More than 2,000 wet a line on Opening Day at Roaring River

MULTI-MEDIA: For video from Roaring River State Park on Opening Day, including the firing of the gun, click here. And, for more photos from March 1, click here.

By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

While they may be the face of the park and the object of desire for anyone with a rod and reel, anglers say when it comes to Opening Day at Roaring River State Park, it’s not the fish they are necessarily after.

More than 2,000 anglers visited Roaring River on Friday, with mild temperatures and clear skies opening up a deluge of travelers and locals enjoying the first day of catch-and-keep season at the trout park.

Kicking off the annual festivities by firing the gun at 6:30 a.m. was a person heavily familiar with the park, former concessionaire Jack Nickols.

“It made lots of noise, and supposedly it goes clear down the valley echoing to start the fishing,” Nickols said. “It felt very good, and I did not expect to get to fire the gun when they called. It’s a great feeling and I enjoyed it. I don’t feel too honored, because governors and people like that have fired the gun in the past, and I’m not in that class. But, it was great, especially to have all my family here.”

Concessionaire at the park from 1983-1996, Nickols said he first came to Roaring River back in the 1960s.

“Opening Day is something I have been coming to as long as I can remember,” he said. “I’m 80 now, so it’s been a lot of years.”

Nickols said fishing was not on his agenda Friday, though some of his group hoped to wet a line.

“I have my whole family here, so we are just visiting and enjoying the park,” he said. “A few years ago we had nearly 3,000 people here on a Saturday, and I know a lot will be here tomorrow.”

At 7 a.m., Roaring River — for the first time in six years — was not the leader in tag sales among the state’s three trout parks, about 100 total tags behind Montauk State Park’s 1,700. By noon, the gap closed to only six tags, with Roaring River reporting 1,941 (including 325 children’s tags) and Montauk selling 1,947 (including 200 children’s tags). Bennett Spring State Park, which has an ongoing project that has shut down its hatchery, was not lagging far behind at 1,864 tags sold (including 137 children’s tags).

One of those children’s tags went to Alaska native Brooks Grayson, 4, of Tulsa, Okla., who was enjoying the morning on the river with three older generations of his family by his side.

“We have my dad, Danny Bowman, and his brother, Gary Bowman, then my nephew Dexter Grayson and his son,” said Dusty Bowman. “Dad and Gary started coming here on Easter 1964.”

Gary Bowman said he was only 3 months old when he first laid eyes on Roaring River.

“Our mom was from Berryville, Ark., and she brought me here when I was 3 months old,” he said. “We lost mom 28 years ago, and we’ve been coming ever since.”

“It’s a family tradition to get together,” Dusty said. “We used t olive in Monett, and we’ve been here on openings when it’s been tons of snow and when it’s been so hot you had to wear shorts.”

Another family from afar was also visiting up the river, brought to the park by 74-year-old Chuck Martin, of Kansas City.

“I’ve been coming here since  was 8,” he said. “Mom and dad brought me, and the first time we came, we were tent camping. That opening day weekend, it flooded at the park, and that’s when mom said we were done with tents and bought a trailer.”

Meek said much has changed in the 66 years he’s been visiting the park, from amenities to the landscape.

“I remember when you used to be able to rent horses and bikes, and there was a swimming pool up by the CCC Lodge,” he said. “We ran all over this place.”

Meek’s son recently moved to Cassville, and his family had three generations represented on Friday.

Another three-generation crew of three was fishing near the hatchery — Sharayah Seymour, Chris Seymour and Fran Seymour.

“I live in Ottowa, Kan., but I just love to fish,” said Fran, Chris’ mother and Sharayah’s grandmother. “My husband doesn’t much care for it, so I dragged my son out here. It’s been many years we’ve come to Opening Day, and I’m glad he moved down here.”

The Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce’s fish-weighing station saw tons of action on Friday, with more than 30 people vying for title of biggest catch.

This year’s honor went to Payton Grube, 17, of Joplin, who netted an 8.65-pound rainbow in the morning. No fish weighed at the station came in at less than three pounds, and the second-largest catch went to frequent lunker lander Jeff Greer, of Grove, Okla., at 5.95 pounds.

Along with the fishing festivities, Missouri State Park and the Cassville Community Foundation hosted a ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. for the new playground at the picnic area, replacing a structure that had been out of commission last year.

The Community Foundation paid for the equipment, and Missouri State Parks prepped the site and installed it.