Question about soft hackles. How do you fish these at Bennett? Probably a dumb question, but I’ve never fished in a river nor at Bennett. I usually heard about people fishing soft hackles “on the swing”. From what I’ve heard about Bennett and the number of people there, it doesn’t sound like it would be possible to fish anything “on the swing”.[/quote]
Soft hackles - long leader (9’ 5X tapered leader, 3’ 6X fluoro tippet), cast straight across to slightly upstream, mend for no drag until 45 degrees downstream, slowly strip in to raise the fly and simulate an emerger. Most strikes happen on the rise. The spinning rod crowd usually thins out enough after the first hour to make drifts and swings possible in all but a few places, such as the rock dam in zone 1 and under the bridge in zone 2. Also, most people shy away from trees and obstacles, so it’s not too hard to find some space.
If you mend upstream until it’s quartering downstream, of course most strikes (that you are aware of) will occur on the rise. But you are probably missing a LOT of takes. If I am fishing a soft hackle as an emerger pattern (in the film or just below…first foot of water below the surface), I cast straight across to quartering downstream and allow the current to pull a belly into the line immediately. Then I gently keep that tension to a minimum by tracking with the rod tip to control it. This gives me a tight-line presentation all the way through the drift (or swing), and ALL strikes are noticeable. At the end of the drift, allow the line and leader to straighten out in the current and dangle for up to 1 minute. This naturally causes the fly to rise repeatedly. I do NOT usually strip at all.
For a soft hackle nymph, fish just like any other nymph pattern. But do not assume fish will not take on the swing at the end of the drift and allow the fly to dangle in the current for a bit before retrieving it. Stripping beaded or weighted soft hackle nymphs after the dangle IS a good idea. These flies ride deeper in the water column even on the dangle, and stripping 1-3" at a time often gives them the action of a rising nymph that is beginning to emerge…a virtually irresistible morsel to any self-respecting fish. FYI, a direct upstream to quartering upstream presentation is the BEST with soft hackle nymphs. This is when the nymph gets the most life-like motion. But it is also the hardest way to control slack and set hooks on takes because your line and fly are coming back toward you on the current. The faster the current, the tougher the challenge.
As for using them at Bennett, I will say the following:
Fish on weekdays.
Find the least crowded water possible. There are fish everywhere. So avoid the crowds if at all possible.
Olive soft hackle - olive thread on a caddis hook, with partridge soft hackle. Size 18
Any white soft hackle - when the tiny midge hatch happens you can get some pretty good strikes, use as small a size hook as you can see.
For dries use as small as you can get white/cream midge, I was using a 22 and had some fun with risers right by the big dam, there was a group that were feeding off the top and it worked really well. You can also use them with the evening hatch that happens.
If you don’t know how to tie a crackleback you can buy them anywhere down there (I recommend Weaver’s), there is also a recipe on this site, or email me and I will send you directions, I tie mine a tiny bit different, but it accomplishes the same.
I think presentation is more important than pattern, but the ones I have had a lot of success with are:
#16 gold-ribbed hare’s ear soft hackle nymph #18 partridge and orange #20 partridge hackle with a crystal flash white body #20 partridge and red wire wrapped body
And I gotta say that in deeper, slower pools you should try a size 16-20 primrose & pearl tungsten beadhead zebra midge on sunny days and olive or rust if it’s cloudy, early morning, or late evening.
Use 6X or 7X fluoro tippet for all subsurface presentations. Lighten up the drag, use a 3-4 wt. full flex rod, and have fun!
I was at Bennett last weekend and would add to list of effective flies Griffith’s gnats#18 and smaller and wet black ants around #16. The hits on the black ants were tremendous and in a couple of cases my tippet was broken on the attack.
Hey Folks,
Just to let you all know. Last Monday the 20th Bennett was hit with a fish kill from rising water temps from a flash flood. They said the water temp was close to 75 deg from what I remember. The Mo dept of cons. assured everyone that there is plenty of fish left in the stream though. The hatchery took a big hit as well. There have been numerous rumors and some facts around. By the time the fish-in rolls about I don’t think it will be an impact of any sorts. I believe it probably washed out some of the junk that accumulated through out the year.
I fished Bennett on Saturday. Water temp. was safe, but the level was still way high and a little muddy. Fishing was slow at the start, but picked up later in the afternoon. Should be back to normal by fish-in time.
I’ve fished Benett many times; I’ve had success with all kinds of patterns, but I wouldn’t go without a handful of brown / copper zebra midges. A fun way to fish them is to drop them off an unweighted scud (normally olive green or gray) and flip them towards the dam in Zone 2 (while facing it).
Also, don’t forget your dries such as cracklebacks or griffiths gnats or (especially) white cream midges. I like to fish them in the afternoon while standing on the dam. I usually fish them on the South side of the dam in that little corner between the dam and the large retaining wall. There is alwasy a hatch going on there, and in the afternoon, there usually aren’t too many people there, especially in October.
Just got back from an offshore saltwater trip to CA, did pretty well, so now I’m primed for the fish-in. I’ll be doing some checking into the dates to get the speakers organized in the next day or two and I’ll post all that as soon as I’ve got them nailed down.
I’m really looking forward to getting down there and meeting those of you who can make it. I might even have to swing a bit of pre-fish-in fishing.
I am planning on rolling in on the afternoon/evening on the 8th, and fish the 9th and 10th. I am probably going to camp. Is everyone trying to get into nearby campspots (which campground?), and how are we going to meet up?
Also, what weight of rod is best? I was planning on bringing a 6’6" RX8 2 weight and a DanCraft 8’4" 4 weight. I also have a 9’ 6 weight if I really need it, but I was hoping to stick with my favorite 2. I have no idea about the size of these fish and what to expect there.
Finally will I need my chest waders, hip waders, neither or both (chest for fishing, and hippers for the camp stories)?
I haven’t camped in over 10 years, so I’m not prepared to camp at this time.
I’m staying at the Bennett Spring Inn. It had the best rates for single occupancy I could find. There might be better somewhere else, but I couldn’t find it. I can’t find the piece of paper I wrote the rates on, but if my memory serves, for single occupancy it was $40 for weeknights, $50 for weekends, and the 4th night is free. So for me, two nights at $40, one at $50 and one free works out to $32.50 average for the four nights. Except for camping, I think that’s tough to beat.
Ol’Blue,
The best rod for Bennett for me is a 5 wt. but, a lot of others are using 4 wt’s as well.I fish a 3 wt XP on occasion and have a blast with it. I normally fish with my 5 wt Z-AXIS though. I would definitely bring chest waders. Then again the hippers would be good for the campfire.
Thanks for the info. I haven’t done anything like this before. Mostly warmwater, local put and take trout and some high country brookies on EHC’s. Hope you all don’t mind me asking a lot of questions.
I’m planning on getting a campsite tomorrow. I’ll be tenting in one of the more primitive sites, I think.
Im getting pretyy wound up about this fish in as I havent been to one before.
I figure on camping when I get there since I dont get to spend as much time outside as I want.
Cabelas has been seeing a lot of me latley (they marked down a bunch of the flies ) so I have been gathering bargains(hey 50cents each aint bad).
Not tooo sure how long I ll stay at Benett. Montauk in fall is just too good and my bride and I havent spent any time there this year.
Looking forward to meeting folkes from this board.
Hope all who signed up come.
Perch
