Bennett Springs Fishing Report

It is obvious that I have been focussing a lot on fly fishing for panfish.

7/6/2010
I started above the whistle bridge at the horn and caught five fish using my ultralight rig. There just isn't enough room to fly fish for the first couple hours till the zebco crowd heads back to camp for breakfast. I started with a 1/64 oz gold head Black and Yellow Marabou-jig and finished with a Mepps Bumble Bee(Black and Yellow with a Gold Spinner.) I also tried a Beadspread and a John Deer without any takers. TIP:WHEN FISHING WITH MINI-JIGS CUT THE MARABOU BACK TO ABOUT 1/4" BEHIND THE HOOK BEND TO REDUCE SHORT HITS. The fish were just average stockers in size(Good Eaters.) My wife and son caught fished around noon in Zone 3 at the Whistle Bridge with yellow Power bait and did great. Mari caught her limit and lost a monster. Our 5 year old Michael got one on his well worn Scooby Doo rod and reel. I went out at 5:30 and fly fished till the horn(8:30) and never got a bite! There are tons of fish in the water and plenty were showing interest in my flys. I was using a new Froghair 6x leader without tying on any tippet. Stupid...Stupid...Stupid. I know better than to ever fish Bennett without fluorocarbon tippet and line and never heavier than 2 lbs when the water is clear and that is over 30 years of experience. That being said it had been over year since I had fly fished Bennett and had a wonderful time fishing but catcing would have been fun too.

These are some the flys that didn't work! Everyone a proven trout killer.
John Deer
Beadspread
Bead Head Prince Nymph
Bead Head Copper John Nymph
Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph
Copper, Red and White Brassies
Renagades
Chartruse Body Crackle Back

Always remember when fishing Missouris wonderful trout parks "Always use Fluorocarbon line and Tippet and never any heavier than 2 lbs especially when the water is clear!" The fish too much pressure and are very skiddish

We stayed in one of the park hotel rooms and it was great. This was are first time staying in one and we could not have been happier. If we don't camp we usually try to stay at Larry's.

Sorry no pictures

Greg