AGFC considering changing special regulation area on Crooked Creek

[Quillback]

Proposed change is in the survey.

Qualtrics Survey | 2024 AGFC Regulations Input

[Al Agnew]

It's kind of a pain to slog through the survey to find the Crooked Creek proposed regulation change, but essentially they want to remove the special regulations on it.  Their rationale is that their studies have show few smallmouth over 18 inches in the creek, so they are saying that the special regs aren't producing any results.

Basically, I told them politely in the survey that they are full of crap.

I first said that in my opinion regulations have two goals.  The obvious one is to protect or enhance the resource.  But the second one is to steer public perception of the resource.  In other words, even if the regulations on Crooked Creek were not producing more 18 inch plus smallmouth, they sent a signal to the public that smallmouth, and especially big smallmouth, are valuable resources worthy of protection.  Even though few anglers were keeping big smallmouth in Crooked, it could very well be that one reason they weren't keeping them was because the regulations convinced them that the big smallmouth were worth protecting.

The second point I made was questioning their sampling methods.  I've fished Crooked Creek, and caught 19-20 inch smallmouth in it, even though I've only fished it a couple times and thus know little about it. And I've also participated in electroshocking on Big River, which I know intimately.  In a couple electroshocking forays, in a section of Big River that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt had good numbers of big smallmouth, the largest one we shocked up was 17 inches, and only one that size.  I am therefore convinced that for whatever reason, electroshocking does not always "find" the bigger smallmouth in a stream.  And creel surveys seldom reach a lot of anglers that actually know a lot about catching big smallmouth.  I suspect that Crooked Creek has more big smallmouth than what their study showed. 

 

 

[fishinwrench]

59 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

I suspect that Crooked Creek has more big smallmouth than what their study showed. 

Maybe, but you sure couldn't tell it by me, or anyone I've ever talked to.   The Smallies have always seemed to peak out at about 13" in Crooked cr.  🤷‍♂️ 

The fish population seems about the same as the Little Niangua to me.   Good numbers of sporty size Smallies, but just not many "bigger" fish.