Support regional Casting for Recovery and win a BGE!

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Catch Cormier

Casting for Recovery (CfR) provides fly fishing retreats for women with breast cancer, at no cost to the participants. These outdoors-focused retreats offer opportunities for women to find inspiration, discover renewed energy, and xperience healing connections with other women and nature. The retreats are open to women with breast cancer of all ages, in all stages of treatment and recovery.

The FFI Gulf Coast Council and its member clubs are big supporters of Casting for Recovery Southeast Regional Program. Here’s your chance to build on that support and possibly win a Big Green Egg package worth over $1300!

CFR Southeast is raffling off the following: one large Big Green Egg with shelves, nest, convector. It comes with a $100 gift certificate to Watson Brothers Patio & Hearth, two Big Green Egg themed kitchen towels, and two custom-designed masks (monogrammed, pick your colors and fabric).

The winner will be drawn on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 and notified via email. So PLEASE don’t hesitate! The winner will need to pick up their BGE in Auburn, Alabama.

All proceeds support the CFR SE Regional program which provides free healing retreats for women with breast cancer in LA, MS, AL & the FL Panhandle.

Raffle tickets are $20 each, or 6 for $100.

To purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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