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trip to GI	28 May 2006
Myself and Albert Wood, (Magnolia Fly Fishers) made a round trip to Grand Isle Saturday, 5/27. We arrived at GI about 9:00, late I know, but it's a long hike from Jxn, MS. Put in at the second bridge from GI. Tide was high, marsh was full of bait but wind was high, could not find any reds. Went to West end of island, the South wind had pushed in beautiful green water, vis 3 or maybe even 4 feet, Destin-ish. About 6 commie tackle fisherman present had been hammering the cut with live bait. They apparently had done pretty well early but we observed them catch only a few flounder after we arrived. Even though beautiful water flowing in and out of the cut, no speck bite. Flounder were present but you had to hunt for them by wading the flat and dead drifting clousers (G&W,LSU) in the current. Caught one speck, one catfish, one tiny rat red, five doormat flounders. Saw a lot of dead fish flowing in from the Gulf, must have been trawler by-catch, I guess that's where the fish were. Gave up about 5:00 and drove back to Jxn. Oh well, still better than a good day at work. Looking forward to hanging out with the LA club members at GI weekend in July.
Glen Davis	Grand Isle
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pond bass, april 10th	27 May 2006
those of you who know me know that during feb.-mid May and Sept.-Nov. I am coaching soccer and therefore rarely get to fish during this time (my 14 year old girls team finished second in state two weeks ago!) but I managed to slip away on a Wed. morning to fish a friends ponds in Jackson. I arrived at daylight to a heavy fog and calm winds.I started with a lg. gold foil popper,first cast-4lb. bass; almost every cast I either caught or missed a bass. By 8:00 the fog burned off and the wind picked up to 15+ so I swiched from topwater to a fly I dsigned that is a cross between a squirmworm and a jig with high density foam to make it close to neutral bouyancy as possible and it drove the bass nuts, several times while I was fighting a fish another was trying to take the fly from its mouth.I was able to sight cast to many of these fish and it was a blast teasing them to inhale the fly. the highlight of the day was when I saw a large bass with a 6" bluegill crosswise in its mouth swirling and rolling and causing extream commotion about 10' off the bank. The bream suddenly excaped and in it's haste to excape beached itself about 2' up on the mud bank, and proceeded to flop around trying to get back to the water.Meanwhile the bass moves up so close no the bank trying to get her breakfast that she is now 2/3rds out of the water herself. I crept to within 60' feet and cast a deerhair frog five feet behind her so I wouldn't spook her but she was so focused on the flopping bream that she didn't hear my fly settle on the water so I gave it a gentle 2" ploop which the bass heard so I did it again and the bass backed off the bank about a foot and sort of looked over its "back" to see what was behind it so I gave it another gentle pioop. The bass then backed completely off the bank and turned to investigate stoping 3' from my fly,after about 20 seconds I gently twiched the frog and the bass attacked,after a great battle I landed and weighed it on a boga at 6+ lbs.I quit fishing at 11:00 with a final tally of 67 bass cought and released; the smallist one was 1.5 lbs. the average was 3+ lbs., 19 were over 4lbs., three were over 5lbs., and one over 6lbs.. I took some photos but my camera died after about 8 photos which I will post as soon as I figure out how to do it. What a difference a month makes!!! I went back to the pond on 5-11-06 only to find the water three feet lower than 4 weeks earlier (they didn't get the rain that we got in B.R.) and the large bass were deep and hard to catch, I managed to catch 13 bass 2-3 lbs. by noon. I moved to another pond and saw lots of 10-14" bass crusing the banks so I pulled out me 6.5'-2wt. and tied on a black foam spider.I left at 2;00 after catching and releasing 25-30 small bass. I had as much fun with those little guys on that small rod as I had with those big ones a few weeks earlier (well almost!)
hess	jackson,la
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Cormier's 2nd Law .... in reverse!	26 May 2006
One of my coworkers made two trips in the last week to Delacroix and Hopedale, and limited out on nice specks (2-4 lbs) both times. Since my Memorial weekend was booked with family activities, and seas and tides were near ideal, decided to head down yesterday. Loaded the canoe instead of my new yak since I was anticipating need for my 48-quart chest! Launched at Lake Laurier, site of my last speck-tacular venture a few weeks back. Water was smooth as glass, but dirty as I've ever seen it. Since tidal flow in this area is from Leeville to Caminada, and the latter looked great, my guess is all that dredging from the elevated highway construction is screwing up the water. Dolphin Bay east of Laurier was much clearer, and here I found some lots of small specks on falling tide. Worked hard to put a dozen in the box, mostly 13-14 inches. During high slack tide, worked the ponds. Found lots of sheepshead backing, hooked 6 and landed 3 on Coma Spoon. Also landed and released 3 reds, but no drum. With the mucky water, if the fly didn't pass their nose, no luck. After packing up, drove by Caminada. Water was beautiful behind the old Cigars.
