 On
April Fool’s Day, I left home headed for the third
of four B.A.S.S. Central Invitational bass tournaments
at Table Rock Lake, just outside of Branson, Missouri.
With a nine-hour drive ahead of me, I had plenty of time
for thinking, reflecting and developing my game plan for
the bass tournament. A few miles north of Dallas, as the
sun was peaking over the horizon, it dawned on me that
I would have an extra day to kill following my tournament
before meeting with a potential sponsor in Tulsa on Monday.
I picked up the car phone and called my father in Fort
Smith, Arkansas. I told him about my extra time and we
agreed to meet on Saturday evening at one of my favorite
places in the world, Roaring River State Park in southwest
Missouri for a bit of rainbow trout fishing.
We met around 7:00 p.m., and to no one’s surprise,
I found my folks on the bank of the river, fishing.
As the sun slipped behind the horizon, we headed into
town for a steak dinner, on dad of course, and went
back to our cabin where I collapsed in my bed. I had
been fishing hard for the past six days was give completely
out.
The alarm rang at 6:00 a.m. and I pounced out of bed.
It had been almost two years since I trout fished and
I was ready to go. We spent the whole morning fishing
and walking the river together. It was a great time,
and the fishing was pretty good, too.
 Roaring
River is a spring branch that has been a source of entertainment
and fishing for more than 100 years. In 1910 a resort
and trout hatchery was built. In 1928 the owners went
into bankruptcy, and the resort was sold to Thomas Sayman,
who donated it to the State of Missouri.
During the mid to late 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation
Corps used native stone to build the dam to the hatchery,
the hatchery pools, buildings, and the old hotel, giving
the park a real natural appearance. All of the structures
are still in place today.
The park has 139 electric hook up camp sites, primitive
campsites, and 26 rustic cabins. It also has a new motel
right next to the river.
The parks department stocks over 270,000 rainbow trout
and thousands of brown trout in the river throughout
the fishing season, which begins March 1 and ends on
October 31. The daily limit is five trout. There is
also a catch and release season during the winter for
those folks willing to brave the cold to go trout fishing.
The trout are released from the hatchery into the river
each night with 2.5 trout being released for each daily
tag sold on that date the year before. Daily trout tags
cost $3 for adults and $2 for children along with a
Missouri fishing license. Well worth the price of admission.
My daughters, Tatum and Megan, are the fifth generation
of my family to fish at Roaring River state park. In
my family’s archive of photographs, there is a
picture of my great-grandmother, "Little granny",
fishing on the bank of the river. Talk about family
history. Maybe that’s where I get it.
Roaring River is a great place to take the entire family,
even if they don’t enjoy fishing. There are several
miles of hiking trails, caverns, unique rock formations,
wildlife and your smack dab in the middle of the Ozark
Mountains. As a good friend of mine would say, "
if that ain’t living, you can throw me out".
My family and I enjoy staying in the cabins best of
all. Over the years, we have hauled campers, stayed
in the motel and stayed in nearby Cassville, Missouri,
but our favorite is the cabins. They are equipped with
a stove, refrigerator, cooking utensils and most importantly
during the summer months, an air conditioner. There’s
nothing like fishing in the early morning, going to
the restaurant for fresh blueberry pancakes then heading
up to the ole’ cabin for a short nap. Heavenly!
If you choose to make the trip to Roaring River, you’ll
need to carry ultra light fishing gear with 2#-4# test
P-line. As for the tackle, I recommend you wait until
you get to the park and visit the park store or take
the short drive up to Tim’s Fly Shop. Both places
can help you with exactly what you need and show you
how to use it, if necessary. If you happen to be a fly
fishing enthusiast, which I am not, you can fly fish
the river or go down to the special fly fishing only
zone.
Lastly, you’ll need to take along some grease
and your fish cooker, if you have one. There’s
nothing better than fresh trout, cooked right outside
your cabin or camper. Oh yea, don’t forget the
marshmallows. When you are cooking your fish, you’ll
attract a few of the resident raccoons, and they love
marshmallows. Just ask Tatum and Megan.
I can’t remember how old I was when I made my
first trip to Roaring River, but I do remember the trip.
For several years in a row, I never missed a year of
trout fishing. At 37, it still brings out the kid in
me. If you’re looking for a change of scenery
without loosing your ability to indulge yourself in
your favorite past-time, head up to Roaring River state
park just outside of Cassville, Missouri. Maybe the
girls and I will see you on the river.
Until next time, enjoy the Texas or Missouri outdoors.
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