A Last Minute Flurry Fly Fishing Bennet Spring

If you read my post about my dad and I being marooned in Kansas City for 2 days while my Suburban was being repaired (Sometimes Things Go Wrong), then you’ll be glad to know that it wasn’t a total loss. We were able to get the truck back by about 3pm on Friday and thus I decided to head to Bennet Spring and get a couple days of fly fishing in…granted we lost our pheasant hunting but the idea of some trout fishing sure did lift my spirits.

I called my number for Bennet Spring and got in touch with one of the ladies at the main store who gave us reservations at one of the duplexes located within a hundred yards of the head of the spring (417-532-4307). If you ever want a really nice place to stay while you fish or visit Bennet…then the duplexes are a great deal. They rent for $115 per night and can sleep up to six comfortably. There is a furnished kitchen as well as a nice living room area; dollar for dollar it is the best bet and in the catch and release season, you stand a good chance of getting a reservation.

My first morning out was a wet one as it rained from start to finish. Frankly I was so glad to be out and about and not sitting in a mangy hotel that any amount of rain didn’t matter. I tied an olive wooly bugger on my 3 weight Cabela’s fly rod and started off through the rain to just below the head of the spring. The first hour was rough as I caught only one fish, but perseverance is one of my strengths and as the morning progressed the light changed in my favor and I started catching more and more fish; by the end of the first day (fishing hours for catch and release are 8am to 4pm) I had landed 26 trout and was in a good rhythm and looking forward to a drier day on Sunday.

I tied a couple more olive buggers, cleaned up a few things and had my 5 weight rod ready to go; I decided to change to the 5 weight rod so I could make longer casts in the stiff northerly wind that had followed the rain. It was a good decision that would prove beneficial later in the day.

By 10 am I returned to the duplex and had caught 19 trout in the first two hours. The air temperature was in the mid-30’s which made for a chilly outing. Some good old tomato soup and a short nap was just what the doctor ordered and by 1:30pm I was once again revved up and ready to take another spin down the creek.

I decided I would end up in zone 2 below the main dam as I have had good luck there before catching two nice rainbows there last year during catch and release. As I walked into the stream below the dam I noticed two things; there was no one else fishing and there was a big brown trout idling around in the clear water. Both would prove good signs of things to come.

If you know the area then you know that there is a deep hole that lies at the base of a limestone cliff that is quite beautiful and always seems to produce. My first 10 casts produced 6 nice trout…one of which was about 15 inches and the largest fish I had caught on the trip to this point. As I neared the wall I made a long cross stream cast that placed my bugger within a foot or two of the other side. The water boiled and I made a hard strip set with my left hand and knew that I had hooked into a nice fish. A battle ensued and a couple minutes later I had netted a 19 inch hen that had spectacular coloring; her bright orange stripe radiated from head to tail. I took a moment to snap a couple photos of the fish within my net and then un-buttoned my olive wooly bugger and watched as she swam off.

I looked at my watch and it was 3:35pm; just 25 minutes left. I quickly made yet another nice cast and stripped the fly back towards me when I felt another tug…I reacted and once again strip set and hauled in a nice, well colored 15 inch rainbow. I glanced at my watch and it now read 3:39pm. I picked out a boulder that sits about 4 feet out in the water and directly below the limestone wall; stripped out a couple more feet of line and placed my bugger just beside the boulder. I made two quick strips and could see a wall of water following my fly. My heart quickened as I knew from experience that his had to be a big fish on the follow. I let the fly swing and gave it two sharp strips and felt the bang on the other end…it was indeed a big fish. The next few minutes were a culmination of why I spend so many days afield each year; it took me about 5 minutes to land this 20 inch buck and in doing so was very proud of putting this nice fish in my net, with one of my own hand-tied creations. I looked up stream about 50 yards and spotted another fisherman who had slipped in behind me. I left the buck in my net and walked up to the gent and asked if he’d snap a photo for me; after the photo and release, I looked down and it was 3:50pm. The last few minutes of this day were spectacular and the flurry I had just experienced will not soon be forgotten…it was a day that I truly Enjoyed the Great Outdoors.