Backwater Bowfin | Sight Fishing Prehistoric Bowfin on a Fly Rod

For this episode, I wanted to show off the rough fish of the South. My dad took me here a lot when I was younger, so it holds a special place in my angling heart. It also happens to hold some of the oldest fish in North America, the Bowfin (aka. Amaia calva, cypress trout, mudfish, blackfish). It also happens to be a terrific fighter on a fly rod; interestingly enough, no one fishes specifically for them, despite their reputations as hard fighters. In the summertime, the flows drop substantially and this spring fed creek clears up enough that you can safely walk the bank and sight cast to these ancient fish as they cruise the bottom. More often I spot them tight against cover in the creek, such as logs and rock formations. As a side note, I am moving to Montana this summer since the opportunity arose, so I'll be changing gears a little and target trout more often. I'm pretty excited about the move, and hopefully I'll be able to upload more often. Setup: Orivs 9 foot 6wt Clearwater with sinking line, 20lb mono leader to a small crayfish fly If you decide to target these fish, bring pliers (I don't recommend lipping these fish), a large net, and a few backup flies. They readily take anything resembling a crawdad or small fish, but they will have trouble seeing it. Casts must be accurate and close to their line of vision.