I felt the need for a trip to the stream and since I had not fished at Bennett Spring since catch and release ended in February I decided to post a trip for July 15, 16 and 17. The interest level was strong and before I knew, it there were about 12-14 guys eager to join in. Besides myself (Steve Baker) Bob Born, Marvin Hays.  Matt McClure, Harold Bates, Ken Welter, Al Harbor and Don McCain were a go.  Unfortunately, Denny Garner, Vernon Preston and Bob Palish had to cancel last minute.  We were also joined by a couple of members from Springfield FATC Ted Madden and George Wong who drove to Bennett on Wednesday morning. 

We arrived at the park Tuesday around 11:30 along with a heavy rain shower that kept up for another 35-40 minutes.  Once the rain quit it did not take us long to get our gear on and start fishing.  Of course, that is when all the other anglers came out of hiding, and before I knew it, the stream got a little crowded.  Some of us fished up at the spring and down below the handicap pier and below the first spillway across from the restrooms. Don McCain did pretty well with a mop fly fished between the pier and the spillway catching a dozen or so fish. Al reported that his morning was slow. Al and Don had plans to float the Niangua for small mouth on Wednesday.  I was able to get a few on a perdigon but it was slow. The best success was had by the guys who fished below the bridge. Marvin, Bob, Matt, Harold and Ken.  They were euro nymphing and striping cracklebacks.  The biggest issue all over the stream was the moss.  More time was spent cleaning the moss off your fly than was spent on catching fish.  Trips to Bennett will probably be very sparse until the moss issue is resolved.  We all decided to have dinner at the lodge Tuesday evening.  Plans were made to meet up Wednesday morning for more fishing at know specific time.  Wednesday morning was a beautiful day and most of the guys spread out below the bridge to fish the riffles. I learned that the fly tying group was meeting at the church at nine and wanted to visit to a couple of friends so I putzed around fishing dry flies for a while with no luck at all until 9am and then went to the fly tying event. A friend turned me on to a fly he swears by for Bennett. I thanked him and could not wait to try it out and it did not disappoint.  We were able to meet up with George and Ted while we ate lunch. They had arrived mid morning and fished up by the spring with limited success.  Their plan for the afternoon was to go check into their room, rest up for a while and then fish later in the day.  

After lunch, the rest of the guys decided to fish below the bridge.  I was using a sinking fly line where the riffles end below the bridge with great success and I was able to net fish in the double digits on Cracklebacks.  I am really getting the feel for the sinking line.  There were four or five of us fishing that area with euro rods or stripping flies and everyone caught fish.  It was a great day of fishing even with the moss. We decided to stop at 5:30 and get ready to go to dinner.  

We all decided on Mexican and found a place on the other side of 44 that turned out to be a good choice. Can you say Margarita’s and great Mexican food? I think the fellowship also contributed to the fun. Everyone was wiped out from the long day on the water so we headed back to the lodge for a good nights sleep.  Our plan was to fish in the morning for a few hours before heading home on Thursday.  When we woke up on Thursday and while getting ready to go fishing, I checked the weather forecast, it looked like there was some rain, and thunderstorms headed are way. The decision was made to back out of fishing for Thursday and Bob and I decided to head home about 9:30.  Harold and Matt were already at the stream fishing but ended up being rained on.  Bob and I made a stop at IHOP in Rolla for breakfast.  The ride home went quick and I was home by 11:30.