December 18th, 2006 

Specktacular Winter Fishing.

In the last week or two, huge numbers of speckled trout have been active under birds in Lake Charles, and this had been a source of great pain for me.  The pain coming from the fact that I didn't have time to get on the water and partake of the action, but had to see the melee in progress everyday as I drove to and from work along the lake front.

Finally in the last few days I was able to get out a couple of times with Danny Williams and enjoy the action.  On our first trip, Danny and I launched at what passed for first light.  There was nearly zero visibility because of the heavy blanket of fog that covered the water.  

Danny and I  started fishing near the confluence of the ship channel and the South end of the lake and picked up a couple of fish on spinning gear, but it wasn't the all out catch fest we were expecting.  Soon we decided to relocate in the lake, and quickly spotted massive amounts of birds working.  There was a good many boats on the water, but the birds and schools of fish were plentiful enough, and spread out enough to ensure that everyone had room.  We quickly caught around 15 fish on spinning tackle then switched to fly gear.  We continued catching, and ended the day having caught about 40 fish.  The fish were nice little chunks, averaging around 16 inches with a few going larger, probably around 2 to 2.5 pounds.  We only had one undersized fish.

Even though they were under birds, the fish were holding fairly deep and the most productive method was to throw a weighted fly on a sinking line, count it down for 10 seconds or so, then begin stripping the fly.  The fly I caught on was a Chartreuse Sea Duecer with dumbell eyes tied near the bend of the hook.

On Sunday Danny, his son Seth and I went back for more of the action.  With word spreading about the bite, there were a lot more boats on the water, and in the heavy fog that once again covered the area, a cautious approach was called for.  We started fishing the immediate area where we had caught the fish previously, but the action was fairly slow, and the birds not as numerous or committed as they had been previously.  

Finally Danny heard a large number of birds working that were not visible because of the fog.  The flock was making the excited chatter of siblings fighting over the last piece of desert.  We followed the sound until many hulking figures began to appear in the fog.  We found the birds, and the many boats that were already on the scene fishing the school under them.  Although there were a lot of boats present, everyone seemed to be handling themselves in a courteous manner, and everyone was getting the opportunity to get on the fish.  The action was insane.  I don't know how many fish the 3 of us caught, but it was fast and exciting.   Because there were 3 of us in the boat, it wasn't practacle for us to fly fish on Sunday, but I have no doubt that the sinking line/weighted fly combo would have once again been effective.

November 7th, 2006

Birds of A Feather.

This past Sunday I took the opportunity to spend a little time on the water.  Still experiencing runoff from recent heavy rains my expectations were not very high.  

Having recently had major flooding in the area, I figured that a lot of the estuary would still be quite muddy and much of the marsh high.  Hedging my bet against the likelihood of bad water conditions, I decided to spend some time fishing Black Lake in Cameron Parish.  Black Lake is somewhat isolated and really doesn't drain any runoff.  I figured if anyplace had settled and cleared up yet it would be Black Lake.

I launched at Ellender Bridge and arrived at Black Lake about 30 minutes after sun up.  When I motored out of the canal and into Black Lake, I thought I had stepped into the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "The Birds".  Everywhere I looked huge flocks of Gull we diving and pecking as shrimp skipped across the surface of the water trying to escape hungry yellow mouths below.

The first couple of schools I tried working just wouldn't hold together.  I would set up several hundred yards upwind of the birds and primarily drift under the power of the wind to the school and begin casting, only to have the school of fish go down and the birds disperse well before I was in casting range.  Finally I found a few schools of fish willing to hold together long enough for me to pull out a couple of specks before they would break up.  Of course since I was fly fishing, I was having to work the schools a bit closer to stay in casting range, then if I were fishing with casting tackle.

After picking up a few specks in the 14 to 16 inch range, there was a brief lull in the bird activity, so I began blind casting across a point that some birds had been working earlier.  I threw my fly tight to the grass and the water exploded as a 10 pound redfish inhaled my fly.  I enjoyed the fight he put up, then released him into the cool water.  I chased a few more groups of birds, picking up a few more fish, then left with the birds still flocking and the fish still biting.  Fresh speckled trout almondine was on the lunch menu.

October 21st 2006

The Natural.

Today I instructed  a beginners fly casting class at a "Gals Just Want To Have Fun" retreat for women that was held at Camp Wi Ta Wenten.  I taught a total of 9 women in 2 sessions, none of whom had ever fly fished before, but all of whom finished the session able to cast a nice loop.  Because of time constraints the lessons had to be limited to a very basic pick up and lay down technique, with emphasis placed on developing a nice controlled loop.

As with any group I have every taught there were a couple of individuals in each session that seemed to really excel.  One woman however demonstrated the most natural ability to throw a beautiful loop that I have ever seen.  I began each session with a brief explanation of the mechanics of fly casting, the weight of the line carrying the fly, the loop being formed by an acceleration and stop, and the line traveling in the direction the rod tip was moving in when stopped, hence the necessity make the rod tip travel in a relatively strait line.

