Old man winter has finally hit. Water temperatures have dipped into the 50’s and most fish will probably have started to go to deeper water. There is one fish species that thrives in cold water and can be considered the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I’m talking about rainbow trout, or rainbeauxs as some of us in the fly fishing community have dubbed them.
    Rainbow trout are not native to our state. Not only are they not native, but in order to catch them for most of the year you would have to drive 8 hours to the Lower Mountain Fork in southeastern Oklahoma for the closest trout stream. Every year just before Christmas BREC, the organization that runs and maintains the public parks in the Baton Rouge area, stocks 4 ponds in the Baton Rouge area. This year the 4 ponds are the ponds at Forest Park, Burbank Sports Complex, Central Sports Complex, and Greenwood Community Park. Last year Zemurray Park in Hammond and Sidney Torres Memorial Park in Chalmette were also stocked, but I haven’t been able to find if they have been stocked yet. Check http://wlf.louisiana.gov/ for up to date information on the stocked ponds.
    Rainbow trout are coldwater trout and live in water in water up to 60 degrees. Water temps over 70 will start to kill them. Rainbeauxs typically live on a diet of insects, crustaceans, and worms. The bigger trout, usually over 12 inches will also eat smaller fish. This is the case in wild trout and stocked trout that have been in the “wild” for a couple weeks.

    When going out to catch them knowing how long it has been since the trout were stocked will tell you what to use to catch them. If it’s only been a couple days the rainbows will likely not eat. This is normally an adjustment period and they are likely still looking for the trout pellets that they are fed at the hatchery. After a couple days the trout will start to eat just about anything that resembles the pellets they are used to eating. For the spin angler, marshmallows are the bait of choice but some power bait and crappie niblets work just as well.. The rig for fishing marshmallows is a small split shot crimped 6 to 12 inches above a small bait hook. Since marshmallows float, you want to use a split shot big enough to stay on the bottom and so you can keep tension on the line, but not so big that the trout can’t move it when it takes the bait. For the fly angler just about any nymph or streamer in the size 10 to 14 range will work. My preference is a size 12 bead head hares ear nymph usually olive colored. You can also fish an egg pattern with limited success.

    After the trout have been stocked for a couple weeks they start to discover the insects and minnows in the pond taste way better than the nasty trout pellets they were fed at the hatchery and way, way better than nasty old marshmallows. For the spin anglers the power bait still works and you can still use the marshmallows, only add a couple kernels of canned corn or earthworms to the hook. The marshmallow will keep the bait suspended above the bottom. They will also start hitting small spoons and rooster tails. For the fly anglers now is our time to shine! Those nymphs and streamers still work with increasing success. On warm afternoons you might start to notice insects hatching off the surface of the pond. If this happens you might start noticing swirls on the surface, these swirls are the trout sipping the hatching bugs off the surface of the water. If you see this it’s time to try dry flies and emergers. I use an adams or parachute adams when they are feeding on the surface. 
    A few tips for the fly fishermen. 3 to 5 weight rods and lines are what you want to use if you have them. You can use the heavier rods if that’s all you have, it just won’t be as fun. Use the biggest tippet you can get away with. The lightest I go is a 2x tippet which is about 8 pound test. And also carry some strike indicators. On warm afternoons you will have to slow down when fishing. A strike indicator will make it easier to detect the subtlest take on your fly that you might now have been able to feel. 
    For those using conventional tackle, leave the big tackle at home. Ultra-light, light, and light-medium power rods are sufficient for rainbow trout. 10 pound test line or lighter is all you need. Leave the pier fishing rods at home. You’re more than likely going to catch some bluegill while fishing for rainbeauxs. If you’re going to use canned corn, mix in some minced garlic with the corn and let it marinate at least overnight. This will greatly increase the chance of catching a rainbeaux.  
    With the recent bout of cold weather the water temperature in the ponds should have dropped down to the ideal range. Get out there and try your hand at catching one. There is a 4 fish per person daily limit so take them if you catch them. They do taste pretty good. 

