Fishing regulation changes go into effect March 1

With a bevy of new fishing regulations slated to go into effect March 1, the Missouri Department of Conservation suggests that anglers get a copy of the 2000 Summary of Fishing Regulations and keep it handy throughout the fishing season.

Regulation changes that will apply statewide or affect large numbers of anglers include:

— Creating a statewide, 15-inch minimum length limit for walleyes and saugers, except on Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes and their tributaries, the Current and Eleven Point rivers and their tributaries and on Long Branch and Table Rock Lakes, where the minimum length limit is 18 inches.

— Extending complimentary hunting and fishing privileges for disabled veterans to those veterans who have been prisoners of war. To qualify, you must have been honorably discharged and carry a certified statement of eligibility from the Veterans Administration.

— Establishing a 30-inch maximum length limit on the commercial taking of shovelnose sturgeon and changing equipment requirements on some commercial fishing gear.

— Setting a 34-inch minimum length limit (measured from the eye to the fork of the tail) for paddlefish on Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake and Truman Lake and their tributaries.

— Closing the Osage River between Bagnell Dam and the U.S. Highway 54 bridge to snagging, snaring and grabbing from March 15 through April 30.

— Requiring anglers to stop snagging, snaring or grabbing for any species of fish after taking a daily limit of two paddlefish on Truman Lake and Lake of the Ozarks and their tributaries and on the Osage River below Highway 54.

— Expanding the smallmouth bass special management area on Big River and establishing smallmouth special management areas on the Eleven Point River, on the Mineral Fork and Osage Fork of the Gasconade River and on Ten Mile Creek in Carter County.

— Setting a daily limit of 10 channel, blue and flathead catfish in the aggregate for Bull Shoals, Table Rock and Norfork lakes.

Anglers who ply the Missouri River between Missouri and Nebraska will have an easier time complying with fishing regulations in that boundary water. Under a newly approved reciprocal agreement, licensed anglers from Missouri and Nebraska alike will be allowed to fish anywhere on the river between the two states. This includes both banks and backwaters on either side of the river. Anglers need only a Missouri or Nebraska fishing permit to fish these waters. Anglers must abide by the regulations of the state where they are licensed, regardless of where they are fishing and must abide by the most restrictive of the two states’ regulations when fishing the other state’s waters.

Full details about these and other general fishing regulations are found in the 2000 Summary of Fishing Regulations, which is available free wherever fishing permits are sold.

Fishing regulations for community lakes and conservation areas are posted at each area. Some area regulation changes effective March 1 include:

— Permitting the taking of carp, buffalo, suckers and gar by gig, longbow and crossbow at Deroin Bend, Thurnau and Worthwine Island conservation areas (CAs) during statewide seasons;

— Restricting fishing to flies, artificial lures and unscented soft plastic baits and requiring that all fish be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught on Coot Lake at James A. Reed Memorial WA from Nov. 1 through Feb. 19;

— Setting daily limits at Bellefontaine Lake at two for black bass and 15 for crappie;

— Removing the 18-inch minimum length limit on walleye at Che Ru Lake, Lake Jacomo in Jackson County, Fellows Lake in Springfield and Lake Paho CA and substituting the statewide minimum length limit of 15 inches. Lake Showme in Memphis and Mozingo Lake in Maryville will have a 18-inch minimum length limit on walleye.

— Prohibiting fishing at Prairie Lake on Weldon Spring CA during the area’s prescribed waterfowl hunting season;

— Prohibiting boats on Williams Creek Lake in Mount Vernon;

— Removing the prohibition against using privately owned boats at Farrington Park Lake in Windsor;

— Removing the prohibition against using motors of more than 10 horsepower at Holden City Lake and substituting a requirement that such motors be operated only at slow, no-wake speed.