We're a month away from ICAST / IFTD

Let's start with some acronyms. ICAST = International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, the world's largest fishing trade show. It's hosted by the ASA = American Sportfishing Association. IFTD = International Fly Tackle Dealer, the world's largest fly fishing trade show. It's hosted by AFFTA = American Fly Fishing Trades Association.

For decades, ICAST and IFTD held separate events, in different locations, usually 2-3 weeks apart each summer. In 2013, the two shows merged into one. Giving retailers, media and industry folks a chance to see all fishing-related products at one event. And reduce their expenses of having to travel to two different events. ICAST and IFTD held separate auxiliary events - such as seminars and demo days - but the rest of the event was seamless.

That 2013 show was held in Las Vegas. Since then, ICAST/IFTD has been held in Orlando. The event has continued to grow - last year it hosted 582 exhibitors in nearly 2000 booths covering 650,000 square feet of space. Almost 15,000 folks attended - quite a number considering that ICAST is not open to the general public.

However, this July 10-13 will be the last year of the merged show. Next year, ICAST returns to Orlando for the 6th straight year, while IFTD will be held in Denver. While the merged show has numerous advantages for the fly industry, it's no secret that many have "Florida Fatigue". Most fly companies are located in the Midwest or west of the Mississippi. Florida was fun at first, but the combination of long travel and tropical heat have offset the saltwater and warmwater fishing opportunities. For those of us media who cover different categories of products (e.g., fly fishing and kayak fishing), the merged show has been golden. It will be greatly missed!

Why is IFTD so important to you the readers? It represents an opportunity for us in the media to see, exam, and even test out just about every fly fishing product there is. Including some new products that will hit retailers in Fall 2018 or early 2019. Even the largest public event - the Somerset Fly Fishing Show - has only a fraction of this many product companies. 

As writers, that gives us great responsibility. Take fly rods, for example. Of the nearly 80 companies that sell fly rods, only about five percent are sold at any fly shop. And 90 percent of all fly shops combined only sell about 16 different brands. That same level of exclusivity applies to nearly all product lines. There's also many accessory products that seem lost in a world where marketing isn't just important - it's life or death!

Most media simply edit the countless product press releases. I'm proud that we're one of the few that go to every booth, exam and test every product (best we can) and give an unbiased review. As well as give the inside scoop on the people and companies that make these products. And learn why each product fits a specific need. It's not an easy task - from 8:30am to 6:00pm each day with no lunch break. Plus the demo days. Even then, we sometimes miss a product.

Once again, our focus will be on fly fishing products, any and all accessories of interest to fly anglers, kayaks and kayak fishing accessories. As of today, there's been some rumors about new rods from Sage and others. As for kayaks, Bonafide and Old Town have confirmed new boats. Everything is tight-lipped, even among pro staffers. Companies love to make the big announcements at ICAST, and we respect that.  Here's what we can say - the last three years have seen an unprecedented number of new fly and kayak offerings, and like with Orlando, there's fatigue!  So expect fewer new products this year.

New book features Fred Hannie flies

Fred Hannie of Lake Charles is one of the most respected fly tiers in the country. His realistic flies are incredibly lifelike. One time he gave me a wasp fly and I left it on the kitchen counter. My wife spotted it and grabbed a swatter and hit it several times before I walked in and saved that priceless bit of tying art!

Hannie's flies have been featured in several magazines, in his own book on realistic tying, and now in a new book by Tony Lolli. "The Art of the Fishing Fly" is 240 pages long and features stunning photography by Bruce Curtis of flies and the anglers who use them. It also focuses on the evolution of fishing flies and profiles 75 different flies. Included in that list are a dozen of Fred's flies. The book's forward was written by former president Jimmy Carter!

The Art of the Fishing Fly is now available on Amazon. Hardcover price is $25.70 and Kindle price is $14.99.  For those who want to see Fred tie one of his incredible creations, he'll be one of the featured tiers at the upcoming Contraband Fly Fishing Expo in Lake Charles on July 13-14.

