Tying Committee announces "Flies of the Month" - updated 2/2/24

As with last year, the KFF Fly Tying Committee met and planned out their monthly patterns for 2024, and that list is below.  While the list is subject to change, the patterns selected represent a variety of tying skills and are appropriate for the types of fishing many club members do at different times of the year.  With a mix of nymphs, topwater, streamer and saltwater patterns, we hope these are both interesting and helpful in developing our tying skills.
 
As mentioned previously, the club now has a 55-inch 4K definition television which, along with the 4K camera we bought last year, gives our participants the ultimate tools to aid in watching and learning. We hope you will join us for tying in 2024!

January 22nd: Robert’s Surprise (Robert Hughes) – Our own Robert Hughes has created two patterns that have proven very successful on the Little Missouri River this winter.   And he has developed a very unique tying technique for building a body that you will definitely want to see.

February 12th:  Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle – Two Ways – The ubiquitous and easy-to tie Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle is one of the most versatile patterns for all trout and panfish and we will tie two versions of it; one a basic version and the second a tricked-out version And we will learn a couple of techniques along the way.  

March 11th:  Jigged Micro-Bugger – A small (#14), jigged version of the venerable Wooly Bugger that has worked well on panfish, trout, and smallmouth bass.  It’s a quick and easy tie, but the small size dictates a few changes from the traditional methods for the pattern.

April 8th:  Chubby Chernobyl – Few top-water flies have achieved the widespread popularity of the Chubby. It works great as a warm water pattern, hopper, and the top fly for hopper-dropper setups.

May 13th:  Flash-Tail Clouser – A heavily flashed version of the Clouser Minnow that is said to be the fly fishing version of slow-rolled spinnerbait for bass. We will tie a version similar to the one in this.

June 10th:  Hot Lips Gurgler/Gurgler – Jack Gartside’s Gurgler has long been a mainstay for topwater bass and saltwater fishing.  John Williams of Pack and Paddle and KFF member Flip Siragusa learned this version from Ron Begnaud.  John also ties a very small version that would be great for panfish and bass.

July 8th:  Circus Peanut Articulated Streamer – The front and rear sections of this pattern created by Russ Madden (while working for Kelly Galloup) are simple to tie, which allows us to focus on the articulation piece. We will tie a more full-bodied version of the pattern, but our primary focus with this tie is to learn a technique for articulated streamers.

August 12th:  Dirty Harry – a small streamer pattern that, though it looks like a cross between a traditional carp fly and a fluff butt crappie jig, is an effective shrimp and crab imitation. Our own Chris Williams ties the version in his linked blog post and has already used it with success this winter in the saltwater. And I’m looking forward to trying it in our late-summer warm water.

September 9th:  Bad Hair Day – Jim Johnson discovered this pattern from musky guide Dave Pinczkowski and adapted it for our warm water.  Bill can vouch for the effectiveness of this pattern, as it's usually the very first pattern he ties on when streamer fishing. Anything that eats baitfish will eat this pattern.

October 21st:  Crease Fly –   This well-known topwater pattern uses some cool techniques for making the body of the fly.  Chris Williams will make the drive up to lead the tie. 

November 4th:  Fools Gold Crab – Fall and winter in Louisiana is prime redfish season, and crab patterns are a go-to for many.  The Fools Gold Crab designed by Johnny Miller can be fished like a crab or shrimp bumping it along the bottom in short strips. Chris Williams is making the long drive for a second time to lead us in tying this pattern.

January 22nd fly tying - Robert's Surprise

KFF monthly fly tying session
* Monday, January 22, 2024
6:30 pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

* Please note that this month's tying session was moved to the 4th Monday instead of the usual 2nd Monday *

For our first tying meeting of 2024, Robert Hughes will lead us in tying “Robert’s Surprise” - as Bill Morrison calls it.  That's because Robert is keeping it super duper secret about what he'll be tying so the Ruskies don't get hold of it first!  But he did give us a clue: he'll actually tie two flies, the first of which is his own creation, and the second a variation of a popular pattern. Both patterns have been extremely effective on catching trout on the Little Missouri tailwater! He also has a special technique for tying one of these that some of us have never seen or read about, so you don’t want to miss this one.

