NoLuck

Aweber, What you are talking about is potential. I don't think anyone on this forum has questioned the potential of Bennett What everyone is concerned about is the lack of quality fish. I don't need to catch a 5lber evry time on the water but it would be nice to catch some decent size fish. I fished Montauk yesterday and the size of fish there is way better than Bennett. There has to be a solution to the temporary lack of size. MO has how many hatcheries in MO?? It seems to me that they could do a swap with other nearby hatcheries to mix up the sizes a little. JMO. I still catch tons of fish there. The problem is all the fish are about 1/2 of what the size they should be. All of the good holes that used to hold fish are filled in and where there is a hole there are 4 times as many people around them. I like faster water myself so no big deal to me but, when the once or twice a year angler sees you hauling in fish they tend to think, that must be where they need to be fishing. Then you have 6-8 people trying to fish in a small run where you need to get a good drift with some length to it to catch fish. The highbank hole is the prime example. When I was younger I would always wonder why nobody hardly ever fished that stretch of water. When you did see someone that knew how to fish they were catcing fish in that stretch. Eventually people caught on and were forced out of the nonexistant deep pools af water that held fish in big clusters. You even have people lining the banks now in the highbank stretch because of this. 10 years ago you never had this. They dont even hesitate to walk in on you and cast right where you are trying to fish. This is a people issue, but it is the result of not having places for these types of fisherman to fish because of lack of pools and access to the water that holds fish. I mean hell, why don't they just open the hatchery to fishing if the want it to be this easy to get to a place to fish. Put a sidewalk the entire length of the stream down both sides. This is the type of people that the trout parks want fishing there anyway. They spend money on their fishing stuff there at the stores in the park. Flyfisherman tend to bring their own stuff and don't spend much money other than things they just forgot to bring. Don't get me wrong I like Bennett a lot. I grew up fishing there 3-4 times a year. It was crowded then just as it is now. If they dredge people get bent about that but if they let the holes fill in then you have less pockets of fish holding water for novice anglers. It's a balancing act that to me, it seems like they gave up on. Money is somewhat of an issue I'm sure, but these places are cash cows from my opinion. The money is being spent now in an obvious place, the new hatchery facility. But after that,they need to get on the ball and fix what is wrong with Bennett. All they would have to do is listen to the people that love the place and care about it. Not the people that come there once a year and spend a bunch of money in their stores.

Jeff I was there Tuesday till about 7pm. I fished Z1 and Z2 and the fish in the stream are pretty much dinks. I caught a couple of decent fish in 2 just below the riffles in the highbank hole but they were few and far between. I walked the stream up to the Holland Dam and that is probably the least amount of fish I have seen in Bennett in 10 years. I still caught good numbers though. I rolled in about 8am and started fishing about 8:30am. Caught close to 20 in the first couple hours but all small fish. Moved down to Z2 and caught about 25 there in about 3 hours. Then they just seemed to shut down. Went to get a bite to eat and returned to spotty fishing at best so I stayed till about 7pm and headed out. I'll head down to Montauk in the morning Friday and then down to the river below the park to try my luck a little. Maybe I'll hook up with one of those nice browns that have moved up if there are any left from the bait fishermen.

Laker I can relate to your assesment of the quality of fish lately at Bennett. I have not been down since the end of April but I'm sure it hasn't changed much. I fished montauk the first weekend of May and I was pretty impressed with the size of fish there. For some reason they just are not stocking Bennett with the same quality of fish as Montauk. Same as you I have never had any problem catching fish but, they just are small fish. Once in a while you will catch a few decent fish but not regularly. It's easy to see that if Montauk was as popular as Bennett the same thing would likely happen to the quality of fish. The flyfishing spike I think is due to the higher prices of gas. People just don't have to spend as much money as the would if they had a boat to bass fish and such. So I think we are getting those people coming down and wade fishing and keeping a bunch of fish that are normally left by the regulars at Bennett of years past. Rough times call for creative ways to feed the family and wildlife has taken a hit in my opinion. I could be wrong, but that is just an observation on my part. I'm hoping that the new hatchery operation gets the fish but up to the quality that it once was. It will take a few years but, I think it will help.

