Fishing Report
How’s fishing? Fishing has been absolutely awesome these past couple of weeks in the Niangua and at Bennett Spring. I have had very few anglers report they were not catching fish. We have not had a lot of rain in the past few weeks so the stream is very clear and running smooth. I have been down several times and did very well in zone 1 and in zone 2. I also have fished the Niangua River and did well. Now the good thing is that the fishing is awesome but the down fall if any has been the moss mainly in zone 1.
So, what’s been working. In zone 1 and zone 2. Drifting, dries and stripping has been awesome. On the drift cream mop, orange mop and white mop have been at the top for many anglers. John Deere, white thread, peacock, and the red brassie have also been very affective for several anglers. Dry fly has been a lot better these past few weeks. Parachute adams, foam beetles, and light Cahill have been productive the past couple of weeks. I had a great time with beetles on the river the other day. In the Glo ball selection, Tri color original, Jimi Hendrix, white, easter egg, and salmon or even pink have been the top Glo balls for many fishermen. Rooster Tails in bumblebee, white, pink, brown trout have worked really well. In zone three orange Power Bait, Salmon Peach and salmon eggs have worked well for many anglers. Also mice tails and Power worms have been the top soft plastic baits in zone three.
So I mentioned this in the first couple of reports but Id like to cover it again as a reminder. Zone 1: From the hatchery dam to the spring area, only flies are allowed. Zone 2: From the hatchery dam to the Whistle Bridge, only flies and artificial lures are allowed. Artificial lures are like your spoons, spinnerbaits like Rooster Tails treble or single hook, Super Dupers. Zone 3: From the Whistle Bridge to the Niangua River, only soft plastic bait, natural and scented bait are allowed. This is going to be like worms, minnows, corn, marshmallows, dough baits, soft plastic worms, shrimp. I personally started out in zone 3 and really enjoyed it. I now fish a fly rod in zone 1 and 2 -drifting jigs or stripping flies. I also love throwing dry flies. Do some research on the zones and familiarize yourself with the rules. Its very important to know what lures to use and what zones you can fish them in. You don't wanna be a headline on a Facebook post regarding fishing plastic worms in zone 1 or 2 which is definitely NOT legal and can only be used in zone 3. I found the best way to find something out is to ask. Ask another angler or come on up to Weaver's. We love answering questions!
STREAM CONDITIONS
BENNETT SPRING gage height 1.92 feet
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/
NIANGUA RIVER gage height 1.21
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/06923250/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D
Recommendations
Cracklebacks: bennett blue
midge - black or red zebra
Renegades,
double trouble strip it or use it dry
Pale Evening Dun
scuds- shrimp scud black or gray
Quill Gordon duck wing or pheasant wing
White Elk Hair Caddis.
Zone 1 & 2
Kapok (used with a split shot above the kapok)
Super Duper- Silver/red tip (zone 2 only)
Panther Martin- Chartues ( zone 2 only)
White and orange Trout Magnet ( zone 3 only)
marabou: black & yellow, ginger, orange and white, shell
white thread
john deere mini jig
bead spread mini jig
glo ball -Jimi Hendrix and lt roe
Rooster Tail, copper, bronze, sparkle orange, spark white, and skunk
Zone 3
PowerBait: yellow, salmon peach, white and red
Bentley's Secret Bait
Power Bait Eggs in the chartreuse or lemon color(Angler reported using these with a split shot
Bennett Spring Events
Bennett Spring Fly Tying Group- Every Wednesday @ 9 at the Bennett Spring
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 at Weaver’s