Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

Turquoise view of Upper Titcomb Lake

From Titcomb Basin in Wyoming

Stream photos

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Male Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun Male Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun

Lateral view of a Male Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #308 in Washington

This dun emerged from a mature nymph on my desk. Unfortunately its wings didn't perfectly dry out.

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27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.

Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

...Don't Judge...Bennett Springs in April

Gt2003
Broken Arrow, Ok

Posts: 25

Gt2003 on Mar 7, 2019March 7th, 2019, 2:52 am EST

I'm headed to Bennett Spring in Missouri to fish the stream stocked with hatchery trout. This is a place a Veteran friend of mine likes to go each year. I love to fish so have gone with him the last few years and fished with ultralight spinning gear. I've used different colored jigs as well as wooly boogers. This year I'm taking my Cabela's Big Horn 5w rod/reel combo as I see this setting as a good one for fly fishing practice. I've only pond fished with fly gear previously so this should be an interesting experience.

Any suggestions for fly types for the trip (4/23-25)? We are staying at Weavers resort near the stream. They have a decent tackle shop so I can pick up any extra's there before we fish.

I've got a few wooly boogers in olive and brown along with a small fly box with smaller flies: from recent pics I've looked at these are some Copper Johns, Midges in different colors and some Gray Hare's ear nymphs. I've got a few Power Bait Trout worms left from fishing lake Taneycomo so I might fish those in zone 3 on a 1/100th oz head. I also picked up some strike indicators.

Any other "go to" flies or baits you might suggest for the trip? Thanks in advance

Jmd123

Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474

Jmd123 on Mar 7, 2019March 7th, 2019, 6:16 am EST

I've done the MO trout parks before. Beware - those danged fish see almost everything known to man! I once had some MO trout turn their noses up at nice #16 sulfurs that matched the hatch pretty well. On the other hand, a brown about 18" or so came up and snapped at a hot-pink WB in size 10...go figure, they don't want the real stuff, they want flies that look like candy...?

Best of luck and no judgement here. Go for the bigger holdovers, they will prove quite a challenge to you. BTW, Woollies work in all colors, experiment and you might just get them going. Ever try them in yellow, hot orange, blue and silver, chartreuse? Skip the spinning fear entirely and show off your fly fishing skills to your buddies! Make them envious and ask what you are dong to catch all of those fish. Trust me, it's a lot of fun to show up the bait and hardware fishers on a fly rod!

Tight lines and say hi to MO for me, lived and fished there many years ago.

Jonathon

No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...