Great weather for this Saturday’s Rio Rodeo

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Catch Cormier

12th annual Rio Grande Rodeo
Saturday, October 3, 2020
7:00am to 8:00am – registration
8:00am to 12 noon – fishing
Shelter #2, LaFreniere Park, Metairie
$15 entry fee includes lunch & refreshments

A reminder that this Saturday, it’s the annual Rio Grande Rodeo sponsored by the New Orleans Fly Fishers Club. This is a fly fishing only tournament for the Rio Grande cichlid that inhabits the waters of Orleans and Jefferson parishes. Two categories will be awarded: Longest Rio and Most Rios.

While most fishing events have been cancelled since March due to Covid-19 or more recently, tropical storms, the Rio Rodeo is set to go on. Weather should be ideal – forecast calls for SUNNY and high of 72 degrees! Participants are asked to wear masks when gathering and maintain proper distancing.

Although the early registration is passed, onsite registration is available from 7:00am to 8:00am at tourney headquarters at LaFreniere Park. Look for the NOFF signs at Shelter #2. To speed up registration, please print and fill out the registration form below and bring it with you that morning.

Registration Form

After registration, you may branch out to any PUBLIC accessible fishing waters in the boundary area (Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines parishes). Just make sure to be back for the 12 noon weigh-in deadline.

Raffle.  We’ll be holding a raffle to help Casting For Recovery. The prize is a TFO fly rod. Tickets are $10 each, or $20 for 3 tickets.

Posted in Events | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Great weather for this Saturday’s Rio Rodeo

Hurricane Sally bashes north-central Gulf Coast

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Catch Cormier

Just three weeks after Hurricane Laura devastated areas of the western side of the Gulf Coast Council (western Louisiana), Hurricane Sally has slammed the eastern areas of the Council. Hardest hit was Gulf Shores, Alabama, with winds of 100 mph. However, coastal flooding seriously impacted a much wider area, from southeast Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, to the Florida Panhandle.  And torrential rainfall flooded areas inland from southern Mississippi to as far east as Tallahassee.

The slow-moving storm stalled just off the mouth of the Mississippi River before tracking on a more northeasterly course. Due to shearing from upper level winds, most of the serious weather was to the northeastern quadrant of the storm. This resulted in some areas of coastal Alabama and northwest Florida receiving up to 4 inches of rain per hour.  Currently, Sally is bringing heavy rain to the Carolinas as a low pressure system.

In addition to property damage, there were washouts along beaches. Areas of the coast may be unavailable to anglers for weeks to come. Unlike Laura, where there were widespread reports of storm-related fish kills, there appears to be only a handful of fish kill reports, mostly from small ponds and lakes.

Posted in General | Comments Off on Hurricane Sally bashes north-central Gulf Coast

Hurricane Laura set to hit as Cat 4 storm

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Catch Cormier

As of 7am this morning, Hurricane Laura was a category 3 storm in the northwest Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 120 mph.  However, forecasters are now predicting that shortly before it hits the Texas-Louisiana border shortly after midnight Thursday that winds will reach 130 mph, making it the most powerful storm to hit Louisiana since Hurricane Rita.

While winds will be very dangerous, the greatest threat is the storm surge.  Much of the low-lying coast along west Louisiana and east Texas is only several feet above sea level.  Surges are forecast to reach a maximum of 10-15 feet within 50 miles of landfall, and several feet from east Galveston to Grand Isle.  The National Hurricane Center is expecting storm surge to possibly penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the coast in southwest Louisiana and far southeast Texas.  Residents of coastal areas are strongly advised to move inland and seek shelter.

Laura will move quickly north and into Arkansas, then east towards North Carolina.  While wind speeds will quickly decline, the remnant of Laura will bring widespread flooding and possibly tornados across it’s entire path.  Flash flood warnings have been issued for parts of Arkansas on Friday.

Posted in General | Comments Off on Hurricane Laura set to hit as Cat 4 storm

Peterson elected FFI Chairman of the Board

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Catch Cormier

At their recent meeting, the Fly Fishers International Board of Directors elected Dave Peterson as their new Chairman. Peterson succeeds Tom Logan, who will now serve as Vice President – Conservation.

Dave is a retired school superintendent from Pentwater Michigan. He has fly fished for over 35 years. A life member of FFI, he has served on the Education Committee, Executive Committee, and as Chair of the Conservation Committee. According to Dave, all of those duties have given him a sense of satisfaction of “giving something back” to the sport.

In accepting this position, Dave stated “I am honored to be given the opportunity to serve as the new Chairman of the FFI Board. My goal is to ensure that the Board of Directors, our Committees, our Councils and Clubs work hand in hand with our President and CEO and the FFI staff to continue to advance our collective vision to become the definitive voice of fly fishing of All Fish, All Waters.”

Posted in General | Comments Off on Peterson elected FFI Chairman of the Board

GCC awards cancelled, Tying award redefined

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Catch Cormier

What do the Tony Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, and Gulf Coast Council Awards have in common? Answer: they’re among dozens of awards that have been postponed or suspended for 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the most recent GCC board of directors meeting, the board voted unanimously to suspend awards for this year. The annual awards nomination process begins April 1st and ends May 31st, which this year coincided with the peak of the pandemic shutdown. Perhaps as a result, no nominations were submitted.  A proposal to delay the deadline was nixed, as some board members felt that might be unfair to some clubs and members.

