May 29th meeting - Spring Casting Session

KFF monthly general meeting
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
6:00pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

** Please note: due to the Memorial Day holiday, our May general meeting will be held Tuesday **

This is our annual "Spring Casting Session".  We'll start a half-hour early - 6:00pm - and take advantage of the longer daylight to work on our casting skills.  Wear some comfortable clothing as hot weather has already begun.

BRING YOUR FAVORITE ROD.  For beginners and novices, we'll work on a technique guaranteed to improve your fly casting.  For veterans, we'll use that same technique to work on the "Backhand Cast" - an alternative to using your non-dominant hand when dealing with a cross wind or obstruction on your dominant side.

We'll meet in the library, go thru a few basics, then proceed outside to the grass lawn. We'll finish up in the library with a few business items before adjourning.

See you Tuesday!

Deadline for Summer Workshop approaching

KFF Summer Workshop
Saturday, June 9, 2018
8:30am to 12:30pm
Cotile Volunteer Fire Department
55 Parker Rd, Boyce, LA

Our annual summer workshops typically bring in a special guest, or cover a special skill or genre of our sport that would not be practical for our regular meetings and tying sessions. Past topics have included: rod building, popper construction and painting, casting clinics, tying saltwater flies for the marsh, and fly fishing and tying flies for the Little Missouri and Little Red River in Arkansas.

For June 9th, the course will be on "Introductory Deer Hair Tying". Special presenter will be our good friend, Kevin "Doc" Andry of Baton Rouge. Doc will lead us in tying a couple of deer hair flies and explain the various terms used in tying with hair, as well as hair selection and tools. For those who plan to attend the Contraband Fly Fishing Expo in July - featuring one of the world's premier deer hair tiers in Pat Cohen - this will be a great opportunity to learn about this art form.

We've been advertising this workshop for several months, and have posted a page "Summer Workshop" with details. Thursday night, May 24th, is the deadline to register for the workshop. After then, you can still register as an "audit" participant, which means you can sit and watch but won't be tying.

These sessions are open to members-only of Kisatchie Fly Fishers or other recognized fly fishing clubs.  Refreshments will be provided.

May 21st fly tying

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, May 21, 2018
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

This month, Gene Taylor will be leading us in tying the Skip Morris Panfish or SMP.  Morris is a prolific tier, fly designer, and author of 18 books on fly tying and fly fishing.  His SMP was designed to target bluegills, crappie and other panfish in deeper water.  Larger bluegills and redears feed in deep water during summer months, and the SMP is an effective fly for this behavior.

Materials:
Hook: 1X long dry fly or heavy wire hook, sizes 8 down to 14.
Thread: Flat waxed nylon (orange or other color you wish).
Body: Dubbing (bright orange or other colors).
Eyes: Bead-chain eyes, or light barbell eyes.
Wing: Marabou (orange over yellow,  or other color combinations).

Here is an instructional video on how to tie the SMP:
https://vimeo.com/69772934

As always, materials will be provided. Bring your tools if you have some, if not, the club has a few sets for use during these sessions.  Beginners are welcome!

Mixed Bag Update - May 9th

Greg Babin caught this 15" rainbow on a Ruffled Birds Nest

Our club's annual "March Brown" outing to the Little Missouri River in southwest Arkansas had to be rescheduled to the first weekend of May this year. Several club members took advantage of the trip to bolster their species list in the Mixed Bag Contest. Almost all added rainbow trout, but Bill Morrison added smallmouth and brown trout to his list, and Greg Babin added a smallmouth also.

Another recent interesting catch was Jim Johnson's chain pickerel. While somewhat common in Cenla waters, the "grass pike" have been rather scarce this Spring for some reason.

Here are the current leaders:
Bill Morrison - 9 species
Carlton Townsend - 6 species
Glen Cormier - 6 species
Greg Babin - 5 species
Jim Johnson - 5 species

Gene Taylor, Corinne Cormier, Rich Hudson, Spencer Hackney and Tom Zabasky all have multiple species entered. Several other members have at least one fish.  Remember that the biggest prize will be drawn from everyone who has entered at least one fish in the Mixed Bag. So go fishing, take a photo with your token, and enter it!

