MDC Smallmouth Regs Recommendations

[joeD]

Catch and release smallmouth bass in streams. Period.

Harms no one or no stream

All these studies amount to nothing but more studies and no conclusions.

12" here, 15" there, 18" for special streams. Nonsense.

Treat smallmouth bass as a sport fish that cannot be harvested.

Bingo. Case closed.

[drew03cmc]

Catch and release smallmouth bass in streams. Period.

Harms no one or no stream

All these studies amount to nothing but more studies and no conclusions.

12" here, 15" there, 18" for special streams. Nonsense.

Treat smallmouth bass as a sport fish that cannot be harvested.

Bingo. Case closed.

Joe, several of us have been advocating this for years, but because of tradition in Missouri, it will never happen. I'd love it, but some harvest isn't bad for the population and size spectrum. It's bad when Jim Bob and the boys go down and harvest 6 fish each night for weeks.

[Mitch f]

Joe, several of us have been advocating this for years, but because of tradition in Missouri, it will never happen. I'd love it, but some harvest isn't bad for the population and size spectrum. It's bad when Jim Bob and the boys go down and harvest 6 fish each night for weeks.

Cuz we can skin a buck, and we can run a trot line, and a country boy can survive.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Well here come the stupid statements.

[Mitch f]

Stupid or not, we can have all the greatest regs in town, as previously stated, but with no enforcement, it's a moot point. I turned in some dudes the other day to the MDC hotline who were putting sub legal smallmouth on a stringer. I called the MDC, the poor agent and his colleague had to enforce either 50 or 75 miles of river, honestly I can't remember which it was. Either way it was woefully inadequate. They Probably had to enforce the deer poaching as well, who knows.

[Chief Grey Bear]

And that's exactly what everyone should do.

I applaud you!

But when we start flinging unsubstantiated claims at Jim Bob and his fictitious posse, we loose all credibility.

[Mitch f]

And that's exactly what everyone should do.

I applaud you!

But when we start flinging unsubstantiated claims at Jim Bob and his fictitious posse, we loose all credibility.

Chief, you know, and I know, that it's the local population that are the biggest catcher/keepers/poachers on the rivers (not to be all Donald Trump on you). I was at Riddle Bridge many years ago. A conservation agent refused to check my license even when I showed it to him. His comment was "I know you're from St. Louis because I heard you talking to someone else. The locals are the ones we are after". We, as JoeD says are just afraid to say the words. But I certainly don't want to derail what has been an very good discussion on regulations. I'll admit, some of this is a little too complicated for my taste, but never the less, it's a great topic.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I have no illusion that locals do the bulk of any poaching.

But to what extent?

This thread derailed long ago, it's just nobody knows it.

[MOPanfisher]

Generally people don't go far to break laws. Locals are the bulk of wildlife violators yes, i was born and raised wits some of them. They are the same ones that will take home 100 plus crappie, or a few extra or illegal deer, or noodle up some flathead. It is certainly not all of us good Ole boys who have spent out entire life living in the sticks breaking laws, but a certain group that we would be happy with out as well.

[SpoonDog]

Catch and release smallmouth bass in streams. Period.

Harms no one or no stream

All these studies amount to nothing but more studies and no conclusions.

12" here, 15" there, 18" for special streams. Nonsense.

Treat smallmouth bass as a sport fish that cannot be harvested.

Bingo. Case closed.

Joe, several of us have been advocating this for years, but because of tradition in Missouri, it will never happen. I'd love it, but some harvest isn't bad for the population and size spectrum. It's bad when Jim Bob and the boys go down and harvest 6 fish each night for weeks.

BS- MDC studies have produced results- they're just not the results. They're not the results some folks want and for that reason some folks won't listen, but that isn't MDC's prolem. The reason you don't see MDC adopting statewide C&R isn't because they're beholden to meat anglers or yokels- they're beholden to reality. No one anywhere does statewide C&R- even federally threatened bull trout and other western salmonids have some harvest. Smallmouth aren't endangered, harvest isn't decimating their populations, and something like 7% of MIssouri anglers were for statewide C&R- if you think MDC's going to ignore 93% of the state's smallmouth anglers you're delusional. Maybe their biologists recognize "These are the best regs because these are the regs I like" for what it is- a circular argument.

I'd love for Scarlett Johanssen to forsake her career and become my constant topless fishing companion-I'd definitely find more excuses to get out on the stream. I can keep pestering her people until they cave or just stop listening. But at some point we all gotta put on our big-boy britches and ask ourselves which party is being unreasonable.

Mitch is absolutely right that enforcement will be an issue regardless of any regulations change. Maybe most poachers are locals- MDC's data does suggest most folks stick to one watershed, and usually it's one pretty close to home. An on-the-ground creel survey (at a regional or watershed scale) would nail down questions like: how many people are actually keeping smallmouth, where are they (anglers) coming from, even what harvest of sublegal fish is like. It could also tell us whether there are streams, or sections of streams, where anglers are more likely to adopt restrictive regs because voluntary release is already high. It'd tell us whether anglers are more likely to release big fish (meaning they prioritize quality management) or little fish (meaning they prioritize harvest). It'd tell us whether most anglers are ACTUALLY too stupid to ID smallmouth or determine which regulations the section their fishing falls under- whether these are real issues or crutches ginned up by management.

I'd be all for trying to get more agents in the Ozarks, especially during the smallmouth season. Maybe Water Patrol or county personnel could be deputized- it seems I see more of them than agents, at least on the popular stretches. If they can nail you for glass or a beer bong, SURELY they can scope out a stringer. In that big long list I mentioned a smartphone app- something that that'd put anglers into contact with an MDC agent faster. Granted there's a lot of coverage holes in the Ozarks, but maybe just the knowledge it exists could curtail some poaching. Coding is a big nerdy thing right now, maybe there's some class or individual at a state school or community college looking for a semester project or a capstone. I'd be awfully surprised if none existed. It's a win-win-win: the kid gets a line on the resume' MDC gets a feather in their cap and a practical tool to combat everything from fish and wildlife poaching to vandalism, root digging, and wildlife trafficking, and smallmouth anglers get another tool to help protect their fisheries.

I'd wager most poaching is coming from nearby areas, MDC's mail survey indicates most smallmouth anglers are fishing their local watershed and not making cross-state trips. Surely there are people in Farmington, Salem, Eminence, West Plains, Rolla, Marshfield and other smaller communities who'd love to see quality regs, but with urban-rural animosity you're not going to reach those folks proselytizing from St. Louis or other cities. If we can get a couple folks talking about it on the local level, we may be able to develop a broader base of support for quality regs.