The BEST Bennett Trip Ever (Part 2)

You probably think that we ended up hitting the water late with how I ended on the last post.  You're wrong Jack!  I totally rope-a-doped you.  Bazinga!  We actually got our tags and were ready to step into the spring with time to kill...and it was time to kill.  Gotcha again punk!  This was a catch and release day.  The killing would come the next day (I promised some coworkers that I would bring them some fish) and let's just say that some special folks would show up for the trout harvest.  Now that's foreshadowing!

We were all in the water when the horn sounded and were on pins and needles to make our first casts.  I say pins and needles because I was freezing and my lower extremities were in the process of going numb following that pins and needles feeling.  It didn't matter though!  The trout were in the water, the sun was rising, and the fish seemed active.  I think I jumped a little when the horn actually sounded, but my line ended up in the water pretty fast.  While working through my first drift, it was hard to miss the fact that Austin had hooked up with a fish before the horn finished sounded.  While I am EXTREMELY proud of Austin for so many reasons, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that I am incredibly jealous of his abilities, knowledge, and maybe even his luck.

The morning was rolling along and everyone was catching fish.  The sun was out, the fish were biting, and this is all we had to do!  Life was good and only got better when Busch arrived at the park.  He had gotten up around 3:30 and made it to the park just about the time the horn sounded.  Busch hadn't fly fished in a while, but he has done so much in the past that all he had to do was shake off some rust and he was into fish pretty fast.  It didn't take long for us to start making fun of the small fish, oohing and awing over the larger than average fish, and inquiring about the flies one another was using.  This was one of those mornings that we will refer back to in the future when things are slow.  I can hear it now: "Remember that one morning you, me, Pat, and Austin...".

Austin caught his good looking male.  We named it Troutasaurs after we looked at the picture.

Mother Nature also decided to smile on us and send us a few bonuses on top of the fishing.  Austin was the first to spot the otter that showed up near the hatchery intake grate.  He dove in the pool behind the metal barrier and came out with a stocker rainbow a few seconds later.  He then drug it up the nearby hillside and proceeded to eat his breakfast.  Consequently, he did the same thing on Sunday morning as well.  I had never seen that in the wild before and it was pretty impressive.  We also saw some kingfishers and a flock about 20 turkey vultures on their morning commute.

There was something else going on this particular morning that I had never experienced either and that was the Holland Trout Derby.  I had heard of this event in the past but had never participated in it and found it to be a little difficult in terms of finding information about it.  Essentially, one hundred tagged fish were stocked in the stream and if you were lucky enough to land one then you could remove the tag, release or keep the fish, and turn the tag in at the park store.  From there, you had to attend a drawing at noon on Sunday where prizes were given out.  We joked a little about one of us catching a tagged fish but I'll be honest, I didn't expect anyone in our group to ACTUALLY get a tag.  I think I even told Pat, "Come on man!  Nobody's going to get a tag!  That kind of stuff doesn't happen to people I know."  So yeah, I landed a tagged fish at about 8:30 Saturday morning.

I had landed about 10-15 fish by that point, but this particular fish had something protruding from its right gill cover.  I had been told that tags were blue and that they would be easy to remove.  What I saw was a shiny piece of metal.  After netting the fish (which I rarely do, but this sucker wasn't getting away) I gave a few gentle wiggles and prying and the tag came lose.  I waited to announce to my buddies that I had actually got a tag until the fish was released and the tag was securely in my possession.  To say I was excited was an understatement.  I doubt the guy that stamped out this little piece of stainless steel or the guy that attached it to a twelve inch rainbow ever considered the amount of joy that it would bring some stranger on a trout stream.  It felt like a little trophy because of the unlikelihood of being able to acquire a tag and the strong possibility that I could have dropped it in the gravel where it never would have been seen again.  I joked with the guys that if I wasn't guaranteed my tag back, then I wasn't going to enter it in the drawing because to me, the tag WAS the prize.  I did end up turning in the tag at the end of the day and called home to break the bad news to my wife that I would be staying a little later than I expected in order to attend the raffle...and get my tag back.

We fished until noon.  Sometimes we fished together, sometimes we split up, and sometimes we fished in pairs.  As usual, the fishing slowed down over the course of morning with the best fishing coming within the first thirty minutes of the horn, but we were still picking up fish here and there.  We even saw a 1-2 pound largemouth in zone 1 (above the spillway).  I always wonder how species other than trout find their way into this particular stretch and it adds a little bit of variety to the day.