I guess all the hot weather has kept the stream empty and unfished by OAF anglers. I"m back in town for a couple of weeks and I'm headed down to Bennett Tuesday for the day. Look me up if you are there. Red F-150 4X4 Ext cab with a #20 sticker on the back window. Cya all, Rich

OK I'm back now. I'll be here for a couple of weeks. If I don't sell this rod I'll take it back to NC with me and have my buddy sell it on FeeBay. This rod is getting pretty hard to find now. It's a great rod in great condition. The only reason I quit using it was because the BIiT fits my casting style better. Thanks guys Rich

I'll be back in town for a week or 2 starting the weekend after the 4th of July. Rod is still at home while I have been gone for a couple of months.

I'm glad someone is able to get to fish. I'm stuck in NC on a job for a while. Maybe I'll be home later this month but maybe not. I will be there for sure at the end of August though with the brother. Glad you had a good time and thanks for the report.

Perfectly legal. It's been discussed multiple times. Do a search and you will find a bunch of threads about it.

Eric, not all of the fish in there are"freshly stocked morons". When you start to catch fish that have white tips on their fins you know they have been in the stream for a while. I find it odd that you can't see that many fish caught at trout parks have reverted to natural habits. Just say that you don't like trout parks and you are a better fisherman than people that do. Don't beat around the bush.

Yeah Pat I just feel the need to rub a little when I have the chance to. Which isn't often. I just hope you can make it. I'm still bringing the captain though. I like it better than beer. Plus no hangover for me. I should have plenty of time while we hang out in camp to tie up some stuff. My supply is pretty much wiped out so I'll tie up a few dozen of various colors. Anyway I hope you can make it.

The way that the stream is stocked is with an average over the last couple of years is what I understand. Last year was a pretty busy spring from what I can remember. The previous spring was also a busy spring. How exactly they put in fish is beyond what I can figure out. I think there are more people keeping fish from what I saw. Usually in zone 1 about half of the people there are keeping fish. This year and last year it seemed to me that I saw more people keeping stringers full of fish. I caught decent numbers of fish even though I didn't see a bunch. The guys that I was with caught quite a few as well. Not setting the world on fire but steady. It seemed like they just quit biting though at one point. As soon as school is out and the vacationers all start pouring in the numbers will increase. I just hope that I can get down there and to Montauk to do more fishing this year. Montauk seemed like the fish were bigger on average and lots more fish to me. I fished there two Sundays ago and did pretty well. Most of the fish I caught were way nicer than the fish I have been catching at Bennett. You have to fish it a little different but after you figure it out the fishing to me is better.

I fished it a couple of weeks ago. It was super crowded and the stream seemed to be lacking the numbers of fish that I am used to seeing on busy weekends. Most people I seen that were catching any kind of numbers were using globalls.

Same time as last year Pat. But you made it last year for the weekend. You got plenty of time to get someone to fill in for you. My brother says he has to have someone there that catches less fish than he does. LOL JK. He has picked up the midging method pretty well. I may have to have to put in an order for you to tie up some midges for me if I don't get back home soon enough. I'm in NC right now just about an hour northeast of Charlotte. I'm hoping to be home sometime around the middle of July. I'll bring the Captain and the chocolate beer again. Cya there, Rich

Hey Gang, My brother and I will be at Bennett 8/24-8/28 for our annual vacation. We'll be in CG#4. Hopefully the weather will be like it was last year. Last year it was a great time and this year shouldn't be much different. Hope to cya all there, Rich

Time heals all Pat. Just be thankful for the time you had them and the memories they left you. Dogs are better than a best friend sometimes.

