Extending Trophy Smallmouth Waters

[Flysmallie]

Best bet is to start an online group and let the letters fly.

I'm in. I still haven't made up my mind on a slot or a max like 18". I would love to see catch and release but I don't think it well ever happen. Never hurts to ask though. If catch and keep is a concern of MDC then they can let these people catch and kill every spot there is. We fished Gasconade over the weekend and caught more spots than we did smallmouth. I did however hook a good largemouth or spot, not sure which, but it wasn't a smallmouth. I saw it clear the water as it dove on the popper I was using on a 3wt for goggle eye. Not a good ending.

Seriously, if anyone is interested in getting something started let me know. I would be very interested in helping.

[Guest]

deleted

[riverrat]

I'm in. I still haven't made up my mind on a slot or a max like 18". I would love to see catch and release but I don't think it well ever happen. Never hurts to ask though. If catch and keep is a concern of MDC then they can let these people catch and kill every spot there is. We fished Gasconade over the weekend and caught more spots than we did smallmouth. I did however hook a good largemouth or spot, not sure which, but it wasn't a smallmouth. I saw it clear the water as it dove on the popper I was using on a 3wt for goggle eye. Not a good ending.

Seriously, if anyone is interested in getting something started let me know. I would be very interested in helping.

What part of the Gasconade were you fishing? Mainly interested in how high up spots have been caught.

[Flysmallie]

What part of the Gasconade were you fishing? Mainly interested in how high up spots have been caught.

We floated from Hazelgreen access to 133 bridge. We did catch one spot right at Hazelgreen.

[bclift65706]

the Osage Fork has a special regulation from Orla to the Gasconade 8in on goggeleye 15in on blackbass olny 1 may be a smallmouth that would be a good start on a statewide regulation the olny problem would be the spotted bass 12 in is good for them but more people than you think can not tell the diffrence between spots and largmouth . have to do a little euducating on the diffrences but if a person is not sure they should reliese the fish in question anyway.

[hank franklin]

I'd love to have time to get involved directly with Mo Smallmouth Alliance and any others working for better regs for the smallmouth. They've had some success in the past, but progress has been slow. I guess that's just the reality of it. The 12 and 6 limit on the Huzzah for example is antiquated and just bad management. Push for a change there and on similar streams and go from there.

One thing Mo Smallmouth Alliance hasn't been real good at (at least in the past) is their web and online activities. If someone could help in that regard it might make organizing their group and focusing their efforts a little better. If I could help I would. Not a big computer guy.

[jscheetz]

I love this board and all the thoughtful caring fisher people we have on here. And I am the most positive guy I know.... However..... I just don't think that any "regs" is going to make much difference without enforcement. It's the old deal - It's not the responsible gun owners that are out there killing everyone - it's the criminals. When a guy like me who is a C&R guy anyway drives 3 and a half hours to fish for Trout or Smallies or whatever - I pick up my trash, don't tear up roads and stream beds, take care of the fish best I can, etc etc. As I am sure many on this board do whether they are C&R guys or catch and eat guys - above all we are responsible sportsman who take the care of the resource seriously. However - the local that lives a couple of miles down the road who doesn't care much about the "sport" of fishing or the environment is gonna keep every fish they catch and throw their beer cans back up in the weeds. It's just the way it is. Been that way since I was a little kid fishing and it is still that way today on many backroad streams and lakes. So while the "Only keep one smallie over 18 inches" is a rule that many of us would follow - it certainly will have no bearings on the old guy who pulls up in his 73 ford truck with his bucket full of minnows. And on small streams guys like that can CLEAN the fish out - I have seen it happen. Not every "local" who lives next to a stream is that way of course - but I know most of you have seen that same situation while you were fishing in the rural areas. I grew up on a farm in Iowa and it was the same thing there - until I developed some understanding of conservation, eco systems etc - me and my buds just kept fish when we caught them, whatever they were, however many they were. Not really intentionally trying to break the law or get away with anything, it's just that sometimes in the rural areas a lot of "laws" you follow are based on traditions and what all the other people in the area do instead of what some "outsider" lawman tells you you can do. So some more education to local communities on how valuable and perhaps sometimes delicate their resource is would maybe help. Kind of like how many organizations are dealing with the poaching crisis in Africa - instead of just going after the poachers, they are teaching villages how much more money they could make from tourism etc if they HAVE those animals in their backyards. Next thing you know the villagers are policing the poachers themselves and defending the resource.

