Bennett Spring One More Time
02-03-2023
Realizing that this winters catch and release season was coming to an end 6 FATC Members were willing to brave the 18* temps on a Friday in February. Bob Hassett, Dan Staggenborg, Don Varner, Scott Payne, Steve Baker and Vernon Preston made the drive starting out at 5:30 am and meeting at Bennett at 8.We were the first to arrive at our normal parking spot across from the restrooms. Did you know that those restrooms are heated and make a nice warm place to suit up when it’s this cold? It almost makes you want to hang out in there all day, but that would be a little weird. As we rigged up our rods and starting walking to the locations we would be fishing I had my eye on the stream to see what the fish were up to. Not seeing any rising trout and noticing they were all staying deep I decided to tie on a CDC PT FB BH Nymph which I had luck with a couple of weeks prior and also an eggstacy egg pattern I was able to quickly start the morning off with 4 fish in the net and then it just stopped. I noticed Dan and Bob netting fish on a regular basis and so as not to fall too far behind I worked my way over to Dan’s honey hole and found he was using a Bennett Spring Killer, I tied one on and my luck immediately improved. That Dan’s a nice guy. I’m not sure but I think Bob had on the HOP and an egg pattern. He was able to hook into a couple of doubles, along with a few other fish He’s becoming a pro at the two for one deal
We were all spread out in the spring area when Vernon joined in the fun. I love seeing Vernon catching fish; it even puts a smile on his face. I noticed Don Varner working his way up to the spring area from just below the gage house. I later learned that he had tied on a PT nymph, one that I had given him that morning. He was able to net eight or so fish before lunch break. We all stopped fishing about 11:45 and made our way back to the cars for lunch. We noticed Scott coming from the other direction and new he had been to his favorite area below the bridge. We usually place a bet on the number of fish he nets, the guy is amazing, and doesn’t like to brag.
We all ate our lunch in a hurry since it was too cold to stand around and BS. The day was warming up a bit but was still below 30*. Thank God we had sun and low breezes. After lunch we once again spread out along the stream and were surprised at the number of fisherman that had arrived. In the afternoon I headed below the bridge and started hooking into fish on the egg, HOP combination. It’s amazing how a fish can take a fly in those shallow and fast riffles. I was able to nab 9 more fish with one of them being a beautiful male of 18 ½ “. Surprisingly he didn’t put up much of a fight. He must have had sore lips from Scott catching him earlier that morning. Just as I was ready to move downstream, about a half dozen spin fisherman noisily came in the stream about 20 yards below me and ruined my path. I then noticed Scott was fishing up closer to the bridge and Dan moving down past these guys so I decided to bale and relinquished my spot to Bob who had just walked along the bank behind me. I decided to go back to the area across from the restrooms and fish a little more before the Horn. Vernon was still by the spring and Don was fishing the ADA piers and down towards the spillway. I hear the water is cold and deep in that area.
As we all gathered by the cars to get changed out of our gear we all agreed that the day was well worth putting up with the cold. It wasn’t below any of us to take advantage of the warm restrooms to change. Especially one particular person that wanted to check out the water temperature at the last minute. As we tallied the fish count for the day we realized .that for the third or fourth time in the last month we were catching an amazing number of fish. I would say that the number of FATC guys checking out Bennett for winter fishing next year will increase.
We all agreed on, you guessed it, American Taco for our Fellowship dinner. The food is good and the service is quick. After eating we said our goodbyes and headed back home. Let’s hear it for a great Fellowship of men that all seem to appreciate each other,