The park was pretty crowded on this particular weekend and good fishing spots were at a premium.  You had to fish the spots that were open and in some cases, fish stretches of water that no one else was fishing with the hope that the spot might actually hold fish.  Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't but you had to play the cards you were dealt.  By about noon, we were starting to get hungry and wanted to head over to the Redington event on the Niangua.

The BEST Bennett Trip Ever (Part 1)

Bennett is an affordable and glorified trout farm.  I know that, you know that, and let's just embrace it for what it is shall we?  That doesn't make it a bad thing by any means though!  It's fun!  It was designed to be fun, it IS fun, and it probably always will be fun.

I live over 100 miles away from the closest trout stream.  What this means is that I don't have the ability to monitor flow rates, log seasonal hatches in a journal, and understand the cycles of the river.  I wish I did, but I don't.  Here's what I have time for: I can leave the house on a Friday night or early Saturday morning.  I can fish all day and if I am lucky, I might be able to fish until 10 AM on Sunday before I head home.  That means I fish when I can, and when I can fish, I want to CATCH fish.  So for this very reason, places like Bennett and Roaring River (closest trout parks to my house) are awesome and I love them.

I have had a love affair with trout parks for about 15 years now and I have had some memorable trips to them.  By that, I mean that there have been trips that produced few fish but large fish and other trips that have produced a large number of fish but they could mostly be classified as "pellet heads".  However, last I was able to get down to Bennett last weekend and it was a particularly unique experience and maybe the most memorable that I have ever had.

I had this trip planned for a while after I heard that Redington was going to hold a get together on the Niangua on Saturday, October 8.  I was wanting to try out some gear, meet some nice folks, and maybe procure a donation for the middle school fly fishing club that I sponsor.  I also wanted to invite some friends to come along and spend some time on the water.  I was able to wrangle my buddies Pat, Busch, and Austin into joining me.  If you frequent this site you know that Busch is my best friend, Pat is like a second dad/brother, and Austin is a former student of mine as well as fly fishing prodigy.  I like to think of it as a sort of "super team" of fly fishermen and I'm pretty sure that when we departed for the spring, the trout gave a collective shiver in response.  Alright, maybe not, but isn't that a cool visualization.  Fish actually fearing your arrival?  That's funny.

Anywho, we arrived in the valley after dark and were able to check in to Sand Spring Resort before their office closed.  The rest of the evening was spent rigging up rods, talking about fly patterns, and trying to find something decent on the television.  I don't know what I fell asleep watching, but I know I fell asleep first.  I also woke up first.

When I realized that it was 3:45 in the morning, I had already been awake for fifteen minutes and there was no chance that I would be returning to my night of slumber.  I was like a kid on Christmas day and there was just too much excitement to allow sleep to drape over me again.  I was awake, wide awake, and there was a stream about 100 yards away.  What else was there to do than a little fishing in the dark?

I hit the water at about 4:00 AM and threw a few different dark colored wooly buggers until about 5:00.  I didn't get any bites but thoroughly enjoyed fishing in the dark and fishing by feel rather than site.  A mantra that I subscribe to, especially on trout streams, is to fish by faith and not by sight.  Well buddy, when you are fishing in the dark, faith is all you have.  It reminds me of the bible verse that states "And although I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear not for the Lord art with me."  I'm not saying fishing is like death though because it is more important than that.  I kid...kind of.

After realizing that I was fishing an unfamiliar stretch of water both in the dark and in the cold, I decided that I was participating in an act of futility and I decided to go warm myself near a campfire that I had seen burning the night before.  Luckily, there were some embers and leftover wood available and it didn't take long to get a flame going and to warm my spirits for the rest of the day.  It's fascinating to me about how a flame in the dark and especially in the cold can return you to a primal state of mind and make you appreciate simple things like light and warmth.  This is the kind of soul restoration that I needed from the world of work, stress, and deadlines that I left behind.  I felt myself returning to a state of calmness and sense of conscientiousness that I haven't felt in, well let's just call it many moons.

When I got back to the room, it was about time for my roomies to wake up to their cell phone alarms.  Before long we were all going about some sort of silent routine like we were going to work like any other day regardless of the fact that the job, surroundings, and coworkers had changed.  We all had ideas of what we needed and wanted to do with our days and we moved around the room with direction and purpose.  While that sounds profound, it is important to note that Pat used the bathroom three times.  He said that is normal for him but I would argue that it is not normal for anyone else in the known world.  We all ended up in the truck about 45 minutes before the horn sounded and it at least appeared that we would reach the water with time to kill.

