June 29th Casting Monday, June 30th Club Meeting

Social Distance Casting
Monday, June 29th
5:00pm starting
Big Island Field, City Park Alexandria

Big Island has lots of space and there is strict adherene to social distancing guidelines.  You're welcome to come join at any time starting at 5pm. Improve on your casting skills with the help of our casting coaches. Or participate in the Casting Skills Challenge program and earn a Bronze, Silver or Gold recognition.

General Membership Meeting (Zoom)
Tuesday, June 30th
6:30pm

www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

Join us for an online general membership meeting Tuesday, June 30th.  We will be meeting using the Zoom app (laptop, tablet or mobile).  The instructions for using Zoom have been sent out via email.

During the meeting we will discuss our way forward for fly tying and fly casting.  We will also share some of our favorite local area spots to fish during summer, and what flies to use. 

Upcoming sessions:

Virtual Tying Tuesday, July 7th
6:30pm
Catch Cormier will lead in tying the Sili Minnow

Virtual Tying Tuesday, July 21st
6:30pm
Larry Offner will lead in tying the Jitterbee

VTT is open to all members of Kisatchie Fly Fishers & Acadiana Fly Rodders. Join the meeting at www.zoom.us using meeting ID and password.

Bluegill Belly Bean revisited

Back in February - at our last live attendance tying session - we tied up the Bluegill Belly Bean. The BBB was created by Paul Beel of Indiana, fly fishing writer and owner of FrankenFly website.

This fly gets down deep, where bigger bream hang out during late summer. Beel suggests letting the fly sink down using the countdown method, then stripping short strips.

I got a report this week from a crappie fishing guide at Toledo Bend. He mentioned that he's finding bream in 5-10 feet of water on submerged humps and points.  Perfect scenario for the BBB.

Since we didn't post it before, here's the materials list:

• hook: jig hook size 8 standard length (J2 602, J2 604, Diachi 4640 or 4647, Lightning Strike JF2, Hanak 480, * Umpqua 555) 
  
• eyes: double pupil x-small chartreuse
• tail: midge flash in root beer color
• legs: Chicone's Barred Micro Crusher legs, olive color
• abdomen: Estaz petite, opal olive color
• thorax/head: Hares Ear Plus Dubbin, olive color

* Be careful when buying Umpqua U555, these run 2 sizes larger, eg, size 12 is really size 8

June 22nd Casting Monday, June 23rd Tying Tuesday

Social Distance Casting
Monday, June 22nd
5:00pm starting
Big Island Field, City Park Alexandria

Big Island has lots of space and there is strict adherene to social distancing guidelines.  You're welcome to come join at any time starting at 5pm. Improve on your casting skills with the help of our casting instructors, or participate in the Casting Skills Challenge program and earn a Bronze, Silver or Gold recognition.

Virtual Fly Tying
Tuesday, June 23rd
6:00pm
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

This week, Glen Cormier will lead us in tying the "Black Boudreaux", a pattern created by Ray Boudreaux of New Iberia, a longtime member of Acadiana Fly Rodders. Ray had just joined AFR and participated in a fishing outing at a local pond. One of the members was having great success catching bream on a small fly.  Ray tried to recreate the fly and in the process, came up with something new and different. Fellow member Bob Boese was so impressed with the fly, he named it after Ray.

The original pattern uses the following materials:

• hook: size 14 scud
• thread: size 8/0
• tail: brown kip tail
• body: peacock herl
• hackle: grizzly hackle
• eyes: small black bead chain

Bob's variation of this fly uses brown or black hackle for the tail, and tinsel instead of peacock for the body.  We're going to tie the original, but with hackle for the tail. The reason will be explained during the session.

As our usual procedure, Catch will first do a walkthough demonstration of the fly that will be recorded for later use. After the walkthrough, attendees can tie or watch and ask questions.

If you did not receive the email from Bill Morrison with the meeting ID and password, please email Bill prior to the meeting.

Tying the Rusty Sparrow

Tuesday we held our bi-weekly online fly tying session using the Zoom video conferencing application. Bill Morrison led the group in tying the Rusty Sparrow, a variation by Kyle Moppert of Jack Gartside's original Gartside Sparrow. Jim Guillory learned it from Kyle some dozen years ago, and it's been one of his favorite flies for trout on the Little Mo. Here is a video of Bill's walkthrough of tying the Rusty Sparrow.

