Opening Day

Anglers returned to Bennett Spring State Park Monday for Opening Day of trout season. According to Missouri State Parks, the opening of the catch-and-keep trout fishing season on March 1 is an important Missouri tradition, marking the beginning of a season that runs until Oct. 31. This year’s Opening Day brought both newcomers and longtime fishermen. Jim Wiseman of Slater said he had been coming to Bennett Spring for more than 20 years. Wiseman visited the park Monday with a friend. Although he’d been fishing there for a long time, his work as a farmer for the past 47 years has kept him from making it on opening morning. Now that he is retired, he was finally able take up his friend’s offer to go with him to fish at the park on the first day of trout season. For more on this story see Wednesday's LCR.