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Michael S. Smith
Fisheries Management Biologist
and
George Kromrey
Fisheries Regional Supervisor
East Central Region
Missouri Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 248
Sullivan, MO 63980
573-468-3335
Release Date: January 26, 2000
The Department of Conservation is pleased to announce the proposed formation of a Wild Trout Management Area (WTMA) and the continuation of a Trout Management Area (TMA), though farther downstream, on Little Piney Creek. Little Piney Creek currently has a TMA at Lane Spring, which has received put-and-take rainbow trout since 1969. Wild trout are present from the springs above U.S. Hwy. 63 to a few miles below the Vida Slab Bridge. Little Piney Creek also has a quality smallmouth and rock bass fishery on the lower end of the stream. The Department of Conservation conducted a number of studies, beginning in 1994, to evaluate the fisheries potential of Little Piney Creek. Temperatures were recorded, fish populations were sampled, trout were tagged, and anglers were surveyed at Lane Spring to assist in the formulation of a trout management plan for Little Piney Creek. As a result of these studies, the primary objective has been determined to be the protection and enhancement of the self-sustaining rainbow trout population of Little Piney Creek. It was also determined that a put-and-take rainbow trout fishery would be continued somewhere on Little Piney Creek. The current proposal will accomplish both objectives. If adopted, the regulation would go into effect March 1, 2001.
The proposed WTMA will be defined as beginning at the Phelps County line about 1.75 miles upstream of the Piney Spring confluence and will extend to the soon to be developed Milldam Hollow Access at the end of Forest Service Road #1735. The upgrade of the forest road is a key component of this proposal. Upgrade costs will be shared between MDC and the U.S. Forest Service, and the access will provide the necessary geographic demarcation to make the regulation enforceable. Anglers will be able to identify this location to know where they are and also have an opportunity to access or leave the stream where regulations change. In the WTMA, only one trout may be kept and it must be at least 18 inches long, although limits for other sportfish will be the same as they have in the past. Regulations will also restrict terminal tackle to flies and hard plastic lures while fishing for all species. Gigging will not be permitted within the WTMA. The adoption of this proposal will create a 9.9 mile long WTMA, though Little Piney goes dry most years along the first 1.3 miles below the county line.
The Lane Spring TMA will be discontinued upon adoption of the proposed WTMA, which includes the Lane Spring frontage. The Lane Spring stockings have maintained a locally popular put-and-take fishery. Many of the surveyed anglers expressed satisfaction with the current management regime. Others expressed support for regulations similar to the one proposed. Most were in favor of catch-and-release fishing. The decision to cease rainbow trout stockings at Lane Spring is a biological one with sociological implications. The cold water and quality habitat along Lane Spring provide an opportunity for MDC to create one of the premier WTMAs in the state. However, it is also important to continue stocking somewhere on the Little Piney to provide a put-and take rainbow trout fishery in the area. Again, MDC is proposing the change to feature the self-sustaining component of rainbow trout, a fishery requiring the rare commodity of cold spring water. It is MDC's intent to diversify fishing opportunities on Little Piney Creek by having both a WTMA upstream and a TMA located farther downstream. Lane Spring will continue to be stocked, at least into the summer prior to the regulation change.
The proposed TMA will be managed similarly, but not identically to, the one formerly at Lane Spring. It will be bounded by the Milldam Hollow Access and Phelps County Road 7360. Statewide fishing methods and limits will apply. Anglers will need a fishing permit to fish and a trout permit to possess trout in the TMA, or anywhere else on Little Piney Creek. This Forest Service property can be accessed from Phelps County Road 7400, off State Hwy.T near Newburg. The TMA technically starts where the WTMA ends. However, only the lower mile of the Forest Service's Little Piney Allotment will be stocked. The stocked area will be roughly 0.5 miles above and below the intersection of Phelps County Road 7400 and Forest Service Road #1735, well below the WTMA. This buffer is intentional, though it is expected that some fish will move both up and downstream. MDC will evaluate fish movement from the stockings. A foot path and additional parking will eventually be developed. Stockings will occur during the spring and fall, but be suspended during the hottest weather because this portion of Little Piney warms above the preferred temperature of rainbow trout during July and August. Concern was expressed during the last proposal about the consequences of placing hatchery strain trout in this portion of Little Piney. MDC collected tissue samples from trout produced in the stream. Genetic analysis showed that more than half of those samples had characters also contained in samples from our hatchery stock. In order to protect the genetic integrity of the existing wild trout population, only the same strain that has been stocked at Lane Spring will be stocked in the proposed 3.7 mile long TMA.
Anglers are cautioned that creation of these special management areas does not authorize trespass on private property. A number of area landowners were contacted. Most landowners in the proposed WTMA were supportive of protecting the wild fish, but they also made it clear that trespassing would not be tolerated. In fact, the segment above U.S. Hwy. 63 was not originally included because MDC did not want to publicize the presence of wild rainbow trout in that reach. Angler/landowner problems exist on nearby Mill and Spring creeks, and MDC did not want to create more problems for the landowners along Little Piney Creek. Interestingly, one landowner countered that they might have more problems if their frontage was less regulated than frontage nearby. Private property will serve as a refuge and nursery for rainbow trout above U.S. Highway 63, though Havin Materials currently tolerates anglers who access the stream from the highway bridge and stay between the high banks of their 0.8 miles of frontage. Landowners above that point do not plan to grant trespass rights. Fortunately, Little Piney Creek has considerable frontage on land in the Mark Twain National Forest.
Please note that substantive comments from last year were considered and the current proposal has been modified to address the boundary and stocking location issues. The most significant change from the proposal submitted last year is that the lower boundary of the WTMA has been extended 3.1 miles, and the upper boundary extended 3.0 miles, yielding a total of 9.9 miles of Little Piney Creek under WTMA regulations. Significant funds have been earmarked to improve accessibility to the proposed TMA and create the Milldam Hollow Access in order to have an acceptable demarcation for the WTMA below the Vida Slab Bridge. MDC will consider new issues and will be happy to explain the rationale behind specific aspects of the current proposal.
Those who wish to comment on the proposed regulation are encouraged to do so by contacting the Regulations Committee, Missouri Department of Conservation. P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO. 65102-0180 or Mike Smith, Fisheries Management Biologist, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 248, Sullivan, MO. 63080. The deadline for comments is March 1, 2000.
See Proposed Boundaries on Map of the Little Piney Creek.
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