If you've been around the show for a while, you know one of our favorite topics is the Neosho bass.

About two summers ago, we did a whole series on how this fish went from being classified as a subspecies of the smallmouth to being elevated to its own species in 2022. How it's only found in the Ozarks. And how we might be at risk of losing it. If you missed that series, I'd go back and dig into it. It's some of the best stuff we've done.

Well, we're back with an update. And it's a big one.

We just sat down with Chris Middaugh, a research biostatistician at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and Tyler Chafin, a statistical geneticist at the University of Arkansas Conservation and Molecular Ecology Lab. These two have been working on the most detailed genetic study of smallmouth-type bass in Arkansas ever conducted. 133 sites. Around 1,500 fish sampled. Every major river drainage in the state.

This research hasn't even been published yet. So what you're hearing on this episode is the first time these findings have been shared publicly.

In this week's edition:

Let's get into it.
— Kyle

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When we wrapped up our Neosho series a couple years ago, it kind of felt like gloom and doom.

We had just learned about this fish that's only found here. The granddaddy of all smallmouth. A species that's been in these rivers for somewhere between 500,000 and a million years. Only to be told moments later that we were probably going to lose it.

So going into this conversation, I was bracing for more bad news.

That's not what we got.

The Neosho isn't disappearing. It's holding. In places like the Mulberry River, Little Mulberry, and Lee Creek, pure Neosho populations are still there. After everything, they're still there.

But Chris and Tyler's study didn't just confirm what we already knew about the Neosho. Across the state of Arkansas, they found four genetically distinct lineages—two already classified as their own species, and two more that could be headed that way:

The Neosho is the one that matters most to us. It's the only one found in the Ozarks, and it's the one this episode is really about. But knowing these other lineages exist across the state emphasizes why the genetics are so much more complex than anyone thought.

Hybridization is happening, BUT native genetics are winning long term.

Decades of stocking moved fish from one drainage to another before anyone knew these were different species. So you'd expect the native genetics to be getting washed out over time, right? That's what I assumed going in.

But that's not what the data shows.

The native fish are basically rejecting the outside genetics. Those stocked fish, or their hybrid offspring, just aren't surviving long-term. The native populations are so well-adapted to their home water that the outside genetics don't take hold.

Tyler put it a way that stuck with me:

"I think that says something about how uniquely adapted they are to their places. Because if you take individuals from one and dump them into the other, you don't really see that they're contributing to the population in the long term."

These fish have been fighting it off genetically for decades. And in most places, they're winning.

Now, that's not true everywhere. The Illinois River is getting squeezed from both sides, with out-of-state stockings coming up from the reservoir and White River smallmouth genetics pushing down from upstream. Northwest Arkansas has some of the highest hybridization numbers in the study. So there are real trouble spots.

But the overall picture is way more hopeful than what we left off with two years ago.

Read on for a few things you can take to the streams...

A few things I'm actually taking away from this conversation.

1. Keep an eye out for the AGFC's new interactive map.

Most of us aren’t going to read through a 150-page research document, but there’s some good news.

Chris said Game and Fish is working on a public-facing website with interactive maps that’ll show exactly what's in each stream, including the streams dominant fish species, how much hybridization exists, and more. It’ll be like the OnX for Neosho bass nerds.

We'll share the link as soon as it's available. In the meantime, the AGFC website is where I'd keep checking.

2. Try the “four-lineage challenge.”

Chris mentioned that after seeing the results of this study, he went out and tried to catch one of each of the four lineages in a single year. And he did it. All in Arkansas.

Here's the rough map if you want to try it yourself:

3. Advocate for Neosho recognition in Arkansas and Missouri.

Right now, most anglers have never heard of the Neosho bass. There's no signage at access points. No separate regulations. Nothing that tells you "hey, what you're catching here is different from what's in the White River." That needs to change.

The Neosho's range spans both Arkansas and Missouri, and both state agencies have a role to play in protecting it.

If you care about this fish, let them know. Email AGFC. Email MDC. Tell them you want to see signage at Neosho streams. Tell them this species matters to you as an angler and as someone who cares about what's supposed to be here.

If you want your grandkids to catch pure Neosho bass in the Mulberry twenty years from now, the people making decisions need to hear from you.

We'll be back next week with more on the Neosho bass from our friends Jeremy Risley and Eric Naas at Arkansas Game and Fish. If this week was about what's out there, next week is about what we do about it.

Till then, get outside.

— Kyle Veit