We're also excited to announce that the club has a new 55” television to view our tying and meetings in 2024!

Newcomers are welcome to participate or watch. As always, all materials other than thread will be provided, and we have several sets of tools for any who do not have their own.

As always, we broadcast the sessions live via Zoom for those who cannot attend. The livestream will be posted to the Kisatchie Fly Fishers YouTube channel. If you would like to join the Zoom but do not have the link, please email Bill Morrison.   

January 10th general meeting - Festival and local trout

KFF general meeting
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

* Note this is a general meeting and on a Wednesday! Our fly tying will be on the 4th Monday... in February we'll go back to fly tying 2nd Monday and general meeting on 4th Monday *

For our first club meeting of 2024, we'll have a brief presentation followed by open discussion on our upcoming Cenla Fly Fishing Festival on January 20th featuring Duane Hada. We'd like members to attend and offer any last minute ideas or suggestions. And to think about "Volunteer" in some capacity for this event.

Also on the agenda:  A report on the Rainbeaux Trout stocking program for Lakes Buhlow and Parc Natchitoches, and elsewhere.

As always, the public is welcome. For Zoom connection, email Mike or Bill for meeting number and password. For the KFF YouTube Channel, use this link and go to Live videos - http://bit.ly/3oBk106  

2024 Mixed Bag Contest is live!

Our Mixed Bag Contest is back for a ninth year! The MBC kicked off yesterday, January 1st at 12:01 am. If you caught any fish on New Year's Day, don't worry, you still have 30 days to enter it in.  

The Mixed Bag is a members-only, months-long tournament where the goal is to catch as many different species on fly rod. It's CPRE which means catch-photo-release encouraged. And best of all, there is no entry fee!

Are you ready?  Here's what you need to compete:

• Be a 2024 member of KFF
• Go to the Mixed Bag Contest page and review the rules
• Have your camera or smartphone available when fishing
• Take photos of your catch and include either the fly rod or fly, or both
• Log them in using the links on the Mixed Bag page.
• Bring your enthusiasm!  Remember, while the members who catch the most different species win prizes, all other participants are eligible for several consolation prizes.  Each entry gets you one ticket into the consolation drawing.  

Check out our website and Facebook page during the year for frequent updates.

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing a most blessed Christmas for all our members and friends!  Hope everyone finds something under the tree they can use for their piscatorial pursuits in the coming year.

And let's not forget the reason for the season:  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us….” John 1:14.  Please be giving to those in need, and keep in our prayers those in suffering, in distress, and away from their homes and families this holiday season including our service members.

Shortly after Christmas, we'll have a post about the upcoming 2024 Mixed Bag Contest.  In the meantime, love and peace to everyone from Kisatchie Fly Fishers!

Festival time just weeks away!

Cenla Fly Fishing Festival
Saturday, January 20, 2024
8:30am to 3:30pm 
Kees Park, Pineville, LA
FREE admission!!

Every even-numbered year we hold our biennial Festival, a celebration of the fly fishing and light tackle lifestyle.  This event is a unique experience, vastly different from most outdoors shows.  With the Festival, it's all about education, instruction, and community.

We encourage attendees to come learn about new places to fish, how to fish them. Watch some of the top tiers from across the region tie flies, or make jigs.  Cast a fly rod and/or get casting instruction from top FFI certified instructors.  Learn why kayaks are an economical and very effective way to fish.  

And please take part in our giant raffle and fundraiser to raise money for our friends at The Food Bank of Central Louisiana - and help feed some hungry families! 

