Bennett Springs State Park 1/29/2005

Where: Bennet Springs State Park First time I have fished at Bennett in a long long time. Recent floods had wrecked havoc on the park a couple of weeks ago. Water level are back down to about only 8 to 6 inches above normal. The water still has a green tinge to it, so most of the fishing was done with a strike indicator. I fished mohair leeches in olive brown and ginger. All with about the same success. Saw a couple of monsters cruising below the main bridge. However most fish that were caught were smaller rainbows. All of the fish I caught were smaller on average than either Meramec or Montauk State Parks. I fished from 11am to 4pm and think I landed 15 fish in all. I did miss some really nice ones though. I'm curious to see how the flood has changed the stream bed when the water gets back to normal. I also picked 3 live scuds off my boots at the car. They were a light grey color and I would estimate them to be a size 18 or possibly 16.

Montauk State Park 1/15/2005

Where: Montauk State Park This is my first fishing trip for the new year and it ended up being a really good one at that. I met up with Matt Tucker (OzarkChronicles creator), Brian Wise (ROLF guide), and Brent Hinds (OC board member). The original plan was that everyone was going to fish the Current River Trophy area, but due to high water the Current River was CLOSED! The four of us met up by the hatchery office to begin fishing. It was bitterly cold and I don't think the temp got above 30F the entire day. I landed a couple in the riffles between the big pools of the upper bait section. One nice one going about 16 inches. Then Brent and I fished the fly only water up to the blue hole spring. I managed to land 4 nice rainbows just above where the big spring enters. It was about noon and Brent and I went back to find Matt and Brian. When we found them in the C&R area Matt was off to get lunch started. Brats and beer make for a great on stream lunch. While Matt was preparing lunch Brent, Brian and myself continued to fish the C&R area. The trout were rising to some very small midges. Brian managed to land one on a size 14 elk hair caddis and I pick one up on a size 18 parachute adams. After lunch Brian and Matt went down to the second hatchery outlet to try there luck, while Brent and I fished near the main bridge (pictured below). We immeadiately started hammering them. I fished an olive, brown and ginger mohair with the same results, big fish. Between Brent and I we hooked about twenty and landed about 12 of those. I think the cold weather was reaking havoc on our tippet. After catching some good fish we called Brain and Matt on the radio to come up and fish. They only had slight success down near the second hatchery outlet. Once they got to where we were the fish had slowed down a bit, but everyone still managed to pick up a couple of fish. Montauk State Park during High Water We ended the day fishing in the C&R area. I managed to pickup one last rainbow on a brown thread midge pattern. All in all it was a great day and I look forward to fishing with these guys again

Current River 12/29/2004

Where: Current River Fished with Wade Kirkbride and his father Steve Kirkbride along with Fawzi Deeba and Eric Werner. We met at Rolla Wal-Mart for some last minute supplies. From there we proceeded to the Current River and parked just below Montauk park. After getting everyone situated we got on the water about 11:00am. I played guide most of the day spotting fish for everyone. I think everybody got a bite wether they knew it or not. We fished all of the way down to Tan Vat access and ate lunch about 2:00pm. Wade's father departed back to Rolla and the remainder of us went down to Parker Hollow access. We waded up to the first big bluff hole. Faz and Eric got a couple of strike striping a ginger mohair. I fished a caddis dry to no avil. There was a small amount of caddis on the water but no risers except for some chubs. Faz ended up landing the only fish of the day a 15 or 16 inch brown caught on a ginger mohair. I guess I did a poor job guiding everyone and should stick to my day job. It was a great day anyways. We also saw quite a few traps along the stream marked with orange or pink ribbons and a few that were unmarked. Untill next time The Guys enjoying a cold one after a long day of fly fishing