John Walther is this year’s honorary starter for Opening Day at Bennett Spring

Though a Jefferson City native, John Walther has spent much of his life by the waters of Bennett Spring. Having visited and supported the state park since 1964, Walther has now been recognized as the honorary starter for the park’s opening day of trout season. Walther first visited Bennett Spring on a family vacation in 1964, where the “crystal-clear” water left a lifelong impression upon him. “We didn’t fish,” Walther said, “but I was amazed at the clear water of the stream.” He next visited the park in 1966 with his McDonald’s manager, who suggested that they fish there. Since then, he has visited the park often, increasing his time there after retirement to forty to fifty times a year. He has caught his share of fish during that time, but he still counts a day without a catch as a day spent in nature. He has gone with friends as a youth on Saturday trips and later with his wife, who does not like to fish but enjoys being in nature. Walther is a member of several fly-tying groups, from the Capital City Fly Fishers to the park’s Bennett Fly Tying Group. Walther helped found the latter group in 2020, which was originally met as an occasion for locals to gather once a week. The Fly Tying Group began at the old hatchery, then moved to the nature center, and currently meets at the Bennett Spring Church of God 52 weeks a year on Wednesdays. Walther felt rewarded by the group’s existence, citing a meeting where 51 people attended. With the group, Walther has volunteered at park events like Veterans Free Fishing Day in April, where they hand out flies and cook hotdogs. The group also helps at other events like the Kids’ Free Fishing Day. Having gone down for so many years, Walther says that his trips to Bennett are now more social than purely for fishing. He still had some fishing tales to share, though. In one, he released a scarred lunker (three pounds or more) back into the water only to see a child catch the same fish the following day. “That’s kind of a fun story, because I was so tickled that he caught it, you know,” Walther said.