Carp for bait

March-April 2021 MDC proposes catching carp for bait

The Missouri Conservation Commission has agreed to regulation changes proposed by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) that would add to personal and commercial uses of grass carp and common carp.

The new regulations follow requests from the public to be allowed to catch and use common carp and grass carp as live bait.

A related regulation became effective last August and since then, MDC staff have received comments from anglers, bait dealers, the Missouri Aquaculture Association and others about the regulation change.

The additional proposed regulations would allow for both common carp and grass carp to be used for live bait once the regulations become effective on Aug. 30.

The proposed regulations would also allow limited commercial capture and sale of common and grass carp to commercial establishments by contractors participating in an MDC-contracted invasive fish removal project.

INVASIVE SPECIES

Grass carp and common carp are currently listed as invasive fish species in Missouri, along with bighead, black and silver carp. These invasive species pose threats to Missouri aquatic ecosystems by outcompeting native species and damaging water quality and habitat.

The proposed regulation changes would not apply to bighead and silver carp, which would remain on the Missouri invasive species list, nor to black carp, which would remain on the Missouri prohibited species list.

The proposed regulations would: • Remove common carp and grass carp from the definition of invasive fish.

• Re-establish sport sea-

sons, plus methods and limits for taking common carp and grass carp and allowing their use as live bait.

• Re-establish commercial

fishing seasons, methods and limits for taking common carp and grass carp in certain streams and establishing restrictions on the use of commercial fishing gear to catch them. • Authorize the sale of common carp and grass carp to commercial establishments by contractors participating in an MDC-contracted invasive fish removal project.

TIME TO COMMENT

Public comments will be accepted from March 2

Grass carp is sometimes used to reduce vegetation but is also an invasive species in Missouri.

through March 31 at mdc.

mo.gov/about-regulations/ wildlife-code-missouri/pro-

posed-regulation-changes.

Comments may also be mailed to: Regulations Com-

mittee Chairman, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.

MDC will review all comments and present a final proposal for a vote by the Commission at its May 21 meeting. If approved, the regulation change will become effective Aug. 30.

Learn more about carp in Missouri from MDC’s online Field Guide online at mdc.

mo.gov/discover-nature/fieldguide.

He just can’t find the balance

Photo and Text By RANDALL P. DAVIS

Winter just doesn’t seem as fun nowadays.

Winter used to mean wild sled rides down ice-packed county roads at ridiculously dangerous velocities. Or impromptu hockey games on small, frozen ponds with lengths of hickory branches for sticks (or clubs) and a metal coffee can for a puck. Of course, this often led to a little blood on the ice, but it was always fun.

Or hunting rabbits in deep snow. Then building a fire and cooking the quarry, just like the mountain men did.But I never really understood the purpose of a fire. The meat was always raw on the inside.

Winter also meant great muskrat trapping through the ice. Those prime pelts would come from the cold water and be dried within minutes of rolling the critter in the snow. To me, there’s no more beautiful fur than that of a muskrat.

But since I’ve gotten older and slower, winter weather seems to have shown little quarter allowing for my persistent accumulation of decades, and has seized the opportunity to rub these invariable facts in my face ... literally.

It was these same facts that came to me as I was sliding head-first down a densely frosted pond bank attempting to wrangle a trapped muskrat.

TOO MUCH MUSKRAT

My client had a substantial muskrat problem. Den holes pocked the bank. Vegetation was shorn close to the water’s edge. The banks were steep. And I had forgotten my hip boots.

Not relishing the thought of ice water pouring into my knee boots, I thought I was 30 years old again and lay on my belly to retrieve the trapped furbearer.

But gravity, the substantial incline and my girth – comparable to a market hog – somehow messed with Newton’s Law, and I ended up barreling toward the thin ice, arms stretched forward like some superhero.

The impact wasn’t as bad as I expected. My arms, covered by shoulder-length gauntlets, absorbed the crash. As I broke through the ice, like any seasoned moron in this position, the momentum caused me to turn slightly and load up one of those gauntlets with frigid pond water.

After flaying to a sitting posture and allowing the three gallons of water to drain away, I really couldn’t see any difference between me and that drowned muskrat.

DAY NOT OVER

But that day, winter wasn’t yet through with me. I returned home, changed into dry duds, and proceeded to get on with kennel chores, preparing for the next day’s deep cold.

It seemed like a simple, routine endeavor. Heavy bedding was in place. Heated water buckets were full. Plenty of feed. Good to go.

COMING SOON

Now, I’ll quickly admit I’m not the smartest guy in Elkhorn, MO. In fact, I might make a good run at being the village idiot, as even though we’d had sleet and snow, then a thaw, then more snow, one would think I could remember it might be slick.

Perhaps it was that aging thing winter doesn’t let me forget, or that I was still numb from the earlier polar bear plunge, but I forgot about the polished glacier underneath two inches of snow. And while I was carrying two 5-gallon buckets of water, I put a heel right on that little land mine. In an instant, I was sitting in 10 gallons of slush.

There was colorful language. And if NFL talent

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