Guide Services

This listing is provided as a resource. No claims are made as to the skills, ability or services provided.

TIGHTLINE Guide Service
Sam Potter works out of Rolla, MO and provides guide services on the Big Piney, Current River and other streams in the area.
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River Run Outfitters
Carol and Stan Parker own and operate a full servide fly shop on Lake Taneycomo. They have a team of guides that work out of the shop and provide service on Lake Taneycomo.
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Chartered Waters
Brett Rader works out of his shop in Hollister, MO on Lake Taneycomo. Brett knows the lake and provides guide services on the lake.
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River of Life Farms
Brian Wise works out of the Farm and guides on the North Fork of the White River in Missouri
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11 Point Canoe Rental
Brian Shloss, owner, guides on the Eleven Point River for trout and small mouthbass.
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Stream Side Adventures
Norm Crisp provides guide services in Missouri as well as in Wyoming and abroad.
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Long Boat Outfitters.com
Kyle Kosovich provides guide services in the scenic Ozarks fishing for trout, bass and panfish.
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Royal 7 Guide Co.
Matt Hardy provides guide services for trout in the scenic Ozarks
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History of Trout in Missouri

Trout fishing has been part of Missouri's outdoor heritage for most of the state's history. However, trout are not native here, and when the Missouri territory was granted statehood in 1821, no trout were swimming within its boundaries. At that time, the nearest salmonids were brook trout in what is now northeast Iowa, though limited fossil evidence suggests that salmonid fishes may have existed much further south, perhaps in Missouri, during the last glacial advance.

Early settlers from the eastern United States might have been surprised that there were no trout in the cold, clear waters of the Ozarks. Perhaps as a result, trout introduction was one of the first acts of fisheries management in Missouri, beginning not long after the Civil War. In 1878, the Missouri Fish Commission purchased "California salmon" eggs from the United States Fish Commission (Turner 1979). Salmon fry were stocked in tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in an attempt to create a spawning migration from the Gulf of Mexico to Missouri. Brook trout were stocked in streams adjacent to the Frisco railroad line between St. Louis and southwest Missouri in 1879. Rainbow trout eggs were first purchased from the U.S. Fish Commission's McCloud River Station in California in 1880. By 1887, rainbow trout were naturally reproducing in Missouri (Maynard 1887).

Missouri's first coldwater hatchery was constructed on Brown's Spring near St. Joseph, Missouri in 1879, but it was closed in 1916 due to water supply problems. During the period 1889 to 1922, brown trout (1890), lake trout (1890), several species of Pacific salmon (1896), grayling (1896) and Atlantic salmon (1902) were reared at the Neosho National Fish Hatchery.

Missouri's first successful state-owned trout hatchery was built in 1921 at Sequiota Spring near Springfield. Rainbow trout and other stream fishes were reared and stocked from this facility until Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery opened in 1958. The State of Missouri began purchase of Bennett Spring in 1924 and the Missouri Game and Fish Commission began operating the hatchery in 1927. Montauk was acquired in 1928 and the hatchery began operation in 1932. Roaring River and its existing hatchery were donated to the state of Missoui in 1928. The cooperative agreement to manage Maramec Spring as a trout fishing area was initiated in 1958.

With the establishment of the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1937, the modern era of trout management began. Stocking was concentrated in cold water streams in three trout parks and five trout-management areas which were open to public fishing. From these beginnings, the program gradually expanded. Hatchery production increased, allowing more areas to be stocked and a greater diversity of trout fishing opportunities became available to Missouri anglers. Recent examples of this diversity include the establishment of wild trout management areas in 1982 and the first urban winter trout management areas in 1990.

When the wind is in the east,
'Tis neither good for man or beast;
When the wind is in the north,
The skillful fisher goes not forth;
When the wind is in the south,
It blows the fly in the fish's mouth;
When the wind is in the west,
Then 'tis at the very best.
-NURSERY RHYME

Trout Fishing Clubs/
Organizations in Missouri

1. Independence, Arrowhead Fly Fishers
2. Bolivar, Tri-Lakes Fly Fishers
3. Joplin, Mako Fly Fishers
4. Jefferson City, Missouri Deaf Fly Fishers
5. Jefferson City, Capital City Fly Fishers
6. Kansas City, Heart of America Fly Fishers
7. Kansas City, Missouri Trout Fishermen's Association
8. Kansas City, KC Northland Fly Fishers
9. Springfield, Missouri Trout Fishermens Association
10. Springfield, Southwest Missouri Fly Fishers
11. St. Louis, Missouri Trout Fisherman's Association
12. St. Louis, Ozark Fly Fishers, Inc
13. St. Louis, Gateway Chapter TU
14. St. Louis, The Flyfishers at The Crossing
15. Waynesville, Roubidoux Fly Fishers
16. Waynesville, Waynesville High School Fly Fishing Club

Missouri Trout Map

Contact your local Department of Conservation Office or Nature Center

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