Bennett Springs Public Access, 11-12-09

[FishinCricket]

It was definitely an interesting afternoon of fishing. Let me preface this with the admission that I am still getting comfortable with the fly rod. Since we were fishing a stretch of water that I am very experienced with I chose to bring along my ultralight as well (which isn't easy in waders) to bolster my confidence. It had exactly the opposite effect, I was too busy positioning myself to fish with the jigs and swimmers and was not concentrating on the fly fishing. After much cajoling of myself (and a little bit of good humored cajoling from Wrench) I decided to put away the spinning rod and concentrate solely on my fly technique. This (and having Wrench tie my whole set up, loan me a fly and some weight, and give me constant advice) worked. He didn't have to cast it for me, but I betcha I woulda hooked a few more if he had! lol

The river is still a touch high but is plenty clear and seems to be fishing good. They just stocked the river that morning we were told....

We spent all 5 hours within walking distance of Bennett's public access. wrench got most of his bites on a leach or a pinecone fished in the deep pockets of the first set of riffles there, including one pig that "took him almost to his backing".. his words, not mine. lol (insde joke) Wrench ended up with around 15 fish to hand, this was the fighter:

As for my day? I hooked one with the kastmaster before deciding to put the ultralight away. From there the catching was a little slow until I figured out the drift. that's not exactly true though, as my second trout came when I was stripping a stonefly (I am told this is an unorthodox way of using a stonefly, but hey it worked!).. Fact is I pretty much fumbled my way into hooking a few, but I have plenty of work left to do on my casting and drifting skills, and I am still clueless about what lures are worked best which way..

Needless to say I spend much of my time in life confused over the things I enjoy.. lol (at least I am honest)

Switched later to one of Wrench's leeches and had some luck with it too. ended the day with 5 trout to hand, 2 that were LDR's, and one on the ultralight. (all stockers for me, but one with some interesting colors) most of my fish were caught below the lower island in the deeper water... But I did manage one or two in the riffles with Wrench. I was more interested in watching his technique, or at least that's the excuse I am using...

Wrench can come in with the particulars of what we were using and how.. all I know is his old butt got tired and I caught the last fish of the day! that means I WON! lol

[brownieman]

Looks like you guys had a decent day.

Cricket.. remember if you don't keep an eye on wrench those fish to hand, he'll count a chub on ya, lol

Glad you guys had a good one....I'd like to froth that water behind wrench in that pic, that water looks nice...gotta be some big browns in there lookin for a fight.

Having never fished there how much of that river looks similar to the water in that pic ?

Anyway..good weather,

later

[FishinCricket]

Looks like you guys had a decent day.

Cricket.. remember if you don't keep an eye on wrench those fish to hand, he'll count a chub on ya, lol

Glad you guys had a good one....I'd like to froth that water behind wrench in that pic, that water looks nice...gotta be some big browns in there lookin for a fight.

Having never fished there how much of that river looks similar to the water in that pic ?

Anyway..good weather,

later

Quite a bit of it really.. It's running a little high, but I'd love to run you downstream in the john boat some day and show it to you.. You and wrench and I could make a day of it..

Don't feel too flattered though cause:

A: I've made that offer to pretty much everybody on here (lol)

B: I'm really not that fun to be around.. I'm kind of a goof.

Peace

[Paola Cat]

Cricket ..... Was there a bunch of fish below the island? Just wondering. PC

[FishinCricket]

Cricket ..... Was there a bunch of fish below the island? Just wondering. PC

Seemed like there were. (they had just stocked) To be honest there are usually quite a few through there before that hole gets too slow and long, moreso after a stocking.. But they (oddly) weren't really in that smaller run next to the island like they usually are.. That side has been blown out pretty hard from the floods, but it looked blue and rushing, with overhangs here and there and some cover underwater.... but no takers until we got out into the deeper hole.. It was around 5-6 ft deep with no obstuctions that I am aware of and we were stripping the lure slowly, running it about 2 feet deep...

This was the point when I was stripping a stonefly in a big goofy arc.. Hey, It worked though.. lol (confidence, eh?)

[fishinwrench]

Cricket is downplaying his skills, he is making the transformation to flyfishing, with style. He'll be outfishing me with regularity in no time at all. You young studs got it easy, all the info and resources you need is right at your fingertips now. There was no such thing as internet when I got started, and the library wasn't much help either back then because all of the books were written 100 years ago by cranky old farts that fished rivers I'd never even heard of. And the guys that were truly good back then would not take anyone under their wing and help.... they truly enjoyed watching us struggle.

