Bennett In The Rain

[dpenrod]

i have monday the 26th off and was thinking of heading down to bennett to do a little fishing, but the forecast is calling for rain. anybody fish bennett in the rain? how'd you do? is the drive from kansas city worth it or should i wait for better weather?

[flyfishmaster]

As long as you can stand your hands getting cold, you will do great. When I fish in the rain at Bennett I stick to the riffle water and use an idicator and a double rig setup. Keep one fly on the botton and the top fly about foot below the surface, then hang on. If it is really dark out, use an egg pattern as your bottom fly for the first hour or two and the top fly start with a flash back like Pheasent tail or Hares Ear. I start out at size 18 and go down to 22. Black Zebra midges are a great go to fly. Also try RS2 in tan or gray size 20.

I wish I could be there.

FFM

[rcguy]

Flyfishmaster, this brings up several questions I have just got to ask.

By egg pattern what color and size would you suggest? I caught several on an easter egg glow ball last sunday and was very suprised. I guess because I had been drifting size 20 midges of different colors and got no takers so I switched to the glow ball as a last ditch effort to try something different... for me, anyway. They liked the glow ball.

These are the ones you buy at the park store.. the weighted ones. Must look like a brightly colored cantalopue to the trout!! Anyway, what egg pattern would suggest?

I have been reading about RS2's but have not tied any as yet. Do you fish them in the film? as an emerger? I caught several fish in the late afternooon on a small cream midge on top but I think the fish were really feeding on emergers. They were puddling on the surface and not really splashing like they were taking dry flys. Would a small cream/tan RS2, fished in the film, be a good answer in this situation? Sorry for all the questions but I'm trying to get better at this an it's a little frustrating.

[flyfishmaster]

the RS2 is a versatel fly, it can be fished both on the and mid water levels. If i had to choose one location it would be close to the bottom about 2" up from the rocks. The best color is gray in size 20.

As of egg patterns, I have not purchased one in a store for about 5 years now, I make my own and I don't have them as a lead head. I will add just enough soft lead about 1' up from the fly, just to slow it down in the current. My favorite color is called "cream delight" ( there goes one of my secretes)it is a peachish color, but I do no make my perfectly round, they need to be very loose. That is why I name them my "Sloppy balls". send me a PM and I can tell you more.

Later,

FFM

[Greg]

I've done really well fishing Bennett in the rain - at least as long as the river isn't too high. I think doing well in the rain has a lot more to do with fewer fellow fisherman on the river than it actually being a better time to fish.

Standard patterns always work for me at Bennett rain or shine - scuds, zebra midges, wooly buggers and mohair leeches.

Greg

[Paola Cat]

Spent the morning of 11/24 at Bennett. Fished for 4 hours. It was frigid. Had the island area in Zone 1 almost to myself. Fished a #14 peach egg pattern on 5X tippet about 3.5' under an strike indicator. Had consistent action all morning. Never changed to another pattern. Caught mostly 10-12" fish with a couple of kicker fish in the 15-16" range. Too many fish to count. The C&R season provides a great opportunity to fish the parks without all the crowds.

[BrowningFisherman]

I love fishing in the rain the heavier the rain the less people all the better. I try to put my fly under the trees, fish wait for things to fall in normally you get a strike almost imediately. I know everyone doesn't agree with glo balls but you can put a glo ball on and use the same one up and down the stream and never have to change. The catch is the temperature I usually fish in the rain in the spring not the winter, watch out for Hypothermia.