About 10 minutes into the second session a lady named Lucy showed up, apologetic that she was running late.  I gave Lucy an even more brief explanation of casting mechanics and handed her a rod to try.  She picked it up, made a nice back-cast, and then threw a perfect loop on the forward cast, straightening the line and leader on the grass.  "Oh so you've fly fished before" I commented.  "No" she replied "I've never fly fished, but I do like to fish, I used to watch my daddy fly fish though".  I was astounded.  Nobody ever gets it right on their first try.  "Try again" I encouraged her, just to make  sure it wasn't a fluke.  Lucy proceeded to make picture perfect cast after cast.  It was a completely natural and relaxed motion for Lucy, and really looked effortless.  Her timing was perfect.  

I continued making my rounds to each of the students, trying to gently correct mistakes and teach the basics of casting, the most common instruction being "stop the rod higher".  When I would get to Lucy however, all I could do was to encourage her, and point out all that she was doing right.  Lucy went on to tell me that when she was young, she would go fishing with her dad and her job was to paddle the boat and clean the fish.  She said those are still 2 of her favorite things to do, I asked if she contracted out.

I would be thrilled to find out that any of the students I taught today 

October 19th, 2006

A Consensus On Rods?

While at the Saltwater Fly Fishers Picnic last weekend, I got to cast a number of the latest offerings from several different rod companies, and through side by side comparison, I had drawn my own conclusions as to which I thought were the best performing rods.  I hadn't yet stated my preferences here because they were just that, my preferences, a subjective opinion of one angler.

Since returning from the picnic however I have had the opportunity to talk to several other people in attendance who are accomplished fishermen and casters, and are recognized as such by lots of folks in the fly fishing community.  Amongst out little group of 4, there arose a consensus that one of the new rod offerings stood head and shoulders above the rest, based on the fairly generous amount of time we spent casting this weekend.

First a little about the conditions.  We were casting in well mowed grass, on casting lanes oriented East to West.  The wind was screaming out of the East South East in excess of 20knots the entire time, often gusting higher.  When we first approached the casting field, everyone on the field was casting with the wind, and seemed pleased with themselves over the amount of line they were able to shoot with the wind.  Our little group decided to see how the rods would perform in more real world conditions, and spent more time casting into the wind, than with it.  We also worked on cast with the wind coming across our casting arm.

The contenders 

The Sage "Z Axis", in 5wt and 8wt -  fast action rods with a relatively light tip, meant to offer more feel and ease of casting close in.

The Orvis "Zero Gravity"- In 8wt tip flex, 6wt tip flex, and 7wt mid flex. The lightest rods Orvis has ever produced.  Very fast in the tip flex models, more moderate action in the mid flex.

Scott - 8wt (I Believe it was the X2s but I could be wrong on the designation) - Fast action with a sensitive tip.

T.F.O. - Jim Teeny Series 8wt - A moderate action rod, in an attractive dark green finish.  Cosmetically much nicer than some of T.F.O's earlier offerings.

The observations - First, all of the casters in this informal product review felt that all of the above were good serviceable rods.  The T.F.O. Jim Teeny is  a very smooth feeling rod, I found it loaded easily and was good for close to moderate range.  If I started trying to carry too much line it did seem to get a little mushy, but for under $200 it's certainly a bargain.

The Sage "Z Axis" did deliver on it's promise of having good feel and being able to deliver those close cast, and is very light in hand.  It's a very accurate rod.  To classify something as the ultimate rod however, I like something with a little more punch (remember the wind we were dealing with).

The Scott rod was again a very smooth feeling rod, but was however able to handle the long haul.  It's a good performer, although I thought it was a little heavy in hand, and while it did an admirable job of casting, I found that I had to put a bit into it to punch into the wind, that can be tiring over a long day.

Which leaves us with the winner - All of our group found the Orvis Zero Gravity to be our favorite of the bunch.  I was particularly enamored with the tip flex 6 and 8wt offerings, while some in our group loved the 7 wt mid flex, all of us however were able to cast well with all of the Zero Gravity Rods, although it did take me a little while to get down the timing of the mid flex, (remember I'm a tip flex kind of guy).  These rods are incredibly light, and incredibly powerful.  They were eating up long cast directly into the incessant wind, and like many of this years offerings, still had enough sensitivity to present to those fish that pop up 20 feet away.  I also am very fond of the reel seat on these rods, which is basically the same reel seat as was featured on the Orvis T3, just  with a different, and lighter insert.

The Zero Gravity 8wt tip flex will hopefully be my next rod purchase, and hopefully will soon be followed by the 6wt tip flex.

October 15th, 2006

What A Great Weekend.

Devin Palomino and I just returned from Uptown Anglers Inaugural Saltwater Fly Fishers Picnic at Woodland Plantation south of Myrtle Grove. It was an incredible event that I hope is repeated annually.

Before I report on the event itself,  I want to take the opportunity to thank Alec Griffin and the Uptown Angler in New Orleans for hosting the event.  This event wasn't held as a money maker for Uptown Angler, but rather as an event to promote and grow the sport of fly fishing, and to help raise money for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.  Alec has worked tirelessly to promote the sport of fly fishing and to bring fly fishers together in spite of having faced great adversity in having the Uptown Angler gutted by looters after hurricane Katrina.  Alec has also offered the finest example of customer service that I've experienced from any retail operation anywhere.  If you find yourself in need of any fly fishing related items from rods and reels and tying supplies, to waders, boots and fishing shirts, you would be doing all flyfishermen of Louisiana a favor by doing business with Uptown Angler and supporting the store.

