Fishing from a drift boat is about as far from home water as it gets for the team at Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co. Based out of Dallas, Texas, the shop is used to still water, but a trip up to the Illinois River in Kansas, Oklahoma with guide Brett Lowry, known locally as the Trout Boat Captain, put them squarely in moving current chasing smallmouth bass. The tool for the job was the new TFO Legacy in a 6 weight (TF 06 91 4 LE), and the results made a strong case for the rod’s versatility.
On his home water and in his own drift boat, Brett runs TFO rods exclusively, which made the trip more than just a chance to chase smallmouth. It was, as the Tailwaters team put it, the opportunity to put the new Legacy to work alongside the perfect guide to talk all things TFO.
Launching into a day chasing smallmouth on Brett’s home water.
A River Built for Smallmouth
Brett guides the upper Illinois River near Kansas, Oklahoma, about 10 miles from the Arkansas border in the northern half of the state. The river runs out of Arkansas and holds steady around 75 to 80 degrees at the peak of summer, cool enough to feel like relief in the heat and prime water for a smallmouth fishery.
According to Brett, the trip played out about as expected on day one. He tends to fish the same stretches over a multi week span, but as water levels continue to drop through the season, spots that were productive two weeks earlier can turn into shallow nurseries holding nothing but small fish. The pattern that worked was fishing poppers from shade into sun in the morning, then shifting to the middle of the river once the midday sun burned off the shade entirely. That approach produced consistent action through the heat of the day.
Working the bends and undercut banks that hold smallmouth on the upper Illinois.
New Water, New Technique
Floating from a drift boat was a different animal for some of the Tailwaters crew. Brett compared the setup to the western style drift boats used on rivers in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.
The payoff was worth the learning curve. Aggressive smallmouth came all the way to the surface for big popper eats, and the fish fighting current their entire lives brought serious muscle to the fight. Landing them took more than just hooking up. Anglers had to learn how to bend the rod correctly to keep a strong fish from turning them over toward the roots along the bank, a technical challenge Brett says adds real skill to targeting smallmouth in moving water.
The TFO Legacy, built to handle everything from poppers to sink tip lines.
Where the Legacy Earned Its Keep
TFO gave the Tailwaters crew a chance to put the Legacy through its paces on this trip, and the versatility stood out immediately. The rod had enough backbone to pick up a heavy amount of fly line, or even a sinking line, without feeling like too much rod for the water.
At the same time, it stayed delicate enough for precision work up close. When a popper needed to land softly right against the bank, the Legacy had the accuracy to make it drop like a feather rather than slap the surface and spook the fish.
The team ran both a weight forward floating line and a sink tip through the rod, and both performed well, further proof of just how much range the Legacy can cover in a single build.
The 9’0″ 6wt with the fighting butt, the exact build put to work on the upper Illinois.
How It Compares
Brett described the Legacy as a strong middle ground between the outgoing LK Legacy and the Axiom 2X. It feels more substantial through the ferrules and in hand than the LK Legacy, with a build quality that suggests it can handle whatever a warm water fishery throws at it.
A Guide Who Fishes TFO
Brett’s trust in TFO gear goes well beyond this one trip. As he put it:
“The gear I rely on is built around dependable, durable equipment that can adapt to changing river conditions throughout the season. My standard setups of TFO rods give me the versatility to fish everything from topwater poppers in the summer to streamers in deeper water during the spring and fall. By keeping multiple rod weights rigged, I can quickly adjust to changing conditions and put my clients in the best position for success.”
That kind of endorsement, from a guide who runs TFO on his home water year round, speaks to the same versatility the Legacy showed on this trip.
A solid Illinois River smallmouth, measured up against the Legacy that helped land it.
A Rod Built for Warm Water Fisheries
For any angler chasing bass or working a warm water fishery, the Legacy checks the boxes that matter most: enough power for bigger flies and sinking lines, enough finesse for delicate presentations, and a build that holds up under the stress of fighting strong fish in current. Pair it with the right line for your water, and it is a rod capable of doing it all.
The full TFO lineup, including the Legacy, is now available in store at Tailwaters Fly Fishing Company in Dallas.
All photos by Ino Narvaez (@ino_narvaez) of Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co. (@tailwaters). You can read more about this trip from Tailwaters’ own blog post, “Brett Lowry – Fishing for Smallmouth.” Click here to read that blog. You can find out more about Brett’s guiding service Trout Boat Cap’n here.