Catch	Fourchon
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lots of Reds	26 May 2006
Went Yesterday fishing to get out before the holiday rush. Just thought my engine was fixed after putting $750 worth work into it. I wanted to go out to Lake Chien from Point au Chien to catch some trout. Left out Point au Chien Marina about 8:00am. Went down that bayou toward Lake Chien and at the point to turn to go into Lake Chien reds all over the place busting at anything. Threw Clouser just to try it while my friend did top dog bam bam bam. We had out limit of reds within no time. Then we got tired of that so we cranked the engine and it was flooded. Trolled back to the Marina but saw alot of good spots and caught a few reds stacked at runouts hidden in the grass on spinner with LSU bayou chub for my friend and I tried the spoonfly equally as good the reds were eating good. Right by the Marina within baseball throwing distance there are power lines on the left going toward the marina and an open pond. The area looks like it has oysters stacked by the powerlines just above the water. Sheepheads delight too easy. They sat on the highest point of the oysters and ate smaller bait fish coming from the pond. We watched them for 5 minutes before we casted to them. All we did was throw the lure over into the pond and work it up the oyster reef. Mixed catch of sheephead and smaller 12" to 20" reds. Really interesting to see your lure go infront of a sheephead and somehow catch a redfish. We turned lemons into lemonaid on this trip.
James Schexnaider	Point au chien Marina
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Micro-bream	24 May 2006
I had a nice time this afternoon playing with the little brimskiis. I caught several babies and two that could have kept. They loved my gurgle popper size 10.Wow this really pales in comparison to the previous report. It was simple but very nice to recover from a near-skunking in the barren waters of Gibson this weekend.William.
The Trout Whisperer	BR - Neighborhood Pond
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Dolphin on Fly	24 May 2006
Jeaux Cerise was thoughtful enough to book a charter with Paradise Outfitters for a day on which the Gulf of Mexico was as calm as a farm pond on an August morning. Sonny Schindler was our guide aboard the 36' Twin Vee that took us out to beautiful bluewater in search of a weedline and in pursuit of Dolphin. We found both and were successful in catching Dolphin on fly until our hearts were content. There were so many of these fish and they were so willing to eat a fly that the main challenge became keeping your fly away from the smaller fish while you targeted the largest in the pack. I have never fished like this before and therefor had no real expectations, but had I gone with expectations, I'm sure they would have been exceeded. The highlight of my day was a beautiful 14 pound "lit up" Dolphin that freight-trained through my popper and went on to give me a nice 15 minute fight on a 10wt. "Acrobatic" is an understatement when describing these fish. I was probably 4 feet off the water on the front on the boat and I swear I was looking up at this fish when it launched. Anywho, I could go on all day but I will end in saying that this experience was unbelievable. My company (Jeaux Cerise, Bryan Carter, John Frazee)was great. Our guide displayed an uncommon level of professionalism and was a pleasure to spend a day with. All in all, a most memorable day on the water. Thank you to Jeaux and to Sonny at Paradise Outfitters.Alec
Alec Griffin	Gulf of Mexico - Venice
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Fly Catching - or not!	12 May 2006
Hey Guys! What a difference a month makes! Back in early April I figured I was going to be reasonably happy hereabouts fly fishing for the species of my youth - bluegills - having recently slayed a good number of them. I had yielded earlier to the fact that I am without a doubt the world's worst sac-a-lait fisherman, chalked up one beautiful bass to dumb luck, and after apparently missing the redear reunions sallied forth several times in pursuit of patassa - aka gobbules. Today I didn't catch the first one, but I did gain the interest of a couple of bass. So now I have decided to forsake the 'gills as well as the crappie and concentrate on bass. I think I know how to catch them - at least I once did. Hope I haven't forgotten! The scary part of that is, what if I have? Then what do I fish for over here - gaspergou?Whatever, Happy Mothers' Day to all you mothers.Pete
pete cooper, jr.	Not in Buras, for sure!
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A few minutes on the pond	01 May 2006
Took a few minutes from a very busy Sunday to hit the neighborhood pond and tryout a beadhead Sqwirm tied by The Trout Whisperer. Caught 3 small bass and saw lots of bream sunning in the grass. Noticed that Saturday night's deluge sent Jones Creek and it's tributaries over their banks. I'm guessing all that freshwater in the Amite and Blind will send the reds and specks back where they belong - in Lake Ponchartrain.
Catch	BR
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Bream	24 April 2006
The Concordia outing was great. Thanks Dugan. Got there just before the storm. Mr. Dave caught one after the other off the pier in frout of the lodge. After the front passed it was like hitting a switch. Had to work hard for them after that.Saturday morning was slow till around noon, then it picked up good. Ended up with 52 good bream. Oh! Catch, I think that would be fisherwoman. Cokie, don't let him get away with that. Sometimes I just have to stir that pot. hee-hee-hee
Wally	Lake Concordia
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Cokie shows Dad how it's done	24 April 2006
Took my daughter Cokie up Friday for a 2-day trip to Concordia in conjunction with the RSFF trip. Storms moved in just after we arrived at the lake, so we decided to go 30 minutes north, while the front passed thru, and give Bruin a shot for sacalait. Caught two keepers, one a slab, plus a few small bass, mostly on fluff butts and a commie jig. Cokie also caught a couple of big redears. Folks at Shiloh Resort said the bream haven't moved in yet, should start in two weeks. Saturday am, Cokie and I put the canoe in at the LDWF launch on north end of Concordia. We didn't get any action on the west bank, so we headed north with the dozens of other boats and tried up there. Not much action at first, but around 11am they really turned on. Cokie proved you don't need to cast far, but you do need to work that VOSI just right. Those gobbules would tip that VOSI oh-so-lightly, and she would twitch it back an inch or two and get them mad. You'd think those were little bitty guys picking at the size 8 black and chartreuse jitterbee underneath, but it was some 8+ inch stumpknockers! Dad noticed the bream hitting bugs on top, and had good success with the popping bug, but they were all small. We kept the first 25 that met our 7.5" standard and released everything thereafter. Of those, only 3 belonged to Dad so you all know now who the REAL fisherman in the Cormier family is!