Tight Lines
JZ

In a previous post I covered fly rods. The rod is the most expensive piece you are going to buy in order to get into fly fishing and is the most important. In this author’s opinion the fly reel is the second most important piece of equipment you will need because it hold your line and backing, more on those later in the post. In most cases you will not be fighting fish on the reel; you will typically hand line, or as it’s called in fly fishing, stripping the fish in. Because of this the reel is usually used to store your 90 feet of fly line and 100 yards or more of backing. When you hook a big fish, however, you will sometimes have to fight the fish on the reel, so now you have a decision to make: what kind of fly reel do you buy? They come in 3 different types: automatic, click and pawl, and disc drag.
​

2. The click and pawl reel, sometimes called the spring and pawl reel is the simplest and usually the most inexpensive reel. It consists of 2 parts; the spool and the housing. The spool has a fixed gear on the back side. That gear locks into a pawl and when the spool 
is moved forwards or reverse makes the classic clicking that most people associate with a fly reel. Because there is no adjustable drag on this reel, you palm the spool with your reel hand to slow down spool when fighting a big fish that is peeling off line. These reels are easily converted for either left or right hand retrieve; before you put the line on the spool just turn the reel to whichever side you want. Then spool the line and you’re good to go. If you already have line spooled, just strip the line into a bucket and then reload the line. If all you’re going after is bream, 
sacalait, and small to medium bass, the click and pawl reel is all you really need. 
​
3. The disc drag reel is probably the most common fly reel out there. They have the ability to provide some tension on the spool to slow down the fish. Most have a knob on one side of the reel that lets you adjust how much tension will be applied to the spool like a normal baitcasting or spinning reel. Just like the click and pawl reels, reels with a disc drag can be set up for either a left or right hand retrieve. Most come set up for a left hand retrieve out of the box. In order to change the retrieve, you usually have to flip a bearing or washer under the spool. Refer to owner’s “manual” that is included in the box with your reel.

​Once you have decided on which type of fly reel you’re going to buy, you have to decide on what size reel to buy. Besides small, mid, and large arbor reels; fly reels are sold by what sized fly line they are rated to have hold. Normally they are labeled to hold 2 different size line, such as a 3/4 reel. That means the reel will hold either 3wt or 4wt fly line. The only difference is how much backing you can spool before spooling your fly line. Just like switching the retrieve on a disc drag fly reel, refer the the owner’s manual. There should be a little chart in it that will tell you how many yards of backing to use for whichever size line you will use. It is ok to use bigger fly line than what is suggested for you reel, just use less backing. At one point I was using 5wt fly line on my Albright 3/4 GPR fly reel. I have since put 4wt fly line on it to match my 4wt TFO rod. 
Now that you have your fly reel, you need to put some line on it. This first line you need to put on the spool is some backing. Backing serves 2 purposes; it’s used as “filler” to make reeling in the fly line easier with less revolutions of the spool, and gives you more line for when a fish takes all of you fly line. Backing is generally made of braided dacron in either 20 or 30 pound test. Unless you’re going after tarpon or bigger saltwater game fish 20 pound backing is all you need. Do not; however, use monofilament for your backing. It has too much line memory and will coil and tangle easily. It also can dig into itself on the reel which can also cause tangles. 
Once you have some backing you need some fly line. The first thing you need to decide is what weight line. Get the weight line that matches the weight of the rod. It’s that easy. Next you need to decide on what taper. Fly lines come in 3 different tapers: weight forward, double taper, and level. 

2. The double taper. 
Double taper fly line has the majority of its weight in the middle and has the same taper on either end. The double taper works well for a more subtle presentation, but you lose some distance when casting. You can also reverse the line on the spool if one end gets damaged. ​

3. Level line. 
The level line has absolutely no taper in it at all. It is the same diameter from tip to tip. This taper is usually found on budget, or cheap, fly line. It has no advantage other than being less expensive. Once you have chosen what taper, you need to decide on what type of fly line to get. There are 3 types of fly line to chose from: floating, sinking, or sink tip. ​

●  Floating line: Floating line does just what it’s name says: it floats. From the butt end that’s attached to your backing to the tip attached to you leader, it floats. It’s great for fishing all types of flies in shallow water, and by shallow I mean up to 10 feet of water. 

●  Sinking line: this is just the opposite of the floating line: from butt to tip it sinks. There are 8 types of sinking line though. They range from Intermediate, then types 1 through 7. What’s the difference you ask? Sink rate. Each one sinks at a different rate. There’s is no standard in the sink rate between the manufacturers, but it should say on package in inches per second, ips, what’s the sink rate. These lines are typically used for getting flies down to the fish when they are deep. These are generally used to fish lakes for trout, or in our area in the winter when fish have gone deep because of cold weather. Because the entirety of the line sinks, there is increased drag when setting the hook. 

