Bennett Springs to Prosperine

[GotaFish]

We floated yesterday from Bennett Springs Access to Prosperine.  This is the first time in my 50 years of floating the river that I floated this stretch.  I have only fished from Prosperine to Tunnel Dam, usually took out at Bird Island.  Last year floated two times from Lead Mine to Berry Bluff.  My Dad and I left my place in Truxton at 3:00 AM and met my friend Mike at Eldridge at 5:45 AM.  We dropped Mike’s truck at Prosperine and headed to Bennett Springs.  We had hoped to be on the water early, but did not know about Hwy 64 being shut down west of Lebanon.  After detouring on Hwy 32 and through the park we finally launched at 8:30 AM.  Due to the recent rains the river was still high.  Due to the stained color and falling river we knew the fishing was going to be tough.  I caught a 12 inch largemouth on about my tenth cast and we were hopeful fishing was going to be better than we thought.  Unfortunately, that was the only fish we caught for the next four hours.  We ended up catching only 12 fish total, 8 trout (three browns and 5 rainbows), two largemouth and two small mouth.  Biggest trout was a 15 inch rainbow and two largemouth were barely 12 inches, the two smallmouth were even smaller.  Due to the fast water we were restricted to using mostly crankbaits and completed the float in about 8 hours.  Despite the lack of fish, it was great to be on the river with my friend of 55 years.  I am also thankful to my Dad for shuttling my truck and trailer and waiting for us all day at Prosperine.  We are looking forward to doing it again soon.