General Provisions

PURPOSE: This rule establishes general provisions for sport fishing: permit requirements; daily and possession limits; reciprocal privileges on certain rivers; and stream versus impoundment fishing. (1) Fish, mussels and clams, bullfrogs and green frogs, turtles and live bait may be taken only as provided in this chapter or as further restricted in Chapter 11, Chapter 12 or as otherwise noted. (2) Permits Required. (A) Any person, to exercise the privileges of this chapter, must obtain and have on his/her person the prescribed permit, temporary permit authorization number(s) or evidence of exemption. The temporary permit authorization number(s) and picture identification must be carried at all times while fishing until the actual permit(s) is received. (B) Any person possessing a valid sport fishing license issued by the state of Arkansas, or who is legally exempted from those license requirements, without further permit or license, may fish in the St. Francis River, within the boundary of Missouri adjacent to Arkansas. North of U.S. Hwy. 62, these persons may also fish in any oxbow lake through which the state boundary passes. South of U.S. Hwy. 62, these persons may also fish all waters between the main levees of the St. Francis River within the boundary of Missouri. (C) Any person possessing a valid sport fishing license issued by the state of Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, Kansas or Nebraska, or who is legally exempted from those license requirements, without further permit or license, may fish in the Des Moines, Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their backwaters within the boundary of Missouri adjacent to the state where that person is licensed. These persons may also fish in the Missouri portion of any oxbow lakes through which the state boundary passes. (D) Any person possessing a valid sport fishing license issued by the state of Kentucky, or who is legally exempted from those license requirements, without further permit or license, may fish in the Mississippi River within the boundary of Missouri adjacent to the state of Kentucky. For the purposes of these reciprocal fishing privileges, the river is defined as the main channel and immediate side or secondary channels or chutes. It does not include oxbow or floodplain lakes, or backwaters that extend onto the floodplain or up tributaries when the Mississippi River level exceeds thirty-three feet (33') at the Cairo, Illinois gaging station. (3) Limits and Possession. (A) Any species taken into actual possession, unless released unharmed immediately after being caught, shall continue to be included in the daily limit of the taker for the day when taken except as authorized in subsection (3)(E) of this rule. (B) A person may possess only the daily limit of any species while on the waters or banks thereof to which the limit applies. (C) Regardless of where taken, no fish less than the specified minimum length limit shall be possessed on the waters or banks thereof to which length limits apply. The head, tail and skin must remain attached to all fish for which length limits are established while those fish are on the waters to which length limits apply or until the fish have been checked by an agent of the department. (D) Fish held live for release by the sponsor after a bona fide fishing tournament need not be kept separate and identifiable following tournament judging if released unharmed to the waters from which taken on the day taken. (E) During the months of September through June, black bass released unharmed by participants in a bona fide catch-andrelease fishing tournament, which requires entrants to have a boat livewell with adequate capacity and a pump constantly adding fresh or recirculating water, shall not be included in the daily limit, however, at no time may the daily limit be exceeded. (F) A person may possess no more than two (2) statewide daily limits as prescribed in 3 CSR 10-6.505 through 3 CSR 106.620. (G) Fish possessed and transported after a bona fide fishing tournament by the holder of a fish utilization permit need not be kept separate and identifiable following tournament judging. (4) Reciprocal Privileges: Des Moines, Mississippi, Missouri, and St. Francis Rivers. (A) All reciprocal privileges outlined in this rule shall be contingent upon a grant of like privileges by the appropriate neighboring state to persons licensed or exempted by Missouri. (B) Missouri regulations shall apply in the Missouri portion of Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Kansas boundary waters. Persons licensed in Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, and Nebraska, when fishing in waters in which they are not licensed to fish by Missouri, shall comply with the most restrictive laws and regulations of the two (2) states. (C) Persons must be licensed in Missouri to fish in tributaries of the Des Moines, Mississippi, Missouri, and St. Francis rivers. (D) Persons licensed in Iowa may not fish from or attach any device or equipment to land under the jurisdiction of Missouri. (E) Persons licensed in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, or Nebraska may fish from or attach devices or equipment to land under the jurisdiction of Missouri. (5) Impoundments and Streams. (A) For purposes of these rules, the arms of major hydroelectric or flood control impoundments will extend to the lake contour that is commonly referred to as conservation pool, multipurpose pool or normal pool, or to specific locations identified by posting. Impoundment rules apply to all other bodies of water impounded by dams and to natural lakes not permanently connected to flowing streams. Stream fishing rules apply above in-stream structures that do not elevate water levels above the stream’s high bank and that do not regulate water flow. AUTHORITY: sections 40 and 45 of Art. IV, Mo. Const. Original rule filed June 13, 1994, effective Jan. 1, 1995. Amended: Filed May 30, 1995, effective Jan. 1, 1996. Amended: Filed June 11, 1997, effective March 1, 1998. Amended: Filed May 10, 1999, effective March 1, 2000. Amended: Filed Aug. 11, 1999, effective March 1, 2000. Amended: Filed Dec. 20, 1999, effective May 30, 2000. Amended: Filed April 24, 2000, effective March 1, 2001. Amended: Filed April 30, 2001, effective March 1, 2002. Amended: Filed Oct. 1, 2001, effective March 30, 2002. Amended: Filed May 9, 2002, effective Jan. 1, 2003. Amended: Filed March 24, 2003, effective Aug. 30, 2003. Amended: Filed Sept. 14, 2005, effective Feb. 28, 2006. Amended: Filed Oct. 2, 2006, effective Feb. 28, 2007. Amended: Filed Oct. 11, 2019, effective Feb. 29, 2020. Amended: Filed March 2, 2020, effective Aug. 30, 2020. Amended: Filed May 19, 2023, effective Feb. 29, 2024.