trout fanatic

Well, I had plans to go to Bennett Springs todat but took a spill at work and broke my right wrist (2 hours of surgery). Pain bad-Drugs good. Guess I will fish vicariously thru you guys for a little while so keep them reports comin. Dale

Green or gray does work and very well. Pink tho, is one of my hottest colors. I think its a vision/color spectrum thing more than a "matching the hatch" thing-but, for whatever reason pink works well for me.

Found this article in the Aug 24th edition of the KC Star and thought I would submit it for your comments..A small article that I have quoted verbatim, don't be confused by the quotation marks-they were included because they were in the article (presumably a direct quote from an administrative document?) Mining regulations: The Bush administration wants to quit requiring coal operators to prove that their surface mining will not damage streams, fish and wildlife. Under proposed regulations that it will put out today for public comment, strip mine operators would have to show only that they intend to prevent such damage "to the extent possible using the best technology currently available." I don't want to turn this into a political debate because it will get us nowhere but given the vast number of mining accidents that occur routinely in mining operations this does not bode well for our ecology. I am willing to bet that states like Pennsylvania and West Virginia our gonna take one on the chin. I simply cannot fathom that relaxing current regulations will help decrease the number of accidents/spillages. But big business is the beneficiary of this strategy and we will either have to swallow this very bitter pill or learn to do something about it. What are your thoughts on this article?

Great story! Lookin forward to the photos that go with it.

Knots are my nemesis. I have never seen a diagram that I understood. Those loop to loop thingamabober doohickies throw me for a loop (sorry) I could never commit suicide by hanging cuz my knot would slip. I would have flunked out of boy scouts (I left before that happened). That being said, I use speed nail knot for line to leader, surgeons for the tippet and clinch for a dropper. There, I said it. Your humbled friend Dale

I hear ya fw, I been feelin the same kinda way. Just found out my buddy may be off tuesday so we may be goin back down there then. Gotta a new caddis larva pattern I need to test out but I almost hate to tear myself away from the top long enough to do it

Hey Zach, I've consulted with the "Good Karma fishing gods" and they seem to think that you may owe some unsuspecting young kid in the future a $5 donation towards a rod or reel of his choice--LOL

I have yet to fish Bennett during a discernable hatch. I have heard of a black caddis that hatches there but have never personally seen it. Been having pretty good luck lately on top though (the usual fare, cracklebacks, midges and elk hair caddis flies. Amm going again around the 29th, will let everyone know how we do. With that spastic leg kick, hmmmmm, I'm thinkin a soft hackle might be the ticket-maybe a partridge and yellow?

If given a choice of the day before, the day of or the day after, I would certainly not pick the day of. I don't think there will be too much difference between the day before or the day after though. The river does a great job of cleansing itself of the weeds etc so they won't be a contributing factor the day after. So if it were me, I would pick the day that best fit my schedule and not worry about it. Tight lines, and good luck. Dale

Guess I am getting lazy in my tying, I leave off the peacock herl. Just use superfine dubbing for the body (all sorts of colors) and normally either grizzly or brown hackle. Fished both dry and wet seems to work equally well for me. Definitely one of my go to patterns.

I have fished there on 3 occasions when they were cutting and indeed, it is a miserable time. The weeds gather around your legs, sometimes you can find a clear spot or two to make a cast and drift though. My last trip our two largest fish headed straight for the weed clumps and broke us off. We still caught fish though, but not as many as usual. They have two boats that they can use to cut the weeds but the last time they only used one and they started cutting in zone 3. Had I been smart (something I have never been accused of) I would have headed directly to zone 1 (I was fishing in zone 2) and increased my fishing time. It has been my experience that they usually finish about 3:30 and it takes about another hour for most of the river to clear again. If they start in zone 1, head straight for there (it will be the first area to clear out). I face a two hour (1 way) drive to get there, so if it were me, I would schedule for another time-but then again, it still beats work!

I am only aware of a few negatives of this line. The braided lines soak up water and therefore freezes up during cold weather fishing. Be sure to keep your drag set as too many fishermen buy the higher test stuff. Somethin has to give when a big fish or rock takes the lure and often times its the rod. Other than that its a very sensative line and works well IMO. Dale

I ate some once.

Them grins is bigger that the pheesh. Way to go

A friend and I went to Bennett Springs today. Astonished at the number of anglers pretty much elbow to elbow, but most of us behaved ourselves and had a good time. Caught about 20 between the two of us so the fishing was a little slow, most were caught on top with cracklebacks and EHC's. Also tried a new pattern (at least for me) called Matts midge (recipe to follow). Missed a brute on the new fly when I set the hook to early (Doh, I hate it when I do that). Caught another on it shortly thereafter. Overall nice day to be immersed in a cool stream. Matt's Midge: Hook: Size 18-24 standard dry fly hook. Body: Black thread wing: Pattern calls for z-lon (white) I used poly yarn. collar: Grizzly hackle sized to hook. No tail, this is an easy tie and a pretty nice looking fly, I will be using it again on my next shakedown cruise

Just to add my thoughts to the mix. Last year I bought the TFO 10 foot Pro 7 weight for steelhead fishing in the great lakes tribs. It handled the job fine and I wasn't tired after a long day of swinging big streamers (okay, change that to read "wasn't too tired"-almost forgot how old I was, slinging steamers all day in a raging river is hard work but all the fun makes it pain free). The extra length makes for easy mending amd the price ($185) makes it bearable, especially with the TFO warranty service. In short, I like the rod

Good story. I am one jealous man. At least until next july when I head for colorado.

This is truly sad news. Prayers are on the way and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

We fish the lake erie tribs every winter for steelies, and this fly is one of our staples. This and the sucker spawn really kill them in the late winter early spring

Leonard: Best of luck. Nice site, I will be visiting often. Peace out

Thanks all. I shoulda knowed better. Oh well, it was still a lot better than working

Don't know why I didn't check that out. I usually do but my brain disengaged on me. Thanks for the reminder

Well, as i alluded to in my earlier post we went to Bennett this morning. Walked into the office to collect our tags and noticed the big sign that informed us that they would be cutting weeds from 9 am to 3:30 pm. Had this happen to us twice last year and it is not fun. Despite the frustrations of dodging 10 pound clumps of weeds every 2 seconds I suspose it wasn't too bad. We both caught about 10 fish each and both of us got broke off by our biggest fish of the day when they tangled up around (guess what). Lots of other fish got off too from tangling up in the weeds but several nice fish were brought to hand so I'm not gonna cry. Trout crack, caddis larvae, wet ants and white zebra midges all produced. If anyone knows of a web site where we can find out the mowing schedule-please post it (please please please). Thanks and tight lines all

A friend from work and I will be at Bennett tomorrow to shake off some rust. Got my terrestrials all lined up like little soldiers ready to do battle. Post a report on my return. If you happen to be down there stop by and say hi to the old phart wearin the KC Royals hat (I'll be the one with the silly grin on my face) Prob be in zone 2 but subject to change. Later Dale

Several years ago when I was stationed in sw oklahoma, I had an armadillo suddenly appear in the darkness in my duck blind. After confirming what it was with a flashlight I went to grab it (I had planned on tossing it out of my blind). Too make a long story short, it dug a hole and was out of sight before I could even grab it. Them suckers is fast!