What Factors influence the Smallmouth population

[Hog Wally]

1 hour ago, MOPanfisher said:

Perfect eating size right there.

She was full of eggs too.   Only a few grubs to pick out on one side. 

[Smalliebigs]

11 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

Or, maybe put MDC to work electroshocking the rivers a lot more and killing all the spots they shock up?  Get volunteers to clean them at the end of the day, at least those big enough to eat, and have a massive fish fry.

The last time I went on a shocking run was quite a few years ago, on Big River above Blackwell.  We shocked up a ton of little spotted bass, and very few smallmouth, even though that stretch still has more smallmouth than spots (barely).  Which shows that shocking is a very inexact science

Al this is a friggin awesome idea......wow I had never heard this one before.......awesome.

This should be done somehow someway

[Bushbeater]

I'll be happy to fry a few spots. As one who has spent considerable time on Meramec and Big, mostly in the 60s thru about 90 my opinion is degradation of the riparian corridor increasing water temps. Consider the stream bank differences caused by the bridge replacements at Onondaga and Cambell as well as Hwy K. What used to be tight tree lined channel is now beat down gravel flats. I could see where a multitude of areas like these would cause much warmer water much earlier in the season. But let's consider ourselves fortunate it's not another Lake of the Ozarks with the downstream areas another Taneycomo.

[fishinwrench]

There's no fixing this for good.   Even if you shock up and kill every Spotted bass and Hybrid in the river it is only a temporary thing.  They are just going to repopulate again and again and again.

Might as well just accept them and carry on with your life.  Same conclusion I've come to in regards to the White bass/Hybrid mutts here in Lake O.   It can't be fixed, the damage is done.

[Smalliebigs]

26 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

There's no fixing this for good.   Even if you shock up and kill every Spotted bass and Hybrid in the river it is only a temporary thing.  They are just going to repopulate again and again and again.

Might as well just accept them and carry on with your life.  Same conclusion I've come to in regards to the White bass/Hybrid mutts here in Lake O.   It can't be fixed, the damage is done.

yep I guess you are correct.....We have to live with our ugly babies here on the lower end of the Meramec, Big and Bourbeuse rivers just like the West coast syndicate has live with their midget runts......We have ugly babies and  they have midget babies.....It's just diversity here in the Ozarks I guess. 

[fishinwrench]

On smaller streams like the Little Niangua, where the elimination of a daily catch might make a difference, I'll throw them up on the bank.  But on the bigger rivers it isn't going to change things noticably I don't think unless EVERYBODY does it and continues to do it forever.   

The MDC should propagandize the hell out of that so that everyone knows what a spotted bass is and knows to eliminate it from the system every chance they get.  Otherwise nothing is ever going to change.  

[Chief Grey Bear]

8 minutes ago, Smalliebigs said:

yep I guess you are correct.....We have to live with our ugly babies here on the lower end of the Meramec, Big and Bourbeuse rivers just like the West coast syndicate has live with their midget runts......We have ugly babies and  they have midget babies.....It's just diversity here in the Ozarks I guess. 

 The ugly baby was the water shed.  I thought you could understand that.  I guess it was a little too in depth for you. 

[fishinwrench]

My biggest issue with Spotted bass is that they exist in streams only to be a host for a parasite.  I haven't knifed very many SM but of the ones I have filleted I have never ran across a single grub in their meat.  On the other hand I have knifed a bunch of spotted bass from streams and you can't hardly find a single Spotted bass that has no grubs in it.  And many of them have as much weight in grub meat as they have in fish meat.   That's freakin' disgusting.   

For whatever reason the parasites find exactly what they are looking for in the spotted bass.

[MOPanfisher]

8 hours ago, Hog Wally said:

She was full of eggs too.   Only a few grubs to pick out on one side. 

Just extra protein.

[MoCarp]

5 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

There's no fixing this for good.   Even if you shock up and kill every Spotted bass and Hybrid in the river it is only a temporary thing.  They are just going to repopulate again and again and again.

Thats like saying don't put criminals n jail because they will just keep doing it...its like weeds in the garden...with effort they can be controlled

5 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

I'll throw them up on the bank. 

Thats just what I would expect from a deticated fish stabber 

5 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

My biggest issue with Spotted bass is that they exist in streams only to be a host for a parasite.  I haven't knifed very many SM but of the ones I have filleted I have never ran across a single grub in their meat.  On the other hand I have knifed a bunch of spotted bass from streams and you can't hardly find a single Spotted bass that has no grubs in it.  And many of them have as much weight in grub meat as they have in fish meat.   That's freakin' disgusting.   

For whatever reason the parasites find exactly what they are looking for in the spotted bass.

all warm water fish get them....with skill they can be removed..personally I'd like to see a NO CREEL on all SMB under 22" then only one