ACA National Casting Championships coming in July

The American Casting Association will hold it's 110th annual National Casting Championship July 25-28 at the Valparaiso Casting Club in Valparaiso, Indiana. Most of the top casters in the world - both fly and conventional - will be on hand to compete for distance and accuracy. Among the many events are Single Hand Distance, Two Hand Distance, Trout Accuracy and others.

For two decades after World War II, competitive casting in the United States was a big deal. While it may have lost much of it's appeal domestically, it remains very popular in Europe. However, the USA has it's stars. Steve Rajeff and Henry Mittel have dominated much of the competition, setting world records in fly casting. And in 2015, 11 year old Maxine McCormack brought national attention as she broke several records. In 2016, she won the world casting title while competing with the USA Team in Estonia. Her emergence has reinvigorated interest in the ACA Nationals.

Some of the records set at the ACA Nationals include 1-Hand Fly Distance men's of 243 feet (Steve Rajeff, 2009) and women's of 155 feet (Pamela Peters, 2006). The 2-Hand Fly Distance men's record is 294 feet (Henry Mittel, 2011) and women's record of 179 feet (Pamela Peters, 2010). Anglers Fly Distance records include men's of 190 feet (Rene Gillibert, Steve Rajeff), women's of 150 feet (Alice Gillibert) and junior of 122 feet (Maxine McCormick).

Free fishing days start this weekend

This weekend kicks off National Fishing and Boating Week, a celebration of the importance of recreational boating and fishing in America. Most states, including Louisiana, have designated "free fishing days" either the first weekend or second weekend in June.

Free fishing days are a perfect opportunity to try out fishing for the first time. Or, if you're willing to travel, to partake of fishing in another state without having to purchase a license. Some states may have certain restrictions. For example, you might be able to fish freshwater for free, but still have to buy a saltwater permit or trout permit. So please check before making plans.

Louisiana's free fishing weekend is June 9-10. You can fish fresh or salt over these two days without needing a license.

Adjacent states:
- Arkansas, June 8-10 (beginning noon June 8th)
- Mississippi, June 2-3
- Texas, June 2nd (state parks are always license-free with admission)
- Oklahoma, June 2-3

For a complete list of free fishing days in all states, go to www.takemefishing.org.

Another setback for Alaska's Pebble Mine

This week, the proposed Pebble Mine project took another hit when Northern Dynasty Minerals - the company backing the project - failed to reach an agreement with it's financial backer, First Quantum Minerals. This was the fourth failed attempt for Northern Dynasty to secure a financial partner. 

Anglers, sportsmen, commercial fishermen, conservationists, and environmentalists everywhere celebrated the latest setback and hoped that this might shut down the Pebble Mine project once and for all. Pebble Mine is located in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near world-famous Lake Iliamna, and contains ore deposits rich in copper, gold and molybdenum. Widespread opposition is due to the fact that mining operations such as this generate large amounts of waste water - possibly toxic - that would put at great risk one of the world's greatest salmon fisheries. Also at risk would be countless wildlife that depend on the river, including bears and eagles. It would also risk thousands of jobs that depend on the renewable resources of the area.

Pebble Mine came to the forefront of the fly fishing community in 2013 during the Fly Fishing Film Tour. The movie "The Last Cast" told the story behind the Stop Pebble Mine initiative. Numerous fly fishing companies, such as Orvis and Patagonia, as well as organizations such as the Federation of Fly Fishers (now Fly Fishers International) voiced their opposition to the project. Today over 300 companies in the industry have united in opposition to Pebble Mine.

Tidbits

Congratulations to David Drez of the Contraband Fly Casters club. Yesterday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, David passed the Fly Fishers International Casting Instructor certification exam. He becomes the 11th FFI-CCI in Louisiana.  A list of current CCIs can be found at www.gulfcoastcouncilffi.org.

