December: Finally Back to the Water

I have not fished since my return from Alaska; it has been eight weeks. Where does time fly? I have been working on a project at work, with several ongoing chores around the house and then there is the birth of Desmond. This is Jennifer first child and our first grandchild. My days off have been filled with activities and traveling to places other than a fishing destination.

DEC 5, 2010: I finally found a day and arranged a trip with Kevin Smith. We found out and were given a tip from another club member (Dan Ditzler) of a recent stocking of rainbow trout on Capps Creek I followed Kevin to Jolly Mill where we started our day before noon. The sky was clear, with cool air with a high in the mid-thirties; there was ice in our guides for most of the day. We did find small trout near the bridge; actually the trout were in the four-five inch range. I plan to talk with the MDC biologist to get an idea to the planting Strategy for Capps Creek. Kevin caught a respectable trout below the bridge. We made a move late afternoon and drove to an access downstream. We found a few holes and found a few fish larger in size. Overall, it was a satisfying day of fishing

DEC 10, 2010: I made a trip to Bennett Spring. The day was full of sun with a light wind. The high temperature was in the high forties. I took some time in the morning before the drive to tie a few flies. I went back to the #20 BWO hoping for the Family Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olives) to hatch late morning or noon. I drove into the park before 11 AM, with a moderate winter crowd. The area, zone one above the dam had only a few people in the places I wanted to fish. The hatch was light; there were a few BWO in the air. They did not spend much time on the surface. The midge hatch was more significant with swarms seen throughout the day. There were many trout seen in the water with a few willing to take a random dry fly. A pair if bald eagles flew over me at 3:30 PM, waiting for 4 PM for the departure of the fishermen, leaving the stream to them to fish. On the drive back to Springfield saw eight deer in a field off of I-44.


DEC 17, 2010: This would be my last fishing trip for the year. A cold, cloudy and winding day at Bennett Spring State Park; the wind was blowing up stream, making it difficult to fool the fish with the downstream drift. There was a light crowd and for the most part, no one fished within 50 yards of me. The ice formed in my guides most of the day, with a quick dip of the rod in the spring creek to free the line. I had hoped to hook a bunch of trout, but my #20 BWO was not the fly to fool many trout. I managed 15+ with most of the trout taken below the stone bridge with a #14 Adams dry fly drifting the right bank late afternoon.

There is progress on the new hatchery building, with the exterior almost finished and the roof shingled. I spoke the Mike Mitchell; he hoped to have the project fished by May of this year. He will be a guest speaker at the MTFA club meeting next year to give an update,