Cajun Fly Fisher

Newest Fly - Bream Bitters

2010-06-23T15:40:00.003-05:00

I developed a new fly based on a fly I used in Cozumel for bonefish. I down sized the fly for bream and renamed it bream bitters.

I was really surprised at how well the fly worked. I took a ride to City Park in New Orleans to run some tests on the fly and have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. The second I threw the fly out a bluegill hit it before it even got the chance to fall through the water column. On the rare occasion that a bluegill didn't hit the fly a Rio Grande cichlid would pick it up. I tried a few different spots in the park with the same results. The total take for the day 23 bluegill and 15 rios.

My New Website

2009-11-27T16:46:00.004-06:00

I've launched a new website, http://breambug.com. I have more patterns that have been added to the site. I have also reduced prices on the flies I am offering on the site. All the flies are handtied by me and several of the patterns have been developed by me for catching bluegill and other bream species. I am in process of developing a new pattern that should be killer on bluegill. Check back soon I'll post some pics of the new pattern and how it works.

GCCFFF Conclave

2009-05-12T09:13:00.002-05:00

Been really busy lately and haven't had time to visit the blog. I will be leaving for the GCCFFF conclave in Lake Charles, LA on Friday. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a few days and meeting up with some fellow fly fishers. I am really looking forward to taking Fred Hannie's class on tying realistic flies. He makes some of the most realisitic flies I have ever seen. There is also a new product out that is supposed to be easier to work with than epoxy, Tufflye. I will be taking a class on this also.
Hopefully, I will have some great pictures of new flies when I return from the conclave.

Mardi Gras Fishing

2009-02-25T10:30:00.003-06:00

Brian and I decided to avoid the crowds Mardi Gras day and go on the first fishing trip of the year. It was cold that morning, cold enough that the cars had frost on them. Still I knew the day would warm up and we should be able to land a few fish. One thing I hadn't planned on was the wind. By the time we got to the launch the wind was blowing around 10 or 15 mph, still we prepared the boat for launch. As I unpacked my 3wt fly rod the tip caught on the case and broke off. I should have taken this as a sign that the day would not go well. I managed to unpack the other fly rods without destroying any more of the fishing equipment. We launched to boat without incident... until I tried to start the engine. The motor would start and then die. After several attempts we finally got the boat to stay running in gear. We motored to one of our favorite fishing spots. By now the wind felt as if it were blowing at gale force. Brian had brought along an ultralight spinning rig and crickets. He started fishing with this. I tied on one of my handmade flies. Brian almost immediately caught a large bluegill. I fought the wind with my 6wt Albright rod in an attempt to present my fly to the fish. This would be a battle that would repeat itself all day.

Brian rigged his 3wt rod and tried his luck with the fly rod. He had previously broken his rod which I repaired. The rod broke again on his first cast. I guess I'm not going to seek a career repairing broken fishing rods for a living. Brian went back to bait fishing with spinning tackle.

The fish did not seem to respond to the first fly I had tied on, an orange Simple Fly. I switched over to black Wooley Booger and found a bit more success with this fly. I then switched to a black Simple Fly and landed a small bass.

After landing a couple of other small fish and losing a fish that put a serious bend in my 6wt rod, and also noticing that Brian was outfishing me 5 or 6 to 1 with live crickets, I switched over to a live cricket on a #4 hook. This landed me a couple of fish but still I had to fight the ever present wind. In order to cast my line any distance I had to make full backcasts and then power through the forward cast, roll casting was not an option. This unfortunately would cause the cricket to fly off the hook. I went back to using flies. Because of his success with the crickets I tied on a brown soft hackle fly. I had more success with this fly but because of the wind and wave action it was had to place the fly where I wanted it or to fish it correctly.

In a small cove we found some fish hitting on top of the water which caused me great excitement. We were somewhat protected from the wind so I tied one of the poppers I make and started casting to the rising fish. Brian continued to cast live crickets to the rising fish and caught a large bluegill. I was not having success with any of my poppers then Brian caught one of the rising fish. We were very surpised to see it was a mullet. Not that seeing mullets are rare in this environment, in fact they are quite ubiquitous, but the mullet actually took the cricket as bait. We had never seen nor heard of this happening. This explained why the rising fish did not take any of my poppers. I switched back to using a live cricket to no avail. I must admit Brian did everything he could to put me on the fish. He would show me the spot and postion the boat so I could easily cast into the area. I think I may have caught 1 fish from this spot while Brian caught several. While in this spot I switched over to a brown soft hackle fly which I had more success with but still not anything to brag about.

At some point after this I lost the soft hackle fly and switched over to a Warm Fly. I thought for sure this fly would produce for me. Shows what I know. I did not get a single hit on the fly. Back to using a live cricket on the fly rod. Because I could not cast the rod Brian manuvered the boat close enough to the shore for me to use my fly rod as a cane pole. By this point I was totally disheartened and fished a bit more with the cricket. I got no more strikes that day and eventually admitted defeat.

We, meaning Brian, managed to catch a total of 23 fish large enough to keep for a fish fry. I added 2 fish to the pot while Brian caught the rest.

Looking back on the day even with all the problems, the broken rods, the winds and waves, the reluctance of the fish to take our bait, it was a pretty good day. Definitely better than standing on a crowded parade route or working.

