Montauk Hatchery: Where Biology meets Magic

 Being a dedicated outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, especially fly fishing for trout, one cannot help but feeling a bit amazed at the abundance of trout fishing opportunities available in Missouri. With four great trout parks, Lake Taneycomo, and 20 Trout management areas (plus numerous urban lakes stocked during winter season), we in Missouri are blessed with lots of an abundance of fishable waters in our state relatively nearby. This abundance is even more remarkable when one considers that trout are not native to Missouri and only rarely find conditions suitable to reproduce in the wild.   

  So, one might ask, how exactly does it happen that we can find and catch fish, like the beautiful rainbow trout in places they normally wouldn’t be ?  

  The answer of course, is that the Missouri Department of Conservation provides the fish for the enjoyment of its residents. This entity is funded primarily by the minuscule 1/8 of 1% sales tax, plus fees from hunting and fishing permits in addition to Federal grants/funds and other miscellaneous income.

 Most hunters and fisherman are rightfully proud of the job the Missouri Department of Conservation does,  especially relative to other states.  Besides Montauk Hatchery, Bennett Springs, Shepherd of the Hills, Roaring River, Meramec Springs also raise trout.

 Still being curious of exactly where the trout come from and how they get to the beautiful waters of Missouri, I spent some time with Tom Whelan, Hatchery manager at Montauk State Park for details.

 Tom is an interesting man with a very interesting job.   He is employed by Missouri Department of Conservation and has been hatchery manager at Montauk 20 years and counting.  He also manages Maramec Spring Hatchery and has done so for the last 3.5 years.  Prior to that Tom managed Chesapeake Hatchery which is one of Missouri’s warm water hatcheries for 2 years.  In all, Tom has worked in the Missouri Department of Conservation’s hatchery system over 37 years. He has a crew of eleven people at Montauk and five at Maramec, including himself who handle all the hatchery and related work.

The four prior hatchery managers were Larry Marcum at Montauk, Wes Swee at Maramec Spring Hatchery, and Jim Maynard at Chesapeake.

So just how does one get to be a Hatchery manager at Montauk State Park?  Tom’s background and education level is impressive: he holds a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation and Management at Southwest Missouri State University is Springfield MO.  

 Tom’s experience started at Montauk where he worked from 1985 to 1990.  He worked at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery from 1990 to 1992 and was the Assistant Hatchery Manager at Roaring River Hatchery from 1992 to 2000.   Tom managed at Chesapeake Hatchery from 2000 to 2002, before coming back to Montauk as the Manager in 2002.

Raising the trout

 The first trout were produced at Montauk were in 1932.  All of the current production systems were built in 1948 to 1972.  Only rainbow trout are raised at the Montauk hatchery. (Brown trout for Missouri waters are raised only at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery near Branson, MO).     It is believed that both Missouri strains have steelhead trout inheritances incorporated into their genetic history.  The Missouri strain dates to the first rainbow trout hatchery established on Campbell Creek, California, a McCloud River tributary.

Statewide distribution

According to Tom:  “We raise trout for distribution statewide.  Our average production is 350,00 to 400,000 pounds or 450,000 to 550,00 stocking size fish.

At Montauk, we raise 50,000 – 60,000 for six different trout management areas and 45,000 – 55,000 for the urban lakes that are stocked in the winter season.

Trout Management Areas are the Current River White Ribbon Area, Roubidoux Creek White Ribbon Area, Little Piney Creek White Ribbon Area, Stone Mill Spring White Ribbon Area, Eleven Point River White Ribbon Area, And Eleven Point Blue Ribbon Area.  We also stock urban lakes during the winter months in St. Louis County, St. Charles County, and the Busch Wildlife Area“.

The biology of Raising Rainbow Trout (Keeping it Pure)

 The exact strain of trout are known as the Missouri and the Missouri-Arlee strains. Within our five trout hatcheries, the two strains of broodstock are what are called a fall spawner and spring spawner.  They take eggs from the fall spawning strain September through December, and the spring spawning strain January through April.  Both strains only spawn once a year.

Broodstock

In order to avoid having too many of the same genetics within the same trout strain takes some doing. Future broodstock are selected randomly and a percentage of the population is replaced every year.  Replacement broodstock are NOT selected because they are fast growing, their color, length/weight ratio, etc. This practice of not isolating certain characteristics allows the hatchery system to keep the genetics as varied as possible.  This is important to maintaining a healthy, vibrant trout population for the long term.

 Missouri only has broodstock strains from within our Missouri hatchery system.  So only broodstock are selected from these two strains.  Remember, trout are not native to Missouri, so there is some, but not much natural reproduction in our streams.  Total broodstock populations within the cold-water system ranges from 5,000 to 7,000 fish at any one time.

Hatchlings 70% – 80% are hatched out in the hatchery from eggs from Montauk or Shepherd of the Hills hatchery broodstock (deleted September), 14 to 18 months before they are big enough to stock.  The other 20% – 30% of the hatchlings will be shipped to Montauk Hatchery as fingerlings.
The optimal temperature of the water for raising trout is 50-52 degrees Fahrenheit (for spawning), and 55-58 degrees Fahrenheit (for growth).

Normally the trout are around three months old before they are moved to the outside raceways, depending on the hatchery.

Food

 In case you were curious about how much food trout are fed for the year, it has taken a total of 500,000 to 750,000 pounds of feed (on average) each of the last several years. Their feed is a specialized diet with about 45% protein.

 The target feed conversion ratio averages around 1.5 (1.5 pounds of feed to produce 1.0 pound of fish flesh).  When stocked at 12.5 inches, these fish weigh about 0.85 pounds.  Each fish will eat a little over 1.2 pounds of feed in its lifetime in the hatchery.

