13 Lb Brown Landed Oct 1 @bssp

[10pointer]

so did he keep it? im guessing maybe with just the pic of the fish in the net that he let her go?

I wish i could have made it down to stay at rudy's to fish the holland down there this weekend. Oh well ill be at montauk next weekend and derby day at meramec the following weekend which is the last weekend of catch and keep. I cant wait for C&R!!!

[flyfishmaster]

Laker67 & fishinwrench,

Thanks for the updates. I was not trying to accuse anybody of any wrong doing I just saw the line in the article that indicated he "tied" it. So instantly in my mind I thought it was permanently attached to a hook.

So that now has my pea brain thinking... how can I make some soft plastic baits that I can slide on a hook that look like the flies I normally tie.

And finally congrats to Jack again.

Later,

FFM

[edward]

Anther Zone 3 Lunker. Wow. I have seen fine fish all up and down the spring branch, but I have seen more giant trout caught out of Zone 3 than anywhere else. Now this is just from my own observation, and the data may show otherwise. Has anyone else noticed this?

[DoveTail]

Zone 3 seems to have a lot of huge fish in it. The other areas also have big ones but I suppose more can move into Zone 3 from the river pretty easy. Kind of the same on the other trout parks where the big fish move in out of the rivers they feed.

[fishinwrench]

Anther Zone 3 Lunker. Wow. I have seen fine fish all up and down the spring branch, but I have seen more giant trout caught out of Zone 3 than anywhere else. Now this is just from my own observation, and the data may show otherwise. Has anyone else noticed this?

There are a lot of really good places for big fish to "hole up" in Z3 ...wouldn't ya love to fish it at night ?

As far as making little plastic critters,,, you can make an impression in a piece of plaster of paris, coat it with ceramic based paint (engine paint) once it has set up, then melt down your old bass worms in the micro-wave or in a pan on a hotplate and pour them.

OR, you can lay pieces of torn up worm in the mold and melt it into place with a soldering iron or worm welder. Pull your "critters" out while they are still pretty warm and drop them into ice water to cool.

Add a bit of cotton into the melted plastic and they will stay on the hook better, and hold scent if you choose to add any.

[laker67]

Anther Zone 3 Lunker. Wow. I have seen fine fish all up and down the spring branch, but I have seen more giant trout caught out of Zone 3 than anywhere else. Now this is just from my own observation, and the data may show otherwise. Has anyone else noticed this?

Edward,

Up to the time of the regulation change, Jack, Fred Grimes, Jeff Tiffenuer, Dave Bethurm, Kerry Daniels, Jim McGowin, myself and others, had a bonanza with zone 3. In August, large browns and a few rainbow would move out of the river into the cooler water of zone 3. We all caught large fish every year, mostly browns. Back then, all you had to do was spray some kind of scent on any fly to make it legal in zone 3. Rule of thumb, anything illegal in zones 1 and 2, was a legal bait in zone 3. Not the case now. Bennett is the only park that flies are illegal in the bait water. Jim Rogers stood on the band wagon to get that new rule change in effect, for what reason I do not know. We released all fish, so that we could catch them the following week. In the 15 years prior to the regulation change, several fish between 10 and 15 pounds were caught and released. The two largest browns caught at Bennett , one each in zones 1 and 2, were caught by Jack B. and Jeff Tiffenuer. Jack's fish was just over 16, and Jeff's fish was 16 pounds 15 ounces. Pretty respectable fish for a trout park. Several large rainbows have been caught over the years. In 1974, Bob Lamm caught a state record at 14.5 pounds. In the late 80's I caught a 14.5 and a 15 pounder. Both came from zone 2. Since then several rainbows 13 to 14 pounds have been caught. At least 4 of those fish have been caught by Jack. All of the fishermen listed above release at least 95% of the lunkers that they catch. Jack and Jeff have caught some where in the ball park of 15 to 16 hundred lunkers apiece. If Dave hadn't quit trout fishing 10 years ago, he would probably have 2000. Dave had the park record for most lunkers caught in one year at 89. That was at Bennett from march to october, winter season didn't count. I consider myself fortunate to have been friends and fished with the above mentioned fishermen. They are, without exception, some of the finest sportsmen and finest trout fishermen in Missouri. These guys wrote the book on catching large fish. A special thanks to Fred, who we lost a few seasons ago.

[jjtroutbum]

There are a lot of really good places for big fish to "hole up" in Z3 ...wouldn't ya love to fish it at night ?

There really should be at least a single night of the year for night fishing in each of the parks. It would be fun.

[edward]

I've never brought in anything bigger than 2 pounds out of the parks. Quite frankly, I've never had a true giant on. What is it that the consistant lunker catchers do differently?

[NoLuck]

I've never brought in anything bigger than 2 pounds out of the parks. Quite frankly, I've never had a true giant on. What is it that the consistant lunker catchers do differently?

They key on the big fish only. Meaning that they walk around and sight fish certain fish that they already staked out.

[10pointer]

^ very true, most people dont take the time to walk the stream and focus on the big ones, that and alot of people frankly dont see them. Ive been fortunate enough to usually catch a lunker on most of my trips to montauk.

it take years of practice of knowing how and what to use to catch them