Now, on to the events at the Saltwater Fly Fishers Picnic.

The People.

Out of all of the great things about the Saltwater Fly Fishers Picnic, the best thing about it was the people.  From the "Celebrity" fly fishermen like Flip Pallot and Chico Fernandez, to the attendees, exhibitors, and the many guides present, I had a great time visiting with, and learning about and from all in attendance.  Friday evening it was my good fortune to share a dinner table with Flip Pallot, and Tom Gordon and Mark Fisher of Gordon Boatworks.  Later in the evening I sat on the porch of the plantation enjoying a cigar with Enriquo Puglisi as he told me about the striper blitz at Montauk.  Saturday I met and visited with many guides and fly fishing professionals, perhaps the most memorable being Captain Rich Waldner.  Rich is the first person I've ever met who gets as excited while talking about redfishing as I do.  Rich was also very gracious and generous, offering Devin and I very specific information about where we should fish on Sunday, and providing me with a couple of his famous flies to try to catch them on.

The Products.

I got to see a lot of new fly fishing products while at the picnic, many of them quite impressive.  I had my first opportunity to really extensively cast the Orvis Zero Gravity line of rods.  These rods are light and powerful, and have good feel.  I absolutely fell in love with the Zero Gravity 8wt tip flex 9.5 and 6wt tip flex 10.5.  The wind was blowing in excess of 20 mph, but with both of these rods I had no trouble casting the line into the wind, THE WHOLE LINE.  I was also VERY impressed with the new Battenkill Large Arbor reel that is about to be released.  It is a smooth, nicely machined reel with a large and wide arbor that is heavily ported, and that will now feature the center style drag that is on the Battenkill Mid Arbor instead of the offset drag the former incarnation of the B.L.A. had.  I think the price point will be in the $229 range.

One of the other rods that I got to spend a fair amount of time casting was the Temple Fork outfitters Jim Teeny rod in an 8wt.  This is a rod that is very smooth and forgiving without feeling slow, it was very comfortable to cast, and the cosmetics on this rod as well as the other T.F.O. rods I saw seem to have been considerable improved over some of T.F.O.'s earlier offerings.  I also finally got to get a good look at a TFO Terry Hayden Reel.  This is a serious reel for serious fish, with a huge cork disk drag, with double pawls that are offset timed so that there is never any play before the drag engages,  large arbor, and the most durable anodized finish I've ever seen.  Rick Pope demonstrated the toughness of the finish by taking the edge of a quarter and rubbing it as hard as he could against the back of the reel, it didn't leave a scratch on the reel, but it did wear down the quarter some.

I also got to cast the new Sage "Z Axis" rods which are still quick and powerful as you would expect a Sage to be, but with a little finer feel and great accuracy.  Cary Martin of Sage did a fine job of demonstrating this rod at the "3am inebriated casting contest".

The Boats

A number of beautiful poling skiffs that are perfect for fly fishing were on sight at the picnic.  Some brought by the boat manufacturers, some by attendees.

My roommate's for the event were Tom Gordon and Mark Fisher of Gordon Boatworks.  Gordon is producing the former Hells Bay Waterman in 16 and 18 foot models.  Other than the logo's, these boats would be hard to distinguish from their sister boats that were originally manufactured by Hells Bay.  They offer the same great quality, attention to detail, and beautiful fit and finish that had always been expected of them.  And of course that only makes sense since Tom was one of the chief boat builders at Hells Bay before forming Gordons Boatworks.  Both Gordon skiffs are built to easily pole extremely shallow (4-5 inches) and quietly, provide a great fishing platform, and run relatively dry and comfortably when there is a little chop.  Gordon Boatworks also has a new product in the works dubbed "Project S", which despite my prying an listening to see if he would talk in his sleep, Tom revealed no details about. The Gordon Boatworks web site is www.gordonboats.com .

Also on site were Kevin Fenn and Adam of East Cape Canoe Company, and they were proudly showing off their Gladesman and Lostmen models.  The Gladesman was E.C.C.'s first model and is a 2 man extreme poling skiff.  The Gladesman is 17'6" long with a maximum beam of 48".  It is rated for up to a 15 hp, which I was surprised to experience moving the boat along at about 23mph with 2 anglers.  The Gladesman will pole in 3-4 inches of water with anglers aboard.  The Gladesman is made for those super shallow flats that don't require long runs across open water, it poles easily and offers a small poling platform, and ample deck space for fishing.  You do need to be somewhat sure footed to be comfortable in it however.

E.C.C. also had on hand one of their new Lostmen skiffs, which is a full sized technical poling skiff at 18' 1" long and has a 72 inch beam.  The Lostmen is a good looking boat with a very good fit and finish.  The Lostmen has more storage than I have ever seen on a technical poling skiff, and heavy duty cored hatches.  Kevin says the Lostmen was designed with stability in mind and that it drafts about 5 inches of water for fishing.  Kevin stressed that all E.C.C. boats are built to order and can be outfitted and customized to suite the customer.  I look forward to when I may have the opportunity to wet test one.  The E.C.C. website is www.eastcapecanoes.com.

October 9th, 2006

Timing The Tide.

