We've only begun and will continuously be adding more and better information. A new 18-inch minimum size regulation on brown trout in the Niangua River and its tributaries promises to provide more trophy fish for anglers. The new Trout Special Management Area regulations, which go into effect Jan. 1, also affect anglers at Bennett Spring Trout Park. The new rule requires anglers to release any brown trout less than 18 inches in total length and allows anglers to keep only one brown trout per day. There remains no length limit on rainbow trout throughout the Niangua River system.
Anglers can keep five trout daily.
However, only one of these may be a brown trout. To possess trout on the river, anglers must have a fishing permit and a trout permit. Bennett Spring Trout Park anglers need a fishing permit and a daily tag. The only lure restrictions on the river are in the trout park. The Conservation Department will continue to stock rainbow and brown trout in the Niangua River below Bennett Spring Branch and rainbow trout in Bennett Spring Trout Park.