When the tornado siren sounds at Montauk State Park at 6:30 a.m. each morning, the cause is not one for panic but rather for pleasure.
At the siren’s signal, trout anglers can legally start casting and catching the abundant rainbow trout stocked in the Current River, whose headwaters emanate from cool, clear springs in the nearly 3,000-acre park.
Located southwest of St. Louis in Dent County, Montauk is one of several trout parks in Missouri. Others include Maramec Spring Park, Roaring River State Park and Bennett Spring State Park. Cold, clear spring water is a common denominator for the sites, since those conditions favor trout survival.
Montauk is a scenic getwaway where Internet service is spotty and trout-fishing history goes back generations. The latter is ironic, because trout are not native to Missouri but rather were introduced in 1880. The original rainbows came from California’s McCloud River, where the government had an egg-collecting station to supply fish hatcheries.
Missouri’s trout experiment continued over the next few decades until the 1920s, when the state started acquiring trout parks. That included Montauk in 1926, making this year the site’s 100th anniversary.
Montauk remains a popular destination, as I learned last weekend during a brief visit. License plates from all over the Midwest filled the parking lots and anglers lined the shores of the best fishing holes.
Some anglers were staying in Montauk’s 18-room motel, six cabins or 24 duplexes, and many more set up camp in the park’s 146 campsites. Many anglers were up before the siren, and those who weren’t could be seen hustling to the water shortly thereafter. Many also had their required daily trout tags ($5 for adults, $3 under age 15) pinned to their hats.
A surprising number also used fly rods, some in areas that are limited to artificial lures only. Not that everyone heeds the advice. Among the group I visited with was a fellow whose grandfather earned the nickname “Cornhole” years ago because he baited a fly with corn in a zone where live bait was banned. For that heinous act, Cornhole was hauled off to jail in nearby Salem and had his rod confiscated.
Sirens and prison. Man, they take their trout fishing seriously in Missouri. Almost religiously, actually, as Montauk Baptist Church even offers a free breakfast for anglers when the season opens March 1.
And while we can easily argue the merits of stocking non-native trout in a state already blessed with wonderful stream fishing, there’s no denying that – as in many things outdoors – the Missouri Department of Conservation does a better job than most.
Trout are plentiful and the park is clean and functional, unlike too many aging facilities I’ve seen in Illinois. The lodge is modern enough and the park store and concession stand is well-staffed and quirky enough to invite several visits.
All of it makes the area a worthwhile destination where you can spend a few days fishing, float the scenic Current River and all the while enjoy the beauty of the Ozarks.
The scene reminded me, on a much less grandiose scale, of the mobs of anglers lining prime trout streams in Wyoming and Montana. The Missouri crowds are not as fancily dressed, but they also won’t frown if you keep a trout or two for dinner. There’s even a fish-cleaning station close to the stream. That’s helpful, since the only thing better than catching a trout is eating one.Contact Jeff Lampe at (309) 231-6040 or jeff@wklypost.com.
