Back from the Fish In

[Jack Hise]

Blue;
I'll wait to see the photo's. You take care of yourself first.

[zimrx17]

just got back last evening, I only got to stay 2 days, but it was worth it. Only saw Ol blue for a few minutes, but really enjoyed the conversation. Spent alot of time with Betty, Carey and Canoeman, they are all the nicest people I have met in a long time, although Betty threatened my life if I told anyone about a certain secret fly that she uses I hope next year we can make it a little bigger, possibly during the catch and release season so we have the entire park to ourselves!!!! Thanks to Hugo for putting this together, wish I had more time to stay down there, it was great.

Drew

[bowmaker1]

Blue, very nice pictures, but I have a question. Where are all the fishermen? I fish in that spot just above the bridge a lot and down where the outlet flows in there are about 20 people on any given morning. I also fish down at the hatchery creek mouth and up in Betty's spot as well as the riffle area just below of the bridge and there is usually a little more competition than I see in the pictures. I still have until Monday night before I get there and can't wait. I have tied enough Cracklebacks and chamios flys to supply a small army, but I would like to know Betty's secret fly, if it works, but I promise not to tell anyone.

Sorry about your dog, I have had to face that a couple of times and it isn't pleasant. My old Britt will be down there with us and he loves to lay in the water and watch until I catch a fish then he wants to help land it. Problem is I can't get him to use a net worth a hoot, he just wants to pick them up like a pheasant. Most of the time he just spends curled up nice and warm in the back seat of the truck while I freeze every morning. Any way I will be looking forward to your and anyone else's reports and maybe making it for next years festivities.

[ol' blue]

As far as the fishermen, I was there on Monday to Wednesday while school was in session. The guys said that weekends were definitely more crowded, but things were as busy as I would care to tolerate. There never was a real problem with crowding, but there were times I got a bit boxed in.
I rolled in there on Monday, following a front. The weather was cool, and my campsite was terrific. There was a nice level shaded gravel box to set the tent in (but driving stakes was impossible), a covered table, and a fire ring. If you are ever up there, site 315 is a good one to reserve.
I spent the first afternoon getting familiar with the park. I stuck a sign in my windshield with my handle and FAOL in big letters, but never ran into anyone. It is a nice park and I was impressed with the facilities there.
Tuesday morning I got up, and hit the water at first whistle. The section that I was fishing was pretty tough, and I didn't have any luck. In fact, until 9:00 when I took my first break, I only saw about half a dozen fish caught in total. During my break, I happened to spot Betty and Cary (from pictures on FAOL) and introduced myself to them. They hadn't run into any other FAOL'ers either, but we were keeping an eye out.
I was a bit paranoid about my lack of fish catching ability, but the fish started biting a little bit later in the morning and soon broke the curse. I moved to a different spot and that seemed to make a big difference as well and by the end of the day my confidence was back up a bit. These "trout park" fish are not the automatic catches they are made out to be, and the turned out to be very selective. It was nice to have to work for them a bit. BTW, 7X tippet is not just a guideline. You need the little stuff if you want to catch anything.
Canoeman1947 was waiting for me by ol' blue when I finished up the first day. He was camped just across from my campspot, and tracked me down from there. That made 3 other people that we've made contact with at this point. We all met up for the evenings speaker in front of the store, and that is when Thunderthumbs made contact. We headed up to one of the local fly shops for an interesting talk on miscellaneous subjects. It was quite the shop, and I think most of the inventory was more of a personal collection. It was a really amazing shop.
Wednesday was more productive first thing in the morning, and I was only able to fish until noon before I had to leave. Betty, canoeman and I were talking midstream, when I noticed the guy next to us kept giving us some strange looks. Turned out to be zimrx, who introduced himself as soon as he figured out we might be FAOL folks, too.
In total, we ended up with 6 people that I met, but all 6 were some of the nicest folks I've ever met. I was very tentative going down to meet people I only knew from online, but I am so glad I did. These are good folks, and I can't wait to make the next Fish-In. More of you need to make it down for the next one. Bennett Springs was a beautiful place, and weekdays in the fall were not too crowded and not too hot. Pictures to follow.

[ol' blue]

First, I'm going to rat out Betty's fishing spot just below the first falls below the spring:

And here are the Hiners at their rest spot (we can call this the Cheese It pose--Sorry, Betty, but it had to be posted):

Betty and canoeman1947

This is looking toward my morning spot. Pretty, but not the most productive stretch of water;

Looking back toward the bridge you can see everyone spread out across the stream:

Between the second falls and the bridge

Looking off the other side of the bridge:

Hatchery and store

[bowmaker1]

Blue, nice report its just to bad more people couldn't make it there. Info for next year, there seems to be very deffinate morning and afternoon areas. Mornings just above that rock dam " Holland Dam" or the hatchery creek outlet just east of the store, or if it isn't real crowded right where that water flows in at the concret steps. Depending on the crowd fish down toward the center arch of the bridge or toward the far arch and make a drift toward the center. If you weren't there you missed what sometimes is quite a party. I don't know his name, but there is an older gentleman who lives arround there and fishes almost every morning righr under the center arch on the down stream side. It is funny to watch because no one enters the water, and there is usually a pretty good line up, until he wades in and takes up his place right next to the concret pillar. From the whistle until he is finished fishing there is a lot of conversation, jokes, and laughter and just a general good time. He spends the morning court. There is always something happening in that spot. One morning I saw a trout actually jump into a guy's wadders while he was trying to net it. What a wild time with splashing, cusing, and people falling down from laughing.
I bet that the trip to the fly shop was a real eye opener also. I have been there a few times and learned that if you don't see what you want just ask and he can proabaly come up with it. What ever it is! Glad you all had a good time and I look forward to next year.

