DustyPockets

He caught it fair and square. Personally I would not have kept it but there are plenty more fish out there... and good for him. Only catch and release is below the rearing pools from the "lake" spring.

We were fishing what I call flat rock hole, Montauk regulars know it well, a couple hundred yards upstream from the dam. Well anyway fishing was slow and I decided to try out my new GoPro camera mounted to an aluminum extension pole. Camera has a waterproof case so I was filming sculpins, trout and whatnot. Just happened the guy next to me tied into the Brown so I did my best to film it. He told me later, 2 1/2 lbs. and took it to Salem to have it mounted. I do catch and release so i was a little bit disappointed he kept it. But he caught and I didn't so he can do whatever he darn well wants.

Not something real fancy but I shot some video from last weekends trip. A very nice Brown caught.

Remember there is plenty of river outside the park.

My brother caught a nice Rainbow @ the island last night, maybe 2lbs. Fishing today was pretty slow. Fished the island first thing, we each caught 3 or so. Decided to fish zone 3 (a rare thing for us), tossed in a worm and caught 2 but tough fishing.... This evening did ok with a green and yellow jig. My brother had a bit of trouble egressing the stream and got a little wet, we decided to call it an early night. Pork chops on the grill now at Larry's cabins. Looks like clearing skys.

Thursday the 19. Fished most of the day, now kicking back at our cabin @ Larry's having a cold one. The stream looks pretty good considering the amount of rain I understand they had here last weekend. Plenty of elbow room, no doubt Friday will be busier. Jigs on the island upstream of the dam this morning produced 5. A couple fish downstream of the bridge sight fishing on top later. If its your cup of tea the Hatchery outflow is holding a lot of fish. My brother caught 3 with a San Juan worm before they saw it too many times and quit biting. Cold front tonight so will see how tomorrow goes.

Wow the forecast looks fantastic but we are waiting till April. Went to opening day years ago on a whim, about 50 degrees cooler that trip.

I wish they would dip out a few pools downstream of the bridge and the hatchery outflow. In my opinion the prettiest part of the stream but holds very few fish.

Glad you enjoyed the float. My brother and I floated from Tan Vat to Cedar this July with a decent results. I would really like to camp next trip. Interesting story on this float. About 200 yards below Tan Vat we came across a fellow wading. He introduced himself but I have forgotten his name. He had half a dozen Montauk lunker patches and was on the hunt for big trout. He said he waded from Cedar to Tan Vat, I thought you did what! This was about 11:00 in the morning.

Larry's for the most part. Kelly (Larry's son) is pretty helpful. We stay there if the park is full. Park store for convience and from time to time drop in at Weavers, the new owners have expanded the shop and I will make it a point to buy more from them, BTW they have an online fishing report that is quite nice when planning a trip. Now on to Charlie........I will have to thank him, he sold me a nice little 3wt Echo fly rod that I use all the time. Charlie can be a little intimidating for the casual flyfisherman though. Oh unless your a world class fly caster............skip his casting pond and just sneak out the door....

I check the stream cam from time to time by habit. Looks like it is really moving, quick check of the gauge house shows about 2000 cfs. I recall years ago (maybe 25) we were there in the spring and it started storming one evening. The next morning was quite a sight, I remember looking at the dam, the water was going around the berm and the dam looked more like a giant ripple in the stream. If I recall the water was within 3 feet of the top of the arch on the bridge. Next morning trout were hanging in the brambles. There is a small sign on the west side of the bank near the bridge marking the high water from a later storm, pretty amazing how high the water can get.

For the most part small and straight from the hatchery, seems like they are getting smaller every year. Stream really cleared out last night, walked from the downstream end of the island upstream to the flow over rock dam and did not see a soul. Fished the island this morning but quite slow. Things picked up later, sight fished on top about 50 yards below the big bridge. Very surprised, caught 4 and lost several. Not every ones cup of tea but I fished the hatchery outflow creek. Probably 30 fish within the first 20 feet of the outflow, only caught one but should have caught ten they were really hitting. Be here till Wednesday am, need any info let me know.

Rolled into Bennett this afternoon. 4/9. Stream looks pretty good, water somewhat high as can be expected in the spring but clearing up. Caught 4 at the spring on a jig from 5:30 to the whistle so not great but not bad.

Sounds good to me, tech can be a good thing. Often check the weather/radar fishing. This got me thinking about our last trip to Montauk (last August). Got to the park and grabbed my phone........4 bars!. I was wondering if cell service would ever make it there. We would drive out of the park or climb up to the new water tower for service. This was on AT&T, my brother on Verizon never did get a signal, maybe this has changed. This was not made known to my brothers wife or my girlfriend. For the record there is NO service in Montauk, do not call I will not get it.......... Dusty

JL If I recall the fly shop was closer to the spring.

Interesting that your from the west coast and fish the Ozarks. As I sayed on my first post my brother and fishing buddy now lives in San Diego. I'm sure people wonder why he would fly half way across the country to fish the Ozarks. Of course we are familiar with it but more important the fishing is good, the people are friendly and to be honest you can fish a week have a great time and not break the bank.

Gator Guessed you passed thru our village from time to time then. Fishing here is what it is, not saying its bad but I will take Ozark water over flatland water most any day.

I do not recall the campground, when did it close?

Hi guys Stumbled upon this great forum a couple of weeks ago. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are heading to Missouri (Bennett Spring) every Easter with my dad, several of his friends and a dozen or so kids. We just had a ball. My brother and I still fish the Ozarks as much as time allows. He lives in San Diego now but loves to get out of the city. We usually have a long weekend at Bennett in the spring, this year 2nd week in April and a week at Montauk in the summer. Fish the park mostly but one day with a canoe from Tan Vat to Cedar Grove or Cedar to Akers, I prefer the Tan Vat to Cedar run myself. Bought several acres close to Bennett years ago, hopefully some day I can build a place there and be 5 minutes from the stream instead of 5 hours. Speaking of Bennett, anybody remember the old park store or the old Spring View fly shop?. I really loved Spring View..... had a nice comfy feel about it. Well I have rambled on long enough. Take Care Dusty