trout talk june 2014

TALKTTRROUT

Published by

JUNEJUNE20142014

Back to the hillsBack to the hillspage 3

How they are grownpage 6

Kids Fishingpage 8

Thank goodness for threespage 15

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THE LEBANON DAILY RECORD TROUT TALK JUNE 2014 PAGE 3

A new incarnation of Hillbilly Days will take place June 12-14 in the Lebanon-Bennett Spring area

Head back Head back to the hills!to the hills!

By Kelly MorganTrout Talk

Don your overalls and slap on a straw hat — Hillbilly Days is com-ing back.

Thanks to the efforts of a group of local businesses, a new incarna-tion of Hillbilly Days will take place June 12-14 in a variety of locations from Lebanon to the Bennett Spring area. The event began last year as the Root-Grass Festival, which was meant to be a music festival and a partial revival of Hillbilly Days. However, according to event orga-nizer Justin Miller, who goes by the name of Tree, the event grew much bigger than its organizers expected it to.

“Our original idea was to do something with the name and kind of aim it as more of a music festival,” he explained. “We re-ally didn’t figure what kind of a response we were going to get from the crowd. We were kind of testing the waters, and the response was so big from the local community and everything that last year we kind of dove into making it a bigger festival than we had intended.”

Thanks to 2013’s enthusiastic response, the event’s organizers are planning a whole new festival.

“We originally intended it for the show at the (Circle J) camphitheater, the car show on Sunday, and we had added on the canoe race, and we thought that would pretty much be it,” Tree explained. “But all the local businesses, everybody that we talked to, everybody was just really excited about it, really loved the fact that somebody was trying to take the reins again. And so it kind of -- I don’t want to say it forced us because that sounds like we weren’t happy to do it -- but it kind of pushed us...to go ahead and try something different last year, and that really opened our eyes to what we could do with this thing.”

In order to lend legitimacy to the burgeoning event, the informal group of businesses that spearhead-ed the Root-Grass Festival last year decided to form an official organi-zation, which was christened the Niangua River Tourism Initiative. Although the NRTI’s main func-tion right now is planning Hillbilly Days, it could eventually expand to work on other projects that would encourage tourism in the Niangua River area.

“We knew we needed some type of organization behind Hillbilly Days in order to help with, if noth-ing else, with liability and stuff like that and to help give it some legiti-macy,” Tree explained. “But as we were discussing the ideas behind it, we got to thinking, if we’re putting this group together anyhow, and it’s all local business owners, we all have the same thing at stake, why don’t we look at using this entity for something else other than just Hillbilly Days? Now, right off the gate, Hillbilly Days is our main fo-cus, but we’ve got some other ideas and plans on the horizon, some other things we’re going to be do-ing here down the road that we’re really excited about. And I think in the bigger picture, it’ll really help draw more tourism and commerce to Bennett Spring and in turn to Lebanon and Laclede County as whole.”

For now, though, NRTI is hard at work planning Hillbilly Days. One noticeable difference between this year ’s event and last year ’s is the name change. According to Tree, the name “Root-Grass Festival” referred the event’s nature as a music fes-tival, and although music is still going to be a big part of the 2014 event, organizers thought that the celebration’s name should reflect the broader nature of the activities it encompasses.

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Another difference is the fact that, instead of taking place partly in Lebanon and partly at Bennett Spring, the new Hillbilly Days will include events in many dif-ferent venues along Missouri 64. Tree anticipates that spreading the event out will encourage people to explore the Lebanon and Bennett Spring areas in addition to allowing for a variety of events.

“It kind of brings you in to check out these different businesses, see some of the different area up and down here, and also gives people a chance to try out different things,” he stated.

Some activities that people might consider attending are music shows at five different stages, a Kids’ Fair

Charity fundraiser, an art show, the Doc McAllister Car and Bike Show, a Hillbilly Mud Run, a buckskinner rendezvous camp, the return of the Hillbilly Days street fair, a camp-in movie and the Hillbilly Days Canoe Race. Specific times and locations for these events are still in the plan-ning process.