●  Sink tip: this is a combination of sinking and floating line. Typically the last 8 to 16 feet of the line sinks and the rest floats. This is useful because it reduces the drag of the line when setting the hook. Due to the fact that this and the sinking line sink, you won’t be able to fish dry flies and poppers.

Now that you know what kind of line you need, you need to figure out the weight of the line that you need. That’s the easiest part. Just match it to the weight of your rod. If you are still trying to figure out what size rod to buy I have a chart. Just match the size of the flies you’re going to fish to this chart. It will tell you what size rod and line you need. 

On the last Northshore Fishing Report show on More Outdoors with Don Dubuc, Keith asked a good question that I could have filled the over a half­hour worth of progamming with: what are some flies to have for freshwater? Well I think I’ll use this month’s post on just that. These are my recommendations on flies I keep in my box all the time. These are just some all around good flies to have. If you know anyone who ties flies, now is the time to be very nice to them since some of these can only be found at local fly shops. ​

​2.  The Fluff butt. I’m not making this one up, I promise. The Fluff butt is a bead­head woolly bugger without the hackle. If you’ve ever fished a marabou jig on ultralight spinning tackle then you have fished a fluff butt. The fly version is tied on either a 1/120th oz or smaller jig head or on a streamer hook with a bead­head. Fish them by jigging them vertically, with or without a strike indicator, around trees for sacalait or with a slow retrieve. They catch bass, bream, and sacalait. This is one of those flies that is not readily available in fly shops, so you might want to find a fly tyer and ask them to make some for you. 

​3. The Hare’s ear nymph. This has to be the most versatile fly out there along with it’s cousin the pheasant tail nymph. Personally I prefer the hare’s ear to the pheasant tail because it can be tied in a variety of colors. You can find them in black, brown, or olive and in bead­head and standard(nonbead­head). They are typically tied in sizes 10 to 16. I prefer the 2 in the middle, sizes 12 and 14. Remember I said they are versatile, they imitate a variety of aquatic life; scuds, sow bugs, mayfly nymphs, caddis larvae, damselfly larvae, dragonfly larvae, and stonefly larvae. I fish them year round. Because of how small they are you will catch a bunch of fish and many of them small, but when fished in the cooler months you will catch some of the bigger bream on them. Fish them with or without a strike indicator but fish them slow, the things they imitate don’t move very fast. 

5.  The Crappie Candy. When the sacalait are feeding on shiners and minnow this is the best fly I have found to catch them. This fly is sort of a combination of woolly bugger and Clouser minnow. It has lead eyes tied on to make it ride hook point up with but a body of chenille with a wing and tail of fur. I personally tie these from a size 12 and 10 for sacalait up to a size 4 for bass. Fish them with or without a strike indicator. This is another of those flies that can be a bit of a pain to find. The only place I have found them is at the Green Trout in Baton Rouge, and even then it’s in limited quantities. That is the reason I learned how to tie them myself. I tie them in all sorts of colors: black and chartreuse, black and pink, chartreuse and white, pink and white, pink and chartreuse, purple and white. If you can’t find them at the fly shops in the area, then ask your local fly tyer or I might be convinced to make some. If you are a fly tyer go to Onthevise.com and seach “crappie candy.”

7.  And finally....the popping bug. What fly list for south Louisiana would be complete without the popping bug? Everyone knows the popping bug. I make them by the dozen in the spring and summer. In fact, I have 3 with the primer coat drying right now waiting for paint. Accardo used to be the name for popping bug. Unfortunately Accardo was bought by Bett’s a few years ago so now just about all the popping bugs you will find are made by Bett’s, but they use some of the old Accardo paint patterns. You can find small ones for bluegill, medium ones for bass, and big ones for redfish. Now that you have a list of patterns to look for, it is time to talk sizes. Flies are sized by the size of the hook, not the size of the finished fly. Just like normal fishing hooks, the bigger the number the smaller the hook. That is until you get to 1/0 and up, then the bigger the first number the bigger the hook. When choosing what sizes of flies to buy, or make if you’re getting into fly tying, pick the size for the fish you’re targeting. Generally if I’m fishing for bream, I’ll fish flies in the 14 to 10 sizes. For sacalait, I’ll fish flies up to 6. Everything bigger I consider a bass fly. 