Catch	Ferriday
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Yo, Pete	20 April 2006
I just reread Berzas' article, and he mentions the Calcasieu River at his camp near Lake Charles. He also mentioned - as likely spotted bass waters - the Mermentau and Atchafalaya. Can't recall any time I've caught a spotted bass on the Mermentau or Atchafalaya. Not exactly creeks, either. Yeah, I'm going to ignore what outdoor writers say from now on, including myself.
Catch	State of Confusion
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DISSENT!!	20 April 2006
Hey Folks! I hate (NOT!) to disagree with postings of our valiant and esteemed leader, even if said postings are not actually his, but I just returned from fishing three creeks in north Louisiana for spotted bass and didn't catch enough to get a decent stink out of a skillet! The water in all three was clear and running nicely - no sign of "drought", but a few past productive spots seemed to have filled in somewhat, rendering them near worthless as potential target areas. Either this is natural or old Farmer Brown(s) is (are) trying to get a couple of more rows of corn (cotton, beans, dope, or whatever) out of his (their) patch(es) and is (are) encroaching on the creeks' corridors. Whatever again, that is a common occurrance elsewhere. Also, apparently Rita knocked down a BUNCH of big trees, preventing in-stream access to some favorite spots. All that boils down to the fact that, contrary to what Honorable Mr. Berzas had to say, spotted bass action is definitely NOT hot right nopw - at least not on the three creeks I fished. You really gotta watch those outdoor media-type guys, folks...Except for me, of course. PC
pete cooper, jr.	broussard, la
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Northwest report	19 April 2006
Went to Shreveport Monday afternoon to do a presentation for the North Louisiana club. Packed the Old Town on top the Jeep, as the game plan was to spend the night there, and fish my way back - a Cormier tradition. First stop, Lake Bistineau. It's definitely looking better since the drawdown, but it may take a couple years for the fishing to rebound to it's past glory. Did catch a lot of small bream, and surprisingly a number of bass also. Better results than same time last year, so I'm encouraged. Left at noon to give Grand Bayou near Coushatta a shot. Since fishing it 3 weeks ago, the grass has exploded. This place has some of the biggest bass and redears in the state, but what few I caught of either species yesterday was small. Maybe the grass, the wind or the heat... or maybe all three (my vehicle thermometer read 93 degrees). Had time left in the day for one last stop, and chose the lower section of Cane River Lake. To this point, the bass had been good but bream action disappointing. The Cane made up for that. From 6pm to 7pm, it was non-stop action on Accardo Miss Prissy size 8, chartreuse. Most were 6-7 inches, but there were 3 that went over 8 inches! Some serious hard bending on my TFO Finesse 3-weight.
Catch	along I-49 corridor
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Late and Not-So-Late Reports	19 April 2006
Tried to fish Ponchartrain at Bayou Lacombe (north shore) Saturday a.m., but 15+ m/h wind in my teeth and actual breakers on shore changed my mind. So I went to Fairview Riverside State Park in Madisonville with intent to catch a few brim or bass - I'd done so in the past. Launched at the park, paddled to my usually productive spot, and promptly hooked a small Speckled Trout on Dirk's Tussle-Bug under a VOSI. Don't know who was more surprised - me or the fish. Back to Ponchartrain at Lacombe yesterday, where the SW wind was more subdued. Caught one 17-1/2 inch Speck trolling a Black Charlie. Nice fight on a 5-wt rod. But that was it. Heard and saw the results of a BIG fish hitting something close to the surface; Don Harter said he saw it from the launchsite, and it was a Bull Red. I believe him 'cause he's fished there for years. I guess the drought is good for something.
Joe Kahler	The Office (unfortunately, not fishing)
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Things Look Promising	17 April 2006
Saturday morning, Danny Williams and I fished the last part of the incoming tide just South of town. We saw a good many active redfish ( a first for this season) as well as a number of tailing black drum. Our window was very short because the water was muddy and rose fast. I hooked and lost a solid red at the boat. In one area there seemed to be a school of reds staged slashing through bait as it blew across a point. We blind cast that area for a while but didn't get any takers, it's hard to compete with that much bait in the water.I'm Psyched about this coming weekend. Near perfect morning tides with a fairly extended window of opportunity. I think this will be the weekend that it all bust loose.Tight Lines,Ron Begnaud
Ron Begnaud	Lake Charles
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Getting better	16 April 2006
It's great living in the southern reaches of the basin, but it's tough, too. South of the levee things still are churned up, at least in St. Mary's western end. Picked up three bass Saturday morning, 1-2 lbs., all on white-legged Bream Getters. Three small green perch too. Water's not clearing up like it should with the wind, but better than two weeks ago. You guys who fish impoundments don't know how lucky you are!
RStouff	Chitimacha, LA
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Just can't get away	16 April 2006
I love my big yard, with plants to plant,grass to cut,weeds to eat. That is until spring time.One of may twins and I were still able to bring the yaks to a friends pond out here in Central for a few hours. We caught 14 of the nicest shellcrackers you could hope for. Poppers early, Bugger Bees later. My son had a ball. His new yak, a few fish, big smiles on his face,life is good.
