The Midwestern US is in the worst drought in a quarter century – this will clearly be the hottest year on record (wait till you see what this does to food prices). Our local smallmouth streams, which should be at their best, are instead getting dangerously low with fish bunching up in small pools where ripples, shade, and the occasional spring keep the water cool and oxygenated. This makes for some interesting evenings fishing for 6’ to 8” smallmouths with an 11’ Iwana. Little smallmouth, at least in these streams, are not very fussy and will take just about any subsurface fly.

Yesterday evening a small deep pool which fortunately was free of wood snags yielded an unusual catch. The streams in central Iowa even when this low are clouded from agricultural runoff which gives the fish protection but blocks visibility. I was using a hare’s ear nymph with a small bead to prove the center of the pool. What I assumed was a snag ended up many many minutes later to be not a nice smallmouth but rather a channel cat. Obviously the “fight” involved me running back and forth on the gravel bar at the edge of the pool and hanging on until the fish tired. The only reason I could finally wind it enough to ease it to shore was the lack of snags for the fish to break me off the 4X tippet. While I seriously do not recommend it, you can if you are very lucky very dumb land an 18” catfish on Tenkara rod.
David

Cool. Catfish will go for some nymphs and crayfish. I catch them a lot on my western rod when fishing for carp.

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Loften
http://www.latackleflies.com/tenkara-flies.php

I know it's cheating, but when the fishing is slow and the kids really want to catch something... there is a private dock at this guys house with a wildlife feeder filled with cat food... or catfish chow or some kind of little brown pellets. A "brown" salmon egg fly will fool them every time.

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Why let the truth stand in the way of a good fish story.

You can't cheat on a wild turkey or a catfish

Tom

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Wilderness Tarpon 120
and a Tenkara USA Amago
Good Combo!!!