Fishing Regulations

General Information

Allowed Methods

You may take fish by pole and line, trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line, and jug line. Ice fishing tip-ups are considered a pole-and-line method.

Certain species in designated waters may be taken by the use of bow, crossbow, gig, atlatl, snare, underwater spearfishing, snagging, or grabbing. (See Page 21 for nongame fish regulations.) Game fish not hooked in the mouth or jaw must be returned to the water unharmed immediately, except paddlefish legally taken during the paddlefish snagging season. All of the above methods for taking fish are considered sport fishing methods. See Page 11 for method definitions.

Prohibited Methods

No one may use any explosive, poison, chemical, or electrical equipment to kill or stupefy fish. Such materials or equipment may not be possessed on waters of the state or adjacent banks. Spearguns may not be possessed on unimpounded waters or adjacent banks, and spears may not be propelled by explosives. It is illegal to attempt to take fish by hand, with or without a hook.

Fish traps, including slat and wire ones, may not be possessed on waters in Missouri or on adjacent banks. However, live-bait traps are allowed. See the live-bait section on Page 22.

Poles and Hooks

If you use more than three poles (or two poles on the Mississippi River) at any one time, the additional poles must be labeled with your full name and address, or Conservation Number. Regardless of the method or number of poles, you may not use more than a total of 33 hooks at any one time; except on the Mississippi River the maximum is 50 hooks at one time (see hook, and pole and line definitions on Page 11). If fishing on the Mississippi River and on other Missouri waters at the same time, no more than 50 hooks in total may be used and not more than 33 of those hooks may be used on waters other than the Mississippi River. Hooks on trotlines must be staged at least 2 feet apart. Hooks on any type of line, as well as the line itself, must be attended every 24 hours or removed.

Labels Required

You must place a tag of a durable material with your full name and address, or Conservation Number on live-bait traps, trotlines, throwlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, and live boxes.

Use of Lights

As an aid to fishing methods, an artificial light may be used only above the water surface. However, while fishing by pole and line, underwater lights may be used to attract fish. Underwater lights also may be used when bowfishing on lakes, ponds, and other impoundments.

Jug Line Fishing

Anchored jug lines may not be left unattended for more than 24 hours. The anchor must be sufficient to render a jug immobile so that wind, current, or a large fish will not move the jug. A line that does not meet this standard is considered unanchored. Under normal fishing conditions, a 2-pound weight for a 2-liter soda bottle would be an appropriate anchor. Use a heavier weight to anchor larger floats or during times of high wind and current.

Keeping track of your unanchored jug lines reduces catfish waste and jug-line litter. Unanchored jug lines in streams must be personally attended at all times. Unanchored jug lines in lakes must be personally attended at least once per hour. Anglers who cannot personally attend their jug lines can still enjoy jug fishing by using anchors. “Personally attended” means that the angler whose name is labeled on the jug line:

• Is in visual sight of and in close proximity to the jug line.
• Can see the jug line move when a fish is hooked.
• Can talk to a conservation agent checking the line.
• Can deter anyone who is tampering with the line.

Daily and Possession Limits

You may possess no more than the daily limit of any given species while you are on waters, or on the banks of waters, where daily limits for those species apply. Where only catch-and-release fishing is allowed, fish must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught. See culling regulations below.

The possession limit is twice the statewide daily limit. Fish you take and possess must be kept separate or distinctly identifiable from fish taken by another person. If you are away from your catch, the device holding the fish must be plainly labeled with your full name and address, or Conservation Number.

Culling

Any fish you catch is included in your daily limit unless you release it unharmed immediately. You may not replace smaller fish in your possession with larger ones caught later. You need to make a keep-or-release decision as soon as the fish is caught.

One exception: If, from September through June, you are a participant in a bona fide catch-and-release black bass tournament (one after which all bass are released alive) that requires entrants to have a boat livewell with adequate capacity and a pump constantly adding fresh or recirculating water, the black bass you release unharmed from the livewell need not be included in your daily limit. Note: From July through August, if you participate in the type of black bass tournament described above, the black bass you release unharmed from the livewell must be included in your daily limit. At no time may the daily limit be exceeded.

Length Limits

• A minimum length limit means that fish below a designated length must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught.
• A slot length limit or protected length range means that fish within a designated length range must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught.
• A maximum length limit means that fish above a designated length must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught.

Regardless of where taken, fish that are not of a legal length cannot be possessed on the waters or banks where length limits apply. The head, tail, and skin must remain attached to the fish while on waters where length limits apply.

How to Measure a Fish

Total length is measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail, with the fish laid flat on the ruler, with the mouth closed and the tail lobes pressed together.

Measure a Paddlefish

Paddlefish are measured from the eye to the fork of the tail.

Measure a Shovelnose Sturgeon

Sturgeon are measured from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail. Only shovelnose sturgeon are legal to keep.

Transportation

The fish you legally catch in Missouri, or elsewhere, may be possessed and transported as your personal baggage if you have the required permit. Fish may be stored, preserved, or refrigerated only at your home, camp, place of lodging, or in a commercial establishment. Stored fish must be labeled with your full name and address, or Conservation Number; permit number; species of fish; and the date placed in storage. Fish taken in another state by methods not permitted in Missouri may not be possessed on waters of the state.

Wanton Waste

It is illegal to intentionally leave or abandon any portion of any wildlife that is commonly used as human food.

