Fly fishing adds an element of art to our fishing community.
OK, maybe not on the order of da Vinci or Monet, but watching a craftsman tie a fly or a master display an almost weightless handmade lure is something to behold.
Fly fishing groups have sprung up all over our state, and somewhere within driving distance is a weekly fishing meeting — sometimes at a favorite watering hole and sometimes at a community center.
Casting instruction is available from one of these groups. There is always someone ready, willing to teach a unique way of casting a fishing fly.
Saturday, at the Waddill Wildlife Education Center in Baton Rouge, the now 36-year-old Red Stick Fly Fishers put it all together. The center is on North Flanney Road between Choctaw Drive and Greenwell Spring Road.
Like the half dozen or so fly clubs in south and central Louisiana, Red Stick’s membership ranges from the most avid flying people around to the casual guys and girls who, simply, like to enjoy another — and other — ways to catch fish.
Red Stick Day starts at 8:30 am and runs until 3 pm
There will be 11 of south Louisiana’s most dedicated fly-tiers inside the center’s meeting room, where, during set-aside periods, top-drawer fly anglers like coldwater guides Dave Barronto Louisiana Jeff Ferguson, Jim Lanasa and Brian Roberts will give seminars. Roger del Rio will offer a “Fishing Basics” presentation.
You can expect a club member on hand throughout the day with fly-casting instruction, and Massey’s Outfitters will host kayak demos around one of the center’s two ponds.
Food will be available, and the club has a raffle to help defray costs.
Fly-tiers provide top-notch information for local anglers. Since they fish in our state, they will give you the opportunity to learn about the lures that work here, and there is enough knowledge and experience in this group to ask about what is working on brook, brown and/or rainbow. trout in “foreign” waters.
This is an opportunity to dispel the myth, about fly fishermen not catching as many fish as freshwater and saltwater anglers with more conventional tackle.
“I started as a traditional fisherman, but my career as a fisheries biologist gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in fishing,” said the longtime RSFF member. Dugan Sabins said. “Really, you never know what you’re going to catch. I started fly fishing late in life and found that it was more enjoyable to catch fish on lighter tackle.
“There are times when we go out with a regular rig with a soft plastic minnow and find the fish, then quickly put that away and switch to fly rods,” he said.
Sabins said that’s why there will be a variety of instructors that day.
“You’ll find passionate fly fishermen among us, then you’ll find people like us,” Sabins said. “When we all go out, we want to catch fish, but there are other fun ways, and that’s what our club wants to show the fishing public.”
Added “something” to Ascension Parish’s sport Greg Cedotal.
“I fish for the fun of being out there,” he said. “It feels good when you catch a fish like I did.”
So, if you’ve been tempted — by King Neptune himself — to shun more conventional methods of fishing and tackle, then Saturday is the day to take the next step in this piscatorial art.
The commission
Redfish were the main agenda item for Thursday’s Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting. It is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the state Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge.
The discussion will come in the form of public comments taken as the commission sets a notice for a three-per-day limit with a “slot” size of 18-27 inches. Anglers will be prohibited from keeping a redfish measuring longer than 27 inches.
Other items on the agenda include consideration of changes to and finalization of the 2024-2025 hunting seasons and regulations; a summary of the 2023 recreational red snapper season; finalizes a notice for changes to the reptile and amphibian regulations; and, a discussion of public comment on the proposed black bear season.
Fishing courses
Ahead of the March 23 City Park Big Bass Rodeo and Fishtival in New Orleans, the Wildlife and Fisheries staff is offering a new course — Intermediate Bass Fishing, Spring! — including the Beginner Bass Fishing course.
The two-hour block for the intermediate course will take place on Saturday with two sessions, the first starting at 9 am and the second at 2 pm at City Park.
The beginner course is scheduled for 5 pm March 22 at the same location.
Courses are open to all ages, but limited to 10 per class. Tackle will be provided, but students are “encouraged to bring their own gear,” and since fishing is involved anyone 18 and older must have a current basic fishing license. Anglers 15 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.
To register, go to the agency’s website: Lousianaoutdoors.com/events, then select “Fishing Ed” to see all available FCS courses.
If you need help, call Joshua Porter at (225) 763-3540.
The bend
Kyoya Fujita weighed in 20 bass weighing 100 pounds, 13 ounces over four days in the opening Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Toledo Bend.
Last Sunday, he took home the $100,000 top prize with a final day’s catch weighing nearly 29 pounds, nearly a 6-pound average.
The Japanese angler said he stayed offshore in Housen Bay to target prespawn bass suspended in 10-foot depths around deep standing timber. He was the first-day leader with a 31-3 catch, but slipped to third place after a 16-10 third-day bag.
