There are two types of trout fishermen: those that have to be there for the March 1 opener, standing shoulder to shoulder with fellow fishermen, fingers numb from the cold, line frozen in their rod guides; and those that won’t have anything to do with it.
I started trout fishing about the time I started driving a car and have only missed a handful of opening days or opening weekends over the years.
The Missouri Department of Conservation manages four trout parks throughout the state: Roaring River, west of Branson; Bennett Spring, near Lebanon; Montauk, south of Salem; and Maramec Spring, south of St. James.
Every evening during the season these four parks are stocked with rainbow trout. There is a formula for determining the number of trout stocked in the stream for the next day’s fishing. It is based on how many fishermen they believe will show up.
