Saturday night my plans (Jim Craig) suddenly changed and left my schedule for Monday, December 20^th wide open.  That’s what I call a perfect opportunity.  Fishing at Montauk on a Monday can mean having the park to yourself.  I immediately packed my fly fishing gear.  But, who could I call to join me at such late notice?  A bunch of guys were already committed to go on the Maramec Spring Park trip Tuesday, so I knew they couldn’t go.  Then it hit me.   Call a guy who spends so much time at Montauk, he is probably already there, Dan Staggenborg.   

Sure enough, Dan was already planning to go fishing on Monday, but not at Montauk.  He had plans to fish with his buddy, Rob, at Bennet Spring that day.  Fortunately, he offered to let me join them.     

We rendezvoused at the spring about 9 AM.  Dan introduced me to Rob, a retired heavy machinery operator with lots of stories to share.  Rob had just bought a house very close to the park.  We enjoyed the area to ourselves until the temperature started rising.   About 10 AM more fishermen joined us for a beautiful morning on the water.   There were lots of feeding fish and Dan had them dialed in with his personally customized Bennet Spring (BS) Killer fly.  His morning included a beautiful 18”+  fish.  See the pictures.  I nymphed an orange midge and egg, and I swung soft hackles to finally hook a couple, but didn’t get near the love Dan did with his BS Killer.  Rob hooked a few on a size 20 black zebra midge.  

We enjoyed our lunch t a picnic table overlooking lots of rising fish.  Dan treated us to some delicious dessert leftovers from his family Christmas gathering the day before.  

After lunch, Rob had to leave to work on some improvements at his new place.  Dan and I fished above and below the stone bridge and gradually made our way down towards the hatchery outlet.  The BS Killer was still producing in the afternoon, but not as well as the red zebra midge, black zebra midge, and the small soft hackles and Barr’s emergers.  Dan and I had a great time bantering our way down the river together.  My fishing certainly picked up in the afternoon and Dan just kept pulling them in.   As usual, the 4 PM siren put an end to the fun.  Just as well, I had a long drive ahead of me and Dan was staying at Rob’s house that night to help him with some of those home improvement projects.  I think Dan has more skills than we might actually know about.  Anyway, it was an easy drive home and a great day on the water with one old friend and one new friend.