After a short time, gained back unimpressive catch (6)
I believe the answer is:
minnow
'unimpressive catch' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'after a short time gained back' is the wordplay.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a short time' becomes 'min' (abbreviation for minute).
'gained' becomes 'won' (I've seen this in another clue).
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'won' written backwards gives 'now'.
'min' next to 'now' is 'MINNOW'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for minnow that I've seen before include "Very small freshwater fish of the carp family" , "Fish; underdog" , "nobody" , "A fish; insignificant person" , "Very little fish" .)