The NRTI is still looking for vendors and not-for-profit organiza-tions to set up booths at Hillbilly Days, as well as volunteers and sponsors. To get involved with Hill-billy Days, send an email to [email protected] or call Tree at Circle J Campground or Sandy McCormick at Macreed’s Art Gallery.

Hillbilly Daysfrom page 3

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From MDCJEFFERSON CITY — Get hooked on

fi shing with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Free Fishing Days June 7 and 8.

During Free Fishing Days, anyone can fi sh in the Show-Me State without having to buy a fi shing permit, trout stamp, or trout park daily tag. Normal regulations remain in effect, such as limits on size and the number of fi sh an angler can keep. Some private fi shing areas may still require permits, and trespass laws remain in effect on private property.

Conservation makes Missouri a great place to fi sh, and Free Fishing Days encourages people to sample the state’s abundant fi shing oppor-tunities. Missouri is blessed with more than a million acres of surface water, and most of it provides great fi shing. Accord-ing to MDC, more than 200 different fi sh species are found in Missouri, with 40 of them being game fi sh for the state’s more than 1.1 million anglers.

Conservation also enriches Mis-souri’s economy and Missourians’ quality of life. Fishing in the state generates more than a billion dollars

for local communities and the state’s economy and supports thousands

of jobs.Public fi shing areas are

available in every county in Missouri. Many state-owned fi shing areas also have spe-

cial facilities for anglers with disabilities. Contact your local MDC offi ce for Free Fishing Days

near you, or go online to mdc.mo.gov/

node/3675.For information on Missouri fi shing

regulations, permit requirements, fi sh identifi cation and more, get a copy of MDC’s “2014 Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations” where permits are sold, at MDC offi ces, and online at mdc.mo.gov/node/6108.

MDC also offers a weekly fi shing re-port and annual fi shing prospects report for general fi shing conditions at selected lakes, rivers, and trout parks across Mis-souri. Get the report online at fi shing.mdc.mo.gov/newsletter and sign up to receive a weekly email update.

During Free Fishing Days, anyone can fi sh in Missouri without a permit, trout stamp, daily tag

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Rainbow trout:A glimpse of how they are

grown at BennettBy Kelly MorganTrout Talk

Bennett Spring State Park Hatchery Manager Mike Mitchell stands waist-deep in a water, slowly agitating a wooden crate just below the surface of the water. Nearby, assistant hatchery manager Mike Perry waits next to a mesh cage that has a tub full of anes-thetic-laced water wedged in one end and a measuring board balanced on the side.

Perry is conducting a Length Fre-quency, or LF, while Mitchell grades fi sh. Both activities are taking place in front of an audience, as they are part of a behind-the-scenes media tour that took place May 2.

Before demonstrating how to do a length frequency, Perry explained that, once each month, park employees sample fi sh from all of the hatchery’s pools to determine how much the fi sh have grown. They use a hanging net to capture a representative sample, and then they weigh the fi sh and fi gure how many fi sh there are per pound. If, during the sample, they notice that the fi sh are not of a uniform size, they have to do an LF.

To conduct an LF, they take a sample of approximately 100 fi sh and dump them into a basin fi lled with water and a mild anesthetic. The anesthetic makes the fi sh groggy enough that they hold still when they are caught by hand and placed on a measuring board, which is

a board with a slightly concave surface, which, thanks to gravity, makes the fi sh slide toward the middle. The center of the measuring board is marked of in inches so that it can be used to measure the length of the fi sh. Once a fi sh’s length is recorded, it is tossed back into the unmedicated water of the pool to recover its faculties.

Depending on the results of the LF, the fi sh might need to be graded. Grad-ing is done with a wooden box with slats in the sides. The fi sh are supposed to be graded by length; however, there is a correlation between a fi sh’s length and width. The spaces between the slats in the box are slightly smaller than the average width of a 12-inch fi sh. When the box is fi lled with fi sh and rocked back and forth under the water, the smaller fi sh, at least theoretically, swim out between the slats, while the larger fi sh are trapped. The fi sh that remain in the box are released on the other side of a mesh screen. In this way, the fi sh are sorted by size. According to Perry, it takes one day to a day and a half to grade all of the fi sh in a pool.