Bottle Cap Fishing Lure

I have mentioned in prior posts that I believe that most fly fishermen are tinkerers.  We tie flies in different colors but similar ribbing and then turn around and tie them in the same color with different ribbing.  I even know guys that make their own foam that they use to tie beetles with.  I myself have rearranged my fly tying desk no less than one thousand times and have even learned to solder so I can make some of my own fishing lures that I use on my spinning rod.  When I ran across this little project, I knew I had to share it with my fellow tinkerers.  I have not attempted this myself, but I am sure that I will one day this winter when the days are short and the next planned fishing trip is months away.  As always, if you attempt or complete this little project, I would love to hear from you and share your creation/story.  Email me showmeflyguy@gmail.com if you feel so inclined.

Link: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/2016/09/video-how-to-make-a-beer-cap-fishing-lure?dom=fas&loc=contentwell&lnk=video-how-to-make-a-beercap-fishing-lure

Throwing Tandem Streamers- A Retrospect

A while back I wrote about an epiphany that I had while watching a fly fishing show.  That epiphany came in the form of a two streamer combination that the host employed.  It seemed so simple yet creative all at the same time.  Since then, I have used this set-up on two different occasions and have caught fish each time.  I thought I would share some pictures and observations that might help you out if you decide to give this method a try.

In both instances, I paired wooly buggers.  The lead fly was always an olive pearl wooly that I have nicknamed "the Christmas tree ornament).  I figured the flash would get a fish's attention and maybe get them interested in feeding.  The second fly was a little more drab.  On one occasion I went with a black and olive wooly as a trailer since the water was a little murky.  On another occasion I went with a white bodied wooly with olive hackle and tail since the water was a little clearer.  On both occasions, I caught fish on both flies.  Fish seemed a little more interest in the flashier fly but both got bit.

In terms of set up, I accidentally had about 12 inches of fluorocarbon between the flies on my first experiment.  I underestimated how much line was going to be taken up in tying knots to the lead fly and then to the trailer.  To be honest, I almost ditched the whole set up but I'm glad I didn't.  The distance didn't seem to bother the fish and I only experienced one tangle.  I also came within inches of landing two fish at the same time.  I was bringing in a smaller bluegill on the lead fly when a bass darted out of the shallows and missed a swipe at the trailer fly.  If anything, I am determined to land two fish at the same time so this method will be used again in the future.

On the second deployment of the wooly tandem I used about 18 inches of line between the flies.  I was following directions that I got from another web page and thought the greater distance would elicit better responses although I am not sure why.  What I found out (rather quickly) was that this greater distance equated to more tangles and problems.  I had to take out about 4 knots but none of them were horrible.  I guess the added distance between the flies simply makes more line available for fouling.

In retrospect, proper casting technique is key.  If the tandem rig did not land in a perfect line or had any bunching at all on the cast, there was a pretty good chance that a knot was going to occur.  The longer tether was less forgiving and more problematic.

Moving forward, I want to try some different fly combinations.  Maybe a John Deere jig as the lead fly and a small zonker behind it.  I have also thought about working some sort of surface fly quickly and erratically with a baitfish imitation milling around below the surface.  I figure that the surface fly could basically act as a glorified strike indicator in case I get bit.  Finally, I am including some links from the previous post if you would like to get more and better information from those that know a lot more than me.

http://1source.basspro.com/index.php/component/k2/67-fly-fishing/2959-how-to-fly-fish-tandem-streamer-rigs

http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishing/Tuesday-Tip-Tandem-Streamers/

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin%E2%80%99/fly-fishing-5-top-tandem-rig-combos-tough-trout

http://www.flyfisherman.com/how-to/tactics/two-fly-nymph-rig/

http://therockyriver.com/the-complete-guide-to-the-tandem-rig/

http://www.hatchmag.com/articles/5-tips-better-streamer-fishing/7712015

Mentions Bass

http://www.floridasportsman.com/2016/09/27/tandem-fly-rigs/

A Funny Way To Keep A Kid Interested In Fishing

I can't claim this idea as my own (read it on some other fishing blog), but I sure think it is hilarious.  A while back, my oldest son and I hit up a local pond to catch a few "monster gills" as we like to call them.  He wasn't extremely enthusiastic to go so I told him that I had an idea and to bring along his First Order Stormtrooper.  This is not to be confused with the Imperial Stormtrooper from episodes 4-6 of Star Wars because that would be silly!  Anyway, he was curious about what I had in mind and I just told him to bring it and let the adult be in charge...which he has a hard time with.  So we ended up snapping a few funny pictures with the trooper (FN-2199 is his name if I recall correctly...which I am sure I recall correctly) and I wanted to pass them along.  I have a feeling that you will be seeing more action figures with fish in the future and let's just say that Bobba Fett is going to think being thrown a Sarlacc Pit is a better option than what I have planned for him.  Heh, heh, heh!  If you read that in a sinister voice and twirled an imaginary mustache, you are my new best friend and we need to hang out this weekend.

