ABSTRACT: Salmonid fishes are not native to Missouri or any portion of the Ozarks, likely due to the region’s southerly latitude, low elevation and resulting scarcity of cold streams. The first salmonids were introduced in Missouri in 1878 when Pacific salmon were released. In the decades that followed, a number of species of trout, salmon and grayling were indiscriminately stocked throughout the state. Most releases were into waters unsuitable for tout and only a few populations of rainbow trout were established in springs or spring-influenced areas that maintained cold water temperatures throughout the summer. By 1937, when the Missouri Department of Conservation was established, trout hatcheries had been built near a number of large springs. Trout stocking was restricted to springs or stream sections adjacent to spring inflows that were suitable for trout survival. Hatchery production, and resultant stocking, gradually increased and created a demand for trout fishing and trout harvest. In the 1970s, the first restrictive harvest regulations were established. Initially, these restrictions applied to populations containing mostly hatchery trout, but later, to populations of naturally-reproducing trout. In 2003, the Missouri Conservation Commission approved a comprehensive trout management plan that resulted in hatchery expansions, habitat assessments, a statewide trout angler survey and a review of management approaches. Today, about 300 miles of Missouri streams are considered suitable for “coldwater sport fishery” and about half are actively managed for trout fishing by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The fisheries vary from intensively stocked “put and take” areas, to streams managed exclusively for naturally-reproducing rainbow trout. An important trout fishery is also found in Lake Taneycomo, a “tailwater” below Table Rock Lake. Seasonal trout fisheries, mostly in small municipal impoundments, have increased in number in recent decades.
