FFI Gulf Coast Council

If there’s any question about whether fly fishing tournaments are gaining in popularity, look no further than this past weekend’s 3rd annual “Fly Fishing for the Mission” event held at Pointe-aux-Chenes south of Houma, Louisiana. Once again, a strong turnout with the vast majority of participants under 40 years of age.

Like kayak fishing tournaments, fly fishing tournaments offer low entry fees and low payouts. It’s more about the fun of competition than any financial awards. What monies are taken in often go to non-profits. In addition to great comradery, tournaments offer participants a chance to do what we love most – actual fishing! We also learn from others success. Unlike those big pro tournaments, secrets are shared. These events also sometimes offer fly tying, fly casting, and other activities typical of “conclaves” (fly fishing festivals).

The Southern and Southeastern Councils have tournaments planned. A couple clubs in the Texas Council, as well as the Texas Council have tournaments coming up.

Here in the Gulf Coast Council, we are presently researching possible tournament options. The New Orleans Fly Fishers Club have their long-standing Rio Grande Fly Fishing Rodeo scheduled again for October.

And this Saturday, May 5th, the Mississippi Coast Fly Fishers – another FFI-GCC member club – will host their 7th annual Cedar Lake Fly Fishing Tournament at Camp Contributions landing in Biloxi. Time is 6:00am to 12 noon. The tournament is open to the public. Entry fee is $30 and includes lunch from Your Mamaz House. Registration ends May 3rd. For complete rules and more info, click on this link.

On Saturday, May 25th, it’s the 10th annual Bass on the Fly tournament out of Lake Fork Marina on Lake Fork, Texas. This is a catch/photo/release (CPR) tournament exclusively for fly fishing with aim for highest total inches of five bass. Categories include Boat and Non-Boat (bank, kayak, canoe, float tube, etc). The tournament is open to the public. Entry fee is $70 per person, and includes Big Bass Pot. Register before May 15 and get into the drawing for a Sage Smallmouth Rod.

Activities for BOTF kick off on Friday afternoon with free casting clinics, product booths, fly tying, and kayak demos. There’s also a “Big Sunfish Tourney” from 3:00pm to 6:00pm, with a $10 entry fee. At 6:00pm, there’s the Captains meeting followed by a guide report.

Proceeds from Bass On The Fly go to support Reel Recovery and the FFI Texas Council. For more info, go to www.bassonthefly.org.

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Many of us are looking forward to this Saturday and the first-ever New Orleans Fly Fishing Expo at the new Deutsches Haus on Bayou St. John in New Orleans. Hope you are too!

Hosted by the New Orleans Fly Fishers Club, this event will feature seminars, exhibitors, casting instruction, fly tying demos featuring many of the best tiers from across the region, kayak demos courtesy of Masseys Outfitters, and even some unique activities such as an “Outdoor Writers Roundtable” and a “Iron Fly Tying” competition. For more details, see our previous post or go to www.neworleansflyfishing.com.

Fly Fishers International and the FFI Gulf Coast Council will have a table at the Expo. Joining us will be Tom Logan, Chairman of Fly Fishers International.  Tom will also be addressing the Expo that morning. At the booth we’ll be taking questions, and talking about FFI programs. The GCC has some exciting things planned and this will be the first public opportunity to share them.

The Expo will feature a few fundraising activities, some to raise money for charities such as Casting For Recovery. One of those fundraisers is being sponsored by the FFI Gulf Coast Council, to raise money for the St. Micheal Fly Fishing Club. This is a school club at St. Micheal High School in Baton Rouge, one of few school-based fly fishing clubs in the nation. With a membership of over 22 students, it was the subject of a recent article on the Louisiana Sportsman website. Click here to read about the St. Micheal High School club.

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Highlighting the donations in the draw is a framed limited edition print by Fred Hannie. Hannie is a nationally-renown, award-winning realistic tier, artist, instructor and author. His flies have been featured in various publications, such as Fly Tyer magazine. He is also Vice-President of the FFI Gulf Coast Council and it’s Fly Tying Chairman. He is also a member of the FFI Fly Tying Group.

Fred will be donating two framed limited-edition prints to the Expo. One will go into the GCC Fundraiser. They both feature his artwork along with one of his signature flies. One print is that of a speckled trout, the other of a warmouth sunfish. Each is valued at several hundred dollars.

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The draw will also feature a slightly-used TFO Axiom II 9-foot, 8-weight rod donated by Glen ‘Catch’ Cormier. It comes with the TFO case. Used only on two occasions, the rod brand new sells for $349. It’s Temple Fork Outfitter’s premium rod for saltwater and bass, very light in the hand and with zero swing weight.

There may be other items as well. The 1st winner will get to pick from the items on that table. The 2nd winner will get to pick from the remaining items, and so on.

The GCC is also coordinating individual donations to the St. Micheal club. We’re hoping for the club to be a great success and be the model for other such school-based clubs in our Council.

So come to the Expo this Saturday! Have a great time with other members of the fly fishing community on the Gulf Coast. Bring your money, check, credit card, and help some great causes while taking a chance to win some great prizes, including some one-of-a-kind items. And don’t forget to stop by the FFI-GCC booth and say hello!

New Orleans Fly Fishing Expo
Saturday, April 6, 2019
8:00am to 4:00pm
The Deutsches Haus, 1700 Moss St, New Orleans, LA
FREE admission!

The New Orleans Fly Fishers Club, a charter FFI club, is hosting the biggest fly fishing event of the year on the Gulf Coast.  The inaugural New Orleans Fly Fishing Expo will be held at the new Deutsches Haus, on the banks of Bayou St. John near New Orleans City Park.  It’ll have fly casting seminars, demonstrations, and instruction, fly fishing seminars, fly tying demonstrations and instruction, an Iron Fly Tyer competition, an Outdoors Writers Roundtable, outdoor equipment displays, vendors, exhibitors, and raffles.

Headling this event will be Jon Cave. Cave is a nationally-renown fly fishing writer, author, instructor and guide, who operates the Performance Fly Fishing School. Jon will be holding his semi-private casting class the day before the Expo. Everyone is invited to sign up for this rare opportunity, slots are limited.

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The Kisatchie Fly Fishers, an FFI-GCC affiliate club based in Alexandria, LA, will hold their annual “Fly Fishing 101” workshop on Saturday, March 30th at the Booker-Fowler fish hatchery in Forest Hill. Time is 9:00am to 12:30pm.

The workshop is free, but pre-registration is required. An online registration form is available on the club’s website at www.kisatchiefly.org. Click on the “Fly Fishing 101” page, then on the “Registration Form”.

This is the fourth year for the workshop, held each Spring. Attendance at each one has exceeded the previous year. As of this writing, 21 have registered. The workshop maximum is 30.

The last two years, students have been treated to a private tour of the hatchery prior to the workshop. But now Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which operates the facility, has announced a public touring all day, starting at 8:00am and running until 2:00pm.

Hatchery visitors who wish to learn about fly fishing are encouraged to sign up for the workshop while there is still room. The fly group will be on one of the early tours (8:00am or 8:30am) prior to the workshop start.

Booker-Fowler is the department’s primary fish production facility. This facility produces freshwater sportfish fingerlings to assist LDWF Inland Fisheries managers with achieving statewide management objectives. Since its first year of fish production in the spring of 1997, the hatchery program has released over 125 million fish into public water bodies throughout Louisiana.