Poppers

2009-02-08T07:32:00.004-06:00

I have found a new passion, making fly rod poppers. It started simple enough, Vince D. whom I met through the WarmFly website invited me to a fly tying class in Gonzales one Saturday. The gentleman that runs the class showed us how to paint the poppers with an airbrush. Vince had brought a couple of poppers that were ready to paint for me to use in the class. I was hooked. I bought an airbrush and some corks that afternoon and never looked back. I love painting these guys. It helps to relax me and gives me an outlet to be creative like never before. I didn't know if it was something I would be able to do as I tend to lean towards being more autistic than artistic. I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised with my results. I even got a compliment from my younger brother, Brian. He is usually critical of everything but told me he was very impressed. This meant a lot because he is a very good artist, much better than I will ever be. I have started selling my poppers on a new blog, www.cajunpoppers.blogspot.com. I haven't made any sales yet but then I just started the blog around 9:00 last night. I'm hoping to get a few sales off the blog so I can buy more fly fishing stuff, mainly I would like to get a kayak. A few guys I know fish from kayaks and seem to really love it. My first purchase will be a small compressor for my airbrush, the cans of propellant are getting expensive.
My wife is backing me on this venture, which is great. She has been very complimentary on my poppers and other flies. And not just the praise you give a child after they drew a picture that looks like nothing.

Well guess it's time for me to get back to making more poppers. Hopefully, I will have a few sales come through.

Rainbows

2009-01-03T19:37:00.009-06:00

I was invited recently to fish for rainbow trout in a local pond by my friend "Uncle" Larry Offner. The morning was cool and clear at home but I was not going to plan on these conditions lasting. First, I was traveling a pretty good distance from home. Second, weather in south Louisiana changes every few minutes. By the time I reached I-55 the fog was rolling in. When I reached Pass Manchac the fog was quite thick, I almost slowed down. For the most part the trip was uneventful. I arrived at Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs about a 1/2 hour early so I decided to run to the convenience store on the main drag for a cup of coffee. Let me say this about convenience store coffee, it is extremely hot! Not thinking I grabbed the cup when I got back to my truck and took a drink. I thought my lips were going to fall off.
I sent Uncle Larry a text to let him know I was in town and waiting. He called a few minutes later to let me know he was on his way. When he arrived I loaded my rods and vest in his truck then it was time to hit the ponds; after he stopped to put gas in the vehicle. Ok, now it's time to hit the ponds.
The first pond we went to was nice. I'm guessing it was about 1 1/2 acres in size and was recently stocked with rainbow trout. Uncle Larry started out with his famous Warm Fly while I threw a black Wooley Booger. Larry was using one of the fine rods in his collection, while I was using my 3wt Albright rod, Bugati reel, and Cabela's Prestige Plus fly line. The pond seemed to be full of life. I could see fish moving all over the place.
I threw the booger with all the finesse I could muster. I have never caught a rainbow trout and was looking forward to the prospect of catching this particular species. After several casts I changed color of the fly hoping to illicit a strike, but this was to no avail. I change my fly to a Warm Fly after seeing Larry catch several small bluegill, hoping this would change my luck.
My luck still didn't change to the positive. At the far end of the pond the fish were starting to rise so I switched to a dry fly, a white wing olive. I immediately started getting hits on this fly. I finally managed to hook a fish. With great disappointment, I landed a bluegill about 3 inches long.
I was having the same luck as Larry. We decided to break for lunch.
The first restaurant we tried was closed as we drove on to Uncle Larry's second choice, a place he would normally go to for breakfast. I've got to say lunch was pretty good. We had the barbecue. Large plates piled high with brisket on my plate and pork and ribs on his. The sides of beans, potato salads, and creamy cole slaw complemented the meal very well. We also had a plate with biscuits and cornbread we couldn't even get to we were so full by the end of the meal.
Satiated, we drove on to the next pond fully confident we would have rainbows tugging on the end of our lines in short order. We couldn't have been more wrong.
First, we had to park in a lot across from the park which caused us to cross a busy highway on foot. Two middle age men who have just eaten a large meal should not have to move that fast. I'm sure there is a law against it somewhere. After sprinting across the highway, if you can call what we did sprinting, we started the walk to the pond. The pond was located at the far end of the park, which seemed like it was several miles away. Again we had eaten a large meal. I still had my white wing olive tied on to my rod so being lazy I decided to throw this bug, the fact that fish were rising all over the pond didn't hurt matters. We had less success at this pond than the first. We decided to return to the first pond.
Upon arriving at the first pond I tied on a fly I modified from a pattern I saw on Uncle Larry's website. Immediately I got a strike and a hookup. The fist was quite a bit larger than the bluegill we had been catching earlier. I thought I had finally hooked a rainbow. When the fish finally came out of the pond I immediately recognized it as a species my brother and I had spent almost an entire fishing season chasing without success, the elusive sac-au-lait, called a crappie everywhere else in the US. I was elated and disappointed at the same time. On subsequent casts I caught 3 more of the fish that had been so elusive earlier in my life.

Uncle Larry had wandered off to the far side of the pond, after I gave him one of the flies I was having success on of course. On making his way around the pond he did report to me that he had great success with the fly catching bluegill and sac-au-lait but no rainbows on this particular fly. He did in fact tell me he had caught a rainbow that was barely larger than his fly reel.
The sky started to grow dark with dusk fast approaching and we decided to finally admit defeat and pack it in. It was with a sadness that ached somewhere deep in my soul, I took down and packed my rod I the realization that I would be going home without catching my first rainbow trout. I was also elated in the fact that I had spent the day in the company of a great guy, one whom I can truly call my friend, Uncle Larry.
I must admit I did see a rainbow that afternoon. Not one that comes from a pond or a mountain stream but of the natural wonders seen in the sky and gave a fitting end to a great day fishing with a friend.

The Trip

2008-12-27T09:09:00.003-06:00

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.

City Park Rio Grande Cichlids

2008-12-24T13:44:00.003-06:00

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

2008-12-24T13:39:00.002-06:00

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.