Mill Creek Fishing Guides and Conditions, Missouri

About the Mill Creek

Mill Creek rises under the Mark Twain National Forest west of Rolla and runs to its junction with Little Piney Creek. Yelton Spring marks the top of the Blue Ribbon section and Wilkins Spring, the larger of the two, comes in partway down and is where consistent trout habitat really begins. The 7.7 regulated miles include Wilkins Spring and its branch. Between the Forest Service and the Department of Conservation, most of the watershed is public ground, which makes this the easiest of the three Phelps County creeks to fish without knocking on a door.

The trout are wild and stream-bred. The Forest Service names Mill Creek as one of only three streams on the forest with naturally reproducing rainbows, alongside Little Piney and Spring Creek. MDC describes a moderate population dominated by fish under twelve inches, with fish up to eighteen holding in the deeper pools. Most anglers catch four to ten inch fish all day and see a fourteen-incher if they are patient. Nobody catches many keepers here, and the eighteen-inch limit means almost everything you touch goes back.

It is small water and it fishes small. MDC’s advice is to wade in quietly, fish slowly, and expect the fish to spook, and that is exactly right. Back-casting room in the good water is usually tight, so a short rod and a long leader beat a nine-footer, and dry flies work better than the brush would suggest. Bohigian Conservation Area carries about a mile and a quarter of frontage with two parking lots, and the Forest Service picnic area upstream is the other obvious starting point. Kaintuck Hollow Trail runs nearby with sixteen miles of loops if you want to make a day of it.

All six Blue Ribbon areas carry the same rules: flies and artificial lures only, no soft plastic, natural or scented baits for any species, an eighteen-inch minimum length, a daily limit of one trout, and no porous-soled waders. Gigging, bowfishing and atlatls are prohibited. Read the MDC page for this water before you fish it, because the boundaries are specific and posted, and a trout caught outside the marked section does not count toward the slam.

Access

Mill Creek Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest - day-use picnic ground on the creek. From Rolla, I-44 west about 6 miles to the Highway T exit, south 3 miles to Highway P, right 3 miles, then left on County Road 7550 for 2 miles. Three picnic sites, no restroom and no drinking water.
Bohigian Conservation Area (MDC) - 437 acres with roughly 1.25 miles of Mill Creek frontage and two parking lots.
Forest Service and MDC ground upstream of the picnic area along Mill Creek Road.
Kaintuck Hollow Trail - adjoining foot access, dispersed camping permitted 100 feet from water and trail, none at the trailheads.
Expect private inholdings between the public tracts. Walk-wade only; there is no floatable water here.

Seasons

Spring: high, cold and the most productive stretch of the year, with fish spread out of the deep pools.
Summer: fishable early and late. The springs hold the temperature better than Crane does, but low clear water makes the fish harder every week.
Fall: the pick of the seasons on this creek. Stable flows, cool water and light pressure.
Winter: open and quiet. Wild rainbows spawn from December into mid-March; leave the pale gravel patches alone.