The Gasconade River is home to more than 60 different species of fish, but much of its fanfare goes to the smallmouth bass that reside in its waters. The Gasconade is arguably one of Missouri's top smallmouth rivers, especially the Special Managed Area, a magical 20-mile stretch that starts at the state Route Y bridge next to the Riddle Bridge Access in Pulaski County and runs downstream to the state Route D bridge near Jerome, about one mile upstream of the Jerome Access in Phelps County.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation are working to establish special regulations for smallmouth bass management on longer stretches of the Gasconade River. Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

St. Louis resident and Missouri Smallmouth Alliance President Matt Weir believes the Gasconade is worthy of the title "World-Class Smallmouth Fishery." "The Gasconade is hands down one of our best river smallmouth fisheries," he said. "It's a very fertile, productive fishery."

Weir is not alone in his belief. Another Missouri Smallmouth Alliance member and longtime Missouri Game & Fish contributor, Bill Cooper of St. James, has been assigned to the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance and also has strong feelings toward the Gasconade River.

"The Gasconade River is one of the top smallmouth streams in the state," Cooper said. "Only a few miles of it are now in the smallmouth bass management area. In the near future, I hope to see more of it included in some kind of special regulations. The Gasconade has a great deal of diversity and is capable of producing more large fish -- that is, if the proper regulations are in place to allow the fish to grow.

"However, we always have to take into account the people who want to take home a mess of fish. Bass are a renewable resource, too, and can sustain some consumption. It will take some time for the Missouri Department of Conservation fisheries biologists and the Blue Ribbon Panel to come up with a plan suitable to everyone."

TROPHY MANAGEMENT AT ITS BEST
The MDC has long been on the cutting edge in its stewardship of Missouri's waterways, and the state's Special Managed Areas are no exception. In the late 1980s, the MDC began looking at special regulations, such as closing bass season to protect spawning fish and implementing minimum length and creel limits on various stretches of Ozark streams.

The first rivers to receive special regulations were sections of the Big, Big Piney and Meramec rivers in 1991. These areas became known as Special Management Areas, and the impetus for the restrictions was to evaluate if the smallmouth bass fishing could be improved by reducing the smallmouth harvest. Tagging studies indicate that smallmouth bass are homebodies. According to MDC researchers, the majority of smallmouth bass are hatched, raised and die either in the same pool or less than a mile from the riffle or pool complex where they were hatched.

AND THE WINNER IS . . .
The results of these early restrictions were encouraging -- anglers caught more fish. "Anglers caught more smallmouth bass, faster -- about two-and-a-half times faster for all sizes of fish -- and the numbers of 12- to 14.9-inch and 15-inch-plus smallmouth bass caught by anglers doubled," wrote fisheries management biologist Kevin Meneau in an MDC report.

In January 1995, armed and encouraged with this data, the MDC looked at implementing these same restrictions on the Gasconade River. The length restriction was increased from 15 inches to 18 inches, and a daily limit of one fish was put in place. The smallmouth responded favorably and today the SMA located on the Gasconade is the kind of water on which smallmouth anglers dream of spending their waking moments.

THE GASCONADE: A CLOSER LOOK
Perhaps the success of the SMA on the Gasconade has something to do with having plenty of moving water. Nearly all of the Gasconade's twisting, turning 271 miles has good flow, due to the large concentration of springs that flow into it. Of course, not all anglers were immediately pleased with the restrictions that were placed on their "home river," but as the river's smallmouth population and the quality of fish increased, the revelers quieted and anglers began doing what anglers enjoy doing most -- fishing.