ground that held it, little concern was given to what was happening with the tailings -- remnants of the mining process -- that spilled into nearby creeks and rivers. As mining operations grew, it became obvious that something was happening to the fish populations in nearby streams, and a new emphasis was placed on keeping tailings out of nearby waterways.

All seemingly went well -- that is, until a tailings dam break in the 1970s spilled a large amount of the silty, sand-like stone into the stream just downstream from the Leadwood Access. Now, some 30 years later, the MDC, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are still working on ways to remove the gravel-clogging silt from what are historically some of the best fish-inhabited holes in the stream.

Reed definitely views the tailings problem as a concern on the upper river, but, he said, the loss of some prime smallmouth habitat on a several-mile stretch of the river downstream from Leadwood has apparently had little effect on the bronzebacks in the best holes. “From Leadwood downstream for about a mile is good,” he said, “and upstream is even better. Below St. Francois State Park (off Route 67 north of Bonne Terre in northern St. Francois County) to the area near Route E, you see more gravel bottom and more fish. The area near Route 67 and downstream can provide some quality fish.”

The methods for targeting Big River smallmouths are the same on any other stream in southern Missouri. The river teems with crawdads, mussels and minnows. The best bet -- and most fun -- is light to medium tackle and fresh crawdads or minnows fished across riffles and in gravel-bottomed holes and bends. Crappie jigs and small plastic lures work well too, but there’s really nothing equal to a crawdad or minnow for getting an Ozark smallie’s attention.

Since the early 1990s, a limit of “15 and one” -- a 15-inch minimum length and a one-fish creel limit daily -- has been in force. It was in the early 1990s that the MDC established a Stream Black Bass Special Management Area (SBBSMA) on a stretch of Big River -- not unlike the management areas for trout across the state’s southern portion. That management area was moved upstream to include Leadwood in recent years.

Several years ago, concerns over lead-tainted tailings in the stream forced the Missouri Department of Health to issue advisories against eating suckers, carp and sunfish from stretches of the Big River. But, Reed said, the major effect of the mine tailings on bass populations, especially smallmouth, has been on the fish’s habitat. The tiny, sand-like tailings wash and settle into gravely holes where currents are less. Because of the shape of the tailings -- sharp, straight edges as opposed to the round shape commonly associated with sand -- the tailings tend to collect as sediment and clog the gravelly streambed used for nesting during the annual spring spawn.