In my first post I mentioned “cold water trout” and I wasn’t talking about fishing specks in the winter. I was talking about the species of freshwater fish in the s​ubfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. Some of these fish are brook trout, brown trout, lake trout, and rainbow trout. These fish are what fly fishing was made for. These fish typically live in clear streams and lakes in water temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees. Trout under 12 inches feed on insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and blood and mealworms which is why fly fishing a great way of fishing for them. Fly fishing was actually developed as a fishing technique so fishermen could use weightless lures to imitate the insects that trout feed on, that’s how flies, the lures, got their name. As years went on fly tyers adapted flies to mimic other things as well to target other fish in both fresh and saltwater, but we’re getting off subject.

I’m sure you’re reading this and thinking “John what does this have to do with fly fishing in around here?” Well the answer to that question is simple: in the winter time LDWF and a couple cities like Walker and Baton Rouge stock some ponds with rainbow trout.

 Zeemurray Park in Hammond and Torres Park in Chalmette are on the list for trout to be stocked in January and should have been stocked by now. Sidney Hutchison Park in Walker as well as 4 ponds in Baton Rouge were stocked with rainbow trout in December. For a list of ponds in Baton Rouge visit BREC.org. If you go out to try your hand at catching these trout know that you can keep 4 per person per day. You are actually encouraged to keep the trout you catch, up to 4 a day, because these fish will die once the water temperatures in the ponds get above 70 degrees. 

Now that you know where they are, what do you use to catch them? My personal favorite flies to use are bead head hare’s ear nymphs in size 12 or 14, woolly buggers in either olive or black in sizes 12 or 10, and egg flies if you can find them. When fishing these watch where your fly line and leader meet. You’re watching for twitches or sometimes the tip of the fly line will dart in any direction, or you can do like I do and fish with a strike indicator, more on those later. If you don’t have any strike indicators pick up the smallest cigar shaped bobbers, not the ones with a spring in them, and cut one in half. Thread that on your line with the cut side facing the fly and insert the stick. Voila, you just made a strike indicator! more specifically a vertically oriented strike indicator, or as we call it in the business, a VOSI. You could go to Bass Pro, Cabelas, or Orvis and pick up a pack of these little pinch on foam strike indicators. There are nothing more than a piece of foam with adhesive on one side and you peel it off the backing and fold them in half on you tippet so the adhesive side sticks to itself. Be warned, these are not adjustable! Where you stick it is how deep the fly will sink. 

Keep an eye for fish rising. When they are rising, that is swirling on top the water, they are eating bug off the surface of the water. If you see them doing this, that is a great time to use either and emerger pattern or dry flies. I’ve heard people having great success with dry flies using a parachute adams fly. If you’re going to use dry flies make sure you have some fly dressing to dry the fly off so it continues to ride high on the surface. 

Good luck chasing rainbeauxs! 

Keep your flies out of the trees and May the Fish be with you JVBZ 

Before I get started I guess introductions are in order. Hi, I'm John. I grew up fishing bass and sac­a­lait on the west bank of St. James parish. My dad introduced me to the sport of fly fishing about 20 years ago. He gave me an old fly rod and old fly reel and taught the basic fly cast. Since then I've been able to fish trout in 5 states as well as catching bream on popping bugs here. Over the past year and a half fly fishing has become something of an obsession for me. I've been hitting the local ponds where I have become quite a nuisance to the bluegill population. I've started taking my fly rods with me every time I hit the water in either my kayak or the boat. Now I will say this, I am not an expert. I don't know everything about fly fishing, mostly on the saltwater side but I'm learning. I'm also trying to figure out how to catch bass on the fly. It's possible and I catch some while fishing small nymphs and streamers for bluegill and sac­a­lait.

I'm also not endorsed by or getting paid by any particular brand or company. Any brands that I mention from here on are just the brands that I use. There aren’t very many stores in our area to get flies and gear from. Orvis is one of the stores that I spend a lot of money at buying hooks and materials for tying flies. They are also where I've learned most of what I know, so I will probably mention them alot. I’ll add a list of fly shops at the end so you know where you can go to get what you need. With all this being said, I am just an average fisherman who wants to share what I know and hopefully get more people into the sport of fly fishing. Let’s get onto the meat of this now. 


As I’ve been thinking of what to write about first in this I was thinking of starting with covering the basics of fly fishing, but after fishing some of the local ponds for the rainbow trout that were stocked recently I’ve heard some people say some things that made me wonder where they heard these thing. I have since decided to clear up some of the misconceptions with this first blog. 

