Recommendations From Missouri Smallmouth Alliance

[jdmidwest]

The following are a summary of the Smallmouth Regulations proposed by the Mo. Smallmouth Alliance. Personally, I would strive for a statewide, 15", 1 fish limit in all free flowing streams. At the bare minimum, it should be a 3 fish, 12" limit statewide. It has been a long time since I have stuck a knife in a Smallie, and then, it was loaded with the little white flukes. But they are fun to catch, habitat is limited, and streams are degrading yearly. Here it is, from the River Hills Traveler.

In the April issue of Traveler, editor and publisher Emery Styron summarized recommendations for smallmouth bass management proposed by the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance. Below is their complete report.

Missouri Smallmouth Alliance Proposes New Smallmouth Bass Regs

Aims for World-Class SMB Stream Fisheries

Missouri’s Ozarks are blessed with thousands of miles of beautiful rivers, streams and creeks most of which harbor viable populations of smallmouth bass. Anglers both from across the state and from beyond our borders enjoy floating and wading these clear water gems in search of hard-fighting bronzebacks with hopes that a lunker of a lifetime is just one cast away. Anglers are always looking for that edge, that hot lure or new technique which will improve their odds of connecting with Mr. Big. Well, I’ll not give any secrets here. Rather, I can tell you that a group of concerned sportsmen is actively working on behalf of all anglers to markedly improve the opportunity for folks to catch more, and importantly, much larger smallmouth bass in our state’s moving waters. Sound interesting? Read on.

But first a bit of history is in order. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, many of our streams suffered from overfishing by anglers seeking a limit of fish for the frying pan. Catch-and-release was a largely foreign concept in most fishing circles back then, and a long tradition of living off the land had taken its toll on the quality of many of our Ozark smallmouth bass fisheries. Following years of research and to help preserve self-sustaining smallmouth bass populations in our streams, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) implemented a 12-inch minimum length limit (in 1974) and a six fish daily creel limit (in 1961). These regulations were designed to preserve our native fisheries by ensuring that smallmouth bass could reach adulthood and have an opportunity to spawn at least one season prior to being eligible for legal harvest.

At the time of their enactment, these more restrictive regulations were considered to be on the cutting-edge of fisheries management practices and over the years have indeed resulted in the sustainment of solid populations of smallmouth bass in most of our Ozark streams featuring suitable habitat. Our flowing waters generally support good numbers of smallmouth bass for anglers to pursue, but the average sizes and proportional stock densities of larger bronzebacks in our streams both remain well below their potential.

Then, in an effort to improve the overall quality of stream smallmouth bass angling opportunities, the MDC instituted its Special Black Bass Management Area (SBBMA) program back in the early 1990s. This initial program has resulted in the designation of twelve separate stream reaches as SBBMAs totaling nearly 350 miles in combined length. Ten of these areas feature a 15-inch minimum length limit and a one fish daily creel limit for smallmouth bass while two other streams (sections of the Gasconade and Jacks Fork) are managed as trophy areas under an 18-inch minimum length limit and a one fish daily creel limit. The MDC recently published the results of its research on these special regs areas in a comprehensive summary report available at www.missourismallmouthalliance.org/MSA/Conservation.

Overall, the MDC’s research has shown that these special regs areas are working as intended. Angler catch rates, average fish sizes and the proportional stock densities of larger smallmouth bass in these areas have risen sharply and are continuing to get better over time. You see, smallmouth bass in our streams grow very slowly, requiring between four and six years to reach twelve inches in length and bronzebacks grow even slower once they reach sexual maturity. So, it takes a long time to grow a lunker smallmouth bass in an Ozark stream. And, as a predator species at the top of the food chain, adult bronzebacks already are among the rarest of fish in most of our streams. In areas with adequate habitat, the reduced harvest of adult smallmouth bass has been proven to be the number one factor in improving fishing quality. It is obvious that the longer fish remain in the resource and can be recycled through catch-and-release practices the better angling will be. Once that predator is removed from the river, that’s one less bronzeback waiting to furiously smash your popping bug or Tiny Torpedo – and that’s not a good thing if you ask most fishermen.

Avid smallmouth bass anglers are overwhelmingly in favor of these special regs areas and the type of fishing they can provide. Polls also reveal that sport fishermen increasingly value the opportunity to catch larger smallmouth bass as opposed to a limit of crispy filets to fill their bellies.

The Missouri Smallmouth Alliance, a non-profit angling advocacy group with nearly 300 members across the state, believes that this continued evolution in angler attitudes coupled with this proven scientific research has created a perfect storm of sorts. Higher minimum length limits combined with low daily creel limits continue to produce improved angling opportunities for smallmouth bass in those few designated special regs areas. In the view of the Alliance, now is the time for the MDC to enact fisheries management changes on a more widespread basis to protect and improve the existing smallmouth bass resources of our rivers, streams and creeks around the state.

The Alliance’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel recently formulated and then proposed a slate of fisheries management changes to the Regulations Committee of the MDC in a three-tiered approach to address this very issue. Comprised of 20 experienced individuals (avid anglers all), including outfitters, outdoor journalists and a retired fisheries biologist, the panel’s proposals include:

• a statewide increase in the minimum length limit for smallmouth bass in unimpounded waters combined with a reduction in the daily creel limit;

• the establishment of additional SBBMAs featuring a 15-inch minimum/1 fish creel limit on several of the Ozarks better smallmouth waters;

• and, the enactment of additional “trophy” SBBMAs with an 18-inch minimum/1 fish creel limit on some of the recognized high potential stream fisheries throughout the Ozarks.

