MDC Meets the MSA in St. Louis on Tuesday May 19th

[fishinwrench]

So shouldn't they have been wiped out by the 1990's when C&R started getting popular?

Nope, because before the internet there were only a few of us out there chasing them. There actually wasn't much pressure on streams and rivers at all until everyone started crowing about it on the web.

There is a TON more guys fishing the rivers WELL now than there was 20 years ago. I can remember when it was rare to see a footprint on a gravel bar, and those days weren't that terribly long ago.

[Chief Grey Bear]

If you think fishing on rivers didn't take off until the computer came about, you are very mistaken.

[fishinwrench]

Ok

[Dan Kreher]

To clarify what I heard with respect to the MDC's comment that the quality of some fisheries would not be positively impacted by the imposition of more restrictive regulations: this would be in the rare instance where a fishery suffers from no angler (catch and kill) mortality. If there are no anglers removing fish from the population, then a better reg would have no impact with respect to proportional stock densities of adult SMB. I did NOT hear them say that regulations on a fishery do not matter to the quality of SMB fisheries. If that were the case, then SB's comment about why have regulations at all makes sense.

Let us not run off and make assumptions or take comments out of their context. It serves no purpose at this point. We and the MDC both know that our streams are very popular with anglers and, even with a minority of anglers keeping fish up to the legal limit, there's a relatively high amount of harvest of SMB in our streams - certainly compared to many other states. The only way to modify this situation is through the enactment of more restrictive regulations which limit and/or

delay harvest such as higher length limits/lower creel limits. This is the agenda that we will continue to advance with the MDC.

[Guest]

deleted

[Mitch f]

To clarify what I heard with respect to the MDC's comment that the quality of some fisheries would not be positively impacted by the imposition of more restrictive regulations: this would be in the rare instance where a fishery suffers from no angler (catch and kill) mortality. If there are no anglers removing fish from the population, then a better reg would have no impact with respect to proportional stock densities of adult SMB. I did NOT hear them say that regulations on a fishery do not matter to the quality of SMB fisheries. If that were the case, then SB's comment about why have regulations at all makes sense.

Let us not run off and make assumptions or take comments out of their context. It serves no purpose at this point. We and the MDC both know that our streams are very popular with anglers and, even with a minority of anglers keeping fish up to the legal limit, there's a relatively high amount of harvest of SMB in our streams - certainly compared to many other states. The only way to modify this situation is through the enactment of more restrictive regulations which limit and/or

delay harvest such as higher length limits/lower creel limits. This is the agenda that we will continue to advance with the MDC.

.

My bad, I would love to see this happen. I was just being pessimistic

[Dan Kreher]

Mitch, I too was rather disgruntled at times during the MDC's presentation. We have wanted them to move faster in their work and to take more of a leadership role in enacting more quality-based regs to help improve and protect our stream SMB fisheries. We've been at this as an organization for 23 years now and have been more than patient as we await the MDC's enactment of a more comprehensive SMB management plan in our state. I do believe that change is coming here and soon will be the time for we sport anglers to step up and be heard in a unified voice. That voice should focus on supporting, questioning, challenging, refining, shaping whatever proposed regs the MDC puts forth with respect to length/creel limits as part of these public meetings. Certainly there are other areas of concern including illegal gigging, poaching, enforcement, otters, etc. We touched on each these a bit during Tuesday night's meeting. Perhaps some of these can be addressed down the road. But it would be most productive during the public comment period for sportsmen to focus on the issues at hand in an effort that new regs can be enacted and well publicized.

Needless to say that I am very anxious to see just what MDC proposes along these lines.