I am often asked what constitutes a favorable tide for sight fishing redfish.  An honest answer to this question would be that if varies wildly based on where you are fishing, the type of habitat and flats you are fishing, time of year, type of bait present and many other factors. I can however present you with a bit of a generalization that seems to be consistent on many of the flats in the Calcasieu Estuary, and that I'm sure would apply on flats that are similarly featured in other area's.  Many of the flats in the Calcasieu estuary, particularly those in it's northern reaches do not have a lot of aquatic grass, and tend to have water that is less than clear.  These flats tend to be soft bottomed mud flats that are adjacent to, or not far from the deeper water of the ship channel.  On these flats, experience has taught me that low water levels with moving water are  most productive.  

The benefits of a low water level on flats matching this description are two fold.  Lower water tends to concentrate the fish, and low water allows you to spot fish even in the murkiest of water.  When the water gets low redfish, sheepshead and black drum will often offer a visual display of their back and tail above the waters surface.  Even when the fish don't breach the surface, they will still push wakes and make other tell tell signs of their presence allowing an angler to stalk and present a fly to them.

To track what the tide will be doing, get acquainted with tide tables on line like the one at Saltwater Tides..  If you pull up a tide chart for Calcasieu Pass it will list the predicted times for high and low tides within your selected date range, as well as the predicted water level expressed in relation to average mean low tide.

Since the times listed are for the predicted high and low tide at Calcasieu Pass,  you will have to make adjustments to the time listed to allow for the tide differential, which is the difference in time between the highs and lows at the pass, and the highs and lows in the specific area you will be fishing.  In much of the area I like to fish, the difference runs in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 hours, and I can normally look for a predicted high or low for the pass and figure that at the time the tide is at its highest at the pass, it will just be moving in with really good force on the flats near Prien lake, and when the predicted tide is at it's lowest at the pass is when I will be beginning to see good outward movement.

As to tide levels, here in the Calcasieu Estuary we do not have particularly large tide swings.  Normally a 2 foot swing from the low to the high is considered a relatively strong tide.  This week we have a swing of just over 3 feet which is enormous, and the largest predicted swing I have ever seen listed on the tide charts for our estuary, with predicted highs of 3.0 feet above the mean low, and predicted low tides of -.01 feet below mean low.  That much movement of the water will tend to cloud the water, however the low tide levels are low enough that any fish moving on the flats ought to be visible.  With this big of a swing, the water level will change fast, so be careful not to get stranded by the tide on a flat.  The levels I find most fishable for much of our estuary in generally between -0.2 and +0.6, depending on the wind.  Since our tides are relatively week, a strong wind can almost neutralize the movement of the tide, or compound it if blowing in the same direction as the water flow.

The main caveat to my assessments of preferable tide levels above is for those area's of marsh that either experience much less tide flow because they are very far removed from the ship channel and other major tidal bodies, or because they are practically impounded, and also those area's that have a lot of aquatic vegetation which make the water very clear and enables you to spot fish regardless of water level.  A prime example that encompasses both of these scenarios is the area of Cameron Prairie Refuge behind the Grand Bayou Weirs.  In those area's worry less about the tide and more about wind direction and speed.   The wrong wind can make that long ride across the lake to access the weirs long, bumpy and wet.

Anytime you are heading to the flats to fish, look at the tide tables before hand.  Even if it's not going to dictate when or where you fish, by knowing what the tide is supposed to be doing, and observing what is occurring on the water while you fish, you will soon build your own knowledge base of what tides create the conditions that are best for your fishing.

September 1st, 2006

U.S. District Judge Strikes Blow Against Fishermen's Access to Navigable Waters.

Louisiana Sportsman Magazine is reporting on their web site that in a ruling against fishermen who were arrested for trespassing while fishing within the high water mark of the Mississippi River in Northeast Louisiana  U.S. District Judge Robert G. James said "the public has no right to hunt or fish on the Mississippi River".

It is feared that this ruling could have nationwide ramifications on the rights of anglers and hunters to access area's of waterways that meet federal and state definitions of "Navigable".  See the complete story at http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=213.

If you are interested in helping to ensure that the public retains access to navigable waters, contact "Restore Our Waterway Access Inc". at P.O. 1199, Boutte, LA 70039.

August 24, 2006

Gear For Sale On The Forum.

Right now there is a nice selection of saltwater tackle including rods and reels for sale on the Reports and Scuttlebutt Forum.  It may be worth a look if you need (or want) a few new toys.

August 18th, 2006

Yet Another Mid Priced Reel Going By The Wayside.

In addition the the Albright Tempest, and Old Florida reels being discontinued as mentioned below, the Redington Breakwater reel is also being discontinued, to be replaced by a new, slightly lower priced "CDL" series. Redington has said that they will still stand behind their product, honoring all warranties on Breakwater reels, and that they have a more than ample supply of spools and replacement parts for breakwater reels.

On a related note, I have recieved an Albright Tempest IV reel that I ordered at a close out price, and man is this reel nice. The Tempest is a true large arbor reel, nicely machined of 6061 aircraft aluminum, with a heavily ported spool. The rear housing of the reel is not ported, offering protection from sand and salt intrusion. The Tempest has a very smooth draw bar style cork disk drag, and the easiest and coolest quick change spool release mechanism I've seen. While I love the closeout deal I got on this reel, I will hate to see it go away. I think this reel was a great value, even at full retail.

