Driving through the hills and valleys of the Ozarks renews my spirit. Leaves are just starting to bud out and the air smelled cool and fresh with an occasional scent of vegetation still wet after a rain.
I was headed to Bennett Springs Trout Park for the Missouri Outdoor Communicators annual event and excellent fishing. The Missouri Department of Conservation stocks the stream with 320,000 pounds of rainbow and brown trout annually. Some learn early what not to bite and gain good size. We were always after the big trout in spite of the cold water.
Just before I arrived at Bennett, rain hit with a vengeance – for two days. We decided to visit the first day and I became fixated on watching the great Jim Wilson teach fly fishing classes.
Several students stood behind the area headquarters while soaking in a light rain and listened to Wilson’s master instruction on approach and presentation, fly selections for different conditions, playing the fish on a fly rod, reading water, wading, knots, roll casting and other important facets of this ancient sport.
Wilson demonstrated different casts and then students tried to imitate the master, either with their own equipment or tackle furnished by the school. He charges a small fee, but it is worth every penny for beginning or intermediate level fly anglers.
The following morning was drizzly, meaning great trout fishing conditions when there is no lightening. We purposely used barbless hooks to avoid injuring the trout. Catch and release is the law on Bennett Springs after Oct. 1 and until March 1 when fishermen celebrate a new season, shoulder to shoulder and without me. But this day the place was ours.
I cautiously waded over the slick, submerged rocks, finally making it to the famous concrete bridge, close to a deep drop-off. My fly rod, a six weight, had been pre-rigged on the bank. I started stripping fly line while observing about 1,000 trout in the clear water. A couple swam by my wader boots as line slipped back and forth through the air until enough fed out to make a desirable presentation.
My fly gently landed close to a big, submerged rock. I focused on the spot where my size 18 poison tung occasionally twitched in the current. I could place four of the tiny flies on my thumbnail, meaning in the water it was invisible to human eyes, but the highly visible float bounced freely in the current. A slight twitch must have made my fly more enticing as the float moved slightly sideways, a sign that a trout took the bait. I raised my rod to set the hook – nothing.
That rainbow trout attacked my fly quicker than any human mind could register and I missed the hook set. Another trout struck – same result. The trout were just too fast that cold morning. I slipped more line out to a different spot, making sure my line was tight in the fast-moving water and waited. The next strike cropped up quick as a flash of lightening, but this time my barbless hook drove into flesh.
My fly rod took a deep bend as this rainbow trout dove for the safety of rocks. I clearly had hooked a good fish, maybe over four pounds I mentally surmised while picking up line whenever possible. Finally, the trout was close and I looked down to see what might have been a pound fish that fought like a lunker in the strong current. The darned fish would not give up.
The little trout used up his allotted energy minutes later. I admired it in my net, with vivid colors of pink and salmon that rivaled most fish species for beauty. I released the fighter and was splashed with cold water by a departing tail flip. Several more trout were caught and gently released before the bigger rains moved in.
Radar showed the heavy rains were coming, so we took a trip to Lebanon, Missouri. This moderate-sized town started in the 1850s. The name was changed from the original Wyota. After the war businesses and progress started to move forward again.
The city is famous for its “magnetic” water, which was discovered in 1889. A worker found that his tools were magnetized by the water while digging a well. It was also believed that the magnetic waters had healing powers.
However, we discovered the town because of Dodd’s Catfish Restaurant. That is not fancy dining but excellent food that makes many of the Bennett Springs anglers continue coming back, including us since the 1970s. We, too, visited the Case Knife Factory Outlet where they have thousands of knives on display. There are many shopping opportunities in Lebanon.
Driving back to Bennett Springs meant stopping at different fly fishing shops to visit with the owners. There is a world of history down there and they are happy to talk about it. Make sure you ask them what the trout are biting on and they tell you exactly what to try. We started visited them years ago before wading in to fish.
For more information, call Bennett Springs at 417-532-4307 or the Department of Natural Resources for all state park information at 800-334-6946. You can also check Lebanon’s website at www.lebanonmissouri.org
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