Assuming that the fi sh average 12 to 12 1/2 inches with no more than 5 percent measuring below 10 inches, the fi sh are ready to be stocked. When it is time for stocking, the fi sh are pumped to the stocking pool, which is narrower than the rearing pools for easier cap-ture of fi sh. Stocking is done daily and

See ‘Growing trout’/ page 7

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TALKTROUT


From page 6is based on an estimate of how many trout tags will be sold in the park the next day. The goal is to stock 2 1/4 fi sh per anticipated tag.

Because of the time of year, length frequency and grading were the only tasks that could be demonstrated. However, after the demonstration, Mitchell explained some of the other aspects of the hatchery’s operation and also provided a tour of the hatchery.

According to Mitchell, spawning takes place from September to Decem-ber every year. Brood stock are brought into the hatchery building, where they are hand-sorted based on gender. Hatchery workers then take the eggs from the females and the milk from the males and mix them together. The fertilized eggs are placed in egg jars, where they remain until they hatch. Af-ter hatching, the newborn fi sh, which are called fry, are placed into troughs,

where they stay until they are approxi-mately 1 1/2 inches long. Then they are placed into larger tanks that will be their homes until they reach 3 to 3 1/2 inches in length. After that, they are ready to go outside to the rearing units. It takes between a year and a half to three years for fi sh to be big enough to release. Consequently, the hatchery al-ways has twice as many fi sh as it plans to stock in a year, since half the fi sh are being raised for the subsequent year. The Bennett Spring State Park Hatch-ery keeps a total of 700,000 to 800,000 trout on hand.

Over the course of a trout season, Bennett Spring State Park stocks 350,000 to 400,000 trout inside the park. The hatchery also provides 7,500 trout per year for the Niangua River and 15,000 to 16,000 trout per year for the Winter Kansas City Urban Fishing Area.

Growing trout at Bennett Spring State Park

Hatchery Manager Mike Mitchell uses a slatted box to grade fi sh.

Assistant Hatchery Manager Mike Perry uses a measuring board to determine the length of a trout during a demonstration of a length frequency.

Once the fi sh hatch they are kept in troughs inside the hatchery building until they are 1 1/2 inches long.

TROUT TALK PHOTOS BY KELLY

MORGAN

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From Trout Talk StaffAfter a wet and cold week, the weath-

er was beautiful on May 3, just in time for Kids Fishing Day at Bennett Spring State Park.

Hundreds of young anglers turned out for the annual free fi shing day for youngsters 17 and younger.

After not having much luck in the early going, the kids started reeling them in like crazy just before 10 a.m.

“I’ve caught 15 in the last half hour,” said young Aaron Carter. He and his brother, Lane, grunted as they held up their stringer with pride. They were keeping only the largest of their fi sh. “I threw a lot of them back in,” Aaron said.

The park holds Kids Fishing Day every May in an effort to inspire interest in the outdoors in the youngsters. Besides the

fi shing, which was the main draw, kids also were treated to a free lunch, as well as demonstrations of fl y-tying, a “touch tank” that allowed the youngsters to get up close and personal with the pelts, skulls and other parts of various forms of wildlife, and demonstrations of fi sh cleaning and frying. Volunteers and staff of the World Bird Sanctuary also were on hand with some cuddly and some scary birds, including two species of owl, a peregrine falcon and an augur buzzard, which is an African bird of prey.

Park staff had anticipated 1,000 to 1,200 kids attending and had stocked special areas for them to fi sh in. More than 4,000 trout, including 25 lunkers, were released into the lower part of Zone 2 and the beginning of Zone 3 during the prior days.

Young anglers hit the banks in droves

The ever-popular Kids Fishing Day continues to get the next generation fi shing

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Jennifer Grundy and her husband brought their nieces to take part in the fun. The Grundy family has been coming to Kids Fishing for about seven years, Jennnifer said.