CCFC Spring Fishing Day - KFF members invited

Cane River bluegill caught on Jitterbee

Cane Country Fly Casters
Spring Fishing Day & Picnic
Kisatchie Fly Fishers welcome!
Saturday, May 19, 2018
11:00am to 1:00pm
Cane River at Shell Beach

Kisatchie members are welcome to come fish the Cane River and join members of the Cane Country Fly Casters afterwards at Shell Beach for grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Bring your own chairs and drinks - and your fishing stories from that morning!

The Cane River offers some of the best bream fishing in central Louisiana. Launch your boat, kayak or canoe downtown, Shell Beach or at the dam. Or fish from the bank downtown. Best flies are Jitterbees, Hares Ears, Fluff Butts, Cap Spiders, Ruffled Birds Nest, and of course, small popping bugs.

RSVP Sunny at sunny@reagan.com if you plan to attend.

April 23rd meeting - Tom Bullock

Kisatchie Fly Fishers general meeting
Monday, April 23, 2018
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

For our April meeting, we welcome back Tom Bullock of Shreveport. Tom is an avid trout angler, and along with his friends Davy Wotton and Dave Whitlock, has popularized various nymphing techniques on Arkansas rivers.

His presentation will be "Fishing the White & Norfork Rivers Below the Dams". The program will address a short history of the rivers before and after the dams, how the tailwater results in rapid growth of trout, the skills needed to catch very big fish, including equipment and flies, identifying habitat, methods of fishing, how to release fish safely, rising water safety, and a short discussion on river maps and places to fish.  If you've never fished the White & Norfork rivers in Arkansas, this is a MUST session.  Even if you've fished many times, Tom's expert advise will make you a better trout angler.

Because of the special presentation, we'll keep the business session to a maximum of five (5) minutes.  We'll talk about the upcoming North Lousiana Fly Fishers Masters Series in July (which Tom organizes and can address) as well as the Summer Workshop in June.

Mixed Bag Contest update 4/18

Our "Mixed Bag" Contest is a members-only CPR online tournament where size doesn't matter, but variety of species does. The contest started March 1st and so far, it's been a tough few weeks. Here in the Cenla area, we've had 180 percent of average rainfall to date! And near record low temperatures on several nights. Between the heavy rain and the cold, there's been gusty winds. Even the commie tackle folks are struggling to catch any decent numbers of fish. We're hoping the weather improves soon so members can have fun and put a lot of fish on the board.

Here are our current leaders:
1. Glen Cormier (bluegill, crappie, largemouth, redear, yellow bass)
2. Bill Morrison (redear, green sunfish, crappie, bluegill)
3. Spencer Hackney (redear, longear)
4. Greg Babin (largemouth, longear)

Mike Carlin, Barbara Carlin, Tom Zabasky, Carlton Townsend, Jim Johnson, and Gene Taylor each have 1 species.

Several interesting entries so far.  Young Spencer Hackney's longear on his first cast as a flyrodder (wow!), the yellow bass taken by Catch Cormier off the bank in downtown Natchitoches, and the four fish taken by Bill Morrison on the infamous "Mop Fly". Yes, the Mop Fly does work.  So does the Sqwirmy - at least Carlton tells us so, lol.  Another interesting catch was Greg Babin's longear taken on the "Indicator Fly" that the club tied at our March tying session.

April 16th fly tying

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, April 16, 2018
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

This month, Catch Cormier will lead us in tying the Ruffled Birds Nest, a variation of the Birds Nest fly. The Birds Nest nymph was created in 1959 by Cal Bird, the owner of a small fly shop in San Francisco. His original pattern used wood duck flank feathers and a dubbing body. The Ruffled version uses various feathers from a pheasant skin, with a beadhead for weight. This verson gives a fuzzier appearance that attracts trout and sunfish. It's also easy to tie - so the many new tiers in our club will like this fly!


As always, bring your tools if you have some. If not, we have a few sets for use during the session. Materials will be provided. Beginners and guests are welcome!