Kiyotaki at Benett Spring, MO

by Jimi H.
(Benett Spring MO)

Went down to Benett Spring today to try and catch a trout or two. I have been creek fishing for months now and missed the fight that you get from a good old trout. I took 4 rods with me (so much for simplicity) Tenkara USA Iwana, Fountainhead Caddis Fly and two Kiyotaki rods # 21 and # 27. I brought the tenkara rods because I was unsure about hooking a bigger fish on the Kiyotaki.

The water was high and completely blown out due to flooding. Dirty deep water is never any fun and I could see that hardly anyone was catching fish. I decided to stick with the #27 as it is my new go-to rod. I was using a sakasa that I tied this morning. I have never caught a trout on a kabari fly but decided I was going to give it a go. After about 10 casts I hooked a nice 14 inch rainbow and the rod handled it like a pro. I would even go so far as to say it was easier to land on the #27 than it would have been on the Iwana. Something about the softness of these little rods makes even bigger fish a breeze to bring in. Second fish was another 12 to 14 incher landed with no problem. I only had an hour to fish and caught 3 in fast muddy water. The last one I caught was a nice 3 inch fingerling that I would have missed on a bigger rod.

I just can't say enough about these little rods. My only afterthought is that I should have tried a killer bug, on a day like today the bug would have really slayed them.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.