Data on smallmouth population

[Chief Grey Bear]

Uh well ok then. Just going by what I see and read. 

[BassMaster#1]

On 6/4/2017 at 10:20 PM, ColdWaterFshr said:

Jim,

Let me state for the record that there is not a SINGLE smallmouth in the entire 5 mile section of Meramec that I fished today.  I can attest, quite scientifically and with peer review, that there is only 1 juvenile bluegill, and also 1 drum in our study area, encompassing Hwy N to Blue Spring Ranch.

 

Lol...I put in at blue springs on sunday and ran to cambell bridge....fished till 11 and ended up with 3 all at 12".....water was still murky that far up river

[moguy1973]

On 6/4/2017 at 10:20 PM, ColdWaterFshr said:

Jim,

Let me state for the record that there is not a SINGLE smallmouth in the entire 5 mile section of Meramec that I fished today.  I can attest, quite scientifically and with peer review, that there is only 1 juvenile bluegill, and also 1 drum in our study area, encompassing Hwy N to Blue Spring Ranch.

 

You must have been the ones in the drift boat.  As Bassmaster#1 said, there are at least 4 smallies in that stretch.  He caught 3 and I lost one at the boat.  Had a few others come up and look at my top water stuff but we spent most of our time getting snagged when fishing bottom stuff.  There is a ton of debris I'm guessing from the flood along all that swifter water by the bluffs there.

[ColdWaterFshr]

16 minutes ago, moguy1973 said:

You must have been the ones in the drift boat.  As Bassmaster#1 said, there are at least 4 smallies in that stretch.  He caught 3 and I lost one at the boat.  Had a few others come up and look at my top water stuff but we spent most of our time getting snagged when fishing bottom stuff.  There is a ton of debris I'm guessing from the flood along all that swifter water by the bluffs there.

Yep, that was us.  Got some drift boat practice on the oars in my buddy's boat, but good god, that was the worst 5 hours of fishing I can remember in a long time.  I even brought out the heavy artillery with the Mitch Hi-Def Craw when the buzz bait, and usual cranks and plastics wouldn't produce.  Nothing.  Snagged on bottom just like Moguy.  Was that you guys in the jet coming upstream?

[moguy1973]

Just now, ColdWaterFshr said:

Yep, that was us.  Got some drift boat practice on the oars in my buddy's boat, but good god, that was the worst 5 hours of fishing I can remember in a long time.  I even brought out the heavy artillery with the Mitch Hi-Def Craw when the buzz bait, and usual cranks and plastics wouldn't produce.  Nothing.  Snagged on bottom just like Moguy.  Was that you guys in the jet coming upstream?

Yep, in the Legend.  That stretch of water looks so good.  Has boulders, grass, current, depth.  Never really done well on that stretch though in three tries.  Two from kayaks, one from the boat.

[Jim Spriggs]

The MDC sent me their 2014 report on the gasconade river in laclede county. While this isn't data on the Meramec, I thought this group would still find it interesting.  Here is the figure with the distribution of smallmouth bass by length.     

Of those fish at least 7" long, 19%  are at least 12" long and 5% are 15" or longer.  

 

[MoCarp]

I wish they did some aging with studies like that unsure if they could do it with a no-kill scales way or using otolith bone way (most accurate I think I saw some where)

I did find this but its old

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v63/p37_41.pdf

https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/resources/2010/05/smallmouthbassstudy_2008.pdf

 

I did see this study, smallmouth do use spring areas to over winter...I suspect this makes the bigger fish HIGHLY vulnerable to being gigged out 

https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/tracking-river-smallmouth

 

[Gavin]

The Laclede County section of the Gasconade is upstream from the management area (6 over 12" regulation in 2014). Would love to compare that with some samples from the Pulaski County Special Management Area (1 over 18" regulation in 2014).

 

[MoCarp]

in my honest opinion smallmouth get harvested before they have a chance to get big, it takes 4-6 years for one to get "big" a long time to avoid getting harvested by rod/reel or eaten by a otter,  the same fish get 3-4 pounds often in TR why? more nutritious prey?easier to catch food? less energy burned fighting current? or more places to avoid harvest? Smallmouth don't get gigged in TR, I have been lucky I have caught many smallies over 4 pounds, only 2 in my life that big came from an Ozark stream...question is why????

[Markhat]

The Gasconade study is interesting. None over 18+ inches? I spend most of my time fishing between this stretch and the special management area in Pulaski co.  My wife and I have caught 10-12 over 18" in the past 2 yrs so they ARE there. Some of them may be the same fish as we are CR but I know for sure the 2 biggest werent due to a scar on one of them. Id love to see a survey of the SMA if they have one. I dont generally fish that far downstream.  The habitat a few miles down from the study area isn't that much better so I'd expect similar numbers.   That may be different now after the big food?  Fishing has been TOUGH just like many have echoed from meramec