Hello From South Central Missouri

[Polar Bear]

Just wanted to say hello as a new member. As some of you may have heard the National Scenic Riverways is making yet another attempt to trample on our rights in the Current River area by imposing oppressive new regulations on the river. I'm considering fishing the Gasconade to get away from this situation. I just wondered if anyone could give me an idea of where I could launch my 18X56 Blazer/115 Mercand have good success bass fishing. I'm completely unfamiliar with Gasconade River System. I don't want to run areas where I would put my boat at risk. i practice catch and release the vast majority of the time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Polar Bear

[Greasy B]

Welcome, Gasconade is a great river and can provide some pretty good fishing at times. I'm afraid it suffers from many of the same problems as Current. The fishery gets pounded, the boat traffic is heavy, partiers and rowdies can be awful obnoxious. Law enforcement is almost nonexistent. But there are times even on weekends that you can have a quality experience just not everywhere, you just need to feel it out.

[Chief Grey Bear]

What rights are getting trampled?

[Polar Bear]

Thanks for your reply. The Scenic Riverways is basically trying to reduce horsepower limits even farther than they already have with the ultimate goal being no outboard motors at all. They have already restricted camping in many spots where Ozarks families have been camping for generations. They are now told they must camp in government approved locations only and are told how many patrons can be on a campsite at any one time. They are also attempting to close most of the access points on the Current River and reduce the number of those from around 100 to about 10-11 from what I've heard. They are essentially trying to take the river away from the native Ozarkians and hand it over to the tourist industry and float trip operators. It's just another example of a federal government with way too much power and no way for us to control their excesses. The Scenic Riverways creates these oppressive and overreaching regulations and none of this is addressable by our elected representatives because these are "regulations" not laws and are not voted on by anyone. They answer to no one! Does anyone know a good launch point to fish the Gasconade from a jet boat?

Thanks

[Mark]

Polar Bear, I can certainly understand your point of view on the debate concerning regulations on the Current River and Jacks Fork. And please feel free to correct me on my take of things as you may certainly know the specifics more than I.

The Current/Jacks Fork Rivers have been place on an "Top 10 Endangered Rivers" list by certain environmental groups. Even if this is a trumped up claim by some environmental group, we all should be concerned about the health of our Ozark streams.

Are not the majority of accesses to be closed considered "unauthorized accesses"? From what I understand, people with land adjacent to the National Scenic Riverways have made trails or dirt roads or used existing trails across the 1/4 mile of federal protected land to make their own personal access to the river and have their own personal gravel bar on the river. These are not public accesses but private accesses made illegally across federally protected land. Just because it has been done for generations doesn't make it right. Should people that own land adjacent to Yellowstone National Park be able to make trails and undeveloped roads for their own personal use to access Yellowstone?

It is the same with the 65 miles of "unauthorized" horse trails that are planning to be shut down. Just because someone lives near the rivers doesn't mean they should be allowed to do what they want on federally protected land just because "we've had it this way for generations". Wasn't it just a couple years ago that the Jacks Fork was deemed "unsafe for swimming" after one of the big horse trails rides? Do we really want to allow that to happen just because the trail rides are a "tradition"? And I say "we" because all of us are owners of the National Scenic Riverways.

I really can't speak scientifically about the negative effects of motor boats on the rivers, although I would imagine that some destruction of habitat and erosion must occur. I know my biggest issue is being in a canoe and having jet boats fly by me without slowing down and having no regard for others on the river. Yes, they act like they own the river. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a jet boat fly by a family with young kids in a canoe and seeing the canoes dump or come close to it. Do you really think they need boats with 50HP, 100HP, over 100HP on these rivers? I believe it is the law that when you pass someone on a waterway, you are to do so at idle or no wake speed. This never happens on these rivers.

These points seem to be the big rant and rave of Sen. Jason Smith - "They are taking our horse trails away, our accesses away, trying to tell us how to manage our rivers the way we have for generations". Well, I say "What part of unauthorized don't people understand". Just because "we have done it for generations" doesn't make it right.

No one is trying to close the rivers, not allow camping, horseback riding, put local business out of business, impede on personal freedoms. What most of us want is to protect what we have, establish some rules and guidelines, and have people follow the guidelines. None of this would have even come up if people had not been doing "unauthorized" practices.

I, for one, am not if favor of turning the riverways over to local control.

[Greasy B]

Polar Bear,

As a general rule the river is navigable by jet from the mouth of Big Piney downstream. Above the confluence with Piney the flows vary a great deal and you really need a good understanding of the volume of water required to get over the shoals if you don't want to rip a hole In your hull. The public ramps from piney on down are: Jerome, Bell Chute, Paydown, Rollens Ferry and Helds island. There may be one or two I missed as well as a few pay to launch private ramps. Directions and other information on the ramps is easy to find on the MDC web site. My fishing time is limited to weekends so i mostly avoid all these areas due to the crowds. One clear difference between Current and Gasconade is the lack of public lands, all gravel bars are private land and many are posted. The gravel bars that are accessible are that way either because the land owner has better things to worry about or has graciously excepted public use.

Please keep in mind that many people on this forum have strong opinions about issues we have with our rivers, me included. I for one welcome other opinions because I learn nothing when I only listen to myself.

[ness]

I learn nothing when I only listen to myself.

I'm stealing that one!

And, I think I speak for both Chief Grey Bear and me when I say welcome to the forum, Polar Bear.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Yes welcome.

I don't really think YOUR RIGHTS are being trampled with new oppressive regulations. It appears as if the laws that have always been in place are finally being enforced.

[Mark]

We do have far more lenient laws with regard to our streams in Missouri than a lot of other states. We can float and fish practically any stream in Missouri, pull over on gravel bars, roast weinies, let the kids play in the water, and pull the car over at any bridge or crossing and go wading anywhere we want. That just isn't possible in a lot of places anymore.

I am truly thankful to the local populations in the Current River watershed for banding together decades ago and not allowing a dam to be built across the Current River. I just wish they could see the need to have some regulations to do all we can to protect this natural resource for future generations.