Will Stonecats take a fly?

Stonecats are easy to catch out of the river at my place. Unfortunately so far, this has required bait. The type doesn’t seem important and minnows seem to work as well as worms.  Quite close to shore throughout the day seems be the ticket although fish experts tell us the fish are nocturnal feeders and will hide under cover during the day. I suspect the extremely turbid water provides the safety that the night time normally delivers. The literature also states the young are primarily invertivores although when larger they will feed on smaller minnows and crayfish. That suggests I might be able to catch them on a fly.

Until the last few days the river has been very high, actually approaching the same levels encountered during high spring flows. The resulting waters were very dark and muddy and currents ran strong. Just today I noticed the water appearing a bit less turbid and the currents aren’t quite as strong. Still not the best conditions for exercising the long rod but a definite improvement over what we had last week.During the next few days I’ll try to work out a technique for catching at least one of these miniature kitties on a fly.  Wish me luck!