1. “There’s nowhere to do that kind of fishing. ”
I have heard this said several times by people going into the Orvis for the first time. Most people think that in order to fly fish you
have to be in a stream in the mountains of Montana or Wyoming. Movies such as “A River Runs Through It” and “The River
Why” perpetuate that thought. However, wherever you can fish with “normal” gear, you can fly fish. With the exception of a guided trip in the Smokey Mountains every year, all of my fly fishing is done right here in south Louisiana. Whether it’s in my kayak drifting down Bayou Cane, Bayou Lacombe, or the Amite river; in the ponds in my neighborhood; or in the marshes of the Rigolets or southern Lafourche Parish. With south Louisiana being a sportsman’s paradise, it’s also a fly fisherman’s paradise. 

2. “Fly fishing is expensive!”
I’ve heard this said by many people over the years. Yes, fly fishing can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Just like spinning and baitcasting gear, fly fishing gear has it’s tiers of pricing. Fly rod and reel outfits start at $29.99 and can go up to to a couple thousand dollars. Personally I wouldn’t recommend the $30 combo for reasons I’ll explain in a later post. If that’s all you can afford to toss popping bugs for bream go for it, otherwise I would say save your pennies so you can afford some of the decent $100 combos offered by Bass Pro or Cabellas. 

3. “There’s no way I can tie that tiny fly on that tiny line.”
Fly fishing down here doesn’t use those tiny midges with 1­2 lb tippets(more on tippets in a later post). While I do own a couple tiny flies, most of what I fish are at least as long as

nickel is wide. As of the writing of this I’m waiting on a couple flies that are 5 inches long and are articulated to catch bass. Most of the aquatic insects, bait fish, and crustaceans here are bigger than the tiny nymphs and midges that coldwater trout feed on in mountain streams. Also, most of the fish we target down here are not as leader shy as the wild rainbow and brown trout of mountain streams so we don’t need to use those small tippets. The smallest tippet I use is a 4x or about 5­6 lb test depending on the company that makes it. 

4. “I don’t know where to begin to learn to use a fly rod.”
In the age of the internet, this is no excuse anymore. Orvis.com is a great place to start. You can order what’s called the PractiCaster for $40 to start and then watch the videos in the Learning Center teaching you how to cast. Search youtube. There are tons of video there to teach you every aspect of fly fishing. From the basic fly cast, to switch and spey casting, to Tenkara fishing, youtube can be a great learning center for beginners. Join online fly fishing forums. Laflyfish.com is a great place for information. The site is run by Glenn “Catch” Cormier that writes the fly lines column in Louisiana Sportsman. There is an online forum dedicated to every aspect of fly fishing. Your’s is a member there and they are really good at answering any question you have. I have learned tremendous amounts of the guys there. 

If you’re looking to get some flies and gear check out Old Towne Fly Shop in Slidell, The Green Trout in Baton Rouge, Orvis in Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge, Bass Pro in Denham Sprins, or Cabellas in Gonzales. You can find Acardo popping bugs at Academy and Walmart, but for everything else you’ll have to go to one of the fly shops I mentioned or any number of online retailers. 

I hope I have helped clear up some of the mystery of fly fishing with this post. I will try to get a new one up at least every other month, if not every month to keep you informed as to what going on in fly fishing. If you have topics you wish to see send me a message on the forum here, my screen name is Vacherieboy. 

Keep your flies out of the trees, and May the Fish be with you. John “Vacherieboy” Zeringue 

First let me say we are so incredibly lucky to live here in Southeastern Louisiana, we have the opportunity to catch fish all year long in freshwater or saltwater. With that said, I can also say we are not so lucky when it comes to summer. Here in South Louisiana summer gets here early and stays a while. Starting in June it gets hot and by August it’s beyond hot. But on those hot days the Bass action can also heat up if you change your Fly Fishing Tactics.

Just think how you feel out in the sun in the middle of the summer. Well the Bass feel the same heat so just like us, they also slowdown in summer. Like us Bass look for cool areas and that is normally in deeper water. They tend to suspend in deeper water and that can make Bass difficult to catch on a fly.  We tend to do our outside chores early in the morning or late in the evening, well the Bass have one chore during summer, EAT... They will do that early and late in the day when the temperature drops a few degrees. Bass will rise from the deeper areas and feed in shallow water making them easy prey for a well-placed popper. 