The board also voted on an important change to one of the awards. The “Fly Tying Excellence Award” will be renamed (to be decided) and the criteria changed to parallel  that of the Fly Fishers International “Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award”. In doing so, a provision will be added that will allow for a maximum of two awards per year, if one of the persons awarded is deceased.

Previously, only living persons at the time were nominated for the Tying Excellence Award. This has been an injustice to a couple of GCC tiers of great achievement who were never recognized with this award while they were alive.

Posted in Recognition | Comments Off on GCC awards cancelled, Tying award redefined

Reflections on the life of Tony Spezio

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Catch Cormier

We were saddened today to learn that Anthony “Tony” Spezio, one of the most celebrated fly tiers in the country, and a good friend to many tiers in the Gulf Coast Council, has passed away after a prolonged illness.  He was 86.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Tony bought his first bamboo fly rod in 1944 and taught himself to rewrap rods. In 1945, he started tying flies. After school, he entered the Air Force and began a lifelong love of piloting and even building small airplances. With that and other life circumstances, fly fishing came to a halt until the late 1950s. At which time, he began teaching tying classes at a department store in New Jersey.  In 1990, Tony attended a rod makers gathering in Pennsylvania and soon began making bamboo rods instead of just rewrapping them.

Chili Pepper fly

After moving to the White River in Arkansas, his passion for fly tying took to a new level.  As a tier, Tony created such patterns as the Spezio Frog, Chili Pepper, Knit Piken Mayfly and many others. He served on the pro staff of Dyna King, Gudebrod, Conrach and more. Several books and magazine articles have been published containing his flies. In 2007, he was honored as “Fly Tyer of the Year” by the FFI Southern Council. Then in 2011, he was awarded the Buz Buszek Memorial Award by Fly Fishers International, the highest distinction in all of fly tying. It recognizes significant contributions to the art of fly tying, though skills, innovation, teaching, and publication.

As a rodmaker, he continued to excel. He became very active in the Southern Rodmakers Gathering annual event in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He was also known as an innovator – his drain tube design and mortising setup became very popular. Occasionally at one of the FFI Southern Council Expo events, he’d pull me over to show me his latest bamboo creation and some of the steps he did to make this rod better than his last one. Much like his tying, Tony was all about the small details when it came to making rods.

As talented as he was, Tony was also very generous. Each year, he would donate several items to the FFI Southern Council Expo event raffle and auction, as well as flies to the Expo Youth fishing event.

Tony was very active on the internet and various tying and rod building forums. Many of his posts are still available to us, and can serve as a source for insight. He will be greatly missed.

Posted in Fly Tying | Comments Off on Reflections on the life of Tony Spezio

The rodeos will go on!

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Catch Cormier

While the Covid-19 pandemic put a grinding halt to all indoor gatherings, it has affected outdoor events – such as fishing tournaments – to a lesser degree. That’s because outdoor spaces are well suited to increased social distance. Tournaments can also minimize the time that anglers come in contact with others. In addition, fishing itself has proven to be a calming influence in a time of high anxiety.

While there has been a significant increase in the last couple months of people infected with the Coronavirus, scientists who study pandemic statistical models tell us that we may be weeks away from a strong decline in the number of new cases. If this holds true, the timing couldn’t be better.

Two of the oldest and most popular fly fishing tournaments within the Gulf Coast Council are scheduled for early Fall – the Cedar Lake Bluegill Tournament and the Rio Grande Rodeo.

8th Cedar Lake Bluegill Fly Fishing Tournament
Saturday, September 19, 2020
6:00am to 12 noon
Road 536, House #5132, Biloxi, MS
hosted by Mississippi Coast Fly Fishers
$25 entry fee, includes lunch

This event was postponed from its usual time in May. But September can still be a good time for catching bluegills. Please note: this is “bluegill only” tournament. Other sunfish are not eligible. In addition, the fish must be weighed in alive. (Note kayakers: a small ice chest with a battery-powered aerator works nicely!)

The legal waters for this tournament are from Popp’s Ferry Road westerly to include Big Lake and adjacent connected bayous and waterways, Biloxi River in its entirety, and The Tchoutacabouffa River in its entirety.

The host, “Camp Contributions” has stepped up to the plate and offered this facility to hold the tournament. This tournament is non-profit and was set out to be so by the originators. The mission? Have a good time and keep things as simple as possible. Winners will receive a nice wall hanging plaque, fond memories, and of course, bragging rights!

Here are a few particulars:
– entry fee due prior to tournament
– participants must sign in that morning
– all fishing must be from boat, kayak, canoe, float tube
– awards for six heaviest bluegill (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
– heaviest bluegill overall (1st only)
– only live fish to be weighed

For complete tournament rules, location, registration forms and other details, click on this link.

