Good Smallmouth Creeks?

[mic]

If I can hi-jack this back to somewhat close to it first subject, >>>>> IF >>>> we keep getting rain like this every couple of weeks, that bodes well for smallmouth moving up into the small and medium sized creeks right?

[Wayne SW/MO]

If I can hi-jack this back to somewhat close to it first subject, >>>>> IF >>>> we keep getting rain like this every couple of weeks, that bodes well for smallmouth moving up into the small and medium sized creeks right?

I doubt it. They seem to be fond of finding the water temperature close to their optimum. Unless the creeks are warmer I doubt they will be interested.

[OzarksRiverman]

I wouldn't waste a trip to Beaver Creek. It's fished out and snakey. Water's been too low anyways. Probably a better bet just to find another creek.

[Terrierman]

I wouldn't waste a trip to Beaver Creek. It's fished out and snakey. Water's been too low anyways. Probably a better bet just to find another creek.

It's like that over here on the Finley too. I suggest maybe going down to the Buffalo or something.

[Kc River Ratt]

I was down at the White recently trout fishing, and the Buffalo and Crooked where both very low. The recent rains have probably helped some tho.

[Al Agnew]

I suspect that smallmouth movements are based in part (not wholly) on photoperiod. In other words, a warm rain in January won't make them move much, but a warm rain in March probably will. The photoperiod tells them it's time to move, and the warm rain gets them started.

It's going to take a lot more rain, the kind of long, soaking rains we seem to seldom get anymore, to bring ground water levels up, and that's what will bring the sustained higher levels of the streams.

[Chief Grey Bear]

solution= keep the spots!!, and if you cant put pressure on the MDC to lower size so they can be harvested. Catch and release is great and I am a big proponent of it, but we got to start keeping the spots.

That suggestion somehow sounds familiar.

Yeah! Stupid MDC! What the hell do they know! Nothing, those asshats!

Meramec River

Mainstem and its tributaries, except as noted below:

• Black bass—Daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Courtois Creek

Mainstem and its tributaries:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Big River

Mainstem and its tributaries, except as noted below:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit.

Bourbeuse River

Mainstem and its tributaries:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Huzzah Creek

Mainstem and its tributaries:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Oh, whoops.

[cullinby9]

I wouldn't waste a trip to Beaver Creek. It's fished out and snakey. Water's been too low anyways. Probably a better bet just to find another creek.

I was there Monday caught 7 on a tube and 2 on a shad rap there was enough water to float before the rain (with waders) The fish are there just like they always are!

[Al Agnew]

Yeah! Stupid MDC! What the hell do they know! Nothing, those asshats!

Meramec River

Mainstem and its tributaries, except as noted below:

• Black bass—Daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Courtois Creek

Mainstem and its tributaries:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Big River

Mainstem and its tributaries, except as noted below:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit.

Bourbeuse River

Mainstem and its tributaries:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Huzzah Creek

Mainstem and its tributaries:

• Black bass—The daily and possession limit is 12 fish and may include no more than 6 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, combined total of both species.
• Spotted bass—No minimum length limit

Oh, whoops.

The blurb there on Big River is rather misleading, since the entire river from Leadwood Access to the Meramec is a special management area with a 1 fish, 15 inch length limit on smallmouth, and that also includes much of its tributary Mineral Fork as well.

But it's been noted here before that people either don't know or choose to ignore those regulations, and they tend to keep smallmouth more than spotted bass because the spotted bass in Big River are very heavily infested with yellow grub parasites. I always keep as many spotted bass as I legally can on Big River, but often have to throw them away when I get them home. I tried grinding them up and feeding them to the cat, but the cat turned up its nose.

So the problem with those regulations is three-fold...people ignore them and keep smallmouth, people don't want to keep spotted bass because of the grubs, and with some people the catch and release mentality is so ingrained that they don't want to keep any bass of any species. Which is why I wouldn't mind seeing complete protection for smallmouth and mandatory killing of all spotted bass caught as an experiment on one section of Big River, just to see if it would make any noticeable difference. If you think the smallmouth are suffering from spotted bass encroachment in these streams, as MDC obviously does, then why not go all in?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I suspect Okiedogs mind was thinking about TR where there was a move to lower the size on spots to help the other bass. The MDC wouldn't buy it even though the spots run smaller than the other blacks. The one size fits all does give the spots the edge for overpopulating and it certainly doesn't do anything to keep them out of the James, Kings and their tributaries.