This is your first change in Tactics; get up early (before daylight) so you can be on the water at sunrise or get out there late so you can stay till dark thirty. Your second change in Tactics is Slow Down; don’t try to cover a lot of water. Look for areas that have deeper water nearby and also look for lots of shade in these areas. Bass will tend to hold up and stay close to cover. Take your time and cast to every piling or overhanging limb. Make several casts in the same spot and then just move over a few feet and cast again. In summer just a matter of a foot can make the difference of a strike or not. Another change in Tactics; stay with larger top water fly’s that make some noise. During the hot days the big fish want big meals, they can fill up on fewer meals and then go back and hang out doing nothing. Big Bait = Big Fish, a big popper can draw a fish from deep cover or deep water. Remember it’s hot, drink plenty water, wear sunscreen and have fun.

Last month I was asked many times about Fly Lines , Leaders , Tippets and Knots and how each is attached, so this month I wanted to take time and answer many of the questions about  the Fly Tackle listed above. Start with the Fly Line and what I think is the easy way to attach a leader. A simple loop at the end of the line. Fly lines come with welded loops or without. To avoid tying knots buy a line with a welded loop. An issue is more lines come without loops than with loops.  I do not recommend using metal eyelets that you stick through the line, they cause the line tip to absorb water and sink so avoid these at all costs. It’s easy to tie a loop on the end of the line using a nail knot. Simply loop the line using the nail knot to attach the loop. To make this easy use a nail knot tool. Very cheap at any good tackle shop. In the picture you see a piece of fly line with a loop tied on both ends using a nail knot.  (You can find instructions on tying knots mentioned this month on Youtube or stop in at the fly shop for free instructions any time.) After I tie the knot I seal the end of the line with Zap A Gap. Moving to the leader; I recommend a tapered leader, like fly line, leaders come pre-looped or without loops. Simply use a perfection knot to loop your leader. Take the loop on the mono leader, slide it over the fly line then take the small end of the tapered leader and pass thru the loop on the fly line. It will form a square knot that will not tighten and can be removed easily. Use a leader straightener on new leaders or leaders that get kinked while fishing. Put the leader between two pieces of leather and pull. Heat from friction will straighten the mono leader perfectly. I like to cut about two feet from my tapered leader and add a fly swivel. These swivels have neutral buoyancy in the water and allow me to or change a two foot piece of tippet quickly at any time. This also extends the life of the tapered leader along with stopping the fly from twisting your leader. 

Everybody knows the excitement of getting up early, stopping to have breakfast, and then traveling by boat or truck for several hours to places like the Biloxi Marsh, Port Sulfur, Cocodrie, the Atchafalaya Basin, or the Honey Island Swamp. The boat ride, light mist over the water, the smell, the sounds of birds, the sights of otters, alligators and nutria gliding into the water. These places bring back so many memories and are still at the top of my list for some great fly fishing adventures. But as I approach my 60th birthday and a lot of wear and tear on the joints and not quite the get up and go I had early on, as well as the price of fuel, I now spend a lot of time listening to laughing kids in back yards, lawn mowers and dogs barking. If this sounds like I am sitting on a lawn chair in the back yard, WRONG… I have found some fantastic urban fishing areas, they are easy to get to, cheap to fish and provide lots of action. So names like Cutoff and English Bayou are being replaced with Eden Isles, Palm Lake and Carr Drive. I have cut back on the long drives and am spending more time on the water at less cost.

First and foremost these areas I am about to share have boat launches near them and should be used to access the areas. Never use someone’s property to drop your boat in the water without permission.

Let’s start with The Bayou Lacombe area. There are two launches on Lake Road to access the bayou, one at the beginning of Lake Road and the other at the end of Lake Road. I prefer the end of Lake Road to launch. The fishing areas are easy to get to by paddle or outboard. Launch your boat and you can go south for some decent action including some salt and fresh water. I like to go north into some of the subdivision canals. These urban areas hold a lot of fish and there are areas on both the east and west sides of the bayou. Try using some Woolly Boogers, Poppers and Terrestrial flies. I like using a 9 foot rod in 5wt with a 4 to six pound leader and tippet. This area provides lots of room to cast so I like the longer rod.