The Conservation Federation of Missouri, a 30,000-member citizen conservation organization, unanimously approved these same proposed regulations as formal recommendations to the MDC at its annual meeting back in February of this year.

More specifically, these proposed regulations changes for the management of smallmouth bass in Missouri’s unimpounded waters include:

• Statewide increase in the minimum length limit to 15 inches (compared to the current limit of 12 inches) combined with a reduction in the daily creel limit to 3 fish (compared to the current limit of 6 fish); the total combined daily creel limit for all black bass (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass) to remain at 6 fish

• Establishment of nine additional SBBMAs featuring 15-inch minimum length limit and daily creel limit of one fish (totaling a combined 293 miles in length) on the following stream sections:

o Big Piney – MDC Boiling Spring access downstream to USFS Slabtown access

o Meramec – MDC Short Bend access downstream to MDC Woodson K. Woods access

o James – MDC Delaware Town access downstream to MDC Hootentown access

o Bourbeuse – Hwy 19 bridge crossing downstream to MDC Union access

o Gasconade – MDC Wilbur Allen access downstream to MDC Hazelgreen access

o Courtois Creek – Brazil low-water bridge downstream to confluence with Huzzah Creek

o Huzzah Creek – Hwy 49 bridge access downstream to MDC Scotia Bridge access

o North Fork of White – Hwy 76 bridge crossing downstream to MDC Hammond access

o Bryant Creek – Bell School access downstream to MDC Florence Cook access

• Establishment of four new trophy SBBMAs featuring an 18-inch minimum length limit and a daily creel limit of one fish (totaling a combined 112 miles in length) on the following stream sections:

o Gasconade – MDC Mitschele access downstream to MDC Riddle Bridge access

o Big Piney – USFS East Gate access downstream to confluence with Gasconade

o Meramec – Bird’s Nest access downstream to MDC Blue Springs Creek access

o Current – Power Mill access downstream to Van Buren City Park access

This three-tiered proposed approach for the management of smallmouth bass in Missouri’s moving waters is quite similar to the method used by the MDC to currently manage brown and rainbow trout in our coldwater fisheries. For the management of trout, stream sections are designated as either White, Red or Blue Ribbon areas progressing from more liberal regulations to more restrictive length and creel limits aimed at increased angling quality.

To likewise codify the three levels of smallmouth bass regulations, which today already include statewide regulations, 15/1 and 18/1 stream sections, stream reaches could perhaps be signified using similar means with Bronze, Silver and Gold Medal designations, respectively, to allow anglers to more easily recognize the regulations under which particular stream sections are being managed. It’s as simple as that.

The proposed statewide limit changes are designed to effectively raise the bar for smallmouth bass angling quality on all rivers, streams and creeks. It would allow a more reasonable amount of harvest of this predator species while requiring anglers to release unharmed the majority of smallmouth bass they catch. High angler harvest under existing statewide regulations has been shown to be a maximum sustained yield fisheries management technique which keeps adult smallmouth bass densities relatively low while supporting viable yet often mediocre fisheries. Clearly, Missouri’s existing statewide regulations for smallmouth bass in our streams promotes angler harvest at the expense of angling quality.

The stream reaches selected by the MO Smallmouth Alliance for designation as either 15/1 or 18/1 SBBMAs represent some of the Ozarks finest bronzeback waters featuring outstanding habitat and a proven ability to produce high quality smallmouth fishing. Certainly these are not the only such streams which would show significant benefit from more restrictive management practices, but the Alliance purposefully avoided those areas which the Department of Conservation had previously evaluated and eliminated from SBBMA consideration during their research effort. If your favorite stream did not make the grade for some reason, take heart because smallmouth bass there would still receive much greater protection under the proposed statewide 15-inch minimum/3 fish creel limit regulations compared to what exists today.

The enactment of quality regs on an additional nearly 400 miles of high potential waters throughout the Ozarks would greatly expand anglers’ opportunities to catch more and larger smallmouth bass across the state. These proposed regulations work to do just that. Anglers want high quality angling experiences and will support regulations designed to provide those types of fisheries. A growing reputation for world-class stream smallmouth bass angling will attract both avid resident and non-resident fishermen alike who will then generate significant tourism and tax dollars to support Missouri’s economy. In general, the more that outdoorsmen value their quarry and the wild places they inhabit, the more likely folks will tend to respect and preserve those valuable resources – a desirable outcome indeed.

The above fisheries management changes are merely proposals at this point and will likely require much persistence and patience from the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance and other interested anglers before they are eventually enacted by the Commissioners who oversee the Missouri Department of Conservation. But, as the only conservation-based angling organization solely focused on the protection and preservation of Missouri’s stream smallmouth bass resources, it is well worth the effort.

To learn more about these regulations proposals and the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance, please visit our website at www.missourismallmouthalliance.org.

[KCRIVERRAT]

JD... isn't the River Hills Traveler what I read when I'm down fishing the Eminence area?

I am biased, but the bigger we can grow our smallmouth the better.

Catch and release for brownies. Bring it on.

[jdmidwest]

That is correct, the publication is scattered thru all of SE MO. Summertime issue usually has a pretty girl in a swimsuit.

River Hills Traveller Online

[eric1978]

Pretty good article. Nice and biased in our favor...just the way I like it.

I wish they would have pushed for the 18/1 area to extend to Meramec State Park on the Meramec River, but oh well, it's a really great start.