Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

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

While Christmas is a season of festivity, 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 pray for those who are less fortunate, for those in suffering, and for those away from their families this season.

We also wish everyone a prosperous and healthy New Year.  Being an odd year, we won't have our biennial Cenla Fly Fest in 2025.  However, as the previous post mentioned, several neighboring clubs have events scheduled.

In the meantime, love and peace to everyone from Kisatchie Fly Fishers!

Mark your 2025 calendars for these events!

It's that time of year when we break out the new calendars and start marking them up.  Here's a few dates that will be of interest.  Events with an '*' indicate club activities.

* Jan. 1 (Wed) - 8th annual KFF Mixed Bag Contest kicks off! In addition to the five top spots, we have great consolation prizes - so every entry counts! Check out the Mixed Bag page for details starting Dec. 28th.

Jan. 25 (Sat) – 3rd biennial NEW ORLEANS FLY FISHING EXPO, St. Christopher School Gymnasium, 3900 Derbigny Street, Metairie, LA.   Time: 8:00am to 4:00pm. Free Admission. Casting Seminars and instruction, fly tying demos, fishing & destination seminars, Iron Fly Tyer contest, outdoor equipment & displays, artists & vendors, raffles, auction, Kids programs.  Hosted by the New Orleans Fly Fishers Club. www.neworleansflyfishers.com.

Jan. 31- Feb 2 (Fri-Sun) – 2nd annual HOME WATERS 2025 - a celebration of the Little Missouri River, Municipal Building, Murfreesboro, AR. Fri: noon-7pm, Sat: 9am - 5pm. No cost. Hosted by ArkLaTexOma Fly Tiers. Fly tying demos, fishing seminars, biologist reports, vendors, raffles and door prizes, food available. For details, see Calendar page or go to ArkLaTexOma Facebook page.

* Feb. 22 (Sat) - CENLA FLY FISHING 101, Booker-Fowler Hatchery, 8:30am - 12:30pm, LDWF Booker-Fowler Hatchery, Woodworth, LA. Hands-on sessions covering basics of fly fishing. FREE and open to the public, pre-registration is required. Go to FF101 page for details.

Mar. 8 (Sat) – 27th Annual RED STICK DAY, Waddill Outdoor Education Center, 4142 N Flannery Rd, Baton Rouge, LA. 8:30am – 3:30pm. Free admission. Seminars, tying demos, kayak demos, casting clinics, food, refreshments. Hosted by Red Stick Fly Fishers. Website: www.rsff.org.

* Mar. 20-23 (Thu - Sun) - KFF annual MARCH BROWN TRIP. Members-only trip to the Little Missouri River in southwest Arkansas for rainbow trout. Peak season for March Brown mayfly and some early caddis!

Mar. 27-29 (Thu-Sat) – 28th annual SOWBUG ROUNDUP, Baxter County Fairgrounds, Mountain Home, AR. 9am – 4pm, each day. Largest fly tying event in the country, over 120 tiers. Seminars, fly tying clinics, vendors. Special guests Pat Dorsey, Tim Flagler. Hosted by North Arkansas Fly Fishers. Website: www.sowbugroundup.org.

* Apr. 28 (Mon) - KFF SPRING PICNIC, held in lieu of monthly general meeting, see upcoming email for details.

May 2-3 (Fri-Sat) – 3rd annual FFI GULF COAST CLASSIC, Learning Campus, Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores, AL.  Seminars, fly tying demos, casting clinics, raffles, Mixed Bag Challenge fishing contest. Fly Fishing film event on Saturday 4pm. Hosted by the Gulf Coast Council of Fly Fishers International. Website: www.ffigulfcoastclassic.com or www.ffigcc.org.

July 18-19 (Fri-Sat) - CADDO FLY FISHING EXPO, Jefferson County Civic Center, Jefferson, TX.  Seminars, fly tying demos, casting demos and instruction, raffles, silent auction, and more. Hosted by North Louisiana Fly Fishers. Website: www.northlaflyfishers.org.

Club honorees, Mixed Bag winners recognized at banquet

At our annual Christmas banquet on December 9th, the club honored those members who have had an outstanding year, either in service to the club or with individual achievement. Each honoree received a 15-ounce custom artwork designed coffee mug with their name and award.

New Member of the Year - Eron Borne
Given to a club member who joined over the last 18 months, and who has been very active in our club, shown a strong dedication to our sport, and a willingness to learn.

Fly Tier of the Year - Orlando Madrid
Awarded to that club member who has shown exceptional dedication to the art of fly tying, either through commitment, or significant development in their tying skills, or in enhancing the education of others, or some combination of.

Presidents Award - Cynthia Griffin
This award is chosen by the president, and recognizes someone who has given outstanding service to the club, and benefitting the membership.

Member of the Year - Rich Hudson
Awarded to that member who has fulfilled any combination of the following: frequent participant in club activities, helped organize or assist in club events, personal accomplishment, helped promote fly fishing in general, aided the development of other members, furthered the mission of our club.

Mixed Bag Contest

Our annual Mixed Bag Contest is a months-long CPRE (catch-photo-release encouraged) tournament where size doesn't matter, but diversity does. Five places were awarded gift cards of varying amounts. In addition, every member who made at least one entry, but wasn't a winner, had their name placed in a consolation drawing for a wide range of prizes including an Epic fly rod.

