7: The Missouri mountain trout is the best thing on the menu

Johnny recommends chef Andy Hampshire’s Ozark Trout at the Worman House--once a retreat for Frisco Railroad executive Harry Worman. The trout are farmed at the Rockbridge freshwater hatchery 100 miles east. On the opposite hill, find huntsman grandeur at the Buzzard Bar, which has a mahogany bar top that’s twice as old as man-made Table Rock. Local musicians play nightly.

8: The best fishing is early in the shallow gravel beds
I remember when the first water came over Table Rock Dam and filled the lake,” Johnny says. “I was 10.” Thousands of fishing hours later, he is full of secrets (“Fish early and hit the shallow gravel beds for smallmouth.”) and determined to give back: Bass Pro Shops has put $2.5 million into the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s More Fish campaign for lake conservation.

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