12INCH LIMIT ON SPOTTED BASS

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

When i crappie fish Bull and catch some spots ill keep them, throw then in the same bag as crappie. No one ever knows the difference. 

[moguy1973]

8 hours ago, straw hat said:

This is straight from the official Missouri State Regulations maintained by the Secretary of State's Office in Jefferson City.

3 CSR 10-6.505 Black Bass

Section (4)(2)(b)(1)

1. All black bass less than fifteen inches

(15") in total length must be returned to the

water unharmed immediately after being

caught from Blue Springs Lake, Long Branch

Lake, Longview Lake, Mark Twain Lake,

Smithville Lake, Stockton Lake, Table Rock

Lake, or Thomas Hill Lake.

 

During my call to the office they said they were not aware of any changes to the regulation nor are there any plans to change it.

Don't you love how our government works?

I work for the state and that’s exactly how it works. Takes us around a year to get any of our new regulations push through. Then a month for them to show on the state register. 

[MOPanfisher]

The big question is how/when it will be enforced.  I don't envy the job of the agents having to tell umpteen folks that "nope" that is a largemouth".  I certainly don't fish for bass, but should a spot of appropriate size bite I wouldn't have a problem eating it.  I seriously doubt that it will have any effect on the population dynamics in the lake.

[Ham]

8 hours ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

When i crappie fish Bull and catch some spots ill keep them, throw then in the same bag as crappie. No one ever knows the difference. 

Rule #1, not everyone is a Winner. 

[Gavin]

Would not mind if you could kill all no limit on spotted bass. They are not native, kiil all of them. Might put a dent in the LM population until the spots are eliminated. Most can’t tell the difference between a Smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass, or a spot/smallie hybrid. Fillet all your legal spots and release your crappie. The Crappie will grow to 15” allot faster. Rare for a spot to top  15” on the rivers I fish. Have caught a few in the  17” range, but I want 20+ Smallmouth. 

[Chief Grey Bear]

Night night Gav

[moguy1973]

MDC updated their picture...Definitely a spot in this one:

 

https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/new-stockton-lake-spotted-bass-regulation-increases-opportunity?fbclid=IwAR1Eb1MY7nGTXhsgpsAzPRx4ZFaN1ZxHNOgGCKt2Qs5PZPfQz1O2quBUDmg

[Ham]

7 hours ago, Gavin said:

Would not mind if you could kill all no limit on spotted bass. They are not native, kiil all of them. Might put a dent in the LM population until the spots are eliminated. Most can’t tell the difference between a Smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass, or a spot/smallie hybrid. Fillet all your legal spots and release your crappie. The Crappie will grow to 15” allot faster. Rare for a spot to top  15” on the rivers I fish. Have caught a few in the  17” range, but I want 20+ Smallmouth. 

It would be that simple IF there was only one user group. Different groups of fishermen want different things. The desires of one group shouldn’t outweigh the desires of another group. For every guy, that wants refs changed to help him catch 20 inch smallies there are are probably 3 guys that want an 8 inch minimum on SMB and a 20 fish limit.

I don’t fish the rarified air of rivers that have Spots that are invasive. Please frame your “kill them all” arguments for Spotted Bass to areas where that has occurred. Spots are a nice addition to BSL, Beaver, TR, and Norfork. They can be anywhere I guess, but there seem to areas where you can pattern them and the Spots always seem like they will play a little bit even on the worst days.

I hear Spots are tasty, I usually release mine.

Look, if you can’t tell the shape of a bass filet from a Crappie filet or the difference in the texture of the meat or the taste differences btw the two ; I’m not sure I can help you.

As an aside : I hear that all the time that ppl can mix White Bass and Crappie and cant tell the difference. Perhaps people appreciate the meal and are gracious enough not to complain, because surely ppl can tell the differences btw the two.

 

[Quillback]

If there's a mix of white bass and crappie fried together, I always tell people to eat the white bass first.

Guy that lived down the road from me that passed away a few years ago always used to tell me that he could fry fish so well that nobody could tell the white bass from the other types of fish.  I always gave him a hard time about that.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

7 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

MDC updated their picture...Definitely a spot in this one:

 

https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/new-stockton-lake-spotted-bass-regulation-increases-opportunity?fbclid=IwAR1Eb1MY7nGTXhsgpsAzPRx4ZFaN1ZxHNOgGCKt2Qs5PZPfQz1O2quBUDmg

It would be nice to include something about how to tell the difference between the species.