Reciprocal Fishing Privileges with Other States

Fishing privileges on boundary waters common to Missouri and an adjoining state are mutually agreed upon by the two states. Any person possessing a valid sport fishing permit issued by the state of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, or Tennessee, or who is legally exempted from those license requirements, may fish in the Des Moines, Mississippi, Missouri, and St. Francis Rivers adjacent to the state where they are licensed as indicated in the following table. It is your responsibility to know which state you are fishing in and the regulations that apply to the waters that you are fishing. You must be licensed in Missouri to fish in Missouri tributaries of the Mississippi, Missouri, and St. Francis rivers. You may not fish in the tributaries of these rivers in a state where you are not licensed.

Definitions

• Atlatl: A rod or narrow board-like device used to launch, through a throwing motion of the arm, a dart 5 to 8 feet in length.
• Backwater: Any flowing or nonflowing water lying exclu- sively within the floodplain of a river and connected to that river at anywater level below official flood stage for the portion of river where the backwater occurs. Backwater does not include tributarystreams and ditches, but may include side channels, chutes, sloughs, bayous, oxbows, and blew holes.
• Bow: A device drawn and held by hand and not fastened to a stock nor to any other mechanism that maintains the device in adrawn position. This definition includes long- bows, recurve bows, and compound bows.
• Days or Dates: All days and dates are inclusive. A day begins or ends at midnight, unless otherwise specified.
• Endangered Fish: Lake sturgeon, pallid sturgeon, tail- light shiner, Neosho madtom, spring cavefish, harlequin darter, goldstripedarter, cypress minnow, central mudmin- now, crystal darter, swamp darter, Ozark cavefish, Niangua darter, Sabine shiner, mountainmadtom, redfin darter, longnose darter, flathead chub, Topeka shiner, and grotto sculpin. You may not take or attempt to takethese fish.
• Flies, Lures, and Baits: The following classes of lures are authorized for use, except where restricted. See pages 24–35. Natural and scented baits: A natural fish food such as bait fish, crayfish, frogs permitted as bait, grubs, insects, larvae, worms,salmon eggs, cheese, corn, and other food substances not containing any ingredient to stupefy, injure, or kill fish. Does not includeflies or artificial lures. Includes dough bait, putty or paste-type bait, any substance designed to attract fish by taste or smell, and any fly, lure, or bait containing or used with such substances. Soft plastic bait (unscented): Synthetic eggs, synthetic worms, synthetic grubs, and soft plastic lures. Artificial Lure: A lure constructed of any material excluding soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait defined above. Fly: An artificial lure constructed on a single-point hook, using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait as defined above, that is tied, glued, or other- wise permanently attached.
• Game Fish: Goggle-eye (commonly known as Ozark bass, rock bass, and shadow bass), warmouth, northern pike, muskellunge, tiger muskie, muskie-pike hybrid, chain pickerel, grass pickerel, all species of catfish except bull- heads, all speciesof black bass (largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted), paddlefish (spoonbill), all species of crappie, white bass, yellow bass, andstriped bass, trout, walleye, sauger, and shovelnose sturgeon.
• Grabbing: Snagging or attempting to snag a fish by means of a pole, line, and hook manipulated by hand.

• Hook: Single- or multiple-pronged hooks and ordinary artificial lures with attached single- or multiple-pronged hooks anddropper flies. A multiple-pronged hook, or two or more hooks used to hold a single bait are considered a single hook.
• Nongame Fish: All species other than alligator gar, those listed as endangered, or those defined as game fish. Non- game fish are referred to as “other fish” in the Wildlife Code of Missouri.
• Pole and Line: Fishing methods using tackle normally held in the hand, such as a cane pole, casting rod, spin- ning rod, or flyrod, or ice fishing tackle commonly known as a tip-up, to which not more than three hooks with bait or lures are attached. Doesnot include snagging, snar- ing, grabbing, trotlines, juglines, or other tackle normally attached in a fixed position.
• Resident Landowner: Any Missouri resident who owns at least 5 contiguous acres, and their immediate household memberswhose legal residence is the same as the land- owner’s for at least the past 30 days. See Chapter 20 of the Wildlife Code ofMissouri for a more detailed definition.
• Snagging: The act of hooking or attempting to hook a fish in a part of the body other than the mouth or jaw by means of a pole, line, and hook. Snagging is characterized by a repeated drawing or jerking motion of the pole, line, and hook or bytrolling with an unbaited hook rather than enticement by bait or lure.
• Take or Taking: Killing, trapping, snaring, netting, or cap- turing in any manner any wildlife, and also refers to pursu- ing,molesting, hunting, wounding; or the placing, setting, or use of any net, trap, device, contrivance, or substance, in an attempt totake wildlife; and every act of assistance to every other person in taking or attempting to take any wildlife.

Catch on to Catch-and-Release Fishing

Fishing is often for pleasure rather than for food. Catch- and-release, or releasing fish immediately after they are caught, is aconservation measure that helps maintain a fishery for the future. Follow these guidelines to increase the chance of a fish’s survival:

• Whenever possible, do not take the fish out of the water.
• Filing the barbs off of hooks makes removing them easier.
• Never pull a hook from the fish’s throat or stomach; it is better to cut the line. Many hooks will rust away or be expelled by the fish.
• Avoid excessive handling of fish.
• If handling is necessary, make certain not to squeeze or drop the fish.
• Never put your fingers in the fish’s gills or eye sockets.