OK guys and gals, I need to move this rod it's collecting dust plus I bought a new truck and it needs some goodies. I would rather sell this rod locally if possible. If I have to ship it the shipping will be totally on the buyer. $350.00 bottom dollar. If it's not sold here I'll put it on eBay. I am in town for another week or so starting Friday.

Fishing was pretty average. Not great but not bad either. BH prince nymph seemed to work best. I fished the upper part down to the narrow area by the bluffs. It's been a while since I fished there so I just need to get tuned in to what they want.

Ruthead I am not 100% sure but I believe its about 60 miles.

Ruthead, I didn't stay at Bennett. I am going to Montauk Tuesday for the day. Hopefully I will get back down to Bennett before I ship off to someplace for work. I had to get home to get my personal property taxes straight and plates for the camper today. Maybe I'll get down this coming weekend bfore heading off to Ohio for a week. Just remember to get a good drag free drift at Bennett, and fish on the bottom.

Made it down Sunday the 22nd. Weather wasn't the greatest to say the least. Got on the stream around 8:25. Yeah I know it wasn't at the whistle. I hate fishing on a time clock so I come and go when I want during fishing hours. I started fishing at the end of the highbank hole. First drift and hooked up. Nice bow close to 2 lbs. After that I continually caught fish for close to 2.5 hours. Drove around a little looking around to see who and what was there. Didn't see any familiar faces so I grabbed a bite to eat and then made it back to the stream around 12:30. In the afternoon rain came and went multiple times. The wind was pretty gusty and the sun only shined for a few minutes here and there. There was a nice hatch of PED's but I could only get a few fish to take my #18 copy. I caught quite a few fish below the spring before the gauge house. Most people I saw were really having a rough time catching fish. The stream didn't seem to have the numbers of fish that I have seen reported on the local report. People also were not catching like the report said either. Of course the people reporting to the reporter may have been bait fishing though. Anyway, I fished TBH midges and did pretty well. I caught close to 40 fish from 8:30 am till 5:45 pm. You had to really put a lot of effort into making sure you had a good drift without any drag on your line. I fished as deep as I could without getting snagged up on the bottom. If you didn't you were not catching fish. Used multiple colors but the olive with black wire and smoked nickel bead worked best. The bites were very slight. If the indicator moves set the hook. I probably hooked 10 fish in the top of the nose because they were hitting so lightly. Plus I had a ton of LDR's. Used 6x tippet with no problems. I probably could have gotten away with 5x. I may be able to squeeze out one more day before its back to the grind. Dang it!! Have fun fishing guys.

Be down in the AM. Can't wait to wet a line for the first time this year. White Ranger EDGE either at the highbank hole or by the run below the spring. Changing out my felts to studded clingy rubber right now. I don't care at all if I even catch a fish really. Just gotta get the rod out.

Pat, Some times the money just isn't worth the trade off. I will buy a new truck here shortly if I ever get home long enough to sell my old one and buy one. Montauk is better if you just run on down to Rolla and head south on 63. I've done it both ways from Lebanon and the 44 to 63 is just as fast and it's only about 17 miles different. From the looks of things I may not get much time off to do any fishing. This job is expected to last close to 3 years if it goes as planned. We have our equipment out on a string of barges pushed up to the gates. I guess I should buy my license to fish here so I can fish on lunch. I was supposed to be on my way home tomorrow morning but like usual that is out the window. Screwed again!! Oh well, I'll text you when I get some time.

Looks pretty quiet around here. I think the price of travel has put a big damper on a lot of folks this year. I know I won't be able to be down much this summer because I'll be working all over gods creation again. I'm hoping this coming week the water will go down some and I can get down for a day or two. I'm in NC right now till mid-week then home for a few days off to get some financial stuff taken care of. Fun Fun.

Hope you guys that got to go fishin had a good time . My job screwed me out of a weekend that I was supposed to be off. I'm getting pretty tired of being yanked around. Tired of being treated like a tool in a tool box. Good fishin everyone.

The rod is still available. I'll be in and out of St.Louis for the next month or so. PM me if you are interested.