Saturday, December 27, 2008

The Trip

Went to Bass Pro Shop and Cabela's yesterday with my son and a friend. The morning started out great, the sun was out, the winds were pretty calm, and the temp. was in the mid 70's. I had received two gift cards for Christmas so I wanted to pickup some tying materials I wanted at Bass Pro. Had a problem at the check out, one of the gift cards would only allow me the use a certain portion of the available funds, really aggravating. Anyway, left Bass Pro and hit the road again to Cabela's. My son and I were really hungry for the venison brat with onions and peppers they serve in the little cafe upstairs. We introduced this culinary delight to our friend and as it turns out to the man in line behind us. Our new inductees found the brat to be as delicious as we had promised.
After looking around the store for a while I picked up a fly tying tool kit for my wife's cousin and we headed out the door. Now we were going fishing. When we stepped outside the wind had picked up considerably. Since we were about 50 miles away from where we planned on fishing I wasn' t too concerned.
We hopped on to the Interstate and headed east, really south but the signs say I-10 east. We were headed for one of my favorite fishing holes along I-55. When we arrived the wind had picked up considerably and was going to make throwing a fly rod quite difficult.
My son had never fly fished before and this was in essence his introduction. We were throwing 3wt rods which can be difficult to control in a breeze but now we had winds of 10-15 mph out of the south. I must admit I was proud of him. Even with the wind blowing like a freight train, he took to casting the rod quite well for his first time and seemed to enjoy himself.
As for the fish, none we bitting. We tried poppers and a few wet flies and streamers I had tied and got no takers.
Even though we got skunked on the fishing it was a great day. I enjoyed the time spent with two of my closest buddies on a little road trip swapping stories and wetting a line together.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

City Park Rio Grande Cichlids


Lately one of my favorite places to fish is City Park, New Orleans. The park has been overrun with a species of fish called the Rio Grande Cichlid, Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum. This fish is aggressive and quite fun to catch on a 3wt fly rod. The problem is it is an introduced species of fish. The fish are found throughout the park and in the canals and bayous that surround the park. The exact method of introduction is not known. More than likely they were introduced by people who had them in their home aquarium and released them into the park when the fish got too large and started eating the other fish in their tanks.

Rio's, as they are known, originate from southern Texas and Northern Mexico. They were big in the aquarium trade for many years.

The biologist in me knows that they do not belong there and should be eradicated but the fisherman in me really enjoys catching them. It is a quandry.

Each year City Parks holds its Big Bass Rodeo. The rodeo is the oldest running fishing contest in the United States. For the past few years they have added a category: Rio Grande. In this category the largest number of fish caught is awarded the prize. The fish are not returned to the water as the bass are. Last year's winners brought in 961 fish! Even with this amount of fish brought in, the bayous in the park are still filled with the exotic species. It is one of the most prolific fish I have ever seen.

My main reason for looking at this fish with disdain is it has displaced native fish and filled their niche. And yet, I cannot stop deriving enjoyment in the fight the give me with a light fly rod.


First Blog

This is my first blog I will be posting stories, pictures, and flies from my fly fishing adventures. I have recently started fly fishing again after being away from the sport for many years. I have also begun tying my own flies. Tying flies and then catching fish on flies you have tied yourself give a real feeling of accomplishment. As I develop new patterns and/or modify existing patterns I will post these as well.