For more photos and video from Opening Day, visit: https://www.cassville-democrat.com/2023/03/01/photo-video-gallery-roaring-river-state-park-opening-day-2023/
Family traditions carry on at Roaring River State Park
By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
More than 1,800 anglers greeted 60-degree temperatures and sunny skies on March 1, the official opening of catch-and-keep trout season at Roaring River State Park.
With some choosing their spots as early as 1 a.m., the park was lively as ever at the sound of the 6:30 a.m. gun, fired this year by Charlie 22 Outdoors Founder Scott Hettinger.
Paralyzed in a vehicle collision in his college years, Hettinger founded Charlie 22 Outdoors in 2017, a non-profit organization that uses outdoor experiences to help veterans avoid thoughts of suicide.
Promptly at 6:30 a.m., he and his wife, Barbara, shot the gun, which emitted a flash of sparks in the wrong direction but caused no harm.
“It came back at us a little bit there, didn’t it?” Hettinger said. “[Firing the gun] was awesome.What an honor and privilege to be able to do this.”
Hettinger arrived at the park at about 5-5:15 a.m., meeting with veterans who had signed up for Charlie 22 to pay for their tag and a meal.
“I talked with some new veterans that came in, and I met the Lieutenant Governor,” he said. “I’ve been a spectator, but being a part of it is pretty amazing. Hopefully, it helps us get the word out about what we are doing at Charlie 22 Outdoors.”
Hettinger said veterans as far away as Miami, Okla., and as local as Cassville signed up for the tag giveaway. Charlie 22 hosts one or two events each year at Roaring River, bringing about 100 veterans for a multi-day stay at the park.
“It’s so peaceful down here,” Hettinger said. “It renews people spiritually, and after they come, they usually develop relationships with volunteers or other veterans. Those become people they can turn to when times are tough.”
Sitting in his wheelchair overlooking Zone 1 from the falls to the bridge, Hettinger said he, too, is drawn to the peacefulness of the park.
I can sit exactly where I am and just listen to the water run and take it all in,” he said. “There is so much peace here. I get a lot of therapy from outdoor experiences, and here just sounds peaceful.”
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, a special visitor to Roaring River this year, attended his second-ever Opening Day.
“One of the incredible assets of Missouri is the Ozarks — if you can’t appreciate the beauty here, you can’t appreciate it anywhere,” he said. “This is outdoor recreation at its best.”
Kehoe said he met numerous people throughout the morning, including a Korean War veteran from Carthage who has brought his family to Opening Day 54 years in a row.
“My office is the veteran administration for the state and works with veteran organizations across the state,” he said. “With 475,000 veterans, we are fifth or sixth in the nation, and it always inspires me to be with our heroes across the state. Charlie 22 also offers some great opportunities to veterans, and it was great to be here with Scott.”
Kehoe also noted the partnership between Missouri State Parks and the Department of Natural Resources, entities that operate the park and Roaring River Hatchery, along with concessionaire Roaring River Concessions.
“I appreciate that partnership,” he said. “Government does not do a lot of things well, but the opportunities those organizations offer thousands of people today, the staff is serving the public well.”
The public attending was as diverse as ever regarding Opening Day tradition.
Local man David Williams, who lives two miles south of the park, said it is one of his favorite places to be.
“I always bring my family here,” he said. “I brought my sister today. It’s a pretty easy place for kids to learn to fish, and the park staff is fantastic. It’s a fun time for my family.”
A Kansas City native, Williams moved to a home in Mark Twain National Forest about six years ago.
“My daughter got a transfer in her job, and I retired,” he said. “Now, I live in the forest and like it a lot. Last night, we had a bobcat in our front yard, and we’ve had mountain lions on our property.”
An outdoorsman at heart, Williams said he fishes Table Rock Lake almost every day in the summer, and he does plenty of hunting., Opening Day, however, is usually off his radar.
“It’s one of my top five places to trout fish, but I usually avoid Opening Day,” he said. “My sister is a film producer, so I brought her to see what it’s like and the madness of the young and the old fishing side-by-side, and for some people, this day is a family tradition for years and years.”
“I can always be bribed with fishing,” his sister added.
Few rival the Opening Day chops of the Greer brothers — Craig, Jeff and Rob — of Joplin. Perennial lunker-landers, Craig Greer turned in a 3.1-pound catch, one of many over the 50-plus years he and his brothers have attended.
“We stay up on the hill and make a brother outing of it,” he said. “We all look forward to it every year. It’s a tradition our dad made, and we keep it going. It absolutely keeps us close. We are probably all each others’ best friends.”
Being so prolific at landing lunkers, the Greers shared some of their technique this year.
“You have to come down early and scout and look around,” Greer said. “My brother also ties his own jigs, and when you jig, you just have to know how to do it — just set up on one and try to catch it.”
Time and research make all the difference.
“We started on Monday and walked the whole river on Tuesday,” Greer said. “You also have to make a good cast. Throw it ahead of the fish and let him go to it.”
A similar story echoed past the falls, where brothers David and Lee Dishman of the Springfield area were carrying on the same tradition with their father.
“We’ve come here for 25 years,” David Dishman said. “We love the experience of Opening Day, just hanging out and watching all that goes on.”
One thing Dishman noticed is all the youth able to fish on Opening Day.
“It’s great to see Cassville support this by letting school out,” he said. “I wish our school district would let kids out for this kind of stuff.”
Dishman has just helped his brother haul in a lunker, but the exact weight was unknown.
“I put it back in the water,” Lee Dishman said. “Give someone else a chance at it.”
While family traditions are a dime a dozen on the banks, some make Roaring River a tradition all their own.
“I’ve been coming to Opening Day for 25 years,” said John Obergoenner, of Cape Fair, Ark. “I’ve tried to never miss an Opening Day since I retired. This is the deepest hole in the Ozarks, and it’s a good family park.”
Obergoenner has a special connection to the park, as he retired from the plumbing company that helped build the fish-cleaning station installed in 2021.
The tradition of Opening Day is far-reaching, a beacon of sorts to outdoors lovers from all walks of life. Cole and Jay Harken, of Conway, Ark., have a YouTube Channel with more than 240,000 subscribers and were opposite the falls trying their luck with the Trout Magnet crew.
“We’ve been doing this for five years, just making fishing and outdoor content,” Cole Harken said. “We are mainly in Arkansas, but we like to travel around.”
The Trout Magnet group turned the Harkens onto Roaring River, and Cole said he was glad they did.
“They said it was crazy and a good time,” he said. “We wanted to experience it ourselves, do a lot of fishing and see a lot of people.”
Arriving at Roaring River for the first time ever at about 5:30 a.m., the Harkens were still grasping the magnitude of the day.
“It was like nothing I had ever seen before,” Cole Harken said. “it was dark when we got here, and as the sun came up, we realized the volume of people here and could see the water and all the fish. The aesthetic is great, the water is clean, and it’s a unique atmosphere for sure.”
The fishing was as exciting as the atmosphere.
“We’ve caught about a dozen,” Harken said at about 8 a.m. “One was about 17 inches, but none have been too big yet.”
As of 9 a.m., Brian Jasumback, of Wentworth, had the prize of the day, a 7.15-pound lunker.
More than 2 million people visit Roaring River State Park each year, making it the state’s most-visited for three years in a row. More information on the park may be found at www.mostateparks.com/park/roaring-river-state-park.
More info on Charlie 22 Outdoors may be found at: www.charlie22outdoors.com/.