June 8th Casting Monday, June 9th Tying Tuesday

Rusty Sparrow

Social Distance Casting
Monday, June 8
5:00pm starting
Big Island Field, City Park Alexandria

Big Island has lots of space and there is strict adherene to social distancing guidelines.  You're welcome to come join at any time starting at 5pm. 

Virtual Fly Tying
Tuesday, June 9
6:00pm
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

This week, Jim Guillory will lead us in tying the Rusty Sparrow.  This fly is Kyle Moppert's variation of the original Jack Gartside Sparrow.  Jim learned to tie it from Kyle about 12 years ago, and since then, it's been one of his favorite patterns for trout (hook sizes 12-16) and in larger sizes, for bass.

The original fly used feathers all taken from different parts of a pheasant, but did not use weight.  Here is a YouTube of the original Gartside Sparrow. The Rusty Sparrow variation uses weighted lead to get the fly down deep.

As our usual procedure, Jim will first do a walkthough demonstration of the fly that will be recorded for later use. After the walkthrough, attendees can tie along with Jim and ask questions. Or attendees can simply watch, and ask questions.

If you did not receive the email from Bill Morrison with the meeting ID and password, please email Bill prior to the meeting. The meeting is open to all members of KFF as well as Acadiana Fly Rodders.

May 25th Casting Monday, May 26th Tying Tuesday

Social Distance Casting
Monday, May 25
5:00pm starting
Big Island Field, City Park Alexandria

Big Island has lots of space and there is strict adherene to social distancing guidelines.

Roger Breedlove will arrive at 5:00pm. You're welcome to come join at any time starting then or after. He and other club casting gurus will provide assistance to anyone looking to improve their casting, be it beginner or expert. Or come participate in the Casting Skills Challenge program and earn a Bronze, Silver or Gold recognition.

Virtual Fly Tying
Tuesday, May 26
6:00pm
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

This week, Jim Johnson will lead us in tying the "Lunch Money", a pattern created by Matt Bennett. Matt grew up in southwest Louisiana, and currently lives in Austin. A professional tier, he's been recognized as one of the top fly designers in the country today, having created numerous patterns for warm, salt and coldwater fishing.

According to Matt, the Lunch Money was created out of need for a bite-sized baitfish streamer for the Texas Hill Country. However, it's been a great bass fly anywhere there is clear water and an abundance of small baitfish.

Here are the materials you will need:

• #4 Stinger Hook, Gamakatsu B10s or equivalent stinger‐type hook (Sub: #4 or #6 stinger or Standard #4 saltwater hook)
• 140 denier thread ‐ olive (Sub: black or different size or color)
• Medium lead dumbell eyes ‐ red (Sub: different color or size)
• Rabbit fur strip ‐ 1/8" green olive (Sub: different size or color)
• Senyo laser dub ‐ yellow and olive (Sub: any long fiber dubbing such as EP fibers)
• Rubber legs ‐ olive/black or any dark leg such as crazy, silli, loco legs (Sub: any rubber leg)

In preparation for tying this pattern, check out Matt's video on Youtube. In the Zoom session, Jim will add his own perspectives on this pattern, so you don't want to miss this!

May 19th online fly tying - T&T Tuesday

Kisatchie-Acadiana clubs online fly tying session
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
6:00pm
Zoom meeting at http://zoom.us

Please join us for another installment of Tips and Techniques Tuesday. Remember to enter the Zoom meeting ID and password before joining the session.  If you need the id and password, send an email to Bill Morrison.

Also, a reminder that on May 26, Jim Johnson will be leading us in tying Matt Bennett's Lunch Money streamer.  One of the best modern patterns for predatory fish.  If you need to order materials, please do so early this week.

May 18th Social Distance Casting

Social Distance Casting
Monday, May 18, 2020
5:00pm until
Big Island Field
City Park, Alexandria

KFF President Mike Carlin would like to remind everyone that, if you're tired of too much "virtual", you're welcomed to come out and join us for our Social Distance Casting. Big Island has a lot of space and there is strict adherence to social distancing guidelines.

Roger Breedlove will arrive around 5:00pm and with help of other casting gurus in our club, provide assistance to anyone looking to improve their casting. Even an accomplished caster will pick up some valuable lessons. Or may be able to help someone else.

Also, we will continue our Casting Skills Challenge. As per the previous post, this has been a highly successful club venture. Several of those awarded are also FFI members and will be recognized on the regional and national level.