August 9th, 2006

Are Mid Priced Reels Becoming Extinct?

Recently news has broke that 2 very good mid priced reels are being discontinued.  The Old Florida line of reels from the Nautilis/Old Florida company, and the Tempest series of reels from Albright Tackle.  Both of these reels are well made, machined aluminum reels with draw bar style cork disc drags. 

Both the  Albright Tempest, and the Old Florida reels occupied price points between $250 and $350.  The Old Florida Reels were built in Florida, the Albrights are an import.  Both reels had exceptional reputations for quality and value.

Jim Murphy of Albright Reels wrote in a recent post on the bulletin board at Dan Blanton's web site 

"......Reels or any fishing products that occupy the upper middle price points have lost their relevancy in the specialty fly market. This can be attributed to the availability of the high end products at remarkable and quite regular discounts on EBAY and other trading venues.....Right now the strongest opportunity in the specialty market place is at the very top, not withstanding the auction cited below, and the lowest price category. We have seen Ross Reels embrace this opportunity. Dave Heller, the GM at Ross is one of the best marketeers in the biz and he has saved Ross with his quick move to the value price points and wider distribution of a decent product.

At Albright, we will be introducing our new OASIS series of cork disc drag machined bar stock reels with retail prices hovering near $100 at the Fly Tackle Retailer Show in Denver later this month..."

While Albright will be introducing a new line of lower priced reels to help fill the void being left by the Tempest, it is my understanding that Nautilis/Old Florida will simply concentrate on their premium Nautilis line of reels.  I hate to see the end of both of these reels, but the upshot is that there are some exceptional "closeout" deals to be had right now.  I have seen the Albright Tempest greatly reduced at a number of web sited including Bass Pro, with the best deal I've seen (and taken advantage of) at Sealevel Fly Shop where the Albright Tempest are being offered at a full 50% off retail, with free shipping.  

Jim Murphy of Albright says that all warranties on Albright Reels will be honored, but that in the 3 years of it's production, he has never had a Tempest returned for warranty issues, and has lots of parts on hands to affect any repairs that do come up.

August 6th, 2006

Gulf Coast Council Begins.

On Saturday August 5th, an organizational meeting of the proposed new Gulf Coast Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers was held in Lake Charles.  The reasons behind the move to start a new council, was to have a council that is more geocentric to those clubs located along the Gulf Coast, and to be able to better meet the needs of and address the interest specific to clubs and anglers along the Gulf Coast, and the respective fisheries they enjoy, furthering the FFF's motto of "All Fish All Waters". 

Those present voted to incorporate and file for 501c status a new council of the Federation Of Fly Fishers that would represent an area along the Gulf Coast from Mobile, west toward San Antonio.  Officers were elected, and approval was given to begin planning a conclave for 2007 to be held in Lake Charles, because of it's central location within the new council, availability of hotels, restaurants, and of course great fishing.  By laws were also discussed and will be amended where necessary and ratified at the second and final council organizational  meeting.  Representatives who were present will be returning to their respective clubs with the information so the clubs can then consider whether or not to become affiliated with the Gulf Coast Council of the Federation Of Fly Fishers.  The majority of the clubs within the area of the Gulf Coast Council are currently in the Southern Council, with some in the Southeastern Council, and a few unaffiliated.

The Contraband Fly Casters Tom Nixon Chapter were well represented at the meeting, and are now well represented in the council.  Danny Williams was elected treasurer of the Gulf Coast Council, Ron Allan Thomas will serve as Education Chairperson, Mark Delaney as Communications Chairperson, and Ron Begnaud will serve as chairman of the 2007 conclave under the 2 Events chairpersons.

It was apparent that all of the 25 or so individuals present at the meeting are passionate about the sport of fly fishing, and dedicated to growing the sport, and assisting all who are interested in learning it.  It also became very apparent that those in attendance were not just paying lip service, as by the end of the meeting about $4,000 had been donated to the new council out of the pockets of those present.  This was not asked for, rather one person in attendance offered a donation and challenged others to follow.  This is a terrific start to the new council, and actually puts us ahead of the game.

The next organizational meeting will be held on Saturday November 4th during "Fall Rendezvous" at Toledo Bend State Park.

July 24th, 2006

You Asked for it

I've had a number of request for the full sized version of the picture of my tarpon doing the head shake, and for any other photo's of the trip described to the left.  As tarpon move fast and are hard to shoot pictures of, there is only one other that came out well.  I want to thank Danny for grabbing my camera and shooting these while I fought the fish.

July 21st, 2006

C.F.C. To Become An F.F.F. Affiliate Club.

At the July meeting of the Contraband Fly Casters, the motion was made and carried that the club become an affiliate club of the Federation Of Fly Fishers.  This will be effective as soon as the paperwork can be filled out and submmited to the F.F.F.

July 12, 2006

A New Council On The Way?

For a little over a year now, there has been much discussion concerning the formation of a Gulf Coast Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers.  This move has been spearheaded in large by Catch Cormier of Baton Rouge, proprietor and web master of www.laflyfish.com .

The reasons behind the formation of the new council would be to create a council more closely reflective of the unique needs and interest of the individual clubs and anglers along the Gulf Coast.  Including, but not limited to recognition of and attention to interest and issues with regard to saltwater and warmwater angling.

