Bluegill Traps Missouri

Help me understand fellas. Looking to make a bluegill trap out of small chicken wire but before I do I am confused. The Missouri code says that bluegills are a nongame fish, however I cannot locate anything in the Wildlife code that says you can/can't trap these. I do see regulations on trapping baitfish and they only mention having an throat opening of no larger than 1-1/2" measured across the opening. I would like to build one of these but am worried about it first being legal to do such and second the opening being about 3" tall for gills. The way I read it is baittraps can only have 1-1/2" opening at throat but this is under the section in the wildlife code where it mentions minnows and crayfish. I don't know too many gills that small. The only way I see it is you can catch gills by line and pole or cast net. Anything bigger than 5" in net goes back. You can keep and use bigger on pole. I was in the basspro a few months back and they had minnow traps with 2" openings, would think that can't be used. It seems silly that non game fish have any regulations and how you catch em. Kids and I want to make one that has 1" by 3" slot for gills but so far the wildlife code adds confusion with the 1-1/2" restrictions on bait fish is there term. I guess anything at or under 1-1/2" is a bait fish and anything else is non game that is not a game fish. Non game fish I do not think are restricted in how you catch em , there are gigs, snares, bow, and spear fishing for them so why would there be a trap restriction? Don't know but don't want build if I can't use in a lake which is where it would go.

Bluegill can be trapped with traps meeting the 1 1/2" specification. Bluegill are only considered a bait fish when they are less than 5" in length. Bluegill 5" and larger may be used for bait, but they must be caught by pole and line and they fall under the "All other Fish" category for daily limits. Bluegill are considered a game fish in certain lakes. I manage a lake with an 8" length Limit and a 10 fish daily limit on bluegill. Make sure the body of water you are trapping is open to trapping bait fish. Smaller lakes are almost always "pole and line only".

Ok, so the 1-1/2 is the entire opening no matter which way you measure. So bluegill larger than 1-1/2" cannot be trapped by a physical trap. They either must be line and pole or cast net, with anything larger than 5" in the net to be placed back in the waters. This is on public waters that I am mentioning but is it the same on a pond in a backyard? Thank you.

I received a call from my local agent and the 1-1/2" is the max size no matter how you measure, so no I cannot trap gills larger than that size. Guess I get some waxworms and hook and use my old cane pole. Have not done that in years. Thanks for your time and response.