The 9th annual Bass On The Fly tournament has been featured on the BassMaster.com website.  The article recaps the tournament stats and winners, as well as acknowledging sponsors. As the article states, weather was a detriment to this year's attendance, even though a total of 39 boaters and 23 kayakers participated. The husband-wife team of Don and Kim Penick took first place in the Boaters Division, while Rex White and Eric Dilts of the North Louisiana Fly Fishers finished 2nd for the 2nd year in a row. Kevin Fuller took 1st place in the Kayak Division with 5 fish totaling 56 inches. For the complete article, click here.

Speaking of fly tournaments, this is the last week to register for the 6th annual Cedar Lake Fly Fishing Tournament to be held June 30th out of Biloxi, Mississippi. The freshwater tournament is sponsored by the Mississippi Coast Fly Fishers, and the $25 entry fee includes lunch from Your Mamaz House. For more details, go to this site.

KastKing introduces fly outfits benefitting "Anglers of Honor"

Click on image for enlargement

In 2011, Tate Cui and some of his college buddies at Syracuse University decided to start a fishing tackle company that emphasized value. KastKing was founded on the concept of providing a quality product, yet keeping prices low by selling direct to customers via eBay, Amazon, and through their website. 

KastKing has expanded a great deal in the last 7 years. Two years ago, they broke into the fly fishing market. One of their big sellers has been the Emergence outfit that features rod, reel, fly line, backing, and carrying case. Like most cheap Chinese products, it was a bit on the heavy side and therefore for my annual ratings didn't beat out similiar combos from Redington, Cabelas, TFO, Bass Pro, and Echo. However I would note that the KastKing outfit has had generally good reviews on Amazon (4.8 out of 5).

Yesterday KastKing announced a new combo series called the Defender series. It's dedicated to U.S. military veterans and the support organization Anglers of Honor (www.anglersofhonor.org). The outfit includes a 9-foot, 5-weight, 4-piece rod, CNC machined fly reel with graphite disc drag, floating fly line, backing, tapered leader and carrying case with "Anglers of Honor" logo.

Although it was created for veterans, KastKing is selling to the public and will donate a portion of each sale to Anglers of Honor. The outfit is available on Amazon for $99. The rod and reel look to be of higher quality than that of the Emergence series, and at a lower price, may be worth taking a closer look at. We hope to test this outfit in July at ICAST and will report back.

Masseys, Pack & Paddle offering Tidal Watersports

Just this week, Masseys Outfitters of New Orleans and Pack & Paddle in Lafayette announced that they will be carrying kayaks from Tidal Watersports. These basic kayaks offer a number of features at great bargain prices. They are meant to compete against cheap kayak offerings from Bass Pro, Cabelas, Academy -  even Walmart, Tractor Supply and T.J. Maxx! Yes, kayaking has become that popular. As the PnP blog puts it, "Why stand in a box store trying to get someone (who knows nothing about kayaks) to help you, without trying it first and have no service after the sale?".

The three boats in the Tidal Watersports lineup are the "Coast", the "Shoreline", and the "Vista". One benefit of Tidal kayaks is that - unlike the vast majority of boat makers - dealers have the latitude to offer promotional sale pricing instead of being locked into the manufacturers MSRP price.

The Coast is 10 feet in length, comes with waterproof hatches, removable padded seat, 4 rod holders and a paddle. MSRP is $559. This weekend, Pack & Paddle is offering this boat on sale for $449.

The Shoreline is their premier fishing boat. It's 12 feet long and features a hi-low frame seat, open floor plan (great for fly casting), dry storage up front, gear tracks, and a weight capacity of 400 pounds. The MSRP is $899.  Again, PnP is offering it for sale this weekend for $799 and that price includes paddle and life jacket!

The Vista might just be a big win for Tidal. At 13 feet long, this tandem sit-on-top kayak has frame seats and beaucoup open floor space. It also comes with four plastic accessory mounting points, tub type dry storage for each paddler, and four rod holders. With a capacity of 500 pounds. It's rare to find tandem kayaks of this type, but almost impossible to find at an MSRP of just $1199. Again, Pack & Paddle is offering this boat this weekend for just $999.

