Vacation of a lifetime: Bennett Spring - the Trilogy: Part 2 – Bite #4, 5, 6

Bite #4 – organize the reels, line, tippets, lures, tools, landing nets, waders and vests, lures other than flies, and spinning reels.

This was a really big bite with a lot of little details, but whenever it started to overwhelm me, I'd take a look at what we were headed for and check out the

Bennett SpringTrout Cam!  

A new picture is taken every minute!  The link is real time so if you look at night - yep, it'll be dark.  

In that case, I'd take a look at my Dad's photos from Bennett Spring that got this whole adventure started.

Or look at what was waiting for us in Lebanon, MO just off of Route 66.

As I gathered the spinning reels, I realized that since I haven't used them in a long time, the line on the reels was at least 10 years old. So, I bought new line and spent a couple hours putting it on 6 spinning reels.  

Fortunately, I had the right equipment to do the job – line stripper and reel loader (lower right in photo below).  

A few reels and nets next to the reel loader

Now, things were starting to get a bit complicated.

I had to find a space to spread out all of this equipment to properly sort and pack.  Up till this time, I kept everything I bought for the trip in plastic bags in the basement near my other fishing gear and, unfortunately, it was becoming a bit of a disorganized state.  

My wife likes everything neat and in place, but it was time to get it all out in the open so I could see what I was dealing with. 

Family room here we come!

Several of the fly reels were Orvis and identical except for the line, so I labeled the bags.  

The Orvis line has the type and weight printed on it near the preformed loop. 

I love the preformed loops.  Saves me the time of creating my own custom loops which I've done quite frequently over the years.

My loop is on the right - actually, my hand tied loops have some advantages over the pre-formed loops - but they take forever to make.

Organizing the reels was the easy part.  The hard part was, well...I also had to… well.. Then I started to…well…

OK - let me just show you.   

My brother-in-law Larry told me that small flatfish were good at Bennett Spring so I had to get some - I think he used a silver one, but this was all I could find.

I've caught everything from bluegill to trout to bass to steelhead on Roostertails.

Several reports said these locally hand poured, scented worms were the best - sure thing for Bennett Spring trout!

These little Rapalas work on trout every where else I tried them - why not Missouri? - good to have just in case.

"Secret Bait"?  Had to have some - even though we never opened the jars - we'll bring them next time - just in case.

Bite #5 – packing the car.  

We have a 2015 Kia Sorento with lots of space, but due to the extent of my preparation (or over preparation) I still had the 10 pounds of stuff to fit into a 5 pound bag problem. 

5 pound bag

Several pounds of stuff - and this is just the fishing stuff.

All the fishing stuff fit in the hidden compartment! - except the rods.

And besides my (our) fishing equipment, Joyce decided that I needed more than one pair of jeans, shirts and underwear for the trip, so that meant lots more luggage! 

I ask you - did we really need all those extra clothes?  

Would the trout really care how many times I wore one pair of jeans?  

I don't think so!

However, Meghan, my little fashion diva, was coming in from NYC with a huge overstuffed suitcase, so I figured -

what the heck -

- extra U-trou and shirts and even a few pair of pants besides jeans and a couple extra shirts wouldn't hurt. 

 But the Tux stayed at home.

And, if we went out to a nice place for dinner, maybe I'd at least need jeans that didn't smell like fish.  

Cutting to the chase, everything we needed and a couple pounds more, fit into the Sorento and we were ready to roll!

Bite #6 – the drive.  

Bite #6 is a bit bigger than bites before, 

so I better back off before my blog host boots me, 

which would be totally bogus - but believe me - 

they would boot and not even boo hoo a bit.

The Drive will be here soon!

Bye, Bye!

Dave

Vacation of a lifetime: Bennett Spring - the Trilogy: Part 2 – Bite #3

Bite #3 – organize the flies.

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, Part of my research was to learn what Bennett Spring, MO trout liked to eat and have them in our fly boxes.  

This was a very rewarding Bite.  

Without the flies, Fly fishing is just whipping the water to a froth with your line 

- I couldn't let that happen!

And, while I'm interested in the minimalist fly fishing style of Tenkara (some of the masters only use ONE fly - just ONE - ALL THE TIME!).....

......I'm definitely of the belief that being prepared means that you need more than just one of anything! 

While I did build a couple Tenkara rods for me and my Nephew James (more of a modification of a telescopic Crappie pole!) - I told you I'd tell you something new - well, here it comes!

I've fished for trout on both the left and right coasts, the Midwest, the South – the Carolinas and Georgia have some awesome trout fishing – and as far north as Alaska. 

I have a pretty well rounded knowledge base of flies, but in each place I fished, there were always some local tricks of the trade that only (yes) the locals knew about.  

But, in this age of the internet, I was able to do some online research and find a list of the "25 BestFlies" for fishing in Missouri Parks and Streams.   

Courtesy of Ozark Fly Fishers,
Missouri Fly box.

It had a few flies I never heard of - 

totally new to me, such as:

Crackle Back, 

John Deere,

Kruse Leech 

(or Mike’s Mohair Leech – 

same fly and named for fly tier Mike Kruse), 

Russell fly, 

Thread Jigs, 

and the ever popular, 

Bed Spread.  

And, as you will notice, some of the "Flies"  are really lead head "Jigs", referred to frequently as "grubs" and small enough to use with a fly rod - If it works - I'll give it a try!