On August 5th, 2006 an organizational meeting for the will be held in Lake Charles from 9am to 3pm.  It is looking like the location will be the Southwest Louisiana Fishing Club at the I 210 park.  This should be confirmed by tomorrow.  Catch has gotten commitments from 50 or 60 members of fly fishing clubs across the Gulf Coast to attend.  Members of all Louisiana clubs and Contraband Fly Casters are encouraged to attend, as we may well play a role in the planning of future Gulf Coast Council conclaves.  Contraband Fly Casters will co sponsor the meeting by absorbing the cost of the facility, and by providing food for attendee's.

Now to editorialize for a moment.  Last July I mentioned in this space, that with the Federation of Fly Fishers move toward a policy of "All waters, All species", the proposal of the Gulf Coast Council, and several meaningful demonstrations on the part of the F.F.F. that they are indeed willing to address issues relating to our fisheries we in Southwest Louisiana have been given the answer to our long standing question of "what does the F.F.F. have to offer us?".

The F.F.F. has been active in addressing the L.N.G. open loop issue with words, actions and money. The F.F.F. has worked to aid in the recovery of the fishery, and of the fishermen in the wake of hurricane Katrina, and now there is a very real possibility of a major council conclave being held in our back yard.  

Given these facts, I think it is time that the Contraband Fly Casters seriously consider becoming an F.F.F. affiliated club.  I will be embarrassed to walk into the Council Organizational meeting on August 5th IN LAKE CHARLES if the C.F.C. membership still isn't willing to consider  becoming an F.F.F.  affiliated club.  It will be hard to pitch Lake Charles as a good location for a conclave if we don't even have an F.F.F. presence here.  If for no other reason, it would be worth it for the club to become affiliated with the F.F.F. just to have the opportunity to have the conference here.

Now off of my soap box.

June 25, 2006

Take Some Time To Look Around

Reviewing  site statistics lately, it's obvious that there are a lot of new visitors to Redchaser.com.  I'd like to invite you to take a look around, and encourage you to take a few minutes to tour the site using the navigation bar above.  There are over 70 pages of articles, tips, techniques, fly patterns, illustrated knot and rigging instructions and pictures here, as well as a bulletin board and forum.

If you roll your curser over the "Tips and Techniques" bar above, you will find articles and how to's on stalking "Shallow Water Reds", targeting trophy "Yellowmouth" trout, a "Fly Fishing 101" article, covering the basics of tackle and rigging, an article detailing how you can rig a "Flats Boat On A Budget" and many more.

Sit a spell, there is much information to be shared here at Redchaser.com

June 5th, 2006

Funds for Coastal Restoration On The Way?

This morning Congressman Bobby Jindal stopped by our office to talk about the Secure Energy Reinvestment Fund which he introduced to congress.  The purpose of the fund is to provide for more equitable revenue sharing of offshore oil and gas royalties purportedly to be used in Louisiana for coastal restoration. . If this bill is enacted, the federal government would have to return a larger percentage of the royalties derived from offshore oil and gas production to offshore energy-producing states, such as Louisiana.  The revenue generated for the state would be in the billions of dollars.

Congressman Jindal said that he currently has commitments of support from around 130 congressmen and is confident that if the bill makes it out of committee, it will be passed on the house floor.  Jindal says that he thinks if all goes well, the bill should be voted on by the house within about 3 weeks.  

Don't Fix That Leak.

This weekend I spent a good amount of time, fishing, talking fishing, and eating with Jud Moore of Monroe.  Jud used to own a metal shop that did a lot of repair work on aluminum boats, and he shared some interesting information with me that I was not aware of.

If you have an aluminum boat, and you get a small leak, Jud strongly advises against trying to fix the leak temporarily by applying silicone, JB weld, roofing tar or anything else.  Jud said that aluminum is very porous, and as such will leach any substance you apply to it, from the spot you applied it, well into the surrounding metal.  Depending on what you applied, this can create problems trying to weld the metal.  

By way of example, Jud told me of one boat that was brought in to have a very small leak welded.  The leak was a hole about 3/16 of an inch in diameter, which normally could be quickly and cheaply fixed with just the touch of a welding rod.  Unfortunately the boat owner had applied a small drop of silicone caulk to the hole as a temporary fix.  The silicone had leached so far around the hole, that to get a good weld and affect an repair, Jud had to weld on an aluminum patch about 8 inches square.  Jud also told me a nightmare story about a boat that had a very small hairline crack in the transom. Again this was something that could have been quickly and easily fixed, but the owner had applied a substance like JB weld.  The repair ended up requiring a whole days labor.

If you have an aluminum boat and get a leak, get it to a welder and have it fixed.  Most small leaks can be repaired quickly and cheaply.  Don't cause yourself and your welder headaches by applying any substance to try and patch it.

June 1st, 2006 

L.D.W.F. Approves New Daily Speck Limits For S.W.L.A.

At this mornings monthly meeting, the Louisiana Department Of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved new daily speckled trout limits for the Sabine and Calcasieu estuaries in South West Louisiana.  The daily bag limit for specks will be reduced to 15 fish from the current limit of 25 fish per day.