“My husband and my father-in-law love fl y fi shing,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard to get the kids in-volved so they can have a good time too. ... The other day they were sitting in the front yard with their fi shing poles in lawnchairs, casting.”

McKenna and Brooklynn Gilpin have been waiting since Christmas to wear their matching pink Bennett Spring fi sh-ing vests. Not only were they hauling in the trout Saturday, but they looked good doing it.

“I caught two,” Brooklynn said. “I got a lot of bites but I lost some of them.”

The Gilpin girls at ages 11 and 7 were the guests of their grandparents, Karen and Phil Kanngiesser, who have an RV parked year-round at an area camp-

ground. “I’ve been coming down here for

years,” Phil said. “About two weeks ago we were down here and we caught a lot of fi sh. Then when we looked at Weaver’s (Tackle Store) website, (McK-enna) was on it.”

“When they get that fi rst one, it’s like it gets in your blood to keep going,” Karen said.

Both girls have been fi shing since they were old enough to walk, and they just love it, Karen said.

Danny and Sherry Hightower brought their three kids, Shelby, Brodie and Jack-son, to try their luck May 3. This was the second Kids Fishing Day for them.

“We only come during the Kids Fish-ing Day,” Sherry said. “They like the activities that they have.”

The water was so clear Saturday the kids could see the fi sh swimming around, which got them eager to catch some, she added.

Kids Fishingfrom page 8

Trout Talk photos by Ken York

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A little fishing A little fishing therapytherapy

Bennett’s Jim Rogers gives wounded vets a few tips

By Kelly MorganTrout Talk

Anyone who has ever been fl y fi shing knows how relaxing it can be, but for some disabled veterans, the sport offers more than a chance to unwind.

On May 15, a group of veterans from the Kansas City chapter of Project healing waters took a fi eld trip to Bennett Spring State Park to learn fl y casting through the Jim Rogers Fly School.

According to Bob Barnett, the pro-gram lead for the Kansas City chapter, Project Healing Waters is a program dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled veterans and military personnel through fl y-fi shing activities.The program began in 2005 in the Walter Reed Medical Center in Wash-ington, D.C. and now has 160 chapters across the country.

Barnett credits the relaxing aspects of fl y fi shing with its healing qualities.

“It’s very therapeutic, it’s relaxing,” he said. “It gives them a chance to be in nature and kind of get by themselves and let go of the past and embrace today.”

The Kansas City Chapter, which Barnett helped found the group a year

and a half ago, includes members from Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit, Mo., as

Ken Hicks, left, of Grain Valley, Mo. re-ceives one-on-one instruction from Jim Rogers.

See ‘Vets’/ page 18

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Thank goodness for trees!I hadn’t been down to Bennett

for a few weeks, and when my son-in-law Larry Steinkamp called and said his friend Greg Shuster and his buddy Mickey were going to be down for the week, I immediately said yes!

So on Monday, I headed down to Bennett to meet up with the guys. When I got to Rolla, I thought I bet-ter tune into Lebanon radio and get a weather forecast: clear, hot and windy. Wouldn’t you know it, wind is my greatest nemesis.

Shortly after the weather, there was a spot announce-ment from the Mis-souri Con-servation Commis-sion on the importance of trees. It stated that trees absorb carbon di-oxide from the air and produce oxygen, and they help cool the air on hot days. There is

also a study that found that driv-ers are less likely to engage in road rage while driving in an environ-ment filled with trees than one with no trees.

About 10 minutes after the spot announcement, the car in front of me began to slow down. Because of traffic passing me, I was unable to change lanes. The car began to enter an exit ramp, but stayed out in the traffic lane. I had to brake sharply and was tempted to lay on my horn and give a hand gesture, but I noticed the trees around and us and decided let it go. Thank you, trees.

••••The first evening we got together

with some other fishing acquain-tances for some of Chef Craig’s out-door cookery: chicken and dump-lings. Another night, we had a fish fry with foil-pack potatoes, Dutch

oven corn bread, pickled cucumbers and onions, and brownies for des-ert. After sitting and conversing for a while after stuffing ourselves, we retried to my trailer and had choco-late ice cream and more conversa-tion — and a few Andy Griffith DVSs.

