January 13th fly tying - Jig Rainbow Warrior

KFF monthly fly tying session
Monday, January 13, 2025
6:30pm
Rapides Westside Library, 5416 Provine, Alexandria
Also livestreamed on Zoom and YouTube

For our first session of 2025, we have a fun, easy-to-tie fly - the Jigged Rainbow Warrior. This pattern is a jig version of Lance Egan's  popular and effective Rainbow Warrior.  This pattern utilizes two thread colors - black for the rear portion of the body and red for the hot spot.   Both threads are 70 denier, and if you don’t have red thread, any bright color such as orange or pink will work.
 
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. For beginners, we can also pair you with someone who can help.

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

2025 Mixed Bag Contest is Live!

Our Mixed Bag Contest is back for an eighth 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 2025 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 top 5 finishers get placement 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 & 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. 

Happy Thanksgiving & Christmas Gathering reminder

This Thursday means many things to many different people. For most, it's a day of feasting with friends and family. Here in Louisiana, the dinner table will be adorned with turkey, roast, venison, duck or other hearty meat slowly cooked, along with Cajun favorites like sweet potatoes and corn machcoux. I'm getting hungry just typing this, lol!

While we do enjoy our feasting and football, we still recognize Thanksgiving as a day to give thanks for all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us. We're thankful for all the woods, waters and wildlife we have here in the Sportsmans Paradise. And for the numerous friends we've made through our love of outdoors.

And speaking of friends, our annual club Christmas Gathering is set for Monday, December 9th. Great food, great comradery, club awards, Mixed Bag awards and drawings, door prizes, silent auction, and more!  If you've not received the email invite with the registration link, please email Catch Cormier at catch(at)laflyfish(dot)com as soon as possible.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

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).