Here are the 2024 MBC winners:

Chris Williams - 34 species
Eron Borne - 26 species
Bill Morrison - 22 species
Jim Johnson - 19 species
Ed Jones - 17 species

It should be noted that Noah Hoyt, who was recognized by the FFI Gulf Coast Council for "Youth Angler of the Year" finished in 7th place with 12 species.

This year, we set new records for number of entries (228) and number of different species (47). In addition, we had the most participants since 2018 with 25 entrants.

The most entered species was bluegill followed by largemouth bass. Some of the more unusual catches included: black spotted topminnow, striped shiner, lowland cichlid, golden shiner, ironcolor shiner, orangespotted sunfish, steelcolor shiner, Atlantic croaker, Wiper, dollar sunfish. Chris Williams also achieved a personal goal: catching all four species of native Alabama black bass along with largemouth and spotted bass.

Our 8th annual Mixed Bag Contest kicks off January 1st, 2025. 

November 18th meeting - Midge Magic

KFF general meeting
Monday, November 18, 2024
6:30 pm - program
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

For this meeting, we'll watch a video, "Midge Magic with Davy Wotton".  In this video, the British-born Arkansas guide demonstrates, on a variety of water types, all the skills needed to catch trout feeding on midges.  He covers gear, leaders, tippets, tactics, useful line management methods, and more.  Wotton also demonstrates a variety of rigging systems and fishing them at different depths.

The timing of this video is important to those who plan to fish the Little Missouri River over the next couple of months. A sampling of stomach contents of Little Mo rainbows in January revealed that over 35% of their diet consisted of midges!

As always, the public is welcome. For those members joining us remotely, check your email for the Zoom meeting number and password. For livestreaming on the KFF YouTube Channel, use this link and go to Live videos -
http://bit.ly/3oBk106  

Sugar Day cancelled

Early this afternoon, Kent House made the decision to cancel Sugar Day this Saturday due to weather concerns.  The forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms, with possibly locally heavy rain in the afternoon. 

While our fly tying demonstrations - and a few other crafts activities - are indoors, about 70 percent of the many exhibits and activities are outdoors.  We share disappointment with Kent House on this decision, and look forward to next year (and hopefully, better weather).

November 4th fly tying - Fools Gold Crab

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, November 4, 2024
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria
Also livestreamed on Zoom and YouTube

* Please note this month's tying session is moved up a week due to the Veterans Day holiday *

This month, Chris Williams will be driving up from Baton Rouge to tie the Fools Gold Crab.  This pattern, created by Johnny Miller, can be fished like a crab or a shrimp bumping off the bottom.  In Fall and Winter, when Louisiana redfish are inside and feeding on fiddler crabs, flies like the FGC are the ticket to success!

The session is open to the public. All materials are provided, and we have several sets of tools for beginners to use during the session.

Remote members can participate using the Zoom meeting number and password sent by email. All others can watch on the KFF YouTube Channel, use this link and go to Live videos -
http://bit.ly/3oBk106

October 28th meeting - Club trips

KFF general meeting
Monday, October 28, 2024

5:30 pm - casting practice
6:30 pm - program
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria

This month we'll have a short but very important meeting - an open discussion on potential 2025 club trips.  Currently we have our 11th annual "March Brown trip" organized by the Coldwater Committee and Carlton Townsend set for March 20-23, 2025.  Details of this trip are in the latest email from Bill Morrison, but will be discussed further in the next couple of months.

The Warmwater and Saltwater Committees are looking to organize weekend or destination trips that would be of great interest to club members.  Several ideas were thrown out at the last board meeting, and we'll discuss those.   As well as take any suggestions from members for trip ideas.  We also want to add a couple of "local trips" - one day excursions to a local water such as Cane River, Toledo Bend, Calcasieu Lake, etc.  These ideas will be open for discussion as well.

As always, the public is welcome. For those members joining us remotely, check your email for the Zoom meeting number and password. If not, email Bill Morrison for this info. For livestreaming on the KFF YouTube Channel, use this link and go to Live videos -
http://bit.ly/3oBk106

October 21st fly tying - Kreelex Minnow

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, October 21, 2024

5:30pm - casting practice
6:30pm - tying session starts
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria
Also livestreamed on Zoom and YouTube

** Because of Columbus Day, our tying session has been moved to the 3rd Monday **

This month Jim Johnson will lead us in tying the Kreelex Minnow. Chuck Kraft developed this all-flash pattern for trout, but it has proven to take almost any gamefish out there. In fact, the Kreelex is one of the most effective and versatile light streamer patterns Bill and Jim have used over the past year. They've caught bass, crappie, gar, freshwater drum, and all manner of panfish on the pattern.

We will tie the pattern in silver/pearl and gold, so 140 denier thread in white will be best.  The version we will tie is on a #6 hook, and will be similar to the fly in the attached photo.

As always, all materials other than thread will be provided, and we will have several sets of tools for any who do not have their own.   And if you have never tied, we can pair you with someone who can help.  

For remote members near and far, you can participate using the Zoom meeting number and password sent by email. All others can watch via our YouTube livestream; search for "Kisatchie Fly Fishers" on YT.

October is the last month for casting prior to meetings due to the end of Daylight Savings Time. We'll start back of the library around 5:30pm. So get your casting coaching in while you can!