When this group gets together, the subjects go from A to Z, and the needling of each other never stops. But while there were many great subjects covered, there were none that would get by our editor, Julie Turner-Crawford.

Then I confessed to dropping my cell phone in the germiest receptacle in the bathroom. After some good ribbing, someone suggested putting the phone in uncooked rice and the rice would draw out the moisture.

Larry got out his fancy cell phone and asked that electronic voice, Siri I think her name is, and she imme-diately connected him to a website on the Internet.

The site suggested getting the phone out of the water as quickly as possible, then take the battery out and dry it thoroughly. Then using cotton swabs, dry all water from all of the crevices.

Then cover with uncooked rice until dry. We did all of the above and the next day the phone was good as new.

One afternoon, when the wind was at its strongest, those of us who were using spinning gear and floats were having no luck because the wind was pushing the floats along at a terrible clip. Greg was using a fly rod with a floating line and couldn’t cast very well and the fast water on the top of the stream was causing his fly line to bow exces-sively.

He went to his truck and got a rod with a sinking line and started catching fish again.

The sinking line was heavy enough to punch through the gusts

of wind, and the sinking action got the line below the wind-blown water on top, reducing the bow in his line. A classic example of going with the flow and adapting to the conditions.

****What flies are working? The usual woolies with cari-

ous colored Flashabou bodies with yellow or brown hackle. Another wooly pattern that has begun work-ing again is basic black on No. 10 heavy, medium long hook.

Mickey was fishing when his hackle broke loose at the eye and trailed behind the hook. He tore them up until the trout chewed off the hackle tail. Greg doesn’t get to experience this tactic because he coats his bodies with Super Glue before palmering his hackle.

This week proved that a good trip to Bennett is not always mea-sured by the number of fish brought to the net, but by the great times with old friends off of the stream.

****Here’s a question for your morel

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hunts mushrooms? A fun guy!

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Bennett Spring Lunker Gallery

Jack Buchsehaeher, Crestwood, Mo., 4 pounds.

Dave McNutt, St. Louis. Stephanie, Ottawa, Kan. Jon Hicineman, Bradley, Ill., 3 pounds.

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Peg-gy Ken-ney, Mex-ico, Mo.

See more lunker photos on page 18

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FOR SALE!Bennett Spring Area Properties

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AND SURROUNDING AREA©2004 ROBERT S. SHOTTS INC. & LEBANON PUBLISHING CO

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1 Barclay Public Access

2 Bennett Spring Public Access

3 Ft. Niangua River Resort84 Cat Hollow Trail•417-532-4377www.fortniangua.com

4 Moon Valley Public Access

5 Family Crossing Mobile Home VillageThe Bennett Room17698 Hwy. 64, Lebanon•417-532-4550

6 Adventures Float Trips & Campground LLC1667 State Highway 643 1/2 miles West of Bennett Spring15 miles East of Highway 65417-588-RAFT (7238)www.mo-adventures.org

7 Weavers Tackle Store11388 Hwy 64417-532-4618

8 One-Eyed Willy’s & Pete’s Place372 Corkery Rd.417-993-BOAT (2628)www.oneeyedwillys.com

9 MacCreed’s Art GalleryFine Arts & GiftsHwy 64 East of Bennett417-588-7993Thurs.-Sat. • Sun. by Appt.www.maccreedsgallery.com

10 Wild Oaks Campground1818 Hwy 64417-588-1631wildoakscampground.com

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well as Leavneworth, Kan. The group meets three times per month for classes in fl y tying, rod building, and anything else related to fl y fi shing.

Barnett said that the group’s trip to Bennett Spring was an “extra” activity; however, the choice to go to Bennett Spring was not random.

“Jim (Rogers) and I have known each other for 20-plus years, so we’re just very close friends, and I knew he has a passion for working with veterans, and he was very interested in hosting and having the guys down,” Barnett said.

