NoLuck

Try using the Palsa stick on foam indicators. They are about half a dime size. I use tbh midges all the time and with a 5/64 bead it almost pulls it under. If it drags the bottom it bounces the float under almost. You can tell the difference from a drag and a hit once you get used to using them but, in the mean time I always set the hook regardless. The worst thing that could happen is you get snagged or you half to cast again. Good mending is a needed skill anyway so you will get plenty of practice trying to figure out what works best. Sometimes a perfect drift is not what catches fish. Play around with different types of drag on the nymph and you will learn what they are looking for.

I use an indicator pretty much for all my dead drift fishing. I try to use the bare minimum floatation though. If you use too big of an indicator you are probably missing hits. I use the small stick on Palsa floats. The only drawback to them is once stuck they don't move easily. Fishing with an indicator also causes a few things you need to deal with. Getting your fly down quickly and mending to keep it there is key. But learning to identify how fish are taking the bug will catch you more fish. Pay attention to what was going on when you are getting strikes. Lots of times I get hits as I am just starting to pick up the line for the next cast. That should tell you that the fish are hitting rising bugs. Adjust your technique to fish that way and you will catch a lot more fish. I guess if you are fishing the typical Bennett store "flys" indicator fishing is almost a must. Find the depth they want and use 6 or 7x tippet in flourocarbon and you will catch fish consistently.

Rod is still available

Maybe if I lose my job and get mamed by a Mt. Lion and can't afford the medical bills. I know they've been discontinued but they still are worth more than that. I have seen them selling for close to $500.00 so it is still cheaper for this one used. I'll give it away as a gift before I sell it that cheap. Sorry.

I bought a new toy so it's time to move the old one. The 590-4 Z-Axis is about 2 years old and in excellent shape. The grip is a little dirty but other than that a good wash and wax and it will look like new. I'd like to get $400.00 for it. PM me if interested. I sent in the warranty card but if you live locally and have a problem we could work out something if you need it repaired or replaced. It still has the tube and sleeve too. Take care, Rich

Just to clarify I think Weavers is the ONLY website with a report about Bennett that I am aware of, unless you consider this forum a viable resource for a legitimate report. Sometimes it is if you can shuffle through the BS.

I've seen people that can throw 90' of line and can't cast to a fish worth a crap. Don't confuse being a good fly caster with a good fly fisherman. I am neither of course but I can tell the difference. Just like most college professors in the University's, they can teach but they can't all put it to use in the real world. Charlie will flat tell you that he don't fish bennett anymore. He has never given me a clear answer why that is, but that is what he says. I have never seen Jim Rogers on the stream as many years and days that I have been there either except for with a paying customer being taught. So getting them together to fish in a comp is highly unlikely, but it sure would be fun to watch for a bit.

The bench right next to the "Real" flyshop?? ??

Didn't they just cut weeds in the stream?? If so I would be fishing #18 and #20 olive scuds in tandem. JM2C

Is the park store fly shop in a different room than the regular grocery and souvenir store??. As long as I have been going there all I have ever seen is the stuff there by the counter near the tag sales counter and on the rear right as you walk in. They must have something else that you speak of other than that to speak so highly of.

Charlie can cast a flyrod just as good as any FFF certified casting instructor. Just because you have an official title doesn't necessarily mean you are better than anyone else. The park store in my opinion is good for things you just need in a hurry and don't feel like running to get elsewhere. I guess if you want a t-shirt or souvenir the park store is great. Myself if I want something from a real flyshop I'll go up to Charlie or to Larry's. Fort Bennett has just about anything you need if you don't feel like running to town.

I'm glad somebody could understand the ranger when they came through on the loud speaker. Between the rain on my roof and the wind I couldn't tell what he said. But I knew what he was trying to say so I jumped in the truck and headed down to the old bathroom but 2 people had 4 parking spots taken. I just stayed in my truck as I was on the down hill side of the campgrounds and as far as I know twisters don't travel down a steep slope. Fishing in the morning was ok at best for me but I didn't make it to the stream till about 10 each day. LOL I steadily picked up fish in Zone 2 and 1. I ate lunch and hit the stream again about 4:30 and fished till the whistle Sat and Sun eve above the dam and hammered them. You had to use a long tippet and a strike indicator with it dragging the midge over the weeds. Some people were trying to dry fly fish for the rising fish but they weren't hitting top. They were chasing emerging bugs. I didn't really see the numbers of fish as stl was talking about but there was plenty to catch . Zone 2 was pretty scarce as far as fish goes from the bridge down to the bluff. Usually right below the bridge hole you see a ton of fish swimming around in the rocky flat before the riffles. All in all it was a decent trip with the exception of all the people with their kids swimming pretty much in the stream while others were trying to fish.