Brownie, All of the Niangua looks prime....but the big Browns just ain't there in decent numbers. Nevertheless you are more than welcome to come and prove me wrong. As I've said before "If only they could/would stock and manage it like the Current I'd never have a reason to fish anywhere else".

I went down again today with a buddy from home, intention was to fish the C&R opener on the Spring branch but it was way too crowded for our taste so we hit the same stretch of river again. Cricket and I must have soremouthed all the leech eaters cuz I couldn't buy a bite fishing the same way we did Thursday.

I managed 8-9 rainbows by shortlining nymphs to certain little holding spots with lots of weight. If you weren't ticking bottom today you just were not getting bit. One guy was fishing in a spot where I knew there was a fish or two, but he said he hadn't had a bite. After I told him all my fish had come right off the bottom he added a big hunk of tungsten putty to his leader and stuck one on the second drift. The wind made it kinda tough to detect the bites and I know I missed quite a few takes.

My partner didn't fare so well nymphing but he made up for it late in the day when he came across a pod of fish that were rising to take his #14 black beetle ... Apparently I quit carrying my terrestrials box about 2 weeks too soon. I tried a bunch of other drys but couldn't get a rise, they wanted that black Beetle and that was all there was to it.

We took a walk downstream and jumped a HUGE Grandaddy buck...I'm talkin' about a big, thick, non-typical monster !

Cricket, we each caught one of those real pretty ones with the bright pinkish/gold gill plates today. I don't know what the deal is with those, but they sure are cool looking....and fat.

[FishinCricket]

Cricket is downplaying his skills, he is making the transformation to flyfishing, with style. He'll be outfishing me with regularity in no time at all.

Geeez, I'm blushing.... Thanks fo the compliment, sincerely.

You young studs got it easy, all the info and resources you need is right at your fingertips now. There was no such thing as internet when I got started, and the library wasn't much help either back then because all of the books were written 100 years ago by cranky old farts that fished rivers I'd never even heard of. And the guys that were truly good back then would not take anyone under their wing and help.... they truly enjoyed watching us struggle.

Well then I am glad that the guys that are truely good today are of a different disposition.

Brownie, All of the Niangua looks prime....but the big Browns just ain't there in decent numbers. Nevertheless you are more than welcome to come and prove me wrong. As I've said before "If only they could/would stock and manage it like the Current I'd never have a reason to fish anywhere else".

His technique would work just as well for those big smallies in those tricky spots.. And I have seen a few browns that would reach a lil higher than a "dink"... lol

Cricket, we each caught one of those real pretty ones with the bright pinkish/gold gill plates today. I don't know what the deal is with those, but they sure are cool looking....and fat.

Maybe they were a batch that was in with the stockers? I should have taken a picture of him, he was really pretty..

I'm probably gonna try and make it down there on Sunday, but don't know if I will venture into the park or stay out there.. I want to try the area just below the outlet into the river, I know every rock there (retrieving kastmasters will teach you real quick) so I think I can work that same technique... Wish me luck?

[oneshot]

Thanks for the report.I was there below the Bridge other day had one Spooled me then broke off about 5 foot from me I was measuring for the Mount maybe I should have waited until I had her in the Net. Sure was fun though.

Had a Guy at Barclay said he was catching a bunch of Browns and he wasn't Trout Fishing.

oneshot

[FishinCricket]

Thanks for the report.I was there below the Bridge other day had one Spooled me then broke off about 5 foot from me I was measuring for the Mount maybe I should have waited until I had her in the Net. Sure was fun though.

Had a Guy at Barclay said he was catching a bunch of Browns and he wasn't Trout Fishing.

oneshot

You keep working on it, you'll get that one mounted eventually... How big do ya think it was? (You do know you can get a mount from a picture now, right? Catch that monster and take a pic, then toss em back and give me a chance at him?)

Oh, and thanks for the info about the browns.. I think I may have just decided what hole to hit on wednesday...

[Wayne SW/MO]

(You do know you can get a mount from a picture now, right? Catch that monster and take a pic, then toss em back and give me a chance at him?)

...and its a lot cheaper!