Wally
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Paddlepalooza 3 Scouting Report	14 April 2006
Although I'm going to Concordia next weekend, I decided to scout an area for one of the PP3 contestants who's paying me the big bucks to find where the big fish are. For that reason, I can't tell you exactly where I fished other than to say look for the black helicopters. With calm conditions, started off with a Kirk's Popper. Early on, the reds didn't seem as anxious for it as usual. Got a bunch of tsunamis but no bites. Now I did notice that high salinity is killing back some of the grass already (this usually happens in June), and so maybe oxygen levels were low. It would also explain why they fought sluggish this morning, and like-on-steriods this afternoon. With the falling tide this pm, and wind kicked up in high, switched back and forth between a Coma Spoon and a Stu Apte Tarpon fly (You folks can read about it in the May issue of Sportsman, after the PP3 winner uses it to catch his prize red). Ended the day with 14 reds landed, biggest 8.75lb. All were released to be caught during PP3. Caught a 7.25lb drum on spoon fly and kept him. Also ran into Redzilla, but he wasn't eating. Maybe I need a much bigger fly?
Catch Cormier	Somewhere along Highway 1
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area ponds	14 April 2006
Come on guys, this is April.I know someone must be fishing. I've been hitting a few local ponds in the evening with some success. When i don't do well i call it casting practice. I've been working too much to make a good trip some where but that is about to change. Going some where tommorrow.
Wally
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Pre Spawn action.	03 April 2006
Dirk Burton and I drove up to Lake Concordia Saturday morning to test the boat and catch some brim. The boat did fine and the fishing was very good. We caught 60 nice blue gill in the 1 lb range. According to the boga grip, I landed a 1.5 lb Brim. (Pictures to follow). We caught the fish just outside the grassy areas near the banks. We fished with an olive and gold Tussle Bug letting it settle to the bottom and slowly stripping it in. We tried fishing the other favorites under a Vosi with very little success. The fish acted very much like Dugan described in his report. I think the bulls are a little ahead of the females at this time. Most species act like that this time of year. We were very pleased and surprised at the size of the fish. We plan to test the waters again this week and verify the action was not a fluke Jack
Jack Dial	Lake Concordia
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Concordia report	03 April 2006
While cutting down a tree on Saturday, I ended up full of caterpillars, a sign it was time to fish bream! Knowing that Highway 51, Tickfaw, Blind, and my other usual haunts this time of year remain in limbo from Katrina, I decided to opt for Concordia not certain if the time was right. The lady who runs Lakeview told me as I launched my canoe that this was the first week of good bream fishing. She was right.. even around the boat docks the gobbules were present. Early on a size 10 Miss Prissy black/yellow did pretty good around a couple of spots where fish were nailing bugs on the surface. A short while later the wind picked up, and got pretty rough in fact, forced many of the fisherman on this mostly north-south lake to occupy the same section of water (east-west lower end) that I was on. Still no problem, since those that were bream fishing were using crickets, and in clear green water, that's absolutely no match for a black/chartreuse jitterbee! Under a VOSI, to be specific. One bass fisherman even gave me a clue. He told me the bream were biting his plastic worm at the edge of the treeline. Sure enough, I lowered the bee to 3 feet under the VOSI and kept outside even further and found the bigger fish. Kept 29, all over 7 inches, released about 3 dozen. Fried some up last night. A great start to the season!
Catch	Concordia
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Concordia Primer	02 April 2006
Captain Randy and I took the opportunity of nice weather to get primed for the upcoming RSFF Lake Concordia outing. Both of us have not had a chance to do much freshwater flyfishing lately. Randy spent the winter fixing up his trailer and also needed an excuse to check it and the boat out. We picked our favorite local fishing hole, the Bayou Corne/Bay Alcide area and adjacent Texaco Canals. It is only a 90 mile round trip so it is perfect for an easy day's fly fishing. We found a dozen or so boats already in the water when we got there around 10:30 AM. But despite a sometimes stiff breeze we had a good trip. After dancing around quite a few boats in some of our bream fishing spots, we finally began to hook into a few nice bluegill and readears. But before we got started on the bream, I hooked a king "chocolate" black crappie and Randy followed with a smaller one -both on classic jitterbee and vosi combinations near some downed tree limbs in about 5 feet of water. I think I can challenge Larry's Old River Sac-a-lait for biggest caught on a jitterbee. Mine decked out at 12 and 1/2 inches. We did take some pictures to compare with. By the way a "chocolate" crappie is one with a large black stripe running from the front end of the dorsal fin over the snout and around the mouth and under the chin. Look for one next time you catch a mess of black crappie. They are rare but not that uncommon. We were able to end the day with a catch of 20 bream mostly bluegill but a few redears all on red jitterbees under vosi. What was amazing about the bream were their size. Almost all were big bull size over 7 inches and many were over 8 inches! We through only one undersize fish back! Randy caught one of the biggest redear/chinqipins I have seen but some of the bluegill were just as big. Not one of the bream were spawning yet and looked like they were crusing the nearshore waters looking for some spawning beds and partners. With all the warm, dry weather lately, it is looking good for finding some good size bream schools in two weeks when the RSFFers hit Lake Concordia.