This move was overwhelmingly supported by anglers and guides in Southwest Louisiana, with the bulk of the opposition coming from anglers in other parts of the state that are concerned that similar regs. will eventually be brought to bear statewide.

As soon as I have specifics as to exact geographic bounderies the new limits will apply to, and the effective dates, I will post them here.

This is definitely a new chapter in Louisiana conservation.  I can't think of another time that an angler driven restriction on limits occurred prior to a resource being in serious trouble.   

May 31st, 2006

Good Reports

Reports are coming in from anglers fishing Calcasieu Lake of great catches of solid specks.  While I haven't heard many reports of people catching true trophy specks, I'm hearing about lots of people getting into great numbers of specks of very respectable size.  Apparently Big Lake is packed with shrimp right now.  So much so that anglers often reel in a jig to find a shrimp impaled on their hook.  Schools of specks are working under birds feeding on these shrimp.  Usually an individual school will consist of fish that are pretty much clones of each other.  From what I'm hearing, you may work one school made up of two pounders, move a short distance to work a different set of birds and get on a school of specks made up of 4 pounders.

The redfish action in the marsh was off to a bit of a slow start this spring.  I wonder if perhaps it may be due to the fact that with such an abundance of shrimp available in the lake, the fish didn't need to risk the shallows to find food.  In any case the redfish are now present on the flats in much of the estuary.  Catch the right tide and conditions and they should be more than willing to eat your fly.  The large black drum have also moved onto the flats in the northern part of the estuary already.  In fact the big drum have been in for over a month, which is unusually early for them.  Remember, with big black drum it's all about presentation.  Get the fly on the bottom in front of their mouth.

I plan on getting on the water at least one day this weekend, it's time I start catching up on my much neglected fishing.

What Kind of Wimps are We Turning Into?

I was recently visiting the bulletin board of Flyfisherman.com, and saw a couple of threads that made me shake my head and wonder about what a bunch of sissy-fied Nancy boys some fly fishers seem to be becoming.  Based on some trends I've seen, it won't be long until fly fishers are considered nothing but a bunch of effete long stick wavers that would provide the perfect story line for a movie starring Heath Ledger and Jake

First someone posted a topic regarding a recent world record hammerhead shark that was caught in Florida.  Predictably, the thread quickly went the way of people engaging in histrionics over this guy killing the fish.  The anglers motives and ethics were questioned, he was declared to not be a true sportsman, ego driven, greedy and the list goes on.  Now don't get me wrong, I think catch and release is a great practice, and conservation tool.  I release 95% of the fish I catch.  But I also don't loose sight of the fact that fishing is, and always will be a blood sport.  Even the most cautious angler with the best catch and release practices will cause mortality.  For me though, catch and release will always remain just that, a good practice and a tool, not a religion.   The problem I have isn't even when an individual decides to practice catch and release as a religion.  It is when they become so evangelical about the "religion" of catch and release that they would deny other anglers the opportunity to pursue the sport as they enjoy it, even if it's within the law.

Record hunting isn't my bag.  I have too much fun casting at whatever comes my way to be focused on so few fish, but if that's the way a guy enjoys the sport have at it.  Most true record hunters kill very few fish.  They are focused on rare individual fish and either pass up shots at, or release smaller fish (even those that would be considered trophy's by most of us).  Record hunters also often pave the way in terms of perfecting tackle and techniques that we can all benefit from.  The I.G.F.A., which is the organization that recognizes and keeps angling records has and continues to do important fisheries research.  In addition, record hunters as such have a very small impact on fisheries in terms of the fish they take, but tend to contribute disproportionately in terms of the dollars they spend on gear.  If you're going for records, you will likely be fishing with high end gear.  That means higher dollar amounts in federal excise taxes that go directly toward conservation.

The second thread that left me wondering about the collective manhood of fly fishers was a hypothetical question that a poster posed.  The question brought up a scenario where you are fly fishing a stream to two working trout, you catch and release both trout, then get your fly hung up in a branch across the stream.  Would you wade across the stream to retrieve your fly?  

A couple of posters answered in the affirmative that they would retrieve the fly, but then post started trickling in about having to consider whether or not wading would disturb the bottom of the stream, and even as to whether or not you would actually have to break a branch off of a living tree to retrieve the fly.  Of course it was then pointed out by more seasoned (read older) anglers that if you didn't wade the stream and break the branch to get your fly, some stupid bird would probably try to eat it and get caught.

I'm not sure where I'm going with all of this, but I think this weekend all fly fishermen should dedicate themselves to eating fish, spending hours watching Clint Eastwood movies, and perhaps some chainsaw juggling.

October 6th, 2005 2005

Paradise Lost!.

This morning I spoke with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent, who is working at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, and the news is not good. The agent reported to me, that in addition to a massive fish kill, there are other serious problems with the refuge as a result of hurricane Rita. 

A loss of much vegetation is to be expected from being submerged in salt water, and the refuge is now littered with many refrigerators, fuel tanks, barrels and other debris that floated up from Holly Beach. This debris is making navigation difficult and dangerous, and it is his opinion that there will be many E.P.A. issues within the refuge. This news breaks my heart. Sabine National Wildlife Refuge offered vast area's of some of the most pristine, untouched marsh along the Louisiana Coast. The western portions of the refuge offer miles upon miles of uninterrupted marsh that is not cut up by oilfield canals, and that under normal conditions offers phenomenal sight fishing for redfish, birding, and alligator watching opportunities. 