Another area I like is the Bayou Bonfuca and Bayou Liberty area. There are places to launch on Bayou Liberty at the Marina and behind the Slidell Train Station. You can also put a paddle boat in at stump lagoon in the Palm Lake Subdivision. This whole area is an easy access if you want to paddle and leave the outboard at home. My favorite area is the Palm Lake Canal and Palm Lake. Lots of docks, structure and grassy areas. This area is a good place to drop down a size on a fly rod with a 7 to 8 ft. rod. The canals are narrow in Palm Lake so the shorter rods work really well. Drop your leader and tippet size to 4 pound and get into some great Bluegill action. Small top water Poppers and some Woolly Boogers. It is common to find the bigger fish about 18 inches below the surface.

I can’t leave out the area I call the North Shore. These are the canals from Geogheagans Canal to The Carr Drive canal, as well as Salt Bayou, Lake Shore estates and the Hwy. 11 Canal. All these hold fresh and salt water species. All have easy access by paddle or outboard with launches at Geoheagans, Salt Bayou and Hwy. 11. I would bump my choice of rod up here to 5wt thru 7wt with 6 to 10 pound leader and tippet, fishing with larger top water Poppers, Woolly Boogers and Streamers. You can fish the lights at night for some really great action during early summer thru fall. I find the night time fishing better with small flies that resemble bait fish. If you fish at night be extra careful fishing around underwater lights, never cast directly at a light, the fish, or at the bright areas. The fish will wait in the dark on the outside of the lights. Also casting directly at the lights can damage someone’s light and never drive directly over the light. Most folks do not mind someone fishing their lights as long as they are being careful not to damage the light. If someone objects to you fishing their light, be respectful and move on.

Last and my top spot for Urban Fishing is Eden Isles. There are miles of canals here that can be accessed by paddle or outboard. There is a launch at The Dock at the end of Rats Nest Rd. These canals hold fish and lots of them! I have even designed a fly for the area I call the Eden Isles Special. It is a soft foam fly with a popper head that can be cast against pilings and bulk heads without coming apart. It can be tied with #10 hooks to 1/0 hooks. My favorite hook to use is a Owner Mosquito hook .We have caught bass up to 8 pounds, with my best day at 5 fish pushing 25 pounds. I do consider this area as a catch and release area, trying to preserve the numbers of bigger fish. I like a 5wt 9 foot rod here using 5 to 8 pound fluorocarbon leader and tippet because of the clear water. There are many type of structure here with grassy banks to straight up and down sea walls. Most productive are the concrete seawalls and around dock pilings. Never pass up a drain pipe, when you find a large drain with half the pipe underwater cast into the pipe for an instant strike.

Be prepared for the urban areas on weekends and the boat traffic, these areas by design were built for people to use so don’t get frustrated on weekends with the amount of people on the water. Try to fish the areas during the week if you fish the weekend’s fish early before the crowd. So relax enjoy some new sights and different sounds and smells while discovering some great Urban Fly Fishing areas.

After reading many local articles on fly fishing and the high interest in the sport and a considerable amount of folks asking about the sport after they read articles, I feel the need to step back and start from square one with some basic information about Fly Fishing. Experienced fly fishermen and women, you may want to stop here. For the beginners please read on. Let’s start with some simple definitions.

Weight -  Example 2 wt. little number light rod. 9 wt. big number bigger rod... Let’s keep it simple for now.

Fly rod -  Long flexible rod, can be of any length. Most common is 8 to 9 feet. Comes in many different weights for different size fish. Also comes in many actions. Most common in this area is 5 wt., 8.5 to 9 feet. For the beginner a mid-flex 5 wt. to 6 wt. rods is best.

Fly line - Comes in many different weights and lengths. Most common lengths are 30 thru 90 feet. Fly line also comes floating, sinking, tapered, and straight and many other varieties. For the beginner only use Weight Forward Tapered Floating Fly Line matched to the weight of the rod. Warning!!!!Use of any other fly lines for the beginner can be hazardous to your emotional health along with the health of loved ones, fishing partners and pets.

Fly line backing - Extends the length of your fly line for larger fish. Remember; fly line is short and large fish can run further than 30 to 90 feet.

Fly Reel - Match your reel to your rod . For the beginner this is the easy part. Reel is a line holder and does not need to cost a lot to work just fine.

Leader -  Most fly line leaders are tapered. This adds a little weight to the leader and makes it easier to cast. Leaders can come in all lengths and sizes. Stick with a 7 to 9 foot leader.

