Aug. 3rd Casting Monday, Aug. 4th Tying Tuesday

Social Distance Casting
Monday, August 3rd
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, August 4th
6:00pm    * note time change *
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

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. If you need the ID and password, email Bill Morrison.

For our next session, Bill Morrison will lead us in tying the Slumpbuster. Created by John Barr, this fly was intended to mimic a baitfish with materials that look alive in the water.

Materials:

• hook: streamer hook (3x-4x long) size 8
• head: medium gold conehead
• underbody: lead wire .020 gauge
• ribbing: gold brassie size wire
• body: gold sparkle braid
• tail, overbody, collar: crawfish-colored pine squirrel zonker

* We now have a form to request a bag of sample materials (ties 2-3 flies). We will mail to your address on Thursday prior to the meeting. Future tying sessions are included. Materials Request Form

Upcoming sessions:

- August 18 - Chris Johnson's Rio Bandito (aka Mardi Kraw), led by Jim Johnson

- September 1 - TBA, led by Tyler Wood

- September 15 - Countach Plus Nymph, led by Catch Cormier

July 28th Tying Tuesday - Jitterbee revisited

Virtual Fly Tying
Tuesday, July 28th
6:30pm
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

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.

Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to do last Tuesday's session on tying the Jitterbee.  So this week, we'll try again.  Larry Offner will lead the session.  Details about this fly are on the previous post.

* For everyone who has had difficulty connecting to our Zoom sessions, here's what we learned from last Tuesday.  If your phone, tablet or computer does automatic updates, you need to shut down and restart before starting a Zoom session.  Zoom will give you a message that says "userid not valid" or "password not valid" when in fact it's really some change in your operating system or in the Zoom app that was applied *

Tying the Sili Minnow

At our July 14th fly tying session, Catch Cormier led us in tying the Sili Minnow, a proven pattern for crappie, bream and white bass. Created by Catch, it's designed to mimic the classic Tube Jig lure originated by legendary crappie angler Bobby Garland. At the end of the video, Catch has included a list of materials, his favorite color schemes, and other notes, including where to order custom made jigheads.

July 20th Casting Monday, July 21st Tying Tuesday

Social Distance Casting
Monday, July 20th
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, July 21st
6:30pm
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

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.

This week, Larry Offner will lead us in tying the Jitterbee, a pattern created by Randy Leonpacher of Baton Rouge. The Jitterbee is one of the most effective bream flies in areas where bees and other flying insects congregate and build nests. Larry will also share some of his secrets for fishing this fly.

Materials:

• hook: Eagle Claw Baitholder #080 or #181 size 8 or 10
• head: 1/8 or 4mm bead, gold or copper
• body: fine chenille or ultra chenille (vernille)
• tail: black rubber legs, or black metalflake sili-legs

You will also need a pair of pliers to bend the hook point enough to slide the bead on. Also, if using the #181 hook, there are two very tiny barbs on top the hook that need to be crushed down.

As our usual procedure, the lead tier 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 with meeting ID and password, please email Bill Morrison prior to the meeting.

July 7th tying moved to the 14th - Silli Minnow

Virtual Tying Tuesdays
Tuesday, July 14th
6:30pm *
www.zoom.us (see email for meeting id)

* The session for July 7th has been moved to the 14th due to the passing of Catch's mom.

We are now mailing out sample materials for the tying session.  If you would like to recieve a sample bag of materials, please email with the subject "Fly Tying Materials" and your name and address - no later than Thursday 3pm before the session.

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.

This week, Catch Cormier will lead us in tying the "Silli Minnow", a flyfisher's version of the tube jig. The tube jig was created in 1964 by the legendary Bobby Garland and is one of the most effective crappie and bass lures ever made. 

At a flyfishing show in North Carolina in 1999, Catch watched a tier demonstrate "Gitzit Fly" named after the original tube jig. It was tied on a jighead hook, with standard chenille body, and spinnerbait skirts for the tail. Catch made a couple of improvements to better "match the conventional hatch". Mainly, using a flashy chenille for the body, and keeping the silicon tail clumped by using a hair tying technique.  Catch says the Silli Minnow is the best crappie fly he has ever fished, period!

The material list:

•     hook: jighead size 1/80 or 1/64 ounce *
•     thread: your choice
•     tail: Sili Legs or other silicone skirt material
•     body: medium Krystal Flash Chenille

* alternative: 60 degree jig hook with 5/32" tungsten bead

As our usual procedure, the lead tier will first do a walkthough demo that will be recorded for later use. After the walkthrough, we'll do a group tying where attendees can tie (or watch) and ask questions.

Tying the Black Boudreaux

At our last bi-weekly online fly tying session, Catch Cormier led us in tying the Black Boudreaux, an excellent pattern for bream and trout. Created by Ray Boudreaux of New Iberia, a longtime member of the Acadiana Fly Rodders, it can be fished straight or under a strike indicator. During mid to late summer, when lake organisms have a dark coloration, this little fly really shines! Here is a video of Catch's walkthrough of tying the Black Boudreaux.

July 6th Casting, new casting incentive program

Social Distance Casting
Monday, July 6th
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.

* BREAKING NEWS!  Over the next 3 months, the club will raffle off a rod at each casting session. These rods are provided by Roger Breedlove. Most have been repaired, but not all. All the rods are in good condition and serviceable. They make super back-up rods, rods for kids, or rods to keep handy in your vehicle or elsewhere. The raffle will be $5 per chance. Hopefully this will increase participation at the casting sessions, while raising a little money for our club's education program. If you don't own a fly rod, come out anyway, the club has outfits for use during these sessions!