As soon as boat traffic is allowed on local waterways, and within the refuge, I will be out there to get a first hand look, but I am afraid of what I will find. Sabine refuge is a place I go to see the beauty of the hand of God at work. I suspect that the situation will be similar, if not worse, in Cameron Prairie refuge, behind the Grand Bayou weirs, because Cameron Prairie lies due north of downtown Cameron, where many buildings and structures have washed away. 

August 24th, 2005

The Baghdad Fly Fishing Program

Recently on the Fly Fisherman Magazine Bulletin Board, Lt. Joel Stewart, USN has posted reports from his station in Baghdad.  Lt. Stewart has been successfully fly fishing the Tigris River in Baghdad.  Other servicemen stationed with Lt. Stewart have expressed an interest in Fly Fishing, and Lt. Stewart is trying to organize a class on fly fishing.

Contributors to the Fly Fisherman Magazine bulletin board have begun an effort to collect 8 serviceable fly rods and reels along with line, backing, leaders, vises and tying materials to send to Lt. Stewart so that he can be equipped to begin instructing other servicemen in the "Quiet Sport".  If you have a  rod, reel, line backing, vise or materials you would like to contribute, or if you would just like to follow the progress of the effort, you can do so at the Fly Fisherman Magazine Forum.

Have The Whole World In Your Hands

On-line mapping and aerial photo maps can be a great asset to an angler.  Whether looking for hidden tributaries or new area's of marsh to explore, or trying to find the closest boat launch to where you want to fish, there are topographical maps and aerial photo's available on line that are equal to or even surpassing the quality of what you may find on the shelf of your local tackle shop or specialty store.  

Most paper maps found in stores are either  U.S.G.S. 7 minute topo maps, or "top spot" type fishing maps that may or may not have specific features marked with GPS co-ordinates.  There are printed versions of some aerial photo maps also available, but they tend to be a little pricey.

The U.S.G.S. 7 minute topo map imagery is available on line through Terra Server.  Aerial photo maps of much of the U.S. are also available through Terra Server, and aerial photo's of the Louisiana Coast are available through LA COAST.GOV and the LSU ATLAS web sites.  The latter two offering color photo's with higher resolution than Terra Server.

While aerial photo maps have always been great for getting a birds eye view of an area you want to fish, they have traditionally lacked information such as municipal boundaries, locations of services, street and highway names....etc.  There are now a couple of new online mapping resources that will allow you to overlay all of the above information and more onto aerial photo maps.  

One of the newly available resources is Google Earth.  Google Earth is a program available as a free download at this link.  Once downloaded to your computer, you can open Google Earth and navigate to anyplace on the globe.  Google Earth uses the highest resolution imagery available for urban area's, and imagery of a little lower resolution for unpopulated area's, including water way's, reservoirs and marshes.

Here is an example of the Google Earth imagery of where I live, you can see my boat parked next to my house.

Google Earth's imagery of unpopulated area's is of a lower resolution, in fact, for most viewing of lakes, reservoirs and marshes, both the  LA COAST.GOV and LSU ATLAS sights offer sharper, higher resolution imagery.  The advantage of the Google Earth image however is that you can get the program to superimpose other map features over the photo image by using menu bars that appear on the left of the screen.  The image below shows a section of marsh at the boundary of Sabine National Wildlife refuge.  The green line represents the refuge boundary.  I got Google Earth to display this boundary by checking off "parks and rec. area's" on the "Layers" tool bar.

Google Earth also has a search feature.  You can for example type in "marina" and it will show you locations of marina's within the local area you are viewing.  In addition, you can type in a business name or a street address and it will pinpoint the location for you on the map image.  Google Earth also allows you the convenience of panning seamlessly from any point to any point on the globe, and offers a function where you can measure distance between two points, or measure the distance of a non strait line trip through way points.

Another download that seems to offer similar features is USA Photomaps available at http://jdmcox.com/ .  I have not explored USA Photomaps to the degree I have Google Earth, but I do know that it offers a choice of topo or aerial photo images.  USA Photomaps and Google Earth, both also display the Latitude and Longitude coordinates of any location you place your curser on.  You can then readily transfer these coordinates to your GPS for navigation.

Take advantage of these great tools for exploring your world.  Online mapping has been an invaluable resource to me for finding productive area's to fish.

July 22nd, 2005

They're Baaack!

We've got big black drum moving back onto the flats in the Northern part of the estuary.  Last Monday, Danny Williams and I got on them pretty good.  We found a hard bottomed flat that is just loaded with big tailing drum.  The flat is anywhere from 14 inches to two feet deep and has a hard bottom.  The drum tail singly and in schools.  Danny and I had around 9 of them eat, but only landed 3.  A couple were break-offs, a few hooks pulled, and we just didn't get good hookups on several more.  Fairly wide hook gaps are necessary.  We also foul hooked a bunch more, this is very common when sight casting to large drum, because their high arched back tends to catch the leader as they swim under it.

These drum can probably be caught on any fly that is weighted fairly heavily, but I've had good luck lately on a Kwan.  Get the fly on the bottom, right in front of their mouth and give it a small, slow twitch.  You can usually tell when the drum eat by their body language.