Sometimes you take for granted what you are around everyday. - The first time I went to Crane Creek -I drove into town and fished, and caught several of the famous McCloud rainbows - a real thrill for me. It was just a beautiful place and an awesome fishing experience. I then stopped up at the local station to get gas and the lady at the counter asked how I was - I told her great cause I just caught some trout. She said "Where". I said down at the creek - she said "Crane"? as she wrinkled up her nose - I am sure I looked sort of confused since I had driven almost 3 hours to get there and planned the trip for weeks!! But the other girl at the counter said - "Yeah, my kids swim down there sometimes". Like it was no big deal. This little stream that is a mecca for many afflicted with the trout addiction was just the local creek to these girls. And as I drove through town, it just struck me as funny, it was just a regular day, folks going to work, or walking through town, just like the little town I grew up by - except this little town had CRANE CREEK FLOWING THROUGH IT!!!!! WITH THE MCCLOUD RAINBOWS THAT CAN ONLY BE FOUND A COUPLE PLACES IN THE WORLD!!!!! hehehehe - Just funny how perceptions are different for different people depending upon how you look at things.

So back to the topic - what's the answer? Well, it probably won't happen, but more officers and enforcement of the laws that are already there would be the immediate fix. But the other thing is as I said, educating people and communities that their resource is fragile and important and that they are the "local guardians" of it - get people to feel as though they have a vested interest in something and they will pay a lot more attention to it. Because hopefully there is still hope that we can become a people that is more focused on taking care of things instead of just taking things.

JS

[bigredbirdfan]

I agree with jscheetz. The enforement is the only component that effectivly protects fisheries.

Unfortunatley the total budget of the Missouri Department of Conservation is roughly $130 million and after a bunch of beaucratic waste (new lawnmowers every few years, new vehicles every few years, etc) and aquiring more land (even though they can't enforce what they alreay have) they have $11 millon for "protection program" which also includes all of the "education of the public" so I'm not sure what actually ends up paying agents to enforce the code. So add all the code you want but they won't be able to enforce it. I'm sure someone on this forum will commend the wonderful job done by the Commission. More waste by one of the biggest arms of the State Government. But with a little more of our money (have you checked the cost of your permits latley and the sales tax they get, not cheap) they can do something about it.

[hank franklin]

I tend to disagree a bit. Enforcement is important, of course. But I really feel the great majority of people are going to respect the regs.

And while enforcement is lacking, the penalties are pretty significant and are a pretty decent deterrent. Also, MDC routinely takes action to revoke fishing and hunting privileges of offenders.

The important thing is education. If people know the regs, the great majority will follow them. Often they just don't know the regs.

[Al Agnew]

While I certainly agree that enforcement needs to be better, restrictive regulations actually have two purposes. The obvious one is to protect the resource directly. The less obvious one, but important in my view, is in educating the public about the value of that resource. In other words, greater regulatory protection of stream smallmouth bass sends the message that these fish are valuable in the stream and IN NEED of that protection. It's an incremental thing. Sure, there are always going to be those who ignore the regs and those who are willfully ignorant of them. But the more restrictive regs will serve the purpose of making more anglers aware of the value of stream smallies, and some of those anglers at least, who would have thoughtlessly kept either their legal limits or whatever they caught, might just think twice before keeping them. Gradually, more and more anglers become aware of the issue, and gradually, fewer and fewer ignore the regs and peer pressure takes hold. The true lawbreakers get more and more careful and harder to catch, but they also are less likely to do it for an ego trip. There are still counties in the Ozarks where the county leaders--judges, law enforcement, etc.--wink and look the other way, or even actively participate in illegally killing fish. But as regs get more restrictive and more people in the county begin to see the possible value of the fish in the stream, hopefully it will no longer be politically expedient to thumb your nose at the "game warden". It won't happen overnight, but things are slowly changing.