June 19 fly tying - Bass Bully

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, June 19, 2017
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

This month Gene Taylor will lead us in tying the Bass Bully. Created by warmwater expert, author and fly tier Terry Wilson, the Bass Bully is great for largemouth and smallmouth. Best colors are olive, rust, black and chartreuse. It can emulate a sculpin, madtom, or salamander. It works best by letting it sink, then retrieving with a strip-pause-strip.

As always, beginners are welcome!  If you don't have tying tools, the club has a few sets for use during these sessions.  Materials are provided.

May 22nd meeting - Brandon Jennings

KFF monthly general meeting
Monday, May 22, 2017
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

For this month, we are excited to have Brandon Jennings as our guest speaker. Brandon is from Winn Parish and is the founder of the Bayou State Crappie Association. A crappie pro angler, he's a pro staff member for Crappie Psychic lures, NuCanoe kayaks, Trophy Ridge and several other fishing product companies. He's been a featured speaker on crappie fishing at numerous events.

Earlier this year, Brandon teamed up wtih the Union Parish Chamber of Commerce to hold the first-ever "Catch A Special Thrill" C.A.S.T. More than 100 folks took part to help a big group of special needs kids enjoy some fishing and boat riding.

Brandon will talk about tips and techniques for crappie fishing. Regardless of tackle used, there's a lot to learn about this popular and sometimes elusive species!

As always, the meeting is open to the public.

Fly of the Month: Blood Dot Egg

At the May fly tying session, Dan Fromme led the group of 11 tiers in tying the Blood Dot Egg Fly. The name "Blood Dot" could be used to describe the red dot on top the pattern, but it's actually the name of  it's creator, Jeff Blood. Blood is a well-known steelhead guru from Pennsylvania who 30 years ago observed that steelhead eggs had a distinct orange marking on one side. While the pattern was created for steelhead, it's been exceptionally good for all species of trout.

There are a couple of variations to tying this fly, but here's a video on the technique Dan used (and which doesn't require a special tool).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj7hMthKGP0

May 15th fly tying

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, May 15, 2017
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

As always, beginners are welcome!  If you don't have tying tools, the club has a few sets for use during these sessions.  Materials are provided.

April 24th general meeting - Cormier's 2nd Law

KFF monthly general meeting
Monday, April 24, 2017
6:00pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

For April, we'll take advantage of longer daylight and mild weather - before it gets hot - to hold our annual "Casting Meeting". Come starting at 6:00pm, or whenever you can arrive, and bring your favorite rod.  If none, the club has a few sets for use during the session.

** Weather permitting. If it rains, we'll watch a video instead on different casts and techniques. ** 

Cormier's 2nd Law of Fly Fishing states, "Casting prowess equals fishing success".  Many flycasters work tirelessly on improving distance, and that's good. But 90 percent of all fish are caught within 50 feet.  For that reason, accuracy is far more important.

To help us improve our accuracy skills, we'll be doing a Casting Game.  We'll share tips on practicing for accuracy, and analyze for improvements.  

Afterwards, we'll gather inside to recap what we learned from our casting session. As well as discuss a few business items including the club caps and shirts, Summer Workshops, and NLFF Masters Series.

See you on Monday!

April 17 fly tying

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, April 17, 2017
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

As always, beginners are welcome!  If you don't have tying tools, the club has a few sets for use during these sessions.  Materials are provided.

Introducing Fly Fishers International

The International Federation of Fly Fishers (IFFF) is now Fly Fishers International (FFI).  The largest organization dedicated to the sport of fly fishing underwent a name change on April 1st.  The name change came after a marketing study in which "brand identification" was tagged as one of the issues in reaching out to the growing number of young fly casters.

While a name change is only a small part of the overall marketing effort, it's one that has made the most news - and favorably at that. A logo change also has been made. One of the new logos is shown on left.  Also, if you click on their old website domain name, www.fedflyfishers.org, it will take you to www.flyfishersinternational.org.

Since Kisatchie Fly Fishers is an affiliated club of FFI, we will have to make some changes to our website and leaflets.  Fortunately, there's great timing here - our updated leaflets were going thru the proofreading process when the name change was announced!

Another successful FF101

Our annual Fly Fishing 101 was another big success! With 18 students - beating last year's record participation - we had great weather for fly casting outside, while Gene Taylor and others gave instruction inside the classroom on knots, leaders, and flies.  Everyone got handouts, including a list of places to fish in north and central Louisiana from bank or boat. 

Thanks to everyone who helped as instructors, organizing or bringing important stuff like coffee, donuts, fruit, and drinks:  Rich Hudson, Gene Taylor, Roger Breedlove, Jim Johnson, Rich Dewees, Chris Perkins and Glen Cormier. Also big thanks to Kristi Butler for her assistance and giving the group a tour of the hatchery prior to the workshop!