13 lakes stocked 

The rainbow trout are coming to St. Louis.

Over 17,000 rainbow trout will be stocked in 13 St. Louis area lakes this winter. The stocking of catchable fish starts the first week of November. The urban trout fishing season is from November 1 through the end of February. 

The Missouri Conservation Commission offers local youngsters 15 and under two alternatives in its St. Louis Area Winter Trout Program. 

First, there is a “catch and release” option. This means if you catch a trout but release it back unharmed into the lake, you don’t need either a fishing license or a trout stamp. 

If you plan to keep your trout catch, young people don’t need a license but do need to buy a $7 trout stamp. In Missouri, residents between ages of 16 and 64 need $11 fishing licenses as well as the trout stamps.

Marvin Boyer is a fisheries management biologist for the state commission. He said the $7 trout stamp is sold to get money for its trout stocking program. “This is a self-sustaining program. The stamp fees pay the costs of raising and stocking the trout,” he said. 

Kevin Meneau is another fisheries biologist. He and Boyer share responsibility for managing the trout program in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. 

Meneau said, “In the 15 years I’ve been here, this is the most popular program I’ve ever dealt with. People go crazy over the trout.” 

The urban trout program is a treat for local kids in two ways. First, the trout are brought right to metro area neighborhood parks. That makes it easy for kids to get to the lakes. 

Second, rainbow trout don’t normally live in urban lakes. The local lakes are shallow and the water gets too warm in the summer for the trout to survive. That’s why the stocking occurs only in colder winter months. 

But, the state commission tries to bring different types of fishing experiences to urban areas, such as St. Louis.

The 13 lakes where the rainbow trout stocking will take place include: 

• Lakes 2 and 3 at Suson Park in south St. Louis County.
• Tilles Park Lake in St. Louis County.
• Walker Lake in the city of Kirkwood.
• Vlasis Park Lake in the city of Ballwin.
• O’Fallon Park Lake in the city of St. Louis.
• January-Wabash Lake in the city of Ferguson. 
• Wild Acres Park Lake in the city of Overland.
• Lakes 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 in the August A. Busch Conservation Area in rural St. Charles County. 

However, two other lakes stocked last year won’t get trout this fall. Lake 1 at Suson Park and Boathouse Lake in Carondelet Park in south county are being rebuilt this year. They will be deepened, get shoreline stabilization, better access ramps and be aerated. 

Meneau said, “Those lakes will be in the trout program again next year.” 

The urban trout program was started by the commission in 1989. At that time, there were only two lakes, one in the city and the other in St. Louis County. 

Meneau said, “It was an experimental program then. We wanted to make sure residents would fully use the fish. We found 100 per cent of the trout that were stocked came out through fishing during the winter.”

The commission could easily check on the trout harvest. It found no dead trout in the summer when the lakes got too warm and would have killed any surviving trout.

The commission has gradually increased the number of St. Louis area lakes in the program. The trout that are stocked are from 10” to 12” in length. They are raised in commission hatcheries and then trucked to St. Louis after they get the right size. 

Fish stocking starts in November and continues twice a month through January. 

The exact times of stockings aren’t announced but are quickly reported to the Fishing Stocking Hot Line at (636) 441-8014. 

Also, for complete information on the St. Louis Area Winter Trout Program, log on to the commission’s website: http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/areas/stlouis/