NEW Episode of Find Your Water

Find Your Water: Season 2, Episode 6: Movember from Redingtongear on Vimeo.

On In A Million?

We've all caught a fish that we individually thought was one in a million.  For some it is a big brown trout on a skinny stretch of water.  For others it is a two pound bluegill that looked like something from Lake Springfield.  For me, it was a 6 pound largemouth on a 1/32 ounce crappie jig.  For my buddy Mark, it was a 15 pound albino flathead catfish.  He caught the rarity on a 1/32 ounce roadrunner that was tipped with a minnow while fishing for crappie and yellow perch.  Mark lives on Lake Lotawana (near Blue Springs and Lee's Summit) and was fishing off his dock when he hooked into the bleached beast.  Mark fought it for about 10 minutes on a spinning rod with 10 pound line prior to releasing the fish back to the wild.  After multiple requests, Mark contacted a fisheries biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation to report his catch.  The biologist said that albinoism is more common among channel cats especially in stocked and smaller lakes.  He said that an albino flathead was more rare and the fact that it must have been born in the wild and survived to adulthood only added to the anomaly.  Mark's brother had found some research that basically said that the chances of catching an albino flathead in the wild was about one in 10 million and the biologist confirmed that the number was probably pretty close.  I would say congratulations on a one in a million fish, but that wouldn't be fair to mark or this odds-defying wonder.

As always, if you have a good story to share, I would love to hear from you and share your pictures/story.  Email me showmeflyguy@gmail.com if you feel so inclined.

Reminder: Let's Go Fishing

Back on September 21, I posted about heading down to Bennett Spring and the Niangua River on October 8 to do some fishing and attend an event that Redington is holding.  Some of my buddies and I are still planning on attending and I would love to see you there.  If you plan on attending, feel free to email me at showmyflyguy@gmail.com or feel free to introduce yourself if we run into one another.  Below, I am including the original post that gives all the information about the Redington event.  If you are unable to attend but wish you could, rest assured that I will be posting about the trip and letting you know how things went...for the better or worse.

Post from Sept. 21, 2016:

The other day I received an interesting email from Redington.  Redington is a company that makes fly rods, reels, waders, and a few other fly-fishing related things.  Anyway, I get emails from the company from time to time letting me know about new episodes of "Find Your Water" and other items, but this particular email caught my eye.  It was titled "Come Fish With Us".  Frankly, I don't care who titles an email that way, I am going to read it and I am going to try and go fishing with whomever has emailed me.  Anyway, here's the rest of what the email said:

Come fish with us as we chase both trout and smallmouth on the Niangua River in Missouri! We'll be hanging out at Hidden Valley Outfitters for the day, so stop by for product demos, giveaways, casting games, and plenty of good times. Come grab a free hat and share your latest fishing tale over a hot dog and a cold drink. Let's go hit the water!

So here's what I propose.  Let's go fishing!  I will be attending this little event and plan on fishing the Niangua as well as at Bennett Spring State Park.  I am trying to round up some of my buddies to come along with me and I hope to see you there too.  You know what I look like by now so don't hesitate to introduce yourself if we run into one another.  It sounds like a good time regardless.  Casting some new rods, free food, giveaways, and of course...fishing.  The way I see it, now you have a rare opportunity in front of you which you can use as an excuse to get out of the house and hit the water...at least that's the thesis of the argument that I used with my wife...and it worked.  Good luck if you pursue a similar tactic.

Link to the Redington webpage:  http://www.redington.com/home-waters#!niangua-wrapper

Screenshot from the link above.

Details from the aforementioned link.

What Kind Of Fish Are You?

I'm a Permit...that I know for certain!  However, trade all the tropical stuff and make it rural Missouri.

Link: https://postflybox.com/blog/2016/09/14/serious-question-what-kind-of-fish-are-you/

New Hook Shots

Sometimes I say to myself, "Tyler Dykes, you handsome devil, why haven't you ever fished in the gulf for redfish?"  To which, my only answer is money and time, but I think I could justify a one-time trip just to see what all the fuss is about.  This video just reignites my enthusiasm about a little trip to the south and my desire to land a bull redfish on a fly.  As always, Joe Cermele does an outstanding job as host and cameraman so I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Link: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/the-lateral-line/new-hook-shots-mississippi-gulf-coast-rumble?dom=fas&loc=contentwell&lnk=new-hook-shots-mississippi-gulf-coast-rumble-