Dugan	Bayou Corne/Bay Alcide
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Bonaventures - farewell and fond memories!	31 March 2006
Made my first afterwork trip yesterday to False River since last summer. Imagine my shock when I found Bonaventures closed off. According to a resident, the largest boat launch/bank fishing spot on the lake has been sold to three doctors who plan to use the property for their own camps. Now the only launch available on the south end is across from the store on the island side. Certainly not big enough to accomodate a decent-size bass tournament and most important to us, NO bank fishing. I went on to New Roads where there's still some bank fishing at the Parkway. Of course it's been years since the grass in the lake has gone, so why is the water so clear these days? Caught a good number bream, a few 6"-7" size, and no bass. Still it doesn't compare to what Bonaventures fishing was.
Catch	Rougon
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The Rise!	28 March 2006
Hey Folks - Caught the 11:30 Anopheles culex hatch on Lake Martin today. The fish were obviously targeting the emerger phase of the insect, which I matched with one of Jack Deshotels' size 10 yellow sponge spiders. Quite a number of fish were skillet-sized, caught-and-released right into my ice chest! GOBBULES RULE!By the way, those silver carp that were put into that lake to control the submergent vegetation WILL strike a chartreuse popper! Two did today, and I did not want the one I stuck in the canoe with me so that I could retrieve my popper. It's head and shoulders would not fit into a net that I have used to boat a number of double-digit redfish, and that left a lot of body hanging out. I finally gave it the popper. Wonder what those things are eating besides grass...Anywayu, the affray was interesting to say the least - wonder if Bill Ford would consider a category for them in the fly fishing record book. If he does, I sure hope you all have a good time with them. I'm not cut out to wrestle with 30-pound fish on a 6-weight more than once!Best,Pete
pete cooper, jr.	broussard, la.
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scratched this morning	28 March 2006
I fished the blood river this morning. I didn't catch a single fish. All I had were popping bugs, and I tried several different colors. I don't know what I was doing wrong. However, the trip wasn't a complete bust. I saw a porpoise swimming down the river. I surface about 15 times. A fellow at the marina said they have seen them before.
jay	northshore
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Little Missouri report	27 March 2006
Spent Sat and Sun on the Little Missouri River. Despite no generation, there was still good flow leftover from last weekend's big rains. Hatches everywhere, and fish were in a great mood, as spirited as I've ever seen them. My poor TFO Finesse 3-weight seemed undermatched. On Saturday, most of the dry fly takers were small, 9-11 inches. On Sunday, found some big fish at Old Factory (thanks to Dave McDougal's advise) and caught a "9 jumper" there also. I also introduced the fish to Master Jake's secret "dry fly" with smashing success. Even the folks at "The Wall" got a chance to witness it in action. Absolutely a great trip, can't wait to go back.
Catch Cormier	Murfreesboro, AR
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Trust cows, not weathermen	27 March 2006
Fished my way up to the Little Missouri on Friday, with 'The Red Sticker' on top the Jeep. Stopped at Dubisson Lake, Indian Creek, Iatt, Nantachie, Grand Bayou. When I planned this trip earlier in the week, weathercast was for mild, calm, and sunny. Instead it was cold and breezy, at least they got it right with the sun. As you know, strong north winds turn off the fish, and this was no exception. Dubisson was too muddy so I didn't even make a cast. On my way to Indian Creek I noticed the cows in the fields. My uncle used to say that cows were a barometer to fishing. If the cows were standing, fish were biting. If the cows were all sitting, better just to stay home. Just my luck, these damn cows were in a coma! Indian Creek looked in great shape and on my first five casts, caught two decent bass. Unfortunately my effort to debunk the cow theory ended there. After an hour, couldn't even get a bream to bite, Moved on to Iatt, and similiar results there. Water was clear, saw several bass, and got two good pickups on commie plastic worm. But both were short strikes, even on a 4" worm. Bank fished Nantachie since wind was too strong, and no bites. Believe that's the first time that's ever happened there. Took a break before going to Grand Bayou, and in the hour that passed, I noticed a flag go from ripping to slightly slack. Driving along Hwy 71, the cows were not only up on their feet, some were even dancing and prancing! Sure enough, Grand Bayou turned out to make my day... week... month. From 5pm to after sunset, caught 9 bass, lost two others, three on commie topwater, the rest on poppers. The bass ranged from 8 inches to 4 3/4 pounds, with most around 2 pounds, and a much bigger fish - Basszilla? - that stole one of my precious poppers back in "the woods".
Catch	Along I-49 trail
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False River	27 March 2006
I went to False River yesterday. The wind was fairly calm,water was churned up as always, but not as bad as in the summer. Except for a few big boats traffic was not to bad. I must have caught 40 or 50 bream, and one catfish. All but a few bream were small and they were scattered. The big guys have not moved up yet.Every one I talk to said they did not catch anything except for a few bass.Got there at noon,stayed till a little after dark. Had a really nice sunset. A good day on the water.
Wally Hoover
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Bayou Lacombe	21 March 2006
Had a truly great trip over to Bayou Lacombe today. My brother and I got on the water about 10:00 AM. We fished the water north of the Main Street launch and started picking up big bream immediately. We ended up the day with 40-50 real nice bream with only 2 small ones caught. We caught 5 or 6 bass that ranged in size from very small up to about 2 pounds. We caught fish of the following flies under a strike indicator: chartreuse & black jitter bee, chartreuse jitter bee, orange jitter bee, olive wooly bugger, black & chartreuse fluff butts, chartreuse & black chenille spider (white legs), olive chenille spider with brown legs. Then in the afternoon the fish started hitting top water. We only had success with a yellow foam spider with white legs.All fish were caught with barbless hooks and were released.
