Montauk (Current River), Wednesday March 26th: Park a little torn up, fishing very good!

Great evening of fishing. Arrived at the park around 4:30 or so. I knew I had a limited time, but it was great to fish Montauk State Park again. I had not fished Montauk in a couple of years. I think the last time I was at the park was in 2005 during the catch and release season. Forgot how beautiful of a park Montauk truly is .

Started off in the fly area. I picked up a couple of nymphs a few days ago, so I thought I would try them out. Threw those as well as black jigs (real overcast conditions). No luck. Spoke with a gentleman who had been fishing the area all day. Montauk has so much sand due to the flood that they had a backhoe dredging the area right before the dam earlier. Probably should have throw a San Juan Worm.

Went back to the car and got my Quantum w/ 2# test and decided to throw my go-to: Spoons. Started to catch them right under the bridge. If you look at the photo, there are about 3 large trees that were uprooted and are jammed under the bridge. What is cool is that water is flowing under them. The trout were suspended underneath the trees under the bridge! So I got downstream and threw the spoons up stream so the current would take them back. Caught the largest one (measured out at 18") in the structure. Caught another good size fish (about 17") right in the current. That was the one I thought I was going to lose.

I cannot wait to go back to Montauk!

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring- March 20th, 2008: Water is WAY high- fishing challenging!

Here are some cool photos of Bennett Spring State Park, Lebanon, MO. We had SO MUCH rain over the last couple of days, I am really surprised it was as low as it was.
Fished Zone 2 first using a gold/red spoon and a Quantum rod with 2# test. I figured we would have some success with this- no such luck. The water is so murky and fast moving that you almost need to get whatever you are throwing right in front of the fish. I think the challenge fishing when the water is this high is not "what" to throw out, but "where" are the fish are.
Fished Zone 3 (bait and naturals) for the first time ever. Had a rod with a slip sinker and egg hook. Used PowerBait Eggs (both Chartreuse and Nymph Red) with no luck as well. One person was bank fishing and using a PowerBait White paste w/ treble hook. Probably should have moved over to that while fishing.
Hit the fly area near the spring before I took off. Threw jigs of all colors: White, Chartreuse, Black- to no avail.
First time I have been skunked at Bennett, but no problems. I was just glad I got an opportunity to fish it. I spoke with a person from Lebanon, MO. in Zone 3 earlier. He had said that the water had dropped 17' since dawn. Wow!

Fish ON!

MLT