Rolla Area Trout
Fishing Opportunties This page was updated 4/20/08
“In the Middle of Everything” is Rolla’s town slogan, and it’s not too far
off. As far as trout fishing is concerned, however, Rolla is actually at the
Northern edge of Missouri trout territory. Even so, there are eight quality trout
waters within about an hour’s drive, making Rolla a great place for a trout fisherman
to live or visit.
Starting on the West side of town, you’ll find the Roubidoux
Creek about a half hour away in Waynesville. The Roubidoux has both a
White Ribbon Trout Area in the part of the river in town
and a Red Ribbon Trout Area further downstream. Other than
the four trout parks, The Roubidoux White Ribbon Area is the most heavily stocked mile of
trout water in the state. That is mainly due to the fact that it is right in the middle
of town – the stocking truck can’t sneak in and out unnoticed. The Red Ribbbon area, on
the other hand, is more lightly stocked. In recent years, it's received two batches of brown trout
annually, once in the spring and once in the fall. Increasing the stocking rates and putting
a statewide 15" length limit on brown trout in place and greatly improved the Roubidoux's
Red Ribbon area, which had fallen toward the bottom of the rankings. It is once again
routinely giving up 20" fish and is regaining the respect it once had. Now's the time to try it out,
as it still receives very little fishing pressure.
On Fort Leonard Wood, just a couple of miles from Waynesville, you’ll find Stone Mill Spring Branch. It’s a pretty little thing that
takes a straight run into the Big Piney River. It’s put-and-take fishing for most of the
year with a winter-time catch & release season thrown in.
There are five lovely wild trout streams surrounding Rolla, all of which are classified
Blue Ribbon Waters in order to protect the naturally reproducing
trout populations. South and West of Rolla, you’ll find Spring Creek
, Mill Creek and Little Piney Creek.
Southeast of Rolla, you’ll find Barren Fork Creek. And about an hour
East of Rolla, just South of Bourbon, you’ll find Blue Spring Creek.
These creeks are all rugged, the fish are scrappy and shy, and you’ll likely suffer leg cramps the
next day from all the walking you did trying to track down the fish. But, if you know what you’re
doing, you can almost guarantee yourself some quality catches almost any day of the year. And, if
you’re a novice, you can certainly get lucky and catch a few. Besides, the only way to get
better at this is to challenge yourself, right? If you have a decent frustration tolerance and
enjoy a challenge, you’ll have a blast. Otherwise, steer clear! Although the regulations state both
flies and lures are allowed, these are truly fly-fishing creeks.
If crashing through underbrush and untangling your line from trees is not to your liking, then you
should look down toward the Current River, another of our
Blue Ribbon waters. In about an hour you can be at Montauk State Park,
which becomes the Current River once it leaves the park boundaries. It’s bigger water with better casting
room, bigger riffles, deeper pools, and bigger fish.
Last, but certainly not least is the Meramec River, a wonderful
Red Ribbon trout river, and Maramec Spring Park. These two destinations continue
to challenge the spelling skills even the brightest of fishermen. About 20 minutes away from Rolla, the park
offers fishing similar to that of the other three trout parks, however the spring branch is artificially channelized,
which puts some people off. The river downstream offers fantastic trout habitat, terrific rainbow fishing, and a
very solid trophy brown trout population. It's a different type of river, though, and the fishing can be tough.
Water conditions change rapidly, and both rainbows and browns migrate aggressively according to the seasons.
If it's in your budget, you might consider booking a guided trip with your's truly
for your first time out :-)
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