NoLuck

Well Snagged, You can be the test monkey and go down and find out for us. Make sure you report back to us and clarify the rules.?

Hah!!! I have no secrets. Just fish slong side me and I'll teach you how to catch fish. Just don't blame me if your reaction time isn't quick enough to set the hook without breaking the line. ?

Dang guys..... Don't tell everyone my secrets to fishing Bennett or anywhere else that there are fish. LOL i always fish my way to where I wade. Sometimes I never make it past ankle deep. The murky water sure messes up people that can't see the fish.

I fished Saturday afternoon for a couple hours up at the spring. Water is still up to almost 3ft and pretty murky. The flow was pretty strong. Didnt see many people catching anything to speak of. I managed about 20 fish by fishing deep with a lot of weight and a huge mend to get it down to the bottom. This coming weekend should be petty decent as long as they don't get a large amount of rain by then.

Thanks for the info 10pnt. Hopefully things will get back to a normal routine down there soon. I'm sure the local economy depends a lot on people visiting that and other parks along that waterway. How does a person go about becoming a volunteer to help clean up??? Just show up and offer help?? Or is a waiver of liability signature required??

How did the rest of the park fair 10pointer??? Lodge,CG's,cabins.... Etc.??

It's getting expensive for the taxpayers, bkbying... Either way you look at it, it's a major hit to the system. At some point you have to look at options to keeping the process sustainable and viable.

That looks great compared to Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

NoLuck should be back this weekend hopefully. Almost a month on the road this time. At least I got to fish a little this time around. Nice 16-18" rainbows at the stream fed pond here at the ranch.

I just tossed my last stack of tags in the fire pit last weekend. If I remember correctly it was well over 120,000 tags for adults. Not counting the kids.

I'm thinking trout magnets is what he's referring too, Dave.

First pic was of the crowd at the horn. The second pic was of a guy fishing while wet wading wearing flip flops. ? It was about 44 degrees at the horn.

I've been here since Tuesday afternoon. I didn't fish at the whistle Wednesday but I fished about 12:30 till 4:30 and did OK. There's a ton of moss or algae being kicked up by people wading in places that got grown up over the winter. The wind has been a nuisance the last few days. But as long as you keep your casts short and keep at them you can catch fish. I was kinda hoping for a little colder weather and smaller crowds personally. But it's all good. Fish sizes are kinda mixed. But I have seen some nice ones.

You didn't see me catching fish, Jerry. I was standing on the bridge watching everyone. It started off like it was going to be pretty in crowded. Then at about 6:20 people came out of the weeds and the place got packed.

It's blowing everywhere else too!!

Bought my tag around 3:30 or so and got #327. From the looks of it , I'm thinking it's gonna be a small crowd tomorrow.

Hoping for a little rain to keep the woods damp so we can enjoy a nice campfire this year. Without setting the woods on fire that is....

That's good to hear, Jerry!!

Dang Jerry! Sorry to hear that. Hope she gets to getting better. Keep us posted and informed.

I've got some left Pat. Not a ton, but as long as it doesn't rain much I'll be good. Not sure if Mike got a fire pit or not yet. I guess I need to buy another load of seasoned wood.

Buiser than Bennett??? Not sure about that Gavin. Especially with all the floaters that float the Niangua and stay at Bennett campgrounds. I could be wrong though.

Lots of "homers" to go along with the pros too. Good show all around.

Figured I'd get it started. Anyone going to try to make the opener this year?? I'll be down to watch the circus at the whistle. Then if it clears out a little I'll fish some. I'm thinking with a midweek opener the crowd shouldn't be too bad.

I'll be there Saturday for sure. Sunday may just be a drive home day after a good nights sleep. ruthead, most people I saw struggling were people that were normal season fisherman. I think small and the right presentation was more of the recipe as opposed to depth. I think as long as you were drifting near the sight plane of the fish you were OK. Lots of folks using clunky globalls and huge floats too. Those fish have been in the stream a little longer than the usual daily stockers. Use some finesse and you'll be fine.

Rut head, I was down New Years weekend. I tried to see from the bank what they did above the dam and really couldn't tell much. I think all they did was dig out the holes that were normally there like was before the floods moved the gravel around. It it looked like they were starting to build a pier out to the hole above the Holland dam. Some gravel built up about 12 ft out from the bank but that's it. The equipment was still there parked between the dam and the restrooms by the Holland dam on the field side. Long arm excavator, skid steer and tractor I think. I thought I heard someone say they dug out from the dam back to the old wooden dam. Don't know.... I couldn't tell and I didn't fish there. I fished from the spring down to the flats below the Holland dam to the bend. Fishing was pretty good for me. Others not so well. Midges and more midges. Plus a size 24 or 26 copper brassie thrown in the mix. Bounce em along the bottom.