Fly Tying Meeting - 7:00, June 22 at Bass Pro Shop in Denham Springs

Transcription

1 Membership Meeting - 7:00, June 8 at LDWF Building on Quail Drive Fly Tying Meeting - 7:00, June 22 at Bass Pro Shop in Denham Springs

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3 Harry Blanchet to Speak on Food Habits of Specs and Reds by Dugan Sabins, Vice President In anticipation of a summer of fishing for redfish and speckled trout, our June Program will feature Harry Blanchet, Marine Finfish Program Manager for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Harry will present a special program on, "Food Habits of Speckled Trout and Redfish in Louisiana Estuaries- Effects of Size and Seasons". Most RSFF club members will remember Harry for his past entertaining and educational programs on popular marine game fish and this program will add to some of his past presentations with information you can use when pursuing the two most popular of our coastal game fish. As we know, both red drum a.k.a redfish and spotted seatrout a.k.a. speckled trout are widely distributed top predators and carnivores in Louisiana estuaries and both support important recreational fisheries. Food habits of the species depend on available foods, as well as on their ability to capture them. There are differences not only between the species, but also between the same species at different sizes and different times of the year. These differences will be discussed, along with the life history strategies that make redfish and speckled trout so abundant along our coastal areas. There will also be some discussion of fish growth rates for the two species. So bring your questions and experiences fishing for reds and specks to discuss with Harry. It will be a "hands on" and "information you can use" program so don't miss it. Grand Isle Fly Fishing Weekend July 17-19, 2009 by Randy Leonpacher, Saltwater Chair Hard to believe but once again the Grand Isle Fly Fishing weekend is just around the corner, a scant 6 weeks away. Many RSFF club members along with other surrounding area club members are well aware of the magnitude of this event. It's gotten to the point where most fellow fly fishers have either attended, or at least heard about, this event. If you happen to be one of these who have not had a chance to partake, your opportunity is nearby. The weekend offers lots of fun for all types of fly fishers. Simply bring your boating, puddle craft or bank/surf fishing equipment and join with others who share your fishing technique. The weekend lets the "non-fishing fly fishers" share their techniques. These are the folks who choose to get out of the sun, tie a few flies, drink a cold beverage or two, and tell fishing stories. High points of weekend are the Friday evening shrimp boil and Saturday evening fish fry. The Saturday fry uses fresh fish contributed by those who caught fish... The intent is for everyone to fall into the category of having caught fish and contributing to the fry, even though that's not a requirement. No one has ever gone away hungry from these feasts. Another plus for the weekend is the abundance of fresh shrimp and the opportunity to pick some up for the trip home. The shrimp crop this year is looking great and prices on the island are about as good as it gets. Be sure to bring a

4 spare ice chest to take a few pounds home with you. The Blue Dolphin will remain as our central location. As per SOP, we are ONLY taking individual "bed" reservations for the Blue Dolphin. At this writing time there are a few beds available for those wanting to stay at the Blue Dolphin. However, if you are interested you'll need to sign up quickly as the notices have gone out and we are quickly booking up. The rate for a Blue Dolphin bed is the same as last year, $78. Everyone who signs-up for a bed at the Blue Dolphin will need to have paid up by the end of June. You also have the option of making your own personal reservations to stay with friends who own camps, at rental camps, or other hotels & motels on the island. Ricky's Motel is a great motel choice as they have a fishing pier on the back side of the island. Ricky's Motel is about a mile from the bridge on the bay side of the island. Those of you who prefer to stay at Ricky's ( ) or other nearby hotels, motels or camps will do business directly with them. I recommend that you make your reservations ASAP. The hurricanes have left us with fewer places to stay on the island and these will begin to book up soon. As for the fishing this year, who knows? As we've said in the past, this year's event could be the BEST EVER... (and one year it's going to happen) As I write this, the reports from the surf seem to be feast or famine. If the surf is stirred up then not too many fish are being caught; if the surf is calm and the water is clear folks are limiting out. I guess that puts it back on Mother Nature and what she will be giving us for weather. On the good days, trout in the 4 lb range are routinely being caught on the fly. Nonetheless, even if the fishing isn't a success for everyone, folks who have attended can tell you that the great fun, and great food, and great comradeship are enough to justify coming back every year. That by itself tells you want the trip is all about.

