LOOKING FOR A RAINBOW

Although trout are not indigenous to Missouri lakes and streams, with the help of the Missouri Department of Conservation they remain a popular game fish for Missouri anglers.

Trout were first brought to Missouri from California in the late 1880s, but failed to adapt to the local environment in great numbers.

Tom Perry of the MDC's trout hatchery at Montauk State Park in Salem said there is some natural spawning of trout in the state, but very little. "Missouri is not really an ideal setting for trout to reproduce," Perry said.

However, at Montauk and the four other MDC hatcheries in Missouri, over 2 million fish are produced each year, keeping the population up for anglers.

On March 1, the opening day of trout season in the state, 2,522 fisherman showed up at Montauk, one of four trout parks stocked by the conservation department. In 1995, 407,403 people visited Montauk, and so far this season attendance is running about 14,000 ahead of what it was at this point last year.

Two types of trout -- rainbow and brown -- are raised in the hatcheries. Brown trout are primarily stocked in Lake Taneycomo with rainbow trout predominant in other areas.

Perry said between 225,000 and 250,000 rainbow trout are claimed yearly just at Montauk.

So far this season conditions have made for good fishing.

"The waters have been pretty low at our parks," Perry said. "Recent rains have brought our springs up some, but there is no flooding so conditions have been ideal, except for cold weather.

"With the water low and clear, it is usually a lot easier to catch fish than when streams are high and cloudy."

In addition to the four trout parks -- Montauk, Bennett Spring near Lebanon, Maramec Spring near St. James and Roaring River near Cassville -- there are nine trout management areas in the state, all of which are in the Ozarks. These eight streams and Lake Taneycomo are not as heavily stocked as the trout parks but are also not as packed with fishermen.

Mike Pind, manager of the fly fishing department at Chrisman's Outfitters in Cape Girardeau, said that despite the long drives required to get trout areas, there is a large contingent of trout fishermen in this area.

"You get a ton of guys going from this area," Pind said. "The trout parks are about three hours away so you can't just run out after work, but the guys who come in here really enjoy it.

"I love to fish for trout -- they're really, really pretty fish -- but you do have to travel out pretty far to do it."

Primary trout season in Missouri runs through Oct. 31. However, there is also a winter catch-and-release season that lasts from the second Friday in November until the second Sunday in February. Over 1,700 daily catch-and-release tags were sold at Montauk during the recently concluded season, a record year for the park.

Even during the regular season, anglers are encouraged to release fish to catch another day. Even though the hatcheries are producing millions of trout annually, fishermen quickly snatch those up.

"As our production reaches capacity, we encourage more catch-and-release," Perry said. "We can only produce so much at the fish hatcheries, and as attendance at the parks grows we have to encourage that practice."

Although fly fishing is often associated strictly with trout, Pind said that style can be used even when you're not after trout.

"People automatically associate fly fishing with trout, but that's not necessarily true," Pind said. "Every time I fish, I fish with a fly rod."

While some view fly casting as a difficult skill to develop, Pind said learning isn't really that intimidating.

"Learning to cast a fly rod scares people at first," Pind said, "but they can learn to cast a fly rod as quickly as they can a bait-casting rod. It's just a little different style and technique of fishing.

"With a bait-casting rod, the bait is used to propel the line out. That weight carries the line out. On a fly-casting line, the rhythm and momentum of the line itself carries it out."

Most of the streams and lakes around the area are suitable for fly fishing, Pind said. Among them is the Whitewater River, which will be site of a fly fishing tournament April 20. For information on how to enter, contact Chrisman's at 335-3311.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Fishing supplies

Fishing Rod, $25 & up

Chest Waders, $50 & up

2 pound line, $2.50 & up

Trout Net, $7 & up

License, $9

Daily Tag, $2

Assorted Lures, $0.60 & up

Stringer, $1 & up

Sunglasses, $7.50 & up

Lodging & Camping

Motel, $43 & up

Cabins, $50 & up

Campsite, $6

Campsitew\hookups, $12