As with all their boats, Masseys and Pack and Paddle offer "try before you buy" testing. The rental fee can be applied towards the sale price when you buy.  For more info about these boats, go to www.masseysoutfitters.com or www.packpaddle.com.

LDWF to hold research symposium on June 4th

On Monday, June 4th, biologists with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries from across the state will meet in the Louisiana Room at LDWF headquarters on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge. The purpose will be to present the latest information on wildlife and fisheries research.

The event runs from 9:00am to 3:00pm and is open to the public. There is no cost. Preregistration is not required. For those unable to attend in person, a webinar link will be provided at :
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5262302623075376385.

For more information, contact Jeff Duguay at 225-765-2353 or jduguay@wlf.la.gov or Brett Falterman at 504-286-4160 or bfalterman@wlf.la.gov.

Potential world record fly rod redfish caught from kayak

Photo by Joe Underwood, courtesy of IGFA

Without question, Louisiana is the redfish capital of the world. But when it comes to bull reds on fly, Virginia has quite a legacy. Many years ago, I worked with Stuart Lee, who was our accounting manager at the Richmond office. At the time, Stuart held two fly rod world records for red drum. Both caught in Virginia's fabled Eastern Shore waters of Chesapeake Bay.

Currently, Louisiana holds the IGFA fly rod record for 20 pound tippet -  a 41.65 pounder taken by Conway Bowman out of Hopedale while guided by Capt. Gregg Arnold. But that record is now in jeopardy.

On May 14th, well-known kayak angler Rob Choi of Richmond Virginia was fly fishing the Eastern Shore from his yak using a Half-and-Half (half Clouser, half Deceiver) when he hooked and landed a 53-pound redfish.  After weighing it on an approved measuring device, the fish was released. The record application documents and photographs have been sent off to IGFA, where they are currently under review.

Not many details were given about how Choi was fishing, but I can share what Stuart shared with me about Eastern Shore. A lot of bull reds congregate into deep flats during late Spring and early Summer. The fish can be seen at times, and a sinking line with a baitfish pattern - and a lot of patience - is the key to success on these big brutes.  While it's not the type of fly fishing Louisiana redfish anglers are used to, it's effective and the fight is just as fun.

Fishing participation continues to rise

Events such as youth contests are inducting new anglers 

The Recreational Boating and Fishing Association yesterday announced that participation in fishing in the United States increased for the second year in a row. After a slight dip in 2015 (0.2 percent decline), numbers for 2016 and 2017 were back on the strong trend that started a decade ago. For 2017, participation rose 4% to 49.1 million anglers. This gives the last decade a 4.3% average increase.

Of great significance were the numbers of youth anglers. There were 11.6 million between ages of 6 and 17 who wet a line last year. That's a 5.4% increase from 2016.  Also up - the numbers of female and Hispanic anglers - up 3.1% and 11.0%, respectively.  And Americans that took up fishing for the first time was up a whopping 21 percent!

RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson stated, "As we continue to move closer to our 60 in 60 goal, news like this is incredibly encouraging. It's obvious that the work RBFF and the industry is doing is working. More and more consumers are realizing the joys of fishing.".

In most states, the community fishing programs, youth educational programs, and events such as National Hunting and Fishing Day have contributed largely to the continued growth. The largest increase in anglers has been under age 35 - which coincides with the time frame which most of these programs have been in place.

As for fly fishing participation... historically it tracks at about 10 percent of the total participation. However, last year it exceeded 11 percent for the first time. So it's probably safe to assume that it too rose 4 percent (but possibly higher).  We'll know for sure when the American Fly Tackle Trade Association (AFFTA) gives their annual "State of the Industry" presentation at ICAST/IFTD in July.

It's that time of year

Memorial Day weekend is typically the start of climatological summer here in Louisiana. And the start of tropical activity.  While it's still early for development of named storms, it's still possible for tropical depressions to form.  In fact, we might just have one for the start of Memorial Day weekend.

