Club makes donation to CCA Cenla Banquet

Again this year, the Kisatchie Fly Fishers are making a donation to the Cenla Chapter of Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana for use at their annual fundraising banquet on Thursday, June 9th. The event will be held at the Riverfront Center in Alexandria.

Thanks to Roger Breedlove, Morris Houck, Paul Wallace, Glen Cormier, and Carlton Townsend for their contributions to the donation package.  The centerpiece of the package is a custom Lamiglas 9-foot, 5-weight rod built by our custom rod builder extraordinaire, Roger Breedlove.  Roger's work includes a wood reel seat, single foot guides, and green wraps on a gray blank that really highlight.  The rod itself is very light and casts like a dream!  In addition, Roger added a large arbor fly reel with centerline disc drag.

The entire package consists of:
- 9-foot, 5-weight fly rod
- large arbor fly reel with disc drag
- Scientific Angler cordura covered rod and reel case
- backing
- Rio Mainstream 5-weight floating fly line
- Orvis tapered leader
- Orvis 4X spool tippet
- Box of bream flies (more to be added)
- Casting lesson
- Half-day guided trip to Kisatchie Bayou by club "Kisatchie" experts for spotted bass and longear sunfish (aka, "Killer Gobbules")

In addition, Paul Wallace will be donating a package featuring a box of his famous "Paulies Jigs" crappie jigs, coozie and fish rag.

Again, consider joining CCA and signing up for the summer-long CCA STAR tournament.  Multiple ways to win including the Fly Divisions (East and West), Tagged Red, Tagged Speck, 14 other categories and four Youth Divisions. 

May 23rd general meeting

Our next general meeting will be on Monday, May 23, at the Rapides Westside Library in Alexandria. Time is 6:30pm.

This month we welcome Kenny Robertson as our guest speaker.  Kenny is a wildlife agent for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and also president of the Cotile Lake Environmental Association (CLEAN).  Kenny will talk about fishing and boating regulations, and safety on the water.  He will also talk about CLEAN and some of the activities they are working on.

Due to the number of business items, Kenny's presentation will start the meeting. 

Also on the agenda:
- The club has received 15 rods from Roger Breedlove as a donation.  We'll be selling off these rods - 5 per month - at our May, June and July meetings.  Money raised will help club projects.

- The club has purchased 10 tickets for North Louisiana Fly Fishers Masters Series, "A Day with Bob Clouser" on Saturday, July 23.  Tickets are $40 each, payable to Kisatchie Fly Fishers.  We'll be selling tickets at this meeting.

- The club has 8 tickets for the CCA Cenla banquet on Thursday, June 9th.  KFF will be making a donation, and will have a table at the event. If interested, please contact Morris Houck or come to the meeting.

- CCA STAR tournament begins May 28th.  The Fly Fish Division is back again this year.

- The board has motioned a referendum for KFF to join the Federation of Fly Fishers as an Affiliate Club. The vote will take place in late July by email.  More details to come at the meeting and by email.

- Update on our Summer Fly Tying Workshop.

As always, the public is welcome.

May 16th fly tying

Our next fly tying session will be Monday, May 16, at the Rapides Westside Libary in Alexandria. Time is 6:30pm.

This month we will be tying the Chernobyl Ant.  Rainey Riding was inspired to name his new ant creation after the Chernobyl (Russia) nuclear power plant accident since it looked like some mutation of an ant.  In fact, it's more of a stimulator pattern.  But the foam body makes it float high in the water column, and visible to the angler and fish. It's great for trout in fastwater streams, but works for bream too.

As always, beginners are welcome. Bring your tools if you have some, otherwise the club has a few toolsets for those without tools.  Materials are provided.  See you Monday!

April 25 general meeting

Our next general meeting will be on Monday, April 25th, at the Rapides Westside Library in Alexandria. This month we take advantage of longer daylight and mild weather - before it gets hot - to hold our annual "Casting Meeting". Starting at 6:00pm, we'll gather on the lawn back of the library and do some casting analysis and share techniques for improving casting. We'll also cover a few specialty casts, such as Roll Cast, Reach Cast, Pendulum Cast, Belgian Cast, maybe even Double Haul.