[ol' blue]

It was a good experience for me. While more information could have made things more productive, I kind of enjoyed hitting the place cold and trying to figure things out. I didn't venture very far downstream because everyone that I knew was staying in the same area, and upstream past the falls tended to be shoulder to shoulder fishermen. My best area ended up being the near side eddy below the first waterfalls. Next time I'll try to make it downstream more, though. I might even go back out during catch and release season this winter. Perhaps a "frozen Fish In" is in order....

[Canoeman1947]

I just returned from the Fish-In this evening. Long drive home (about 7 hours). It was great finally putting faces to names. Betty is definitely the sweetheart she appears to be online, and Carey is a lucky guy. As "ol' blue" said, after I spotted his camp, he pulled up shortly therafter in his blue pickup. Using that as a clue, I was able to track him down on the stream by loitering around his truck until he finally showed up. He probably thought I was a stalker at first. Drew (zimrx) found us on the stream as mentioned earlier. He and Ol' Blue were only able to stay a couple of days. As mentioned, the fishing is definitely not what you expect when you think of "dumb stockers". Charlie Reading of Reading's Fly Shop, who gave us the presentation on Tuesday evening, says that once the gullible fish are caught, the remainder are really tough. There are few and very sparse hatches. Ol' Blue and Zimrx missed the best presentation on Thursday evening. Jim Rogers, who is an FFF certified casting instructor gave us about five hours of his time and worked with each of us to improve our casting. Jim is one of the guys who teaches and certifies the instructors, and he really knows his stuff. I would like to say that after his instruction, I can now cast all of my line and half of the backing, but DREAM ON. I have to say that I really don't like fishing in a crowd, but I still had a good time. I did go down to the Niangua River yesterday morning, and watched an elderly couple land a couple of trout, and they were the only people I saw over about a half mile of river, except for a couple of canoes that went by. Hugo (Thunderthumbs) is a perpetual motion fishing machine, and Tim (tierm) is cut from the same cloth. I'm glad to be back home (ran out of clean clothes), but had a good time.

Larry Compton

[Canoeman1947]

In regards to the earlier mention of "fine dining", I'm sure that the only reason Betty was seen with a box of Ritz crackers was because she was out of Cheez-Its. At one time, we shared a break from fishing and broke out the munchies. I'm the more traditional type and had a box of original Cheez-Its, while Betty, having more exotic tastes, enjoyed a box of White Cheddar Cheez-Its. As everybody should know, Ritz crackers are classed as mere survival food, while Cheez-Its are the actual ambrosia enjoyed by the Greek gods on Olympus.

Larry Compton

[MOturkE]

Back from Bennet Spring this evening with the wish we'd had more time. The trip went very well for me and the boys, my wife came down with a bad stomach Sat. eve, feeling better now and said she still had a good time.
We arrived late Friday eve and set up camp anticipating how to find any of the FAOL'ers the next day. I hit the stream near the spring pool Sat. morn and fished with little success using too large a crackle-back and too long a tippet. My wife and boys went to Lebanon town for a little exploration leaving me to enjoy the water. I was probably fishing right near Thunderthumbs and tlerm without realizing it.
I finally met up with Hugo (Thunderthumbs), Tim (tlerm) and a new-found angler named Scott on Sat. eve after hearing bagpipes near our campsite. I went looking for the source and found them all sitting by the fire chatting, I introduced myself and joined in the chat. We agreed to meet on the water the next day and broke up for the night.
Sunday morn we all joined up at the spring and Tim shared the "secret weapon" and "proper dispersal techniques" with me. I watched Hugo and Tim take some very good fish as I practiced technique and slowly became more proficient. I had forgotten to pack my hip-waders (and digital camera) so I stayed high and dry fishing from the roadside. A large congregation of trout were holding along the gravel shoal near the road and Tim joined me for a while after Hugo left, helping me learn to catch better.
My family came past us from their hike and the boys watched us fish a bit. Then Tim let each of the boys reel in a fish, which really thrilled them. (*Thanks Tim!*) I finally got into a couple of nice fish following Tim's advice.
I then took the boys to another area to fish a while as they were really fired up following the catches they assisted Tim with. Unfortunately, they didn't do well with their efforts and we couldn't find a suitable set-up for their casting rods. We're not giving up though, there's always next year.
We finally broke camp and headed home. Glad to have met up with Hugo, Tim, Scott and his family - sad there wasn't more time to fish together. I'm looking forward to the chance to fish with these great people again. Hopefully soon.

The best part of the trip for me was fishing with my newly-repaired, favorite rod, thanks to Betty Hiner. She attached my new snake guides to replace the not-so-great ring guides that were falling into disrepair and did a general overhaul; cleaned the cork and rod, etc. The rod worked great!!! Thanks Betty!!! You truly are a great, kind, and wonderful lady!!!