Let’s be clear, anytime a person can get out in December, in The Midwest, to fly fish….is a good time. So it was that my friends, Frank Terkhorn, John Morgan and I left my home early on Friday, December 8th; we were headed west about 400 miles to one of my favorite places in this great land, Bennet Spring State Park.
We cruised into the park just shy of 10 am. Made our way to the park store to pay for our condo for the weekend, grab a few keys, slap on a pair of waders…and water was in our immediate future. If you haven’t yet been to Bennet or haven’t watched one of my other videos…Bennet is located just 11 miles west of Lebanon, Missouri and in the Ozarks. The state park is a rare combination of great fishing and incredible beauty with wild life that abounds.
It didn’t take any of us long to jump from wanting to fish…to fishing. 6 weight rod with sink tip fly line in hand I eased into what I call the ‘kiddie-pool’ above the waterfalls in zone 1, stripped off about 40 feet of line and made an across stream cast with a crème colored trout candy. I could easily see the fly in the crystal clear water of the spring and then I couldn’t as I felt a tug and without even thinking made a strip-set and I was into my first fish of the trip.
A couple of casts later and a few feet downstream, I felt the power of a big fish…as you can see by watching the video it was indeed a nice, 20 inch buck (male) rainbow that was in full regalia, his colors were exceptional and the morning was off to a flying start. By mid-afternoon my early breakfast had worn off and a quick walk back to the condo sitting at the head of the spring allowed for a quick sandwich before once again strolling downstream in search of more trout.
My second day, Saturday, was more of the same with the exception that I made the long walk to the river, The Niangua, and turned right, downstream where I fished my way below highway 64 to the first river takeout. I would love to report that I did well, but that wasn’t the case as the river would only give me one small-smallie. Late in the afternoon I returned back to the spring and experienced some fast and furious fishing with an olive wooly in size 8.
Sunday, our final day would find me up early and off to zone 1 just above the dam. As you can see from the video, I have provided some narration as to how I was fishing along with a casting pattern of upstream that proved to be very successful. It is a beautiful thing to have the stream all to yourself…and that can and does happen while fishing the catch and release season at Bennet.
If you are looking for a nice weekend getaway, try the beauty of the Ozarks and the good folks at Bennet Spring…oh, and make sure to pack a few flies!
Share This Post with Your Friends ...
DR. SLICK To the Rescue
Just last week I was once again out on one of my local rivers when I hooked a small pike; if you have ever dealt with pike or any toothy creature then you know and can understand how important it is to have a utensil to safely remove the hook and to not get ‘hooked’ […]
Dog Days Of Summer and Big Smallmouth Bass
I won’t say I am ever disappointed to land big smallmouth bass on the fly …. ever! However, I left home on this day with dreams and thoughts of a big musky, very big in fact. I have caught several musky over 40 inches in my fly fishing career and, in fact, landed my best […]
Fly Fishing With The Preacher
Welcome back to another fly fishing adventure with myself and in today’s video … my preacher and new friend, Nathaniel Melton. It is always a good thing to be able to help out a new fly person and in this case, Nathaniel is not only an avid fisherman and outdoorsman … but a good athlete, […]
Low Water, Upstream Wind And A 20 Inch Smallmouth Bass
Greetings and welcome back to another fly fishing adventure. Today’s video will give some insight into how to handle low, clear water … in addition to an upstream wind that made navigating my float boat pretty tough. It took me about a half hour to find a pattern that worked and as you will see […]
Hey Jeff, thank you so much for your videos. I am new to flyfishing and appreciate the instruction you provide. I notice you were using sink tip with your trout candy in this video. I also saw a video where you tied a weighted trout candy to use with a floating line. Does either work equally well at Bennett? I live 60 miles from the park and fished the last weekend of catch and release. I am quickly becoming addicted to fly fishing and am planning to get some instruction to help my casting. Anyway thanks again for your videos I appreciate them.
Roger,
Welcome to the most healthy addiction in the world! The trout candy is for sure an awesome fly…and as I’ve said rediculously simple and easy to tie. As for sink tip or weighted; I start with floating and no weight on a trout candy (TC) and then work deeper in the water column. Next is weighted trout candy and floating line…then weighted and sink tip 1, then weighted and sink tip 3, etc….all so that you can get the fly down in the water column where the fish are active. It doesn’t take much to keep moving the fly down in the water column a foot or so at a time and in doing so, placing the fly in what I like to refer as the ‘death-zone’ where the fish, a trout or smallmouth, will attack! One more thing…sometimes I like to use my three weight with a weighted TC and and bust the opposite edges and in fact I’m actually able to cast to and fish for trout rising or working towards the surface…it is in fact one of my most favorite ways to land fish and have caught several big trout this way. Hope this helps…your lucky to have the pearl of Bennet in your neighborhood…enjoy the addiction!