|
|
|
ST. JAMES — It’s that time of year again, when thousands of fishermen from across the state—and country—flock to Maramec Spring Park outside of St. James with one thing on their mind: the first day of trout fishing season.
March 1 marks the official start of trout fishin’ fever in Missouri, and Wes Swee, hatchery manager at the spring, said he expects the turnout to be around 1,000 fishermen.
“We’re thinking 1,000, but the weather will play a part in that,” he said. “With good weather, people will probably come, take Friday off and make a weekend out of it.”
Swee said the main part of preparing for opening day at Maramec Spring, which is owned and operated by the James Foundation, was cleaning and making repairs around the park.
He said making sure park signs were in good shape was important, as well as cleaning the spring itself.
“We’ve taken a weed cutting boat out from the bridge (inside the park) to the river,” he said.
He said another part of the prep work is getting the trout counted and stocked.
“We’ll be hand-counting around 3,000 fish for opening day,” he said.
Swee said the Department of Conservation will also have something new to police this year at Maramec Spring.
“Porous-soled waders are banned in Missouri trout parks as of March 1,” he said. “Didymo, or rock snot, is an invasive species of algae that fishermen can carry with them on their waders.”
This invasive alga forms thick mats on the bottoms of cold-water streams and rivers, like Maramec Spring, reducing the amount of food available to trout.
Swee said he thinks most people will obey the new mandate, but it may take some reminding for out-of-state fishermen.
Regular, non-porous-soled waders, will not be affected by the mandate.
James Foundation Regional Manger Mark Benton said he is looking forward to Opening Day.
“Opening Day at Maramec Spring Park will basically be the same routine as in the past several years,” he said. “The (starting) whistle sounds at 6:30 a.m. The Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring their traditional hospitality shelter offering free coffee and donuts to the fishermen. Prizes will be awarded for several categories of fish caught.”
Benton said he also expects around 1,000 anglers Thursday.
“If the weather will cooperate, we are hoping to have around 1,000 fishermen for the day,” he said. “Weekday openers are generally hard to predict. With the opener being on a Thursday this year we could be very busy. Or, some fishermen may decide to wait until the weekend to come. If that happens we could have a busy weekend.”
Other state trout parks that will open March 1 for catch-and-keep fishing include Bennett Spring State Park near Lebanon, Montauk State Park near Licking and Roaring River State Park near Cassville.
These parks also expect thousands of anglers.
Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon plans to launch the 2012 season by firing the opening gun at Roaring River.
For more information about trout-park fishing, call 417-532-4418 for Bennett Spring, 573-265-7801 for Maramec, 573-548-2585 for Montauk or 417-847-2430 for Roaring River.
ST. JAMES — It’s that time of year again, when thousands of fishermen from across the state—and country—flock to Maramec Spring Park outside of St. James with one thing on their mind: the first day of trout fishing season.
March 1 marks the official start of trout fishin’ fever in Missouri, and Wes Swee, hatchery manager at the spring, said he expects the turnout to be around 1,000 fishermen.
“We’re thinking 1,000, but the weather will play a part in that,” he said. “With good weather, people will probably come, take Friday off and make a weekend out of it.”
Swee said the main part of preparing for opening day at Maramec Spring, which is owned and operated by the James Foundation, was cleaning and making repairs around the park.
He said making sure park signs were in good shape was important, as well as cleaning the spring itself.
“We’ve taken a weed cutting boat out from the bridge (inside the park) to the river,” he said.
He said another part of the prep work is getting the trout counted and stocked.
“We’ll be hand-counting around 3,000 fish for opening day,” he said.
Swee said the Department of Conservation will also have something new to police this year at Maramec Spring.
“Porous-soled waders are banned in Missouri trout parks as of March 1,” he said. “Didymo, or rock snot, is an invasive species of algae that fishermen can carry with them on their waders.”
This invasive alga forms thick mats on the bottoms of cold-water streams and rivers, like Maramec Spring, reducing the amount of food available to trout.
Swee said he thinks most people will obey the new mandate, but it may take some reminding for out-of-state fishermen.
Regular, non-porous-soled waders, will not be affected by the mandate.
James Foundation Regional Manger Mark Benton said he is looking forward to Opening Day.
“Opening Day at Maramec Spring Park will basically be the same routine as in the past several years,” he said. “The (starting) whistle sounds at 6:30 a.m. The Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring their traditional hospitality shelter offering free coffee and donuts to the fishermen. Prizes will be awarded for several categories of fish caught.”
Benton said he also expects around 1,000 anglers Thursday.
“If the weather will cooperate, we are hoping to have around 1,000 fishermen for the day,” he said. “Weekday openers are generally hard to predict. With the opener being on a Thursday this year we could be very busy. Or, some fishermen may decide to wait until the weekend to come. If that happens we could have a busy weekend.”
Other state trout parks that will open March 1 for catch-and-keep fishing include Bennett Spring State Park near Lebanon, Montauk State Park near Licking and Roaring River State Park near Cassville.
These parks also expect thousands of anglers.
Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon plans to launch the 2012 season by firing the opening gun at Roaring River.
For more information about trout-park fishing, call 417-532-4418 for Bennett Spring, 573-265-7801 for Maramec, 573-548-2585 for Montauk or 417-847-2430 for Roaring River.
