May Fishing Report

[FlyFishinFool]

Went down to BSSP on Mon-Wed 5/5-5/7. Temperatures were very warm (mid-80's to low 90's) and the wind on Tue afternoon & Wed was strong - 15-20mph gusting to 25mph. Fishing in Zone1 was decent, I caught over 90 fish in 18 hours of fishing (3hrs starting at the whistle & 3hrs in the evening).

Most fish were average to OK, 12"-13+" 3/4lb, and fought well. Caught several pretty decent ones running 15" pushing 1.25-1.5lbs, and two that were well over 16" that I estimated at 2lbs (did not weigh, just C&R and keep on fishing). I used mostly dark beadhead midges (tungsten & brass beads) sizes 14-18. A couple of guys were having good luck drifting light-colored mini-jigs and several were doing good stripping green cracklebacks. I watched one guy take a bunch of fish throwing a Royal Coachman as a dry fly. Of course as always, there were a couple of folks taking fish throwing glo-balls. Drifting midges & other nymphs, and stripping green cracklebacks appeared to be the most productive methods.

With the Free Kids Day the prior weekend, the increase in crowds was not evident in Zone1. I heard from a couple of folks that Zone2 & Zone3 were a bit more crowded than a normal weekday since that was where they stocked the extra fish and a few lunkers for the kids. Over all a pleasant couple of days of fishing, warm weather, a bit of wind, some cooperative fish and the opportunity for a little solitude.

On the bad side, the muskrats continue to breed like crazy, I saw a lot of little ones, and looking at the trail side of the river is like looking a long brown strip of Swiss cheese - hopefully DOC will come to the realization that too much wildlife is not necessarily a good thing. They need to thin out the rats before the entire trail simply collapses and drops into the river. Finally, there must have been a really big hatch of water snakes this spring as I saw more snakes on the stream than I have ever seen in the last 40+ years. There were multiple snakes swimming in the stream all day long, and frequently you could count 8-10 at the same time swimming upstream and downstream on the non-fishing side of the stream. Several people commented on the large number of snakes, and one young lady I spoke to decided to skip fishing since in her opinion "fly fishing was definitely overrated when there were that many snakes nearby"!

Hope y'all get a chance to head down and enjoy the great spring weather and the fishing.

[XP 590]

I was there for three days that week also, beautiful weather and not many people. I'm going to start scheduling time off duing the week in April/May and relearn to enjoy the place without so many people around.

[brittsnbirds]

Thanks for a great report FFF.

I hope to get down the first week of June. Try and pull the new 5th wheel down and test ride it. Maybe even catch a few fish.

[rcguy]

Great report FFF.

Guys, I have 7 days left before retirement today!!!!! It was a little sudden as our company is doing really bad and 81 people out of 100 are being layed off and I am one of them. Luckily for me the timing could not have been better. Got layed off, payed the house off, and turned 67 all in the same week. I am ready to NEVER work again!!!!

The wife and I decided it would be nice to get some type of camping vehicle again so I found a 2010 Coachman popup in great shape. Air, furnace, 3 way fridge. Been used twice. So my old Dodge van will go back in service and we plan on some trips to Bennett and other trout streams and places. I have been thinking about this for ever a year and we finally decided since we won't be working we can go during the week and NO rushing around to get back to work. That was always the worst part about camping. I had a travel trailer for years at Truman lake on a lot but sold it 13 years ago. I still have a bass boat stored there. Soooo I'm planning on hitting Bennett

probably the second week of June or so. Anyone down there i will now be driving my Dark green Dodge custon Van I affectionaly call "The Shaggin' Waggin'.

I have plans to head to the Norht Fork of the white River, Tanycomo, and NE Iowa in the driftless region. Hap at Cablea's says I really need to go there. 72 fishable trout streams! In 38 years here at work I have been able to take a weeks vacation 3 times. Mostly 1 or 2 days off at a time. I am so ready to get out of that trap.

I will probably take my cheapest fly rods if I am going to break them slapping snakes!!! God, I hate snakes

[rcguy]

Pat,

What campground should I try to get a spot in?

[upstream]

Jerry , camp ground 1 by the big shade tree is a good one. Ask Pat he knows where it is .

[tho1mas]

Good luck on your new adventure. I love retirement.

[NoLuck]

Pat likes CG 5. If you don't need full hookup it's just fine. Just make sure you are upwind of the dumpsters. CG 4 has better showers but you can always use them wherever you are camping.

Also remember when you back in with the popup that your beds need to extend out. Good luck on your retirement Jerry.

[rcguy]

Thanks for the info. I'll probably be down the second week of June. I'll try campground 5 I guess...or checkout 1.

It's been 30 years since I camped at Bennett. For hookups I need 110 and access to some water. I'll carry some onboard.

Is is usually easy to find a spot during the week?

[NoLuck]

CG 5 is first come first served. All the others you'll need to make reservations.. They all have fresh water faucets so you can fill your tank with a hose. Just bring your hose and fill it up. CG 1 is full hook up. All have 30amp service plugs and 1 has 50 amp plugs.

If you get there early even on a Friday sometimes it's slim pickins. But most weekdays you can pretty much have your pick of CG5. Don't forget to check with the check in shack for potential reservable sites that are available as well. Most weekends are pretty much all taken but you may get lucky.