Missouri species

Rainbow Trout in Missouri

rainbow trout under the 2026 MDC booklet.

4 a daylimit

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Photo of the species, not a Missouri water: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0

Missouri fish

A Missouri sheet for rainbow trout

MDC prints 2 limit rows covering rainbow trout in its 2026 Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations. Away from special waters, MDC allows 4 a day; rainbow: none; brown: 15″ minimum in streams, season all year.

Look for it on 51 pages here, such as Lake Taneycomo, August A. Busch Memorial and Weldon Spring Conservation Areas and Coot Lake. Booklet exceptions name it on 3 waters, such as Dry Fork Creek, Lake Taneycomo and Roaring River State Park.

4 a daylead limit row

none readMissouri record

2limit rows

5water exceptions

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Limits

Keeping rainbow trout under Missouri rules

Booklet row	Waters	Limit	Season
Trout (rainbow and brown)	Statewide	4 a day; Rainbow: none; Brown: 15" minimum in streams	All year
Trout (rainbow or brown) in trout parks	Maramec Spring Park, Bennett Spring, Montauk and Roaring River state parks	4 rainbow or brown trout in the aggregate; None printed in the booklet (MDC trout-park season page: minimum 15 inches for brown trout, no limit for rainbow)	March 1–Oct. 31 (catch and keep); catch-and-release Nov. 13, 2026–Feb. 8, 2027

Limits and seasons as printed in A Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations 2026 (MDC, effective March 1, 2026), page 20 (booklet PDF); retrieved October 27, 2026.

Missouri limits, all waters

Exceptions

Waters that set rainbow trout apart

Water	Where	Rule as printed
Lake Taneycomo	On the lake and its tributaries	Brown trout — 20" minimum length limit; the daily limit of 4 trout, combined total of both species, may include only 1 brown trout.
Lake Taneycomo	From the closed zone 760 feet below Table Rock Dam to the mouth of Fall Creek	Rainbow trout — 12" to 20" protected slot length limit
Lake Taneycomo	From the closed zone 760 feet below Table Rock Dam to U.S. Highway 65 bridge	Fishing permit (unless exempt) and a trout permit are required to fish for any species.
Dry Fork Creek	In Phelps and Dent counties, upstream from the elevated cable crossing	Trout — 15" minimum length limit; daily limit 2
Roaring River State Park	From the first bridge below the old dam in Zone 3 to the downstream park boundary	At Roaring River State Park, a daily tag or a trout permit may be used for fishing from the first bridge below the old dam in Zone 3 to the downstream park boundary.

Rules as printed in A Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations 2026 (MDC, effective March 1, 2026) (booklet PDF, Special Regulations on Large Lakes and on Rivers and Streams); checked against the current Wildlife Code October 27, 2026.

Ribbon areas

rainbow trout in the Blue, Red and White Ribbon areas

Area	Water and section	Length	Daily	Lures
Blue Ribbon	Barren Fork Creek: County Road A-D to its junction with Sinking Creek — 3.2 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
Blue Ribbon	Blue Springs Creek: From Blue Springs to its junction with Meramec River — 4 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
White Ribbon	Capps Creek: 4 miles upstream from its junction with Shoal Creek	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
Blue Ribbon	Crane Creek: Upstream from Quail Spur Road crossing on Stone County Road 13-195 — 8 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
Blue Ribbon	Current River: River and its tributaries from lower boundary of Montauk State Park to the river crossing on Dent County Road 6510/Shannon County Big Creek	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
White Ribbon	Current River: Downstream from the river crossing on Dent County Road 6510/Shannon County Big Creek Road at Cedargrove — 7.7 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
Blue Ribbon	Eleven Point River: Greer Spring Branch junction to Turner Mill Access — 5.5 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
White Ribbon	Eleven Point River: Downstream from Turner Mill Access — 14.2 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
White Ribbon	Hickory Creek: From Highway 86 bridge to Shoal Creek — 2.7 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15" (March 1–Oct. 31); Catch-and-release (Nov. 1–Feb. 28)	4 (March 1–Oct. 31); 0 (Nov. 1–Feb. 28)	All (March 1–Oct. 31); Artificial lures and flies only (Nov. 1–Feb. 28)
Large trout lake (no ribbon class)	Lake Taneycomo and its tributaries: From the closed zone 760 feet below Table Rock Dam to the mouth of Fall Creek — 3 miles	Rainbows: less than 12" or greater than 20"; Browns: at least 20"	4 (only 1 brown)	Artificial lures and flies
Large trout lake (no ribbon class)	Lake Taneycomo: Mouth of Fall Creek to Powersite Dam and tributaries to Lake Taneycomo — 19.7 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 20"	4 (only 1 brown)	All
Blue Ribbon	Little Piney Creek: From Phelps County line in Sections 9 and 16 of T35N, R8W, including Piney Spring Branch and Lane Spring Branch to Milldam Hollow Access — 9	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
White Ribbon	Little Piney Creek: Downstream of Milldam Hollow Access — 3.7 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
Red Ribbon	Meramec River: From Highway 8 bridge to Scott’s Ford and in Dry Fork Creek from the elevated cable crossing to its confluence with the Meramec River — 8.2	At least 15"	2	Artificial lures and flies
Blue Ribbon	Mill Creek: Yelton Spring to its junction with Little Piney Creek including Wilkins Spring and spring branch — 7.7 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
White Ribbon	Niangua River: From Bennett Spring Branch to Prosperine Access — 11.5 miles of stocked stream	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
Blue Ribbon	North Fork, White River: Upper outlet of Rainbow Spring to Patrick Bridge — 8.6 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
Red Ribbon	North Fork, White River: Unimpounded river and its tributaries from Patrick Bridge to Norfork Lake — 7.0 miles	At least 15"	2	All
White Ribbon	Roaring River: From the lower boundary of Roaring River State Park to Table Rock Lake — 4 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
White Ribbon	Roubidoux Creek: Downstream from Roubidoux Spring — 3.1 miles	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15"	4	All
Blue Ribbon	Spring Creek: Relfe Spring to its junction with Big Piney River — 6.2 miles	At least 18"	1	Artificial lures and flies
White Ribbon	Stone Mill Spring: Entire spring branch — 0.3 mile	Rainbows: none; Browns: at least 15" (Feb. 28–Oct. 31, 2026); Catch-and-release (Nov. 1, 2026–Feb. 26, 2027)	4 (Feb. 28–Oct. 31, 2026); 0 (Nov. 1, 2026–Feb. 26, 2027)	All (Feb. 28–Oct. 31, 2026, or as posted); Artificial lures and flies only (Nov. 1, 2026–Feb. 26, 2027, or as posted)