Opening Day could be a record breaker

RRSP staff takes pride in park improvements Democrat Photo Over the last four months, the Roaring River State Park staff has worked to prepare the park and its facilities for Opening Day of trout season, which is Sunday, March 1. The crew, which represents the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Department of Conservation and Jim Rogers Concessions, gathered for a group photo in front of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Lodge on Feb. 19. This year, crews replaced the handrails and painted the front porch of the CCC Lodge. The RRSP crew includes: Superintendent Dusty Reid, Corporal Jimmy Hopkins, Sharon Hopkins, Diana Conner, Gordon Roller, Dennis Melancon, Ted Poe, Mary Melancon, Leon Mahurin, Randall Norman, Assistant Naturalist Cheyne Matzenbacher, Naturalist Tim Smith, Gary Swearingen, Jon Elkins, Jack Barber, Glen Galbraith, Larry Quinalty, Bobby Corn, Hatchery Manager Jerry Dean, Hatchery Assistant Manager Kevin Asbury, Marvin Farwell, Phillip Cooper, Brian Ulrich, Rick Cooper, Aaron Wahlert, Josh Roller, Chris Landstad, Ginger Armstrong, Brandon Banks, Lindsey Banks, Alana Barker, Alissa Barker, JR Barnes, Tony Bland, Bobby Burnette, Loyd Davis, Lori Dill, Teri Dudley, Jerry Enloe, Jack Gannaway, Amber Ganoung, Pam Garcia, Mike Kondorf, Larry Krause, Sue Krause, John Malicoat, Stephanie Marcano, Alisha McIntyre, Linda Patterson, Claudia Peters, Sean Peters, Shayne Peters, Jennifer Phipps, Chris Reagan, Breck Reed, Matt Richie, Alisha Scott, Bill Shaw, Judy Shaw, April Slye, Karen Smith, Mark Smith, Daniel Swan, Mel Taylor, Tina Waugh, Eric Willis, Jos

In 1981, Opening Day fell on a Sunday and the park set a new record for trout tags with 3,504 sold. Since that record-setting year, other Sunday openers have come close to beating the record. On Opening Day in 1998, there were 3,059 tags sold, and in 1992, the opener attracted 3,358 anglers.

Roaring River Hatchery Manager Jerry Dean said his crews are planning for around 3,300 anglers this Sunday. The hatchery staff is stocking the river this week to maximize the chance of landing a trout on March 1.

"Our goal is to have three fish per expected angler stocked for Opening Day, so we will add an additional 7,200 fish to the stream," said Dean.

Of that total, at least 50 will be lunkers that weigh about three pounds and are 18 inches or longer. This stocking plan means there should be around 280 fish per hole in the tag area, which runs from the hatchery to the bridge located next to the ballfield downstream from the old dam.

In addition, there were 2,000 rainbow trout and 776 brown trout stocked for the winter catch and release season and those fish remain in the stream.

The opening gun will be fired at 6:30 a.m. sharp on March 1 by Junior and Clarice Stephens, of Olathe, Kan. The couple, who have been fishing and mentoring young anglers at Roaring River since 1974, will also have the honor of receiving the first and second trout tag of the 2009 season.

The Stephenses are frequent visitors to Roaring River and faithful volunteers of the park's Kids' Fishing Days. A feature story detailing the Stephens' commitment to the program and their love of Roaring River is published in this week's Trout Times.

"Both Junior and Clarice are very warm and giving people who have spent many hours helping kids and others fish in the park," said Dean.

The first and second youth tags of the season will be awarded to the winners of the annual art contest, which is open to all Cassville Middle School students. The young artists will be asked to design a transfer suitable for Kids' Fishing Day T-shirts. The winners will not only have the thrill of seeing their design on the T-shirts but they will also receive $50 savings bonds.

This year, the Roaring River Hatchery will be celebrating its 70th anniversary. The hatchery became a state park in 1928 when its owner donated it to the Missouri Game and Fish Department. A flood destroyed the facility and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) helped build a new hatchery that went into service in 1939.

Roaring River State Park is one of three Missouri trout parks owned by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The other state-owned trout parks are Bennett Spring near Lebanon and Montauk near Salem. The trout hatcheries are operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce will continue its long-standing tradition of serving piping hot coffee to the thousands of anglers who line the banks of Roaring River on opening morning.

Darrin Jacobs and Jeremy Marple will be brewing their signature river-bank coffee, and chamber volunteers will be walking along the stream distributing the coffee in keepsake mugs beginning at 5:30 a.m. This year, the Opening Day mugs are sponsored by Cassville Democrat, Crowder College Cassville Campus, Les Jacobs Ford-Mercury, Oakhill Court and RV Park, Tim's Fly Shop, Rock Village Court and RV Park, Runnels Chiropractic, Jim Rogers and Roaring River State Park, Hutchens Construction, Baywash car wash, Sports World and AAA Trophies.

The chamber will also be operating a weigh-in station at the lower level of the historic CCC Lodge. Anglers can bring their lunkers to be weighed, and trophies will be awarded for the biggest fish caught in the men's, women's and children's divisions.