fishing report
Fishing Report
by Cory Bennett – May 28, 2026
How’s Fishing
Fishing at Bennett Spring started off a little tough earlier this week. We had a huge crowd over Memorial Day weekend, so the fish were a bit shy at the beginning of the week. I fished last night at the dam stripping a crackleback and did very well.
Weather conditions have been great overall, with a small shower here and there. A light rain jacket was needed for a few anglers this morning. The stream is clearing up nicely each day and is in really good shape heading into the weekend.
What’s Working?
In Zones 1 and 2, anglers have been catching fish on John Deere mini jigs, white thread jigs, orange thread jigs, cream mops, and orange mops. Fishing deep continues to be the key for several anglers.
Stripping wet flies was on fire for several anglers using cracklebacks, marabous, and renegades. The renegade is predominantly known as a dry fly, but it can also be excellent fished wet. If you are running an indicator, be sure to change your depth before changing flies.
Darker-colored Rooster Tails seemed to be especially popular, although a few anglers reported bright colors also worked well.
Zone 3 anglers have been doing well on Salmon Peach PowerBait, and several anglers have also reported good success using regular night crawlers. We also had an awesome lunker caught on Pumpkinseed PowerBait. Mouse tails in pink and white, as well as orange and white, worked very well.
We have a good chance of rain heading into the weekend, but the stream should remain very fishable. I will be doing a live stream in the morning on the Weaver’s Tackle Facebook page.
Recommendations
Zone 1 & 2:
• Cream mop flies
• Orange mop flies
• John Deere mini jigs
• White thread jigs
• Orange thread jigs
• Marabou jigs (Black & Yellow)
• Rooster Tails
Zone 3:
• Salmon Peach PowerBait
• Night crawlers
• Mouse tails
Current Water Conditions:
Bennett Spring gauge: 1.93 ft
Niangua River gauge: 1.87 ft
Events:
• State Free Fishing Days — June 6 & 7
• Ladies Free Fishing — September 26 | 7:30 am - 7:15 pm
Shop Update:
Stop by the shop if you need anything or want the latest update. We appreciate everyone supporting Weaver’s Tackle, and I hope everybody has a great weekend.
Good luck, be safe, and I’ll see you on the stream.
Cory – The Guy at Weavers