Had a good day spending time with family down at Bennett Springs yesterday.  Notice I said good time with family as the fishing STUNK!  Landed a lousy two mediocre rainbows in probably a good 4hrs of fishing hard.  I missed several, but two fish in four hours is not my idea of a good day fishing.  I do love fly-fishing and I don’t have to catch fish to have fun, but it sure doesn’t hurt either!

I don’t know about you all, but I usually go fishing to get away from people.  If that’s what you like to do – a word of wisdom – Don’t go to Bennett on weekend in July with the temp in the 70′s.  It was like flies on stinkbait around there today!

Ok, I’ll quit whining – All in all it was a great day – beautiful weather – beautiful scenery – I even got a nap there along the bank while my in-laws clicked away pics of me on their cell phones.  You know how it is, it’s a lot of fun to get a little dirt on the brother-in-law.

If you’ve never been to Bennett Springs  State Park I do recommend going and giving it a try (you’re thinking, yeah right, after this post?!).  Especially if you have some kids, it’s a great place.  There’s a swimming pool, playground, and you can stay right there by the stream, either by camping or staying in a cabin/motel.  You can check it out here http://www.mostateparks.com/bennett.htm.

Happy fishing!

I know, I know, it’s been a long time.  Too long.  Just got back from a short vacation with the fam down in the Branson, MO area.  Had a great time – kids had a blast!  I did get a bit of trout fishing in while I was there (due to my understanding wife). 

I mainly fished at night which is my preference, especially on 100 degree days!  Ended up catching 5 trout each night, fishing a few hours each time.  They bit on a basic yellow egg pattern and a black leach pattern.  Fishing was much slower than normal, but I was rewarded with some decent size trout.  Was able to catch up with one of my good friends which in itself is worth a fishing trip!

Let me know if any of you are ever going to be in the Branson area and wish to fish Taneycomo.  I’m no expert, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve and if I can’t help you I’ll point you to some people who can!

I’ll post some pics later, I forgot my camera, but my buddy had his so I’ll get some up here soon.

Happy fishing!

Nathan

Here are some pics as promised!

That “fishing” chemical was finally released in my brain just a few weeks ago, so if I appear dissoriented or you find me staring blankly – no worries, it’s normal, I’m just plotting my next trip to the water.  (Note to beautiful wife:  honey if you see me in this state please don’t take advantage of me by asking loaded questions cause you know my answer is always yes when I’m in this state.)

Anyhow, last weekend the bass were liking top water & crank baits.  I’m normally a jig & plastic crawl all the way, but I had to put the jig away and put on the ol’ bass-o-rena plug.  The bass on the video was caught on the red & white plug.  Many were hitting it just as I let it sit there on top with maybe a few slight twitches.  My cousins were fishing with crankbaits diving 3-5ft and were doing quite well.  

I’m heading down to Branson tomorrow to do a little Silver Dollar City, camping and hopefully some fly-fishing.  I’ll keep you all posted on the results and hopefully I’ll have a few pics to share! — Didn’t get to do the fishing, but had a great time with the fam!

Keep your heart right and your line tight – best advice I have for this time of year!

It was great to be back in my old stomping grounds!  We had a great time doing some trail riding and the fishing was great as usual.  I must say that it was my wife’s first time on these trails and to put it mildly, she wasn’t impressed;-)  I guess it didn’t help that she was having to hold onto fishing tackle while holding on to me, all while being in fear for her life!  She’s too good to me.   Special thanks to my twin cousins for agreeing to be on the vid and show me how the trail riding is done.

I refer to strip pits on the video and for those that don’t know, let me explain.  I’m originally from North Missouri where there was a lot of strip coal mining.  The “pits” or huge craters left from the mining were all seeded and stocked with fish (years & years ago).  These now provide some of the best hunting and fishing you’ll find anywhere!

Didn’t put tons of time into this video, but I was fortunate to get a very nice bass caught on camera.  Hope you enjoy – thanks for watching!

Here are some pics as promised!

I had a great weekend, below is a pic of a bass I caught the very next day with fishing with the in-laws.  Released this one really quick and didn’t weigh, but am guessing somewhere close to 5lbs.  Now I’ll probably go the rest of the summer without catching another one the size of these!