Johnny Diamond	Baton Rouge, LA
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Weekend report	19 March 2006
Due to family circumstances, had to postpone my own "March Brown" trip to the Little Mo until next weekend. Still, I took Friday off to try out Miller's Lake. Those of you who read my column this month in LA Sportsman know this place was very "special" to me same time last year for the Gobbules. But not Friday. Once again, proof why "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be weathermen". The windcast was 5-10, but ended up more like 15-20. Whitecaps on Millers forced me over to Chicot, which doesn't get prime until late April-early May. Didn't catch a single bream or sacalait, but did catch four bass on plastic worm (commie rod) and a chain pickeral on jitterbee! The bass were released, but like a flounder, any pickeral I catch gets "released" to my ice chest (Later I realized this could've been #1 or #2 on the records, but all that's left now is filets). About 2pm, headed off to Lake Kincaid. When I arrived, immediately I knew THIS is where I should've been all day. The gobbules where circling the piers. Maybe it was the high pressure, but they were very reluctant to bite. Still, if you throw a jitterbee (with no VOSI) into the direction of bream, sooner or later your "luck" will change. The report doesn't end here, because on Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, I did very well at the neighborhood lake on the gobbules and even a few bass, using a black fluff butt and two new patterns I picked up at the Acadiana Conclave.
Catch	Alexandria, Ville Platte, BR
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Windy and muddy	18 March 2006
Hit the Fausse Pointe area for the first time this spring, managed one three pound bass and one three ounce bass. Both on black buggers. Water muddy and very low even way in back of canals to get out of the wind, but things is looking up!
Roger Stouff	Chitimacha, LA
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Port Sulfur	18 March 2006
I spoke with Capt. Rich Whitner and he's had a couple of good days guiding some folks from California. He said one of the guest caught a red,speck, and black drum. Are there any freshwater reports out there. I'm getting my boat ready and I'd like to hear some reports.Thanks, Jack
Jack Dial	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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What a great day after!	06 March 2006
Sunday afternoon at the pond was as good fishing as the weather was gorgeous. School bass under a pound were busting shad, and bigger bass were on the beds. Tested out several flies from the Acadiana Fly Rodders "board" that folks had leftover after conclave picking. Two were particularly effective on both bass and gobbules, one especially on the bigger specimens. Oddly, a black fluff butt - the barometer for this experiment - did little. But when the sun began to set, the black butt kept my 7'9" 3weight TFO in a constant U-shaped bend. Once again proving how light figures into fly color. (PS - Hey, Pete, if you see my dad on Lake Martin, ask him to show you his crappie hole).
Catch	neighborhood pond
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THE FLY!	06 March 2006
Hey Guys!The size 8 yellow marabou muddler did it again today, this time with barely enough sac-a-lait to get a decent stink out of a skillet, but also a 20-inch bass that probably exceeded five pounds! There ain't nothin' to this freshwater fishing! Get yourselves some of it - apparently it's time!Oh - Lake Martin. Pete
pete cooper, jr.	broussard, la
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Red Stick Fly Fishers Conclave	06 March 2006
Just wanted to express my thanks to all the folks who worked so hard to make the Red Stick Fly Fishers Conclave such a wonderful experience this past weekend. The speakers were great. Craig Matthews is a true hero of our sport and Larry Offner’s presentation on bass, brim, and sac-a-lait fishing was excellent. Rober Kreig’s noon jambalaya was delicious, as always, and was only surpassed by the dinner fare that evening. Many thanks to the fly fishers and “fly fishing widows” who worked so hard to put out such a wonderful variety of dishes at the banquet. The fly-tyers were all gifted (and patient) artisans who taught us so much, so freely. Thanks to The Backpacker for giving us an opportunity to actually paddle around in various ‘yaks and ‘noes – all in the same place at the same time, for a real chance to comparison shop. Thanks to Alec Griffin (Uptown Anglers) for being there with practically the entire line of Temple Fork rods for comparison casting. The prizes in the gambler’s draws and raffles, many items tied or otherwise donated by club members, were all great. Special thanks to Roger Del Rio for being there to “coach” the beginning fly-flingers, despite a bum back and a cold that only got worse throughout the day. And a special thanks to Catch Cormier (event coordinator), Frank Genusa (RSFF “President for Life” – aka “El Presidente”), and all the officers of the club who work so hard to put on this event and keep the RSFF club floating high and drift-free. All day long, I never heard a cross word spoken by anyone. Everything that happened this Saturday just goes to reinforce my firm belief that fly fishers are among the best human beings on the planet.
Joe Kahler	The Office (unfortunately, not fishing)
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Tough Choice, Tough Fishing.	05 March 2006
Went fishing Saturday morning. Wind conditions were quite bad, 15mph+ with white caps in the marsh. Dispite the wind, the water is looking much better than last time I was there a month ago (clarity) and there was a good amount of water in the marsh for being low tide. Had to make a tough choice between conclave and fishing, but with me and my wife expecting our first child I thought I better get it in while I can. We caught 2 flounder, 2 reds, and a dozen trout, but needless to say I had no chance to throw a fly. (As least with my skills) On the way back I saw that the southside of the Lake Ponch was really slick and the “spillway pier” under the the 1-10 bridge was sporting about 30 guest.
