If memory serves — and on this admittedly rare occasion I think it does — this will be the first time in nearly 34 years I’ve run essentially the same material two years in succession. In my defense — if I need one — I’ve never received as many requests to do so.
I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe any other state has a put-and-take trout fishery that’s anything like Missouri’s four trout parks. They’re alike in that each owes its existence to a natural spring large enough to allow trout to thrive not just within the park’s boundaries but also for miles downstream from the spring branch’s mouth. Conversely, each provides unique angling challenges and off the water.
Some days, catching trout is almost too easy during the first 15 minutes after the whistle blows. That said, there are days and times when the trout are so finicky they leave even the most experienced anglers scratching their heads. In other words, trout park fishing is just like fishing everywhere else.
Regulations at all four parks are the same. All anglers must have and display a daily permit available on site. Anglers who would need a fishing permit elsewhere will need one to fish in the parks. Anglers do not need a trout permit inside the parks. However, all four empty into excellent trout streams where a permit is required to keep trout. The statewide four-trout daily limit applies, and trout caught within the parks are not additional to trout caught elsewhere.
Now without further ado, here’s a thumbnail sketch of what to expect at each park.
Roaring River State Park. Located south of Cassville on Missouri highway 112, Roaring River’s amenities include a motel, cabins, a campground, a restaurant and a store. Reservations for the motel are required and are suggested for the cabins and campground.
Trout fishing begins just downstream from a large spring that forms the headwaters of the Roaring River. There is a zone in which only flies and artificial lures are legal, a zone in which only flies may be used and a zone in which anything goes within the 1.7 miles of stream where daily permits are required. There is an additional 1.8 miles of river within the park boundaries in which statewide angling rules apply but access is limited to trout park hours and dates. Outside of the park, the river runs approximately 4.5 miles before reaching Table Rock Lake. This stretch is open year round, and White Ribbon trout stream rules apply.
Montauk State Park. Located southeast of Licking on Missouri highway 119, Montauk’s amenities also include a motel, cabins, a campground, a restaurant and a store. Reservations aren’t required but are highly recommended.
There are approximately three miles of trout water within the park’s boundaries, and a daily permit is required on all of it. There is a flies-only zone and an artificial lures or live bait zone. Beyond the park’s boundaries, the Current River is a Blue Ribbon stream downstream to Cedar Grove.
Bennett Spring State Park. Located west of Lebanon on Missouri highway 64, Bennett Spring has all the amenities found in the other two state parks plus a swimming pool and a canoe rental. Lodging reservations are a virtual necessity on weekends during the summer months.
Approximately one and a half miles of trout-filled water flow between the spring and the Niangua River. Fishing methods on the spring branch are restricted to one zone for flies only, one zone for flies and artificial lures and one zone for bait only. The Niangua River is a White Ribbon trout stream.
Maramec Spring. Located southeast of St. James on Missouri highway 8, Maramec
Spring has the distinction of being privately owned by a foundation created by a direct descendent of the property’s original owner. Standard amenities are limited to a campground, a small store and a café, but there’s also a museum and other attractions relative to early to mid 19th century iron mining in the area.
At only .6 mile, the Maramec spring branch is by far the smallest of the four. Anglers may use flies, lures or bait anywhere along it. The spring empties into the Meramec River–the spelling difference is the result of conflicting information supplied to the area’s earliest map makers — which is a Red Ribbon trout fishery downstream to Scott’s Ford.
I’ve fished all four of the trout parks. Each of them presents its own set of challenges and rewards, and I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite. But that’s just one more good reason to visit them all.
