While fishing the Mineral Fork in Washington County on Saturday, my father remarked repeatedly how beautiful the landscape and clear the creek is.

“Dad, this is why I fish,” I said.

He’s relatively new to Missouri and very new to the creek fishing many of us enjoy in the Ozarks. It has taken me quite some time to convince him that, in the Ozarks, creek fishing is a blessing.

The Ozark streams are gems of peace and beauty. The rugged terrain, bold bluffs, clear water and abundant wildlife are blessings. And the smallmouth bass — the underdog with attitude — are a special gift for sport fishermen.

Much attention has been given lately to the quality of smallmouth fishing in the Ozarks. The Missouri Smallmouth Alliance, a club of bronzeback devotees, created a “blue-ribbon” panel to propose a plan for the Missouri Department of Conservation to create a “world-class” smallmouth fishery. Debate has been passionate among those who have differing ideas of how the state should manage Ozark waterways for the fierce fighter.

Beautiful smallmouth bass like this one, caught in Huzzah Creek, are what makes fishing in the Ozarks world class.

MDCs fisheries biologists are charged with the difficult task of managing the states fisheries for a variety of interests. While our methods and motivations vary, we are all anglers and we all have a reason to want quality fishing. As far as I can tell, the folks at the MDC are doing a fine job.

Since I moved to Missouri 12 years ago, I have always been impressed by the simplicity of fishing here. The regulations, free of influence from elected politicians looking to cozy up to lobbyists and special-interest groups, are easy to understand. A resident annual fishing permit, a mere $12, is among the lowest of any state within a day’s drive. Access to quality streams is generally easy, unlike some states that continue to experience legal battles for stream access.

Ultimately, the MDCs responsibility is not to cater to the fleeting desire of humans to practice the type of fishing they prefer. It’s role is to manage the fisheries for the fish — to ensure that they have adequate structure, food and water to sustain healthy populations for our generation and those that will follow.

In 10 years of pursuing smallmouth bass in Missouri waters — on the basin rivers and the little creeks that meander through private land — I can’t recall any trip when I was disappointed. The greatness of fishing for smallmouth bass in the Ozarks lies not in the size of the fish but in the beauty of the places in which they live.

We already have a world-class smallmouth fishery.

You can read the MDCs  2009 smallmouth bass white paper summary here.

The Missouri Smallmouth Alliance’s Power Point presentation with smallmouth bass management proposals can be downloaded here.