Afterwards, we'll gather inside to discuss a few business items, including: Recap of Fly Fishing 101, the upcoming Grand Isle Fly Fishing Weekend in June, and the 2017 Cenla Fishing Expo.

As always, meetings are open to both members and non-members, so please share!

April 18 fly tying

Our next fly tying session will be Monday, April 18, at the Rapides Westside Libary in Alexandria. Time is 6:30pm.

This month Brent Humphries will lead us in tying the Cap Spider.  This famous fly was created by the late Mike Verduin, a nationally-recognized and awarded tier out of Lewisville, TX.  The name of Mike's fly came from an encounter in a tournament, where he saw several spider-like jigs on the cap of another angler.  He was so impressed with the lure that he modified it to make it "fly friendly". On several occasions when fishing Louisiana with members of other clubs, he demonstrated how deadly the Cap Spider was on bedding bream, especially redears.

There are very few places to buy Cap Spiders.  One of those is Belah Bugs, owned by our fellow member Brent Humphries (look up Belah Bugs on Facebook).  Brent ties all of his flies and jigs, so you know there's quality.  The "Cap" is easy to tie, and Brent will show us this month how to tie our own.

As always, beginners are welcome. Bring your tools if you have some, otherwise the club has a few toolsets for those without tools.  Materials are provided.  See you Monday!

Fly Fishing 101 this Saturday!

Have you ever considered learning about fly fishing?  Or actually doing it?  As they say, there's nothing more rewarding than catching a fish on a fly.  Unless it's catching one on a fly that you tied!

This Saturday, April 16th is our 3rd annual "Fly Fishing 101" workshop at LDWF Booker-Fowler Hatchery in Forest Hill.  It runs 8:30am to 12:30pm.  Best of all, it's FREE and open to the public.  Coffee, donuts, soft drinks and handouts are provided.

FF101 is a 3-hour hands-on workshop that covers the basics of fly fishing, fly casting, knots, leaders, and flies used for the sport.  Details and a schedule can be found by clicking on the menu above on "2016 Fly Fish 101".  Bring your rod/reel if you own one, but if not, the club has setups for use during this workshop.

All we ask is that you register by calling 318-793-5855 or email catch@laflyfish.com so we know how many to expect.  Thanks!

 

March 28 general meeting "On the Water"

The next general meeting of the Kisatchie Fly Fishers will be on Monday, March 28th.  With Daylight Savings Time - and a good weather forecast - we'll take our meeting outdoors and on the water.

This month, we'll meet at the Cotile Lake Recreation Area.  Come anytime that afternoon and fish from the bank.  Or bring your boat, kayak, pirogue, and launch at the rec area.  Then at 7:30pm, we'll start gathering at Pavilion #2 (the open pavilion overlooking the lake) and share fishing stories while nourishing on burgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill.  Bring your own drinks and even your own lawn chairs (they have chairs but they're not as comfortable).

Here's a Google Map to Cotile Lake Recreation Area.  It's about 20 minutes from Alexandria.

Please RSVP to Catch Cormier if you plan to attend so we'll know how many burgers/dogs to get.

Cotile Fishing Report.  Fishing has been slow lately because of the cold spell and high winds.  Bass anglers have been working the lake hard with somewhat limited success.  The big redear run has not started yet - a bit late this year - but could kick off any day now.  A few nice bluegill being caught on popping bugs.  Grass pike (chain pickeral) have been very active, hitting Seaducers, large woolybuggers, and other rapidly retrieved streamers.

March 21 fly tying

Our next fly tying session will be Monday, March 21, at the Rapides Westside Libary in Alexandria. Time is 6:30pm.  The pattern will be a soft hackle variation.

As always, beginners are welcome. Bring your tools if you have some, materials will be provided.  The club has a few toolsets for those without tools.