Mill Creek - Missouri Trout Fishing

Mill Creek in Phelps County is truly a jewel of a trout creek that has fallen on hard times. It once held quite a large population of rather good sized wild rainbow trout, but that isn't the case anymore. Portions of the Blue Ribbon Trout Area, from Yelton Spring to Wilkin Spring are mostly dry during the summer months. This section which used to hold an excellent trout population now has trout numbers sometimes in the single digits per mile.

That is the bad news. There is still some wild trout fishing to be had on the creek, and it is still possible to have truly good days on the creek where ten or fifteen trout are caught. Trout fishing is usually best below Wilkins Springs, which is the first major water source to enter the creek that doesn't dry up during the droughts that have plagued the creek. The first mile and a half below Wilkins Springs usually has the best fishing on the creek, with about 150 trout per mile, which is quite a large number for this baby sized trout creek. The rest of the creek is managed for wild trout, and they are certainly there, but not in the same numbers as further upstream. The creek is easily accessible from Mark Twain National Forest's Mill Creek Recreation Area, which is located in the prime trout fishing section of the creek. The creek fishes best from October to May, but they are in there all summer, and they can be caught in the morning and evening. Mill Creek is not stocked, and basically all the trout are wild, although there are undoubtedly a few stocky rainbows from Little Piney Creek, which Mill Creek flows into. The regulations mandate artificial lures and flies only, (no soft plastics) and there is a length limit as well.