Pull out your favorite fishing gear because approximately 80,000 rainbow trout are now stocked in several Missouri lakes.
Through stocking efforts from the Missouri Department of Conservation, the thousands of fish are now swimming in more than 35 lakes this season. Several of these lakes allow anglers to harvest trout as soon as they are stocked, while others are catch-and-release until Feb. 1.
Although not native to Missouri, rainbow trout are nicknamed the "king of sport fish." MDC has stocked them for more than five decades in southern Missouri.
Hatcheries at Montauk, Bennett Springs and Shepherd of the Hills raise the trout stocked for winter fishing.