Choupique	Fourchon Marsh
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minnows	03 March 2006
Folks. In reference to Mr. Cormier's question about certain folks in the Lafayette area tipping flies with minnows for the purpose of enticing the wily sac-a-lait, let me emphatically avow that procedure is most assuredly not practiced for that particular end. It is reserved for crevalle jacks!Pete
pete cooperr, jr.	broussard, la.
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Sans minners?	02 March 2006
Pete, I know you folks around Lafayette have strange ways of catching fish on the long rod, as you mention, no use of beads, vosis, metallic or plastic appendages, but really.... do you guys fish sacalait without tipping your flies with minnows? That I find hard to believe (it would explain their reluctance to hit your flies).
Catch	Baton Rouge, LA
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hot fly!	02 March 2006
Hey guys! Don't you just love a nice early-March day? I sure do! Got my biggest fly-caught sac-a-lait today. That's sans jig-head ("bead"), sans cork ("vosi") and retrieved conventionally with strips, in case anyone in Baton Rouge cares. Anyway, I won't state how big it was, since my historic ineptitude in catching these wily fish has rendered my "best" only fair to many of you. However, the fly is notable - a size 8 yellow Marabou Muddler, Orvis style. Got three others and three bass, too! Ooh, the skillet will stink tonight! Try that fly - it has tallied some fine Missouri smallmouths, etc, too! Best, Pete
pete cooper, jr.	Broussard, la.
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A new meaning to "fly" fishing	05 February 2006
Sat afternoon at the neighborhood lake was quite interesting. Wind was blasting from the northwest, enough to generate whitecaps, and here I was with a 3wt rod and a 2wt line. It didn't seem to perturb the gobbules though, and most anytime a decent cast was made, a fish was hooked. Nearly all were 4"-5", but there were a couple wristband redears that doubled up the 3wt, and even pulled line through the guides. Biggest hurdle I faced was getting the line to hit the water without blowing right back at me!
Catch	BR
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Testing, testing...	31 January 2006
Test of the anti-spam feature. Hey, it works!
Catch	Not on the water... rats!
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Chocolate water - only Nagin would be pleased!	30 January 2006
Joe Kahler and I traversed areas of the Maurepas-Ponchartrain swamps yesterday afternoon looking for sacalait water. What we found at Black Lake, Tickfaw, Amite, Natalbany, and both ends of Highway 51 was some of the highest and muddiest water I've seen in a long time. All that chocolate water is no friend to fish or fishermen; as far as I know, only Ray Nagin might appreciate it! Ended up near the mouth of the Tchefuncte in Madisonville. Several canals off the river have been good for sacalait, bass, and redears in the past. Post-Katrina all the lillies and grass are gone. The folks fishing the bridges were catching reds, and the only fish we managed to catch was a drum on Mepps Spinner (commie). Near sunset, either stripers or white bass were tearing up baitfish, a few strikes, but nothing landed.
Catch	Florida Parishes
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Strange Days in the Marsh	30 January 2006
Headed out to our duck lease southwest of Houma on Saturday morning to see if the marsh bass were bedding up yet. I started with a popper, but had no luck early on. As the morning progressed, the wind got really bad and I switched to the old backup spinning reel. I landed a 3 lb football of a bass a little later. I was pleased with the catch, but I was also concerned by the coloring of this fish. This marsh has always been very fresh, and the bass are typically dark green. This one had a very yellow belly, just like what I used to catch around Point Au Chein before the salt completely took over. I knew we were in trouble a little later when my buddy landed rat red on a culprit worm. To top off the moring, I hooked into some leviathon near one of my best pre-Katrita sacalait holes. After abusing my wimpy little spinning real for 5 minutes, the 28.5" red finally turned himself in. Yeah I'm always pumped to catch a nice red, but not on my freshwater duck lease. To my knowledge, no redfish have ever been caught in this area. We were fishing approximately 1/4 mile south of the Intracoastal Canal. I shutter to think what happened to all my sacalait:(.Trout.
The Trout Whisperer	Bayou Black
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Bass on the beds, already?	29 January 2006
Yeah, no kidding. Went to North Sherwood Lake this pm, and there they were. Counted 5 beds, 2 were occupied, one had 3 bass. Fishing was slow, many bites but small bream, and no bass. Went to Waddill and didn't even see a bass. Came back to the neighborhood lake and caught four bass right before dusk using Sqwirm Worm.