12th annual Rio Grande Rodeo
Saturday, October 3, 2020
8:00am to 12:00pm (weigh-in)
LaFreniere Park, Metairie, LA

Hosted by the New Orleans Fly Fishers
$15 entry fee, includes lunch and refreshments
Mail-in registration deadline – September 21st
Onsite registration deadline – October 3rd, 8:00am

The Rio Grande Perch is native to southern Texas and northern New Mexico, but due to aquarium dumpings has become established in extreme southeast Louisiana. Since rios are more cold-tolerant than other cichlids, most are able to survive the mild winters there.

Rios make excellent fly fishing quarry. While not the greatest of fighters, they can get up to 2 pounds, and when hooked, “fight like a wet cat”. They are also very wary, making presentation and choice of fly critical. Deemed an invasive species by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, at the weigh-in the fish can be “dead or alive”.

Here are a few particulars:
– unpaid registration onsite from 7:00am to 8:00am
– participants can fish anywhere in the area
– awards for biggest and the most rios brought in
– fishing boundaries Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines parishes
– fishing is not allowed on any City Park golf courses

Complete details to be posted soon on the NOFF website at www.neworleansflyfishers.com (click on Rio Rodeo)

In addition, the club will hold a raffle for a TFO fly rod at the rodeo, with tickets priced at $10 for 1 ticket or $20 for 3 tickets. A donation will be made to Casting for Recovery based on the outcome of the Rio Rodeo.

Posted in Events, Uncategorized | Comments Off on The rodeos will go on!

Clubs still active via virtual meetings

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Catch Cormier

In an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19, government officials back in March placed serious restrictions on public gatherings. Most meeting locations – libraries, church halls,  community centers – were closed or unavailable to groups. For many fly fishing clubs which used these facilities for their monthly activities, it meant going into limbo.

Videotelephony to the rescue! Better known as webconferencing, it’s online video and audio software which runs off a cloud platform. Applications such as Zoom, Webex, Google Meets, Facebook Live and several others allow groups to hold virtual meetings. Attendees can participate thru laptops, tablets, smartphones, or any other device connected to the internet.   Presentations can incorporate slideshows, videos, and shared documents.

For a few clubs in the Gulf Coast Council, this has been a salvation. The Kisatchie Fly Fishers (Alexandria) were one of the first to adopt web meeting technology, opting for the Zoom application. They began having bi-weekly fly tying sessions in March.

KFF Tying Chair Bill Morrison sent members an email with instructional videos for loading the Zoom app on different devices, attending meetings and webinars, and testing their audio/video connections. Later, he created his own, more simplified video on the use of Zoom, with emphasis on use for club meetings.

The Kisatchie club had looked at other applications, but Zoom seemed to have the most features for the best price, as well as great customer support. The KFF board voted to purchase Zoom Pro, which for $149 a year offered unlimited sessions, nearly unlimited time per session, a maximum of 100 attendees, as well as recording of sessions.

In April, Kisatchie extended an offer to neighboring Acadiana Fly Rodders of Lafayette to join in the tying sessions. AFR accepted and the joint sessions have been a positive for members of both clubs to get to know each other.

One of the challenges for a virtual tying session is getting materials to the tiers.  To do this, the upcoming flies are decided weeks in advance.  Materials are then ordered, and received.  Participants for that session must email or fill out an online form stating their wish to receive materials for that fly.  Enough materials for 2-3 flies are then put in plastic snack bags, inside envelopes, and mailed to the tiers on the Thursday before the Tuesday session.  The only hiccup in this process has been inventory stocks of some materials at fly shops.  The ‘Rona created a shortage of certain materials, but that seems to be easing up.

With the prospect of in-person meetings not returning for several months, other regional clubs have now adopted web conferencing. The Eastern Shore Fly Fishers (Daphne) have gone to Zoom meetings, their latest held on July 16th. The New Orleans Fly Fishers recently purchased Zoom Pro and will begin holding virtual meetings this month.  Fly Fishers of Northwest Florida (Pensacola) are also looking into online meetings.  It should be noted that the Gulf Coast Council Board has also transitioned from phone conference board meetings to Zoom.   And our parent organization, Fly Fishers International, began holding Zoom webinars in June ranging from conservation seminars, tying demonstrations, and casting education.

How have members accepted virtual meetings? It’s been a mixed bag. Prior to the pandemic shutdown, attendance at Kisatchie fly tying sessions was between 24 and 31. Members attendance at the Zoom sessions has ranged from 12 to 15, or about half the in-person meetings.

On the other hand, response to the recorded video clips has been very good. Morrison records the walkthrough portion of the tying session (Zoom feature) and Catch Cormier (webmaster) posts it to their website. The post link is then shared on Facebook. Site statistics show that dozens of folks are clicking on these Facebook links.

Even when things get back to normal, Morrison anticipates the Kisatchie club will still do at least one virtual tying session a month, in addition to an in-person session. The reason is the wide geographic distribution of KFF membership – about a fifth of their 81 member families live 45 minutes or more from their meeting location. These Zoom sessions have been especially popular with these outlying members.

Posted in Education | Comments Off on Clubs still active via virtual meetings