A broad, monsoonal-type disturbance in the Caribbean is expected to move into the Gulf later this week. Two models - GFS and Euro - call for northward movement and increased flow of moisture.  But the Euro model calls for some development and a more northwestern path.  At the least, it could mean a significant rain event for south Louisiana.

Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest fishing periods of the year.  Expect everyone to keep a close eye on this disturbance.

Grand Isle Weekend is now Leeville Fly Fishing Weekend

It was a tradition for nearly two decades. Members of clubs from Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as a few members from clubs elsewhere, would gather in late June or early July for a weekend of surf and marsh fishing, featuring a shrimp boil on Friday night and fish and shrimp fry on Saturday night. Sponsored by the Red Stick Fly Fishers, the Grand Isle Fly Fishing Weekend (GIFFW) was centered out of Blue Dolphin Inn on the beachfront at Grand Isle.

Last year, the GIFFW was cancelled due to a scheduling snafu. That resulted in RSFF discussing the future of the event and other options. At a meeting this Spring, Saltwater Chairman Randy Leonpacher discussed the concerns and issues with continuing at Grand Isle, and proposed a move to Leeville. The club voted nearly unanimously in favor of the change.

So the Grand Isle Fly Fishing Weekend is now the "Leeville Fly Fishing Weekend" set for June 22-24, 2018 with headquarters at Boudreaux's Waterfront Motel in Leeville. As in the past, participants are free to stay whereever they like. UNLIKE the past, everyone is responsible for making their own reservations. Once again, the event will be culminated with the Saturday evening fish and shrimp fry to take place at Boudreauxs, with the fish being contributions of freshly-caught cleaned fish filets from participants.

Members of organized fly fishing clubs are invited to participate.  In order to insure enough food - including salad, drinks and dessert - Randy is asking that those coming give him a headcount. For more info on the event, go to the LFF Forum or Red Stick Fly Fishers forum on www.warmfly.org. 

Louisiana CCA STAR tournament kicks off Saturday

The Coastal Conservation Association STAR is the state's largest annual saltwater tournament, now in it's 24th year. It kicks off the Saturday before Memorial Day and continues through Labor Day. Last year, nearly 13,000 anglers participated, but that number could be considerably less this year. More on that later.

Entry fee is $35 and you must be a current member of CCA (also $35, only $15 for member spouses, $10 for youth members). As always, the top division is Tagged Redfish, with the biggest prizes for the first 10 caught. CCA has tagged 100 reds for the 2018 STAR, distributed throughout the coast both inland and nearshore. There are also numerous other divisions - ranging from Speckled Trout (four regional divisions), Sheepshead, Flounder, and other species.

Back once again are the Fly Division and a Kayak Division - both heaviest speckled trout. Within the Fly Division, there are two (2) regional divisions, East and West. The winner of each division gets a $1,500 gift card to Academy Sports, sponsored by Costa. The Kayak Division has four (4) regional divisions, East, Southeast, Southwest, West. The winner of each division gets a Hobie Compass mirage-drive kayak, sponsored by Hobie.

Excitement for this year's STAR is considerably less than years past, due to CCA's opposition to House Bill 391 this past Spring. The bill, which would've allowed public access on flowing tidal waters (with exceptions) was defeated on the House floor after passing in committee. Many inshore anglers - particularly kayak and fly anglers - were outraged and vowed to boycott CCA, the STAR tournament and the Ride the Bull kayak tournament (hosted by CCA). We'll see how this plays out.

Mangrove Bay reveals the new Ibis Skiff

Mangrove Bay Boats is the latest to introduce a skiff designed to attract younger, budget-minded flats anglers who are also looking for a quality purchase.  Their new Ibis is hand laid using Kevlar and Carbon Fiber, and utilizes Vinylester resins (as opposed to polyester resin).  The boat is designed to last for generations and comes with a 100% transferable lifetime warranty!