I'll be headed down in the early morning. Hopefully I can find a spot to camp out for a couple of nights. CG#5 should be OK if I get there early enough. Cya on the stream!!

If you really want to get Charlie fired up ask him if he is a FFF certified casting instructor. I saw a guy ask him that once. Man was that a show!!

Pat, I won't give up on them just yet. I have been down on days when they will just about hit one on every single drift and the next day you can't get them to take one. I seem to always figure out something though that I have tied up that works pretty good though. I need to get my CB's stocked back up for stripping and swinging. My midges need a good stocking too. Maybe when I get a few days off and I'm not wore out I'll get to it and stock up. Let me know when you guys are headed down and I may try to get down if I'm free..

I like Charlie too. He is just a little opinionated about somethings that I know are different from his opinion. He does have a vast knowledge of the sport and it's beginnings though. I just figure if I'm in a hurry that I need to get in and out without discussing something of an opinionated subject. Someday I will have him whip me up one of his custom rods so I can pass it on to someone. It would make a good heirloom.

Wayne , That may be the truth. He could get more fishing done if he would cut his speaches a little shorter and organize a little better. Everytime I go in that place I end up looking more than anything just to see what I can find. You would be amazed at what he has in there and he probably doesn't even know where it is. LOL

The Friday that we will get there is the 26th Pat. Maybe by then I can tie up enough flies for fishing. By the looks from Mic's report about the P&P midges and others I need to try something new since they quit working and are not worth trying anymore.

Hey Jerry, Put the last weekend of August on your schedule. My brother and I will be there Friday morning through Tuesday. Maybe we can do the GTG again and get everyone to cook out or something. I'll be camping on the same spot as last year in campground #4. Let me know if you can do this and you can use our grill and stuff so you don't have to eat out so much. Cya soon, Rich

I have another plant shutdown coming next Saturday so I can't do the whole weekend. If we get done saturday I may shoot down Sunday for the day. It looks like the water is starting to get down to a decent level for fishing again. Maybe even good enough to do some dry fly fishing.

I'm not fat and one eyed!! LOL Pat if you look around you can find all kinds of stuff for making up flys. As for wire on them small midges the smaller diameter wire the better. Tie them as sparse as possible with all the key elements and just enough to make it look like what you want.

Jerry, If the water keeps going the way it has been you better get a full sink line. I was down 2 weekends ago and the water was almost back down to normal with a light murky color to it. You really had to make sure you were fishing deep. Your tippet needed to be almost 2.5 times deeper than the actual water to get it down with the current. Also don't let the color fool you. Use 6 or 7x tippet even with the murkiness. I can almost always get away with 5x with that color of water but not this time I didn't.Most of the fish were pretty small too. You keep hearing reports of bigger fish but I have not seen them yet. Maybe in the crowded holes at the outlets and the gut hole they are bigger but I stay away from them places. The P&P midge was almost useless this trip and I ended up using a lime green midge and did pretty well. If you get a sinking line an olive crystal bugger was working pretty well too. Hopefully as soon as this water gets right I'll get back down there.

Bucket Mouth!!!

For mountain lions being unlikely to attack, there sure are plenty of ways that they have come up with to keep one from attacking you. LOL Almost makes it seem to me that it is more likely to attack than not attack by the amount of things that you should NOT do. LOL

I don't know if there was any real talk of actually putting one in. I just think that people were talking about needing one there more than anything. It sure would make the place a lot nicer if you didn't have to wade yourself through the gut holes to get out to where the real fishing takes place. At least where normal fishing is for Bennett anyway. If you get away from the gut holes and fish with natural flys and use a natural presentation you will find yourself catching fish throughout the day. Sometimes it is just how fish are feeding more than anything. Fish tend to feed early and late unless there is some kind of weather coming through and then you may catch them feeding at any time that weather makes them get up and active. Sometimes you just have to put something out there that they really want or makes them strike regardless if they are hungry or not. Stimulators and flys of that nature just plain work. If you get into fish that have been in the stream a while, they feed more like a naturally reared trout. They find a place and just feed on what ever comes by that looks like what they are feeding on at that particular time. So chances are if you are not catching fish on the correct flys you are either using the wrong presentation at the time or they just ain't biting at the time. JM2C