5 RSFF Logs Another Successful Saltwater Catch & Eat by Greg Brignac, Editor For perhaps the first time this year, and just in time for our annual Spring Catch & Eat, the wind laid down along the Highway 1 corridor... perhaps a bit too much. Friday was perhaps the calmest day I have ever seen in the marsh. The canals surrounding Catfish Lake, and even the lake itself, were smooth as glass. The strongest tides of the weekend were predicted for Friday, so my partner Gary Hines and I were anticipating the best bite of the trip on that day and gently slid the boat into the water not long after the sun peeked over the horizon. But the breeze that only occasionally blew was too weak to ripple the water enough to warrant even tying on a Tom Nixon Spinner. And when it did blow, it came consistently out of the west. Low tide had come and gone well before daybreak, but the water was still down. The low water and slick surface conditions should have made spotting reds easy, but there was little or no activity on the surface by any of the points or oyster reefs that typically yield their spotted bounty. After cursing the wind for 6 long months, we gazed with bewilderment out over a seemingly dead marsh while my grandfather's words rang in my ears. "Be careful what you wish for, boy". I never quite knew how to respond to that, and this was no exception. Using mixed tackle, we employed "predictable area casting" in the spots that have been most productive for us over the past couple of years, but with only modest results. Between the two of us, we caught a total of one limit of reds over two long outings on Friday, and we had fished hard. Gary and I did manage to each land one fish that stretched well beyond the tip of my 22.5 inch "Golden Rule" measuring stick. I don't think either would have broken the 27 inch mark, had my stick been longer, but they couldn't have been far from it. A couple of male specs, too proud to admit they were lost, graced our lines and rounded out our creel for the day. Too stubborn to change our strategy and target specs first, we changed locations instead and went after reds again in the canals by Basson's Marina Saturday morning. It was another slow day, but we nickel and dimed together another haul that made up in quality what it lacked in quantity. We easily had more fish than we could possibly eat, so the Saturday night fish fry was in no danger unless our fellow Red Stickers struck out entirely. Yeah, right! By the time we grabbed some

6 lunch, squared the boat away, and performed our ritual at the Boudreaux's Condeauxs fish cleaning station, Saltwater Chair Randy Leonpacher already had more fish than he needed for the fry and respectfully refused to accept any of our fish... again! Gary and I exchanged a glance, rolled the windows down on the Tundra, put the LSU baseball game on the radio, and settled in with a couple of cold beers to chop potatoes and onions for the fry. With some jumbo shrimp thrown in for lagniappe, we all ate like kings and still brought fish home. Attendance was sparse this Spring with only 6 members at the fry, but you couldn't tell by the catch. Butch and Hogy terrorized the marsh from paddle craft and caught fish in respectable numbers and sizes as I've come to expect from them. Randy and Dugan mainly targeted specs by running birds in Catfish Lake and also fishing the clear water over the oyster reefs near the perimeter of the lake. Their Above: Greg's truck & Butch's van Right: Randy prepares the shrimp combined haul for the weekend totaled over 50 specs, a nice 17 inch redfish, and about 25 white trout. Gary and I finally joined them Sunday morning and got in on a little of the speckled trout action. Around mid morning, the wind picked up a tad and shifted to the east. It seemed like the spec bite picked up a bit after that, but we had planned to leave around noon and did not let greed sway our decision. Most of the fish were short anyway, but we still ended up with about a dozen nice keeper sized specs and left the fish biting. So, as usual, persistence resulted in good catches for all, the food was fantastic thanks to the culinary prowess of Butch and Randy, and no unusual meteorological phenomena were encountered on the way home. If you missed this trip, you missed a good one, but Randy is still accepting reservations for Grand Isle Weekend on July So don't forget to drop your name in the hat at the meeting this Monday.

7 home Joe Kahler Frank Genusa Dugan Sabins Ron Braud Greg Brignac Jody Titone Glen Cormier Mike LaFleur Jack Dial Randy Leonpacher Bill Brown Roger del Rio Dan Weber Dirk Burton President Past President Vice President Treasurer Editor Secretary Events Coldwater Fly Tying Saltwater Membership Conservation Education Warmwater work address A Bayou Runs Thru It - PO Box 1062, Broussard, LA 70518, , Jerome & Dena Hebert, Custom Flies & Wildlife & Game Fish Art Backpacker Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA, , Camping, canoes, kayaks, outdoor clothing Fish With Rich Guide Service - Capt. Rich Waldner, New Orleans, La, , Fly fishing for reds and specks in the Southeast La. Marsh Fly Fishing in Saltwaters Magazine , Leading publication on fly fishing saltwater Louisiana Fly Fishing Louisiana online fly fishing resource since 1996 Louisiana Sportsman Magazine - PO Box 1199, Boutte, LA, , Louisiana's premier outdoors magazine and online source Mayer Clothiers Orvis, Winston Rods S. Sherwood Forest; Baton Rouge, , Jim Mayer, Proprietor, Orvis - rods & fly-tying material, Winston rods, fine clothes for men and ladies Redchaser Guide Service , redchaser@redchaser.com, redchaser.com online fly fishing community, Capt. Ron Begnaud, Fly fishing in the Calcasieu estuary, programs, instruction Rio Products, Inc. - Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402, , Makers of premium fly lines, leaders, accessories Temple Fork Outfitters - Makers of affordable quality fly fishing products Tibor Reels - Old World craftsmanship Made in the USA Uptown Angler Julia St., New Orleans, (504) , Alec Griffin, ManagerRedchaser Guide Service