Fishing Report
How’s Fishing? We had a good week of fishing here at Bennett Spring, a little rain here and there and maybe a couple trips to the storm shelter but overall, a good week. We had some rain that raised the spring but if you know Bennett Spring it lowers just as fast as it raises. This morning the spring was setting at 2.12 feet which is just about perfect. I went down this morning and the water clarity was great.
So, what’s working? Well, the word on the stream is orange has been the color this week. Several anglers reported orange Rooster Tails, orange mop flies and orange PowerBait worked great for them. Now with that being said I always talk to anglers that have one particular fly, their “go to fly” that always works for them. So, this week I tried to keep track of that info and wow, everyone’s “go to” is different but they all have one thing in common. The black and yellow marabou jig first thing in the morning.
If you have read my reports, I commonly mention the black and yellow marabou jig which is kind of repetitive so I wanted to learn a little more and have somewhat of a background so I turned to Mr. Paul Weaver again for a little history on the Black and Yellow Marabou Jig for the Bennett Spring area. The marabou jig has been around for several years though it wasn’t always just on a jig head. It was originally just a hook and marabou thrown with a weight. Paul Said it wasn’t until around 1963 when Paul Ament with Ament Molds in Kansas City, MO started making the jig head molds for the 1/16th down to a 64th ounce jig. In the 60’s Jig heads were around but they were heavy, quarter ounce jig heads for bass. So, we can’t put an exact date on it but let’s just say the “old trusty” black and yellow marabou jig has been around a long time and still works awesome today! Still today you can go down to the stream especially in the morning time and the “starter fly” is most commonly the black and yellow.
Now not everyone likes to throw marabou jigs but if your interested and even if you throw a fly rod, it can be done! (Black and yellow), (olive), (black) and many other colors are very popular for fly fisherman in an unweighted or even 80th ounce jig head. Most commonly used when stripping though I have also seen the marabou jig drifted. Regardless it’s something to try if you don’t already have it in your fly box.
Also if you are an avid fly tyer or want to learn, don’t forget about the Tri lakes Fishing Expo in Clinton, MO on April 13th.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully some good fishin. Good luck, be safe and we’ll see you on the stream.
BENNETT SPRING gage height 2.12feet
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/06923500/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D
NIANGUA RIVER gage height 2.20 feet https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/06923250/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D
Recommendations
Zone 1 and Zone 2- Marabou- black & yellow, white & red and shell & white Mopfly- Cream, orange and Chartreus
White Mega worm, Pink Mega worm
zebra Midge-black, olive
Grey Scud
Mini jigs-John Deere mini jig and Bedspread mini jig- white thread jig and the peacock mini jig with tail
Glow balls orange, Jimi Hendrix, white, peach and the tri colored orgininal
Zone 3-Orange Spark PowerBait and Salmon Peach PowerBait- White PowerBait, Rainbow Powerbait
Pautzke’s Red label Salmon Eggs
Bennett Spring Events
Bennett Spring Fly Tying Group- Every Wednesday @ 9 at the Bennett Spring Church
April 13th Tri Lakes Fishing Expo at Clinton, MO
April 20th Veterans Day Fishing
May 4th Kids Free Fishing
See https://mostateparks.com/events/park/bennett-spring-state-park for more Bennet Spring Events and dates
Have fun, stay safe and tight lines!
Thanks for reading,
Cory
The Guy from Weaver’s