So the OFG (Original Fly Guy) sent me an email that he and his KC cohorts were heading down to Bennett Springs on the weekend of October 7th-9th. Bennett’s another place that is very special to me- the first time i fished there was back when I was a wee lad of three. I also learned that wet rocks are slippery and opened a 3 inch gash on my foot as I walking along the shore on the upstream side of the bridge. Scars, yea I got scars. The most ridiculous thing about Bennett Springs is that you can gander at any stretch of water and see possibly hundreds of fish just hanging out in the water. When you try to hook them with tiny jigs on pole and line, it’s not as easy as it would appear to be. My three year old mind could not wrap itself around the idea that just netting the fish wasn’t much more effective. Let’s be honest here, my 37 year old mind cannot wrap itself around this concept either. (Editor’s Note: Do not net game fish, it's illegal and you can get in trouble. I can also assure you that saying Busch kinda said it was ok to a MoCon agent will probably only get you in more trouble).
As the OFG pointed out in part 1 of his post (check it out here), Bennett is more of a trout farm and provides the Trout Fishing Experience. Kind of like the Westworld of the Trout Fishing World. Also, I am all in on TroutWorld.
We aren’t talking wild trout in a glorious mountain stream.
However, this doesn’t mean that fishing can’t be tough there. In fact, many times it’s very frustrating. Typical trout behavior compels them to swim many feet toward your lure, look at it longingly even lovingly, then swim away as if your lure carries the Bubonic Plague. You get to see the entire process play out as trout waters are always exceptionally clear. I’m not sure there’s anything more frustrating in life than this exact scenario. It’s happened to me hundreds, if not thousands, of times. There’s days it’ll make you want to tear your hair out. I can assure you I have the hairline to prove this theory.
Trouts are kind of jerks is what I’m saying.
So I got the OFG’s email that not only were we going to fish, but would also meet with the Redington street team. Or even better, the Redington Stream Team. Redington - you can use that, but I am going to need at least a shiny new rod and reel as fair compensation. Well, a used one will do. Ok, I’ll take some stickers. I’m terrible at negotiating (by the way, Redington makes some quality products and have some great people working for them. Recommend.)
I was initially excited and hoped I could juggle my schedule enough to make it down that weekend. My hopes of a full weekend were dashed like my 3 year old foot on the rocks of Bennett Springs. That Sunday was my wife’s birthday. So, I emailed my wife and said that I would like to go, no big deal if it was a “no”, but I could head down early Saturday morning and be back home on Saturday night. Played it super cool, by the way. At first, she agreed, but with the caveat that she was now expecting a reallllllllly nice birthday present. Well, as a personal policy, I do not negotiate with terrorists, so I explained that I would be back before Sunday. And, by god, we follow the lunar calendar, so if you are going to pull this “birthday week” stuff, said birthday week starts on the Sunday of your actual birth date, not the Sunday prior or on some kind of rolling schedule of 7 days. Maybe I’m getting better at negotiation.
Needless to say, I’ll pay for this in the long run. But as an American, I believe getting what I want in the short term far outweighs any long term, negative consequences. I am pretty sure that’s in the Gettysburg Address or something. So I had the green light and it meant that I was waking up at 4 am, hitting the road by 5 am, fishing for ten hours, and driving back in the dark. Not to mention my truck has nearly 210,000 miles and she hasn’t been out on a long trip in some time. Just add army of undead to the list of challenges and we got ourselves summer blockbuster on our hands.
This trip was literally supposed to start at QuikTrip. I had the title before the story because I liked the device of this being an actual quick trip that started at QuikTrip. So I was going to wax poetic about QuikTrip, the greatest of all convenience stores (This is a hill I will die on, by the way). The morning did not quite go the way I wanted, so QuikTrip was skipped and replaced with a Mobil on the Run, which is fine, but I’m still going to talk about QuikTrip.
I’ve always thought QuikTrip is a lot like Missouri; it's got everything I need and nothing I don’t. One time, I ate all three meals at QuikTrip when my wife and daughter were out of town and briefly lamented why I chose the family life over being a bachelor. QuikTrip provides what i need is what I’m saying. In fact, I recommend getting yourself a 64 oz fountain drink (minimum 12 of those ounces being cherry mixer), a take and bake pizza, some sunflower seeds and sour patch kids and just go where the road takes you. (Obviously a take and bake pizza is less than ideal for a road trip - I know this and you know this. I stand by this comment as I am committed to my other personal policy of bad decision making. So, if you’re scoring at home, the personal policy count is 1. Do not negotiate with Terrorists, 2. Bad decision making. Also, insert your own political party, election debate, etc. joke here).
Ok, so do you think I set an alarm on Friday night for 4 am? Of course not. I have this weird habit (?) of being wide awake right up until the point I am fast asleep. It’s literally like someone flips a switch. This has happened for awhile, so I should be able to plan around it, but I don’t. Might not be a bad idea to check into narcolepsy either. Anyway, by some miracle, I woke up at 3:15 am, which was actually earlier than planned. Of course, that miracle is my dog, who is a magnificent and effective alarm clock. When I sleep on the couch, she wakes me up by choking me with her head on my neck until I wake up. It was kind of scary at first, but now that I’m somewhat used to it, waking up while gasping for breath is a heck of a wake up call - better than percolated RedBull. So I was pretty much ready to go. Except I had already planned on leaving at 4:30 and when plans are made I stick to them. So I had time to load up, drink coffee and watch some TV without any distractions. With a child, TV without distractions is kind of a holy grail, so I took advantage. Too much advantage as it were and I didn’t get driving until about 4:45. So up earlier and out the door later sounds about right. Got a few miles on the truck and stopped for gas and fluid check. The old girl leaks a little (Drips Oil on Driveways, Garages, Everywhere- Can you guess the make?).
Now for the tough part, i have no idea if the old girl has a two hour trip in her, so I found myself patting her on the steering wheel every so often saying things like “you’re doing great, girl”, “that’s it, keep it going just like this”, and “stay strong through here”, et cetera.I’m not sure what this says about my psyche, but I talk to my dog like this too.
As I was headed down highway 44, I passed through Cuba, MO. The thought occurred to me that it would be hilarious to buy some Swisher Sweets in Cuba and give them to somebody as a gift. (Especially one of those somebodies who always has the next best thing, which is always so much better than the thing you have. You know the type). Telling that recipient these are real Cuban cigars. This would not be a lie and I would find it hilarious. To be fair I would probably die laughing if somebody pulled this on me. Of coure, thsat led to a great road trip idea - going to all the towns in Missouri named for other cities and buying the signature item - Cigars in Cuba, Tequilla and Enchiladas from Mexico, all the latest fashions from Paris, MO:
This could be done across the entire US - start here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/50967/20-towns-named-other-towns-pronounced-differently
So I arrived at Bennett Springs State Park, bought my tag and started to rig up my flyrod. As I have mentioned, I make non-optimal decisions almost constantly-pretty much like its my job. Not only had it been 3 years and change since I last fly fished, but I also decided today was the day to try out a new fly rod and an old reel. Sadly, I have no idea when or why I even made this decision and there were several opportunities to change plans. But this was the plan and I was sticking to it. So of course I rigged up the new rod. Why wouldn’t I? Threw on my vest and started to put on my waders. I could tell I was out of practice, because the waders go on first. Started over as I dug into the depths of my memory on how to tie a nail knot. Tied something that resembled a nail knot which seemed to hold and rigged the rest up with an official OFG white floss jig. A note on waders: if you are tall, buy waders that are made for a tall person. Rubber pants that don’t fit are really uncomfortable in all the wrong places.
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