Spring Fed · Limestone · Missouri

Bennett Spring State Park

A calm spring-fed pool with anglers wading near a wooden hatchery lodge, surrounded by dense green trees

Bennett Spring is one of Missouri's four classic trout parks: accessible, busy, stocked, rule-heavy and absolutely part of the Ozarks trout map.

Marginal · Rainbow Trout
Trico Spinner · 20-24
Marginallive now
Slow going — pick your moments
Low and clear — careful approach country. Cover and shadow are doing the work today.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelDry recentlyNo gauge reading
  • Water temp18.8°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
TS
Trico Spinner20-24
High-confidence seasonal pick
Conditions on the water
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp18.8°C
ClarityClear
Weather24°C
WindE 12 km/h
Pressure1017 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead4.1 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Water temperature for Rainbow Trout
Warm — slow
19°C est.ideal 10–18°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Rainbow Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Water at 18.8°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 9 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 3 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 4 with Pro.

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Evidence
ModelledModerate confidence

Modelled from regional ecology — no survey or occurrence data for this water yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
SulphurHatch
2
3
2
Trico (Eastern)Hatch
2
3
3
2
Eastern Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Eastern Summer BWO (Drunella)Hatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow Trout fly box
Gammarus Scud (Olive)
Gammarus Scud (Olive)
12-16 · Gammarus Scud
Dead-drift, sub-surface
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Missouri trout park
  • Zone 1 is fly-only; Zone 2 is flies/artificial lures; Zone 3 is bait water
  • Daily trout tag and fishing permit requirements apply in season
  • Daily/possession limits and brown-trout length rules must be verified against current MDC/MO State Parks rules.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 19°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. A calm spring-fed pool with anglers wading near a wooden hatchery lodge, surrounded by dense green trees
    Anglers wading below the historic hatchery lodge at Bennett Spring State Park, Missouri
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Bennett Spring is one of Missouri's four classic trout parks: accessible, busy, stocked, rule-heavy and absolutely part of the Ozarks trout map. It is not wilderness; it is a spring-branch trout park with whistle culture, daily tags, three fishing zones and enough anglers on opening day to make solitude a winter catch-and-release thing. Zone 1 is fly-only water up by the spring and hatchery dam, Zone 2 allows flies and artificial lures down to Whistle Bridge, and Zone 3 is bait water down to the Niangua. The value here is precision: know your tags, dates, zones and fly-only boundaries before you go.

  • Limestone
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Supporting
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Bennett Springs Cr.' (MO_1185.00), 2022 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Fully Supporting. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · MO_1185.00

The full read · show the working · for Rainbow Trout · confidence 80%
How the 35 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature75 × 28%21.0
Flow60 × 22%13.2
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time50 × 13%6.5
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity63 × 12%7.6
Conditions total= 69
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 March → 31 October
Related guides
Chalkstream Playbookchalk stream tacticsEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts