The weather progressively warmed up as we rushed into the weekend and the southern wind held off just long enough for a Saturday morning trout fishing trip with my family. Luckily, our local trout waters are just a few minutes away from home this time of year thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s urban fishing initiative that stocks small city lakes in Kansas City and St. Louis with trout in the winter and bass and hybrid sunfish in the spring and summer.

Our nine-year-old son reeled in the first fish of the day and I hooked a nice one right after. Before we wrapped up our scant two hours of fishing, our son caught his limit, I pulled in two (including a brown) and my husband had one on his line. To be fair, hubs stayed pretty busy putting on bait and taking off fish that his actual fishing time was a bit limited.

We love the opportunity to catch these typically cool-water trout close to home, and at Chaumiere Lake in the Kansas City Northland it’s easy to spend a few hours fishing with the family and (as was the case this weekend) jump in the car, make a quick wardrobe change and still make it to D.A.R. by lunch. While Chaumiere may not be the most peaceful location for trout fishing (as the semis and cars roll by on the nearby interstate), I’m thinking any day fishing with my family is a pretty good day by most measures and I appreciate the conservation efforts that make it possible.