Tippet - Attaches to leader. Easily can drop from the leader to a tippet size to match fish size.

Flies - Lure that catches the fish. Easily snags on any tree, dock, arm or head. The hooks on most flies are thin and sharp and extremely hard to remove from your fishing buddy’s scalp. Remember the fish does not catch the fly in the air. Just like any other lure it must be on the water to catch fish.

The Cast - This can be overwhelming for the first time. Start with an overhand cast. Start in the back yard with a short cast. Very important reminder… During the first practice casts leave the fly off and stay away from power lines and any overhead obstruction.

Knots - Only start with two in the beginning. Nail Knot and Surgeon knot.

YouTube - You can find anything you need about fly fishing on YouTube including how to tie these knots.

These are the simple definitions for the beginner on some of the equipment used to catch a fish on a fly.



                                        At this time I will add a WARNING about fly fishing

Fly Fishing can be very exciting and stressful along with a lifelong addiction and could present health concerns. Think about a five to eight pound Bass or Red crashing a big popping bug as soon as it hits the water for the first time fly fishing.  Fly Fishing increases blood pressure, can also cause pounding heart syndrome.  So please before proceeding to Fly Fish ask your doctor if you are healthy enough to fly fish. With that let’s move forward.

Time now to go find some equipment to use. Go out and hit the stores and find some sales or if you like garage sales this is also a great place to find some gear. The local fly shops can also a great place to find some used equipment. My suggestions are to find a 5 wt. to 6 wt. outfit and start in freshwater for Bass and Bluegill. Caution if the equipment is used and you do not know what type fly line is installed on the reel, you need to remove the line and purchase weight forward tapered floating fly line matching the weight of the rod. This will be the most important decision you will make as a beginner, your choice of the fly line will depend on your success at casting and catching fish.

Now let’s assume you have the tools and it’s time to fish. The great thing in this area is there are lots of water and fish that are easily accessible to any angler on any budget even without a boat. Small boats are great including kayaks, pirogues, paddle boards, flat boats and inflatable boats. Bigger boats work well as long as there are no T tops. These tops are extremely hard on fly rods, the experienced fly fishing angler will tell you this. They are the ones that usually make this mistake but never admit it. Next it’s time to go out and purchase some flies. Start with top water poppers or spiders in bright colors in different sizes. This type of fly is easy to cast and very visible on the water. My suggestion would be start with a popper or spider with size 10 hooks and then work my way up to a popper with a size 6 hook and fish with these for the first couple of trips. Start in some areas where there are fewer trees and have some solid bulkheads. Good area is behind the Slidell Train Station on Bayou Bonfuca. There are places to cast without a boat and if you do have a small boat there is no need for a motor and there are plenty fish to keep you interested. Cast the fly close to the bank, move it to make the popping motion and then let it sit very still on the water for 10 to 30 seconds. If there is no response, bump it again, this second bump will normally get the response. What you are not seeing is the Bream under the bug, as soon as that bug hits the water there are several pair of eyes looking up. Each are waiting on the other to make a move, sort of like you and partner or loved one at a hot dog stand, each trying to decide what you want to eat. Sooner or later one of you will order!! This is the way Bream approach a fly most days; they all have to take a look before someone decides to eat. This is also why you never pull the bug away after the first strike if the fish misses. Once one decides and misses there is usually a second strike with many times the second strike producing the bigger fish. If you decide Bream fishing is beneath your standards, jump to the bigger Bass poppers. Before you do this let me tell you there are many advanced closet bream fly fishing anglers out there. You read all the magazines about the big reds and big bass caught on a fly but pound for pound these little guys (bream / bluegill) put up a fight unequaled to any other fish around here and never give up until they are cold in the ice chest and also are great table food. I know of no local guides or advanced fly fishing anglers around here that would ever pass on a good day of fishing for bream on a fly rod, along with the fact I have caught some very large bass on the same fly while fishing for bream.

                                                                             Recap
 Start with less expensive gear. Make sure the fly line is correct. Use YouTube for some great info. Talk to the folks at your local Fly Shop.  Look for some local areas without lots of trees. Leave the conventional gear at home. Get your best buddy and try some fly fishing. Bald fishing buddies make great fishing partners, no reason to shave the head at the ER when its time to remove a fly from a wild cast.  Keeping the boat parallel to the bank will avoid expensive trips to the ER!! Do expect a lifetime of fun and excitement on the fly ..