For complete details, including schedule, list of fly tiers and jig makers, exhibitors, speakers, and much more, click on the "2024 Fest" menu above.

Club honorees recognized at banquet

At our annual Christmas banquet, the club honored those members who have had an outstanding year, either in service to the club, in their accomplishment and/or contribution as fly tiers, or with individual achievement. Each recipient will receive a custom-designed coffee mug with their recognition, featuring artwork by famed fly fishing artist James Lady.  

Member of the Year - Jeff Albrecht
Awarded to that member who, either made important contributions to our club, or assisted in helping others, or achieved milestones in their own skills. Jeff was a fixture at most of our activities, and had several personal accomplishments as an angler. Several of his "new" species were entered in this year's Mixed Bag.  

Fly Tier of the Year - Richard Dewees
Awarded to that member who, either through active participation, or educating and sharing skills, or significant improvement in their own skills, advanced the art within our club. Richard participated in nearly all our tying sessions, volunteered as a demo tier at external events, and assisted newer tiers.

Presidents Award - Sam Poole, Jane Oxenhandler
This award is selected by the president in recognition of service to the club, or for any actions or deeds that they find worthy of recognition.  Club members Sam and Jane have provided the musical entertainment at all of our Christmas banquets. They also perform at all the local hospitals for patients, including the Cabrini Cancer Center.

Please join us in congratulating all of our 2023 award winners!

2023 Mixed Bag Contest results

Our 6th annual Mixed Bag Contest finished up on November 30th, and once again set records. The MBC is a months-long CPRE (catch-photo-release encouraged) tournament where size doesn't matter, but diversity does. The purpose of the contest is to produce a database of all species that can be caught on fly, where they can be caught, and what flies worked. This database has helped our members become more successful anglers.

At our recent Christmas Party, tournament committee chair Bill Morrison announced the results.  The top five (5) places were awarded Orvis gift cards. In addition, every participant had one ticket for each species they entered placed in the Consolation Drawing for over a dozen prizes.   For the final grand prize drawing, all tickets - including those of winners - were placed back in the bucket for a Redington Rise fly reel valued around $200.  Congratulations to Rich Hudson who was the lucky winner of the reel!

For 2023, we had 20 participants, slightly down from 22 the year before. We also had the second highest number of entries (170) ever, and the most entries ever from one participant (36).  

Among the most common species registered were bluegill (18), rainbow trout (12), longear sunfish (12), largemouth bass (9) and green sunfish (9).  Altogether 55 species were entered, including 10 new species never previously entered in the Mixed Bag.  Some of the more interesting species included: Black Spotted Topminnow, Cahaba Bass, Lowland Cichlid, Orangespotted Sunfish, and Creek Chub.  But the winner of "Most Interesting Species" was Carlton Townsend for a Snake River Cutthroat caught on the Norfork River.

By state, Louisiana had the most entries (108) followed by Arkansas (40), Alabama (8), northwest Florida (7), Mississippi (4) and Oklahoma (3). The most common waters for entries were the Little Missouri River in southwest Arkansas (25), Indian Creek (16), Little River (10), LSUA Ponds (8), and Capitol Lake in Baton Rouge (7).  Altogether there were entries from 52 bodies of water, up from 48 last year.

The most common fly patterns were the Soft Hackle Beadhead Hares Ear (25), Woolybugger (10), Popper (10), Mad Dog (9), Rio Bandito (8), Clouser Minnow (8), and the Bully Bluegill - Rosenbohm Edition.

Here's the final standings for the 2023 Mixed Bag:
1st - Bill Morrison (36 entries)
2nd - Chris Williams (26)
3rd - Jim Johnson (21)
4th - Noah Hoyt (11)
5th - Joel Dinnat (10)

Many thanks to Bill Morrison for his efforts in administrating the Mixed Bag entries and compiling these statistics.

The 2024 Mixed Bag will kickoff on January 1st. The form will go active shortly after midnight.