Barnett is not a veteran himself, but Mike Davis, one of the veterans in the group, is happy to give a firsthand account of the benefi ts of fl y fi shing. Davis, who also helped to start the Kansas City chapter of Project Healing

Waters, was a combat engineer in Iraq and assisted in taking out IEDs. Because of injuries sustained during his service, he now has a brain injury and is blind in one eye. He was introduced to Project Healing Waters through an organiza-tion Idaho.

“It’s been a great aspect in helping me recover,” Davis said of Project Heal-ing Waters. “Being on the water has a calming effect. If you go to our website, there’s some very interesting aspects about what (Project Healing Waters) does for veterans that are very true to how I feel and how a lot of these guys feel and what Project Healing Waters does for us.”

For more information about Project Healing Waters, visit www.projectheal-ingwaters.org.

Vets from page 14

Project Leader Bob Barnett shares a few pointers with Dale Melon, of Blue Springs, Mo.

Lunker Gallery

Gary E. Knapp, Jackson-ville, Ill., 4 pounds, 1 ounce.

Zack Wiebery.

Tous, Mo., 3.1 pounds.

11446 Hwy 64, Bennett Spring, MO 65536

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HillbillyDaysBennettSpring.comThanks to all our amazing sponsors & supporters!!!

2014June 12-15Check out the events at these awesome locations...

Don’t forget the return of the Thursday night street fair, 5:30pm-8:00pm, Downtown Lebanon!

– MacCreed’s – Fri. 7pm & Sat. 11am: Salute Stage Colors of the Ozarks Paint-Out, Art Show featuring local & regional artists, Raku pottery demonstrations, & satalite stage featuring great local & regional bands. 25805 Hwy 64.

– Circle J Campitheater – Fri. 7pm & Sat. 1pm & 6pm: Hillbilly Mainstage featuring Lindley Creek, & many other great bands, vendors, old time photos, and demonstrations. 10290 Hwy 64.

– Wild Oaks – Fri. 8:30pm: Camp-in Movie.Sat. 11am: Vendors, Hillbilly satalite stage featuring Struggling Blues Band & other great bands. 1818 Hwy 64.

– Gravel Bar & Grill – Fri. 8pm & Sat. 1pm & 8pm: Satellite stage featuring great local & regional bands. 1996 Hwy 64.– Ollie’s BBQ – Fri 8pm.: Karaoke Contest 19240 Hwy 64.– Blind Hog – Fri. & Sat. 8pm: Hillbilly Satellite Stage featuring the Boomchuks & many other great bands. 25760 N. Hwy 5.– Bennett Spring Church of God – Sat. 12pm: Fish Fry Fundraiser 26332 Hwy 64A.– Fort Niangua – Sat. 2pm: Hillbilly Mud Run 84 Cat Hollow Trail.– Hidden Valley Outfitters – Sat. All Day: Return of the Hillbilly Day Mountain Man

Rendezvous 2710 Marigold.– Family Crossing – Sat. 10am-4pm: Kids Fair Charity Carnival, featuring Frying pan

toss, Turtle races, Cow chip toss, Clowns & the BSFD bake sale fund raiser.11798 Hwy 64.

– Reading’s Fly Shop – Sun.10am-3pm: Doc MacCallister Car & Bike show featuring the Boomchuks & Uncle Jesse’s BBQ 11937 Hwy 64.

– River Front – Sun. 2pm: Canoe race fund raiser for the Wounded Warrior Project.CA

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REading’sfly shop

O’Reilly Auto Parts, Walmart, Jim & Carmen Rogers, Weeks Music, Ozark Art Council, T’s Redneck Steakhouse, NRO Zipline, Niangua River Tourism Initiative

Located 500 yards east of Bennett Spring State Park at Fishing Tales Campground11388 Highway 64, Lebanon, MO 65536

(417) 532-4618 • www.weaverstackle.comJoin us on Facebook at Weavers Tackle Store

It’s Fly Fishing Month It’s Fly Fishing Month at Weaver’sat Weaver’s

20% OFF 1 ITEM20% OFF 1 ITEMWhen you mention this adWhen you mention this ad

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FATHERS DAY SPECIALFATHERS DAY SPECIAL

trout talk june 2014

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