Smallmouth Bass Special Regulation Areas are Designated by the MDC

From: Kevin Meneau
Missouri Department of Conservation

The proposed regulations for new Smallmouth Bass Areas have cleared the Regulations Committee and were supported by the Commission . These regulation proposals have now left MDC and are going through the process all new laws need to go through, at the State Capital. All these streams will have 15" min. length limits and daily limit of one smallmouth, beginning March 1, 2000. Special smallmouth stream regulations will now cover 165 miles of Missouri streams.

Proposed regulations will expand the smallmouth bass special management area (SMBSMA) on the Big River in Jefferson County from 11 to 63 miles and will establish new SMBSMAs on 50 miles of the Eleven Point River in Oregon County, 13.5 miles of Mineral Fork in Washington County (tributary to Big River). 35.5 miles of the Osage Fork of the Gasconade River in Laclede County, and 14 miles of Tenmile Creek in Carter and Butler counties. All these streams will have 15" min. length limits and daily limit of one smallmouth, beginning March 1, 2000.

Of the five streams up for management decision in 1998 (following the Smallmouth Bass white paper), four will receive special regulations and the Eleven Point will receive special regulations 2 years before a decision was due. The fifth stream, Shoal Creek (Newton County) had a variety of problems that condemned its candidacy.

Based on our experience with Big River, Big Piney, and Meramec SMBSMAs, we expect these harvest regulations to significantly increase (perhaps double) angler catch rates of 12-15" smallmouth bass and greatly improve anglers' chances of catching smallmouth bass over 15" in the new SMBSMAs.

Smallmouth Bass Special Management Areas are:

Big River - from the Hwy 21 bridge crossing (near Washington State park) to the confluence with the Meramec River.
Mineral Fork - from the Hwy. F bridge crossing to its confluence with Big River.
Osage Fork - from the Skyline Drive bridge (near Orla) to its confluence with the Gasconade River.
Tenmile Creek - from the Hwy. 5 bridge crossing to its confluence with Cane Creek
Eleven Point River - from Thomasville Access to the Arkansas state line.

These results clearly show MDC and Commission support for more restrictive, species specific black bass regulations on streams and that the process (thought sometimes too slow for some) is working. I, for one, am very pleased to see all that work turn into something that will greatly improve Missouri smallmouth fishing. I'm very excited about the future! With any luck, a decision for the Niangua River will be handed down in Fall, 1999.

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