Crackle Back

Kruse (Mike's Mohair) Leech

John Deere 

In case you wondered where they got the name.

Thread Jig - one of many color options

Bead Spread - this was made with material to make bed spreads, hence the name, but it was designed to imitate trout guts.

And then, I found some local fishing reports for Bennett Spring.  It gave me the locations (zones), flies and pictures of fish caught.  

The "lunkerboard" was incredible – 3, 5, and 6 pound rainbows and browns on flies.  Here are a few courtesy of Bennett Spring State Park:

Zone 1, 4.5 lbs. black yellow marabou

Zone 1, 3.75 lbs, foam beetle

Zone 2, 6.75 lbs, pink white marabou

And, the lunker board listed several flies that were not even on the 25 best list!  

When I came across one of these new flies – I’d do the Google thing and would usually find a photo or description.

The goal was to find and tie some of the local favorites so I'd, yes, be prepared when we arrived. 

Well, that was not as easy as it seemed.  

Contrary to the Oldie Goldie Rolling Stones song, 

Time was definitely 

not on my side.  

Our vacation departure date was getting close and I knew I would probably buy some flies locally, but I wanted to be able to get to Bennett Spring State Park, check into our cabin and be on the water with the flies voted the most likely to fool a Bennett Spring trout before the horn blew signaling the end of the day's fishing! 

A horn blows to start and end each day's fishing.  

If you'd like to hear it, check out this Bennett Spring State Park Opening Day 2014 You Tube video below.

It starts with a few still photos then live action, and about :38 seconds into the video, the horn - more like a siren - signals the start of the day and in this case - the 2014 season

I did manage to tie a good supply of San Juan Worms, Ozark Mountain Streamers, and Mike’s Mohair Leech.  

Anyone out there recognize more than one of those names? 

I certainly didn't before I started my research!  

The one I DID recognized was the San Juan Worm.  

Originally tied to fish the San Juan River in New Mexico, it has become popular across the country.  I never tied or tried one, but since it was in the 25 Best article - why not?

Yep - they look like worms, 1 - 2 inches of chenille creates the body.

A little heat gives it a worm-like taper.

A thread base with color to match (or complement) the body.

Tie on the body and it's done.  

While prepping for the trip I found an article in Fly Tyer magazine on the "Ozark Mountain Streamer" tied specifically for the Missouri trout parks - I had to tie some!

Step by step instructions made it easy.

I used these Orvis hooks for the Ozark Mountain Streamer and Mike's Mohair Leech.

In the vise with black thread base - same for the OM Streamer or MM Leech.

After securing the tail, body and gold tinsel ribs (those shots were out of focus), tie on the yellow marabou underwing.

Add the black marabou wing and head cement and it's ready to fish.

I tied the small one - with thanks to Fly Tyer magazine and Mike Hogue.

On to Mike's Mohair Leech - Olive marabou tail secured along with two strands of black Flashabou that will be pulled back and doubled over to add a little attraction to the tail.

Wrap and tease Olive Mohair yarn.

Whip finish, then add head cement.

Here's #3 ready for the trip!

I tied enough for all of us - 
still lots left for the next trip!

Since I didn't have time to tie all the local patterns I needed, I did the next best thing – I found a fly shop online that was located in Missouri that tied and sold the local winners.  

The prices were very reasonable, which was helpful, since I had to have enough flies for four of us. 

Here's a look at the Missouri flies we absolutely 

HAD to HAVE.  

Double sided boxes. One side Dry flies, one side wet flies.  One box for Meghan, One for Kristin.  I carried the fly boxes for Joyce and me.

Along with the Ozark Mountain Streamer and Mike's Mohair Leech,  here are the other flies we took to Bennett Spring packed for the Vacation of a Lifetime!  

Small nymphs and scuds - size 18 down to about size 24 - very tiny.  I only tied about 10% of these - I could barely see the eye of the hook let alone tie one!

These are all my ties.  The second row from the right, the bottom 2/3's are my DFB Con Flies.

I designed this fly over 25 years ago for fishing the East Branch of the Croton River near Brewster, NY.  

It's been successful in every state I've fished in,  and, accounted for more trout at Bennett Spring then any other fly I used.

That's right - Steelhead flies, but egg patterns work well at Bennett Spring, so I couldn't leave them behind - just in case!

Bass and Steelhead flies - they'd be invaluable if I got a chance to fish the Niangua River for Smallmouth Bass.

Dry flies - medium sizes - 16 up to 12 
- all store bought.

Small Dry Flies - 14 down to 24.  
I tied about 25% of these.  

I think I had enough for Joyce, Kristin , Meghan, me and half of the other fishermen at Bennett Spring!

And - Guess how many of those flies we actually used!  

Well, they didn't take up much space in the car and if the bite suddenly changed to a 2/0 Murdich Minnow I'd be the only one prepared!

Murdich Minnow on my vise.

Murdich Minnow on my line on Lake Erie - ready for Smallmouth Bass!

And, flies don't go bad, so I can still use them if Spring ever arrives!

As we got closer to our departure date, I started to notice in the fishing reports, 

one fly that was really hot on a daily basis – the 

"RGN" 

What the heck was an RGN?  

I couldn't find it online anywhere, but, I knew that

I HAD TO HAVE SOME!   

- more on that in Part 3 of the Trilogy.

And, more Tasty Planning Bites in my next post.  

Bites # 4, 5 and 6, 
coming to a PC near you,
 Soon!

Dave