One of the great things about writing this weekly column is the opportunity to live in the future just a little bit. In the middle of February, I realized that this week’s newspaper was the last opportunity to write about spring trout fishing before the season opens.
The ground was still frozen outside, and the folks who are counting the days until March 1 are thinking about wading into flowing spring water. That attitude is not new. Trout fishing has been luring Missourians for more than 140 years, even though the fish are not native to the state.
Missouri does have some good habitat with spring-fed streams that offer sections of water that never exceed 70 degrees. Those stretches are limited. Of the 37,400 miles of permanent streams in the state, only about 377 miles could maintain the freshwater salmonids. The state manages about 150 miles of those creeks and rivers for trout fishing.
The history of trout in Missouri streams dates back to the late 1878 when the state bought “California salmon” eggs, according to the “Life history of wild rainbow trout in Missouri” by Spencer Turner, a biologist who studied and championed the species for the Department of Conservation for more than 30 years. The fish were stocked in tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in an attempt to create a spawning migration.
The expansion of railroad lines across the country led to the stocking of brook trout at stream crossings along the Frisco Railroad between St. Louis and southwest Missouri as early as 1879.
By 1887, rainbow trout were naturally reproducing in Missouri. And beginning in 1889, the National Fish Hatchery in Neosho began raising several different species of cold-water fish.
Missouri’s first successful state-owned trout hatchery was built in 1921 at Sequiota Spring near Springfield. Rainbow trout and other stream fish were raised at and stocked from this facility until the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery near Branson opened in 1958.
Missouri bought the property around Bennett Spring in 1924 and began operating a hatchery there in 1927. Montauk was acquired in 1928 and hatchery operations began in 1932. Roaring River and its existing hatchery were donated to the state in 1928. Missouri entered an agreement with the James Foundation to manage Maramec Spring as a trout fishing area in 1958.
The state trout management program continues to expand, with increased hatchery production and more fishing opportunities. Wild trout management areas were established beginning in 1982 on segments of streams where the fish are naturally reproducing. The winter trout management program has been bringing fish to the fishermen in the St. Louis area since 1990, expanding to more cities in recent years.
Catch-and-keep fishing opens on March 1 at Bennett Spring, Montauk, Roaring River and Maramec Spring trout parks in Missouri. About 7,000 anglers are expected to take part in the Thursday opener. In anticipation, the state hatcheries will stock 21,000 trout into the parks’ streams. Most of those fish will be about 12 inches long, but some lunkers, ranging from three to 10 pounds, will also be released to test the fishers’ luck.
Anglers are required to purchase a daily trout tag in the parks and those ages 16 through 64 must have a state fishing license in addition to the daily tag.
Fishing permits in Missouri expire on the last day of February, so anglers between 16 and 64 years old must buy new licenses for 2018. In addition to all the traditional locations for permit purchases, the state also sells the hunting and fishing licenses through its website mdc.mo.gov and apps for Smartphones and tablets.
John J. Winkelman is community relations manager at Mercy Hospital Jefferson. If you have news for the Leader’s Outdoor News page, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com and you can follow John on Twitter at @johnjwink99.