[Troutnut69]

I know this has been said many times before, but new regulations will do absolutely no good when there isn't any enforcement. Spent a couple days on a river this past week and witnessed one guy floating string up a smallie on a stringer that already had two fish on it. I don't keep any fish (crappie or walleye for the fryer once in a blue moon maybe) so I'm not up on the catch and keep regs so I didn't say anything to him , not wanting to step out of line and accuse someone of doing something illegal when they weren't. I was 95% sure the season was still closed but again didn't want to make accusations that I wasn't 100% sure of. After getting back to my truck I walked the shoreline at the takeout swinging a streamer on my switch rod and what do I find? A metal stringer with two big smallies tied to a submerged log (with no one around anywhere). I checked the fish and they were still lively so I released them , maybe not the right thing to do but it just irked me to see those fish strung up. After reading the regs I see that both of those individuals were breaking the law, and that's just what I saw in one day of floating a popular smallie stream in the Ozarks. That being said , I've run into the agent for that area more than once and I wasn't impressed at all so their lack of enforcement of the regs that really matter don't surprise me.

[Smalliebigs]

To clarify what I heard with respect to the MDC's comment that the quality of some fisheries would not be positively impacted by the imposition of more restrictive regulations: this would be in the rare instance where a fishery suffers from no angler (catch and kill) mortality. If there are no anglers removing fish from the population, then a better reg would have no impact with respect to proportional stock densities of adult SMB. I did NOT hear them say that regulations on a fishery do not matter to the quality of SMB fisheries. If that were the case, then SB's comment about why have regulations at all makes sense.

Let us not run off and make assumptions or take comments out of their context. It serves no purpose at this point. We and the MDC both know that our streams are very popular with anglers and, even with a minority of anglers keeping fish up to the legal limit, there's a relatively high amount of harvest of SMB in our streams - certainly compared to many other states. The only way to modify this situation is through the enactment of more restrictive regulations which limit and/or

delay harvest such as higher length limits/lower creel limits. This is the agenda that we will continue to advance with the MDC.

I agree Dan I really do but, I'm 46......I'm not sure anything will happen in my lifetime.

[Smalliebigs]

I know this has been said many times before, but new regulations will do absolutely no good when there isn't any enforcement. Spent a couple days on a river this past week and witnessed one guy floating string up a smallie on a stringer that already had two fish on it. I don't keep any fish (crappie or walleye for the fryer once in a blue moon maybe) so I'm not up on the catch and keep regs so I didn't say anything to him , not wanting to step out of line and accuse someone of doing something illegal when they weren't. I was 95% sure the season was still closed but again didn't want to make accusations that I wasn't 100% sure of. After getting back to my truck I walked the shoreline at the takeout swinging a streamer on my switch rod and what do I find? A metal stringer with two big smallies tied to a submerged log (with no one around anywhere). I checked the fish and they were still lively so I released them , maybe not the right thing to do but it just irked me to see those fish strung up. After reading the regs I see that both of those individuals were breaking the law, and that's just what I saw in one day of floating a popular smallie stream in the Ozarks. That being said , I've run into the agent for that area more than once and I wasn't impressed at all so their lack of enforcement of the regs that really matter don't surprise me.

wow.....I have seen this time and time again.......I have a moral dilemma right now as a neighbor of my Dad's in Washington County went out last weekend with his son on the upper Big river....this is gonna hurt Al...from Cherokee to Blackwell. Anyway they brought back 4 Smallies in a cooler and showed my dad. Between the four fish the smallest was 18 inches and they were fishing with minnows that they caught in a minnow trap. Both of these guys and my dad didn't even realize they kept them out of season. My dad calls me bragging and I go off the handle and my dad starts freaking knowing me and knowing I will turn them in. My dad is soo worried I am gonna ruin his relationship with his neighbor and my dad is scared of this guy a little. I haven't done anything yet but, this is all too common in Missouri and this only an example of something that was exposed only because they were ignorant to the regulations. There are 100's of similar situations like this, possibly 1000's happening every year in Missouri. My dad is 74 and he knows better but, just forgot about the season on smallies.....and this coming from a dude who used pound it in my head to let the fish on the rivers spawn and then go nail them over and over......he sooo worried about whether or not I am calling authorities on his neighbors or will I go and have an educational conversation with them.

It is what it is.......fighting a loosing battle is lame to me.....OTF you are right I am not gonna slaughter a shiot load of big smallies this year but, if I did and others I know who catch them real good did the same you would most definitely see a difference in certain watersheds.