Smallmouth Regs

[Wayne SW/MO]

I fished a western river for 12 years that was prime smallmouth waters and virtually C&R due to its isolation. This river was much like ours here in the fact that the levels fluctuated considerably and included some drought levels. While there was the occasional super spawn and the gut of small fish that followed, overall it remained about like the larger rivers here in terms of quality. If you could find them they were there.

My buddy and I had some days of 50 fish or more, 98% of them under 12"s. We also had days when we put 25 or more in the boat that were 14" and over. I netted a 21" for my buddy and the 16-18" fish came occasionally.

My point is that I believe nature will take care of the balance if you get man out of the equation as much as possible. If they spent half as much time worrying about smallies as they do trout, a non native renewable sport fish, our smallie fishing would improve. The 800 pound gorilla is in the $$$, trout pay for themselves, at least they are supposed to, and Smallies are on the low end of the economic gain in Missouri. The only thing left, short of more money is more voices to insure that they realize its important to a lot more fishermen than meets the eye.

[Gary Lange]

I just wonder hown many of the big dollar trout are eaten by the low buck Smallmouth!

[Buzz]

I think that most streams that actually see a lot of fishing pressure would work themselves out, the fish that are legal would be kept by those looking for a meal, but the larger fish would have to be released (hopefully). Most of the small streams that I see have TONS of smallies, but they are all 12 inches or less. If you wade away from the access far enough the population changes, still lots of fish, but a few that are 16 with the occasional fish that is 17-18. There is so much catch and keep pressure that the population is obviously being affected. I still think that harvesting SOME small fish would help the population, but to keep every fish that you catch below the slot would definitely harm the population.

Buzz, what is the baitfish population like in that stream? There are a few streams that I fish that have relatively few craws, but LOTS of baitfish, yet I still catch smallies with craws sticking out of they're mouths.

Siusaluki, there is a good supply of baitfish and other aquatic insects,the fish are not starving. It just seemed odd that the crawdad population was so limited. I know it's not a requirement for smallmouth survival, just another part of the food chain. It just seemed rather odd not to see any.

[Al Agnew]

Would I keep fish under the slot? Probably would keep a few now and then except on a couple of streams where I think the smallies ARE in some trouble. But would it be NECESSARY for everybody to keep under-slot fish? I don't think so. While the usual purpose of a slot is to protect fish in a certain size range while encouraging harvest of overabundant and stunted smaller fish, in this case I think the purpose would mainly be to protect larger fish while accommodating those who want to eat fish, with a little added benefit of maybe increasing growth rates a bit. There may be a few streams where the smallies are really TOO numerous, but in most cases it's a matter of them having excellent numbers but poor size structure. Either approach--high length limits/low creel limits, or slot limits--should work to improve size structure, but I just like slot limits better because they give more protection to the fish on the high end. A 14-20 inch slot protects fish up to 20 inches (while allowing harvest of fish that are actually big enough to get some meat from) while even a 1 fish/18 inch limit only protects fish to 18 inches.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Large rivers--a 14-20 inch slot on smallies only, with two fish under and one over.

Medium-large rivers--maybe a 14-20 inch slot on largemouth and smallmouth, with 4 fish under and one over. Medium-small rivers--14 to 18 inch slot, 4 under, one over on largemouth and smallmouth, same spotted bass regs as the medium-large rivers.

Small streams--three fish limit on all black bass species, 14 inch length limit.

I have been doing a little thinking on this. What if we have something like this:

State wide regs on unimpounded waters of a 14-20 slot on LM and SM bass. Only 1 smallmouth maybe creeled over 20. Except on unimpounded waters south of I-44 and west of Hwy 65. Those waters will be have a slot of 13-15 on SM bass only and only 1 over 15 may be creeled.

I think that something along those lines will remove the bulk of the complexity and could most likely stand the best chance for approval.

Would I keep fish under the slot? Probably would keep a few now and then except on a couple of streams where I think the smallies ARE in some trouble. But would it be NECESSARY for everybody to keep under-slot fish? I don't think so.

EVERBODY? I would have agree that probably not. Like I said in the very first post, you don't have to keep a limit on every outing.

[Al Agnew]

I'd say that's a good start, Chief. But how would you regulate spotted bass?

[Gavin]

I dont have any ideal solutions. Al's ideas sound good, Chief's too, many others sound good too...I think all of them are worth a shot and its not a contest to see who's idea is best....I think that were all in agreement that changes are needed....It's time for MDC's to step up to the plate.

MDC has plenty of data, dozens of people on the fisheries payroll, and the ability to manage our smallmouth fisheries in an active manner. Its time for them to do something or justify the need to fund all their research and payroll if they arent actively managing anything. Cheers.

[Outside Bend]

I wouldn't go as far as to say the MDC folks aren't managing anything. They still do population monitoring, watch trends, assess growth and population dynamics, etc.

They're just managing for a different goal than MSA and the folks on here advocate, at the moment. I'm sure that can change though, given enough encouragement and public will.

[Gavin]

I'll give you that....monitoring is a management task, but help me define the goal? What is the goal and what are the key performance indicators?

Smallmouth are far from an endangered species in Missouri so why do we need to do extensive monitoring if it doesnt effect change?

I think its time for them to make some changes, or admit that they dont give a hoot and spend the money on something else. Just my .02 and you are welcome to disagree with it. Cheers.

[Outside Bend]

I couldn't tell you their specific management objectives, but usually their management goals are related to catch per unit effort (CPUE, electrofishing something like 100 fish over 12" per hour, for example), or a proportion of the stock of a given size (eg. 25% of the population over 12") So long as those management objectives are being maintained you'll have the status quo- so long as people aren't clamoring for better fishing.

And there's a lot more for those folks to manage than smallmouth. You may have a half-dozen fisheries guys spread over a ten or twelve county area, sampling and managing both public and private waters. Add to that the difficulties of a job requiring decent weather and river conditions, and it can be a overwhelming at times.

Should MDC folks spend more time on stream smallmouth? Probably, I at least think so. Are there some folks in the Department that could be more productive? Absolutely. But on the whole I think they get a fair amount done with what they have.