Catch	BR
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Fishing with Paradise Outfitters	23 January 2006
Did I say I wanted to catch a Tuna on the fly rod? I take that back. Well, actually, on the perfect calm day with the opportunity to target a smaller one, yes, I would like to try it. However, yesterday, while fishing with Paradise Outfitters (985-845-8006), we landed a few in the 150lb range that would tear your playhouse down if you hooked'em on fly. I have never pulled on fish like this before and I have to say that it was an amazing, eye-opening and very humbling experience. I never in my wildest dreams imagined fish pulling that hard for that long. I can't tell you how many times I had to pass a rod off because I was just absolutely spent beyond the point of being able to even grab the reel. This is not fishing for the faint of heart. This style of fishing is for those ready to go to battle against an opponent that is not quitting until it's dead. This fishing tests your strength, your stamina, your skill and above all, your will power. It didn't take long for me to lose all pride and realize that this was going to be a team effort if we wanted to get these fish to the boat. Anywho, we had a wonderful time with the Bonito on fly rods and battled the rest of the fish, including a 250+lb Mako, 3 Yellowfin and 4 Blackfin. All in all, a fantastic day on the water with great friends and a great Captain and Mate. I'll tell you this much, these guys earn every dime they get. There was a wonderful dinner waiting for us that night at the camp, a full breakfast in the morning and they put blood, sweat and tears in from dark to dark on our day of fishing. Kudos to Paradise Outfitters and thanks for one of the most memorable days on the water I'll ever have.Alec Griffin
Alec at Uptown Angler	The Lump
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Bream	20 January 2006
Fished bayou Lacombe this morning. Caught 15 nice sized bream. All on size 8 black beadhead wooley bugger.
john murray	Bayou Lacombe
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bass	20 January 2006
Hey guys! A buddy and I got eight bass and wallowed several others on poppers in a couple of hours this morning. The time's getting right!Pete
pete cooper, jr.	broussard, la
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1st day on the water in a while	19 January 2006
I honestly forgot how crucial a good day of fishing every once in a while is to maintaining good mental health. Monday was the first day I have been on the water in almost 3 months. I know, pretty pathetic for a guy who works in a fly shop, but the odds just haven't been in my favor for getting on the water recently. I went out with Capt. Bryan Carter (504-329-5198) and a good friend, Honore Aschaffenburg, for a day in the marsh. The forecast was questionable but I have never regretted going and I have certainly regretted not going. Well, we made the right choice and although the first couple of hours were a bit discouraging, the action picked up around lunch time and never subsided until we packed it in around 5:00. We all caught some nice fish and the scenarios of tailing, cruising and crawling fish were all very memorable. The smallest fish was 5 pounds and the largest was 13 so all in all, a great days catch. I also caught a 7 1/2 pound Sheepshead (sheepshead everywhere!!!) which gave me a good run....talk about some horse teeth. Whether you want to catch Sheepshead or not, they are certainly good target practice. Anywho, crab flies were the ticket and you really just had to get it in the vacinity of a Redfish to give yourself a good chance of a hook up. Do yourself a favor, give Bryan a call and get a good day on the water. I've got a new spring in my step and can't wait to get back out this weekend for a lump trip. I've got a 16wt. Xi2 that needs a good bending. Hope to report Monday with sore arms and a belly full of sushi. Take care and tight lines.Alec
Alec at Uptown Angler
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Some Bream Activity	08 January 2006
Fished North Sherwood Lake Saturday pm, starting about 2:30. Fished for about 1.5 hours and caught 3 bream that were a little too small to keep on a blu/wht fluff butt under vosi. The fish were out near the middle, and were caught on the west side of the lake. Very sluggish....but promising.Trout.
The Trout Whisperer	North Sherwood Lake
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Fish tales and fish tails	07 January 2006
Went to TPH this am to work the marsh on north side but couldn't launch due to NO water. So fished TPH instead. Met up with Brendan B. in his yak who was there at dawn and did well on specks and reds early. Caught 2 specks, 23 rat reds to 19" using intermediate line and LSU Clouser stripped off the bottom. Around noon, moved across road where tide was now high enough to launch. Saw 3 reds and none hungry. Met up with Mike LaFleur, Steve Lee, and Joe Kahler who had paddled across Lake Laurier. They did well in the open lake on reds, Mike catching a 9, 10, and 11 pounder, and Steve landing a 20+ pounder after it took him for a ride! Well, that confirmed my fish tale about the one that got away back in November (same location). But just as we put one tale to rest, here comes another tale, or tail, you folks won't believe: while paddling back in, I spotted this big white tail just sticking up above the waves in the middle of this open water. As I approached, it didn't move. I made a few casts, no movement. Closing in, I noticed it was a huge black drum, probably 20-25 pounds. It's head was in the mud, and the tail was out the water. Still no movement, I thought it was dead, so I reached out to grab the tail. That's when it bolted out and nearly knocked the canoe and me overboard. Took a few minutes to regain my composure. I have no idea what this fish was up to.
Catch	Fourchon
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Foggy warm end for 2005	01 January 2006
Went down to the marsh to fish once more for 2005. (Plus now I have a fly rod thanks to my wife) With my shorts and t-shirt on I launched in the clear dark about 5:30am into the TPH. Air Temp = 64º When the sun came up so did the fog I left in Leeville. I couldn’t see my truck from the cut. Caught 2 keeper trout with another throwback within thirty min under VOSI but not much else for another hour and a half. Decided to drive and look at a couple of other areas, but the water was at a non-existent level, and the beach looked life-less. I went back and talked with Roger who was also having a bad morning at the TPH. So I hit the Oklahoma pit for nothing else but to delay my departure. Caught 1 keeper and 9 throwbacks on the incoming tide by the pilings up close to the shore under VOSI. Went back to the TPH and caught another keeper and 5 throwbacks on a F/S tip line and a gummy minnow. No Wind, No Water, No Gnats, No Cold, No Fish. Oh well there’s always next year!
Bowfin	Fourchon Marsh
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