In addition, oxygen is injected in the water for the rearing systems.  This allows the fishery to produce more pounds of fish per cubic foot of rearing space. The oxygen allows them to raise fish at higher densities and reduces the stress on the fish.

Montauk State Park

 The park is owned and operated by the Division of State Parks (Missouri Department of Natural Resources).  The hatchery is owned and operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

At Montauk State park here are 32 stocking points within the 2.7 miles from the start at the spring where the Current River joins Pigeon Creek to the cable marking the end of the park.

  On average 180,000 to 220,000 fish per year are stocked within the park, depending on daily tag sales.  For the park, the summer months when school is out are the most heavily stocked months.

 There are some interesting, systematic guidelines based on history, on how many fish are stocked.  Tom Whelan explains: “ Stocking rate has always been the same for everyday of the week.  The historical stocking rate was 2.25 fish per tag but has been reduced since 2019 due to ongoing construction within the cold-water hatchery system.  The stocking rate will remain reduce till all of the renovations are made.  Since the construction started the stocking rate has ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 fish per tag.   In 2022 the stocking rate was 2.0 fish per anticipated angler.  There are more anglers on the weekends than on the weekdays.  So, Saturday and Sunday will have more fish stocked than Monday through Friday.  But the stocking rate  is always the same for everyday of the week. (Delated 2.0 fish per anticipated angler).

   We have detailed records of the number of anglers for each day of the season that go back over 30 years.  We use these records to help us estimate the number of anglers we will have on any particular day.  For example, if I need to estimate how many anglers, we are going to have on the 3rd Tuesday in June 2023, I will look at the 3rd Tuesday of June for the last five years to help me determine what tags sales may be and what to stock for the 3rd Tuesday in June of 2023.  These records are detailed with notes on weather, stream conditions, and other factors.  It’s simple math then, number of anticipated tags sold multiplied by the stocking rate. (Deleted 2.0).  Then the number of fish are divided by the number of stocking locations and stocked evenly throughout the park. “

Tom recalls the most fish that have been stocked on any day is “ the March 1st Trout Opener.  We stock at a rate of 3.0 fish per tag on opening day.  The record was on a Sunday in 1992 with 3,921 tags sold.  10,000 to 11,000 fish were stocked for that day.” 
A normal weekday opener of catch & keep season will have 5,000 to 7,000 trout stocked.

Winter fishing at Montauk

 Many avid anglers anticipate the winter catch and release season as their favorite time of the year. The season in the four trout parks runs from mid-November to mid-February is only open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Mondays from 8 am until 4 pm in designated areas, except at Maramec Spring where fishing is allowed seven days a week.  [See regulations for specific details.]

During that time all anglers must possess a valid Missouri Fishing Permit and Trout Permit during the winter catch and release season. Only Flies are permitted during the winter catch and release season.

A fly is defined as an artificial lure constructed on a single point hook, using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait, which is tied, glued or otherwise permanently attached. No fish may be possessed in the winter catch and release area.

 At the start of winter catch and release season, 2000-2500 trout are released.  An addition 500 fish will normally be stocked in December and January to keep the catch rate up making a total of 2500-3500 fish released during winter catch and release season.

Of course, fish in the rearing systems are fed daily. During summer catch and keep season the trout are harvested pretty heavily. During winter catch and release season, no trout are harvested (other than naturally from predators). So during the 4 month long winter, the fish stocked in the river are no longer fed and they must fend for themselves to become acclimated to living on their own.

  A trout’s metabolism is directly tied to the water temperature. Although the water temperature generally stable throughout the year (being spring fed), excessive and prolonged heat or cold weather affect the trout’s metabolism, being slower in colder months.

Surprisingly, the shorter length of the daylight hours doesn’t have much effect on the fish. Some biologists have speculated that spawning may be triggered by hormonal changes which are influenced by length of the daylight hours, but substantive proof is still lacking.

Threats to the Trout

 The Hatchery operation does its best to protect the fish against disease, predators such as mink, otters & birds (such as ospreys, bald eagles, owls, Blue Herons, Kingfishers, owls, etc.) that call the park home.  With Montauk State Park being a nature reserve, that cycle of nature is understood and accounted for.

Occasionally, natural disasters can occur.   At times Montauk does experience flash flooding.  There have been two events in recent memory that did impact trout production.  In 1981 the Mill Pool system did flood and resulted in the loss of about 100,000 fish.  And in 2017 the hatchery experienced the largest flood on record.  All four of the rearing system went under water resulting in the escape of about 500,000 fish.  These two events did impact production for a period of time.  And although it was a huge setback at the time, the hatchery has long recovered from the 2017 flood.

On a Personal note

Having fished at Montauk for over 60 years, this is not as long as some other people, believe it or not!  Like many others young and old, I take great joy in fly fishing and l’m enchanted by the beauty of the stream and its complex interactions. Yet being able to catch a rainbow trout, hold it in my hand in the water to admire its beauty and letting it gently slip away to “go back…” to its natural environment is a thrill that never gets old.  

 After the release, the glow seems to hang on a while. I’m often admiring the fish for a battle well fought, only feeling a tad guilty for having outsmarted it just this once. Although I don’t have bad feelings toward those people that keep (and hopefully eat) their trout, I release my fish to live and fight another day knowing how much they add to the beauty of the whole experience of trout fishing.

  You see, the entire process from hatching to netting a a gorgeous rainbow trout fighting for its life, is actually kind of kind of wonder. This wonder occurs at the intersection of biology and magic !

 In consequence, one can’t help but feel grateful to these folks, like Tom Whelan, who work so hard to make such a beautiful thing possible for all of us.

 I tip my hat to you Tom, and to all the hatchery workers and all the good people at the Department of Conservation for your part in making this a reality.

 – Dan Staggenborg