Here are specs for this new boat:
- 16 feet LOA
- 57" beam
- recommended HP: 25
- composite corings (no wood)
- all stainless steel hardware
- LED navigation lights
- flush mount bow cleats
- 500 GPH bilge automatic

Best part of all is the price. The base boat sells for $8,500. 

For more info, and a gallery of photos on the Ibis, go to www.mangrovebayboats.com.

Special events this week - 4/29

Starting Friday afternoon, it's the 7th annual "Bass On The Fly" fly fishing tournament at Lake Fork Marina in Alba, Texas. It's a CPR tournament with total length of five longest (5) largemouth bass with divisions for Boat and Kayak.  Entry fee is $60 and can be done online at www.ianglertournament.com or onsite Friday. Friday afternoon there's casting games, kayak demos, and from 2:00pm to 6:00pm is the annual Sunfish Tournament (optional $10 entry) followed by the Captains meeting and fishing report. Saturday is bass tournament day with weigh-in at 2:00pm followed by awards and door prizes. For more info, go to www.bassonthefly.com.  

Fly Fishin For the Mission this weekend

This weekend, the state's newest and most popular saltwater fly fishing tournament takes place out of Pointe-aux-Chenes southeast of Houma. The 2nd annual "Fly Fishin For The Mission" has expanded this year to include a "fishtival" on Saturday, with the actual tournament on Sunday.

The event will once again be held out of PAC Kayak Rentals in Pointe-aux-Chenes. Saturday is "Vets Fishing Day" along with fly tying, casting clinics, kayak demos, and food and music. Sunday is tournament day with Captains meeting at 5:30am, followed by shotgun launch. Weigh-in is 2:00pm to 3:00pm.

Format is two (2) heaviest redfish per team. Divisions include Boat, Kayak and Overall. Team format, entry fee is $80 per team with all donations going to the Mission Six charity, which aids veterans and other uniformed heros.

The boat folks will be anxious to atone for last year's showing, where they were clocked by the kayakers. All three places in the Overall Division went to kayak teams.

For complete details, and to learn more about Mission Six, go to www.mission6.org.

The demise of the FFI council conclave

Earlier this week, the Gulf Coast Council (GCC) of Fly Fishers International (FFI) announced that their 2018 Fly Fishing Fair has been cancelled. The event was scheduled for September 14 and 15, once again at the Ocean Springs Civic Center. It would've been the GCC's 10th "conclave" since formation. Whether you call them "fair", "festival", "expo" or "conclave",  these events feature seminars, casting clinics, fly tying demonstrations, workshops, exhibitors, and other activities. Most important, they are fundraisers for the council's conservation and educational projects.

FFI members in the geographic region of the GCC - Louisiana, Mississippi, south Alabama and extreme northwest Florida - received an email citing reasons. "Support for putting on the show has waned in the last several years. The same small group of people tasking themselves with all of the show responsibilities. Therefore the GCC Executive Board decided to not have a show this year.".  The email went on to say that the facility has been booked for September 13-14, 2019 in hopes that there will be an "increased level of volunteerism".

Just twenty years ago, the Federation of Fly Fishers (now FFI) council conclaves were the biggest fly fishing events each year across the country, with attendance at each in the hundreds. Vendors, exhibitors and fly tiers would flood the floor space. Fast forward to present and only four councils have held, or will hold, a conclave this year. One of those is the Southern (Council) Fly Fishing Fair set once again for the first weekend of October in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

So what has led to the demise of the council conclave? Armchair analysts cite the decline of fly fishing and the "graying" of it's participants. FAKE NEWS! According to AFFTA surveys, our sport has been GROWING at a clip of nearly five percent the last six years. Furthermore, much of that growth has been in ages under 35, among both men and women.

In our observations, there are many reasons for demise of the conclave. However, we'll list our Top Six.

1) The internet. Back 20 years ago, conclaves were the ultimate learning experience. The internet was in it's infancy. Getting started or advancing one's knowledge in our sport could be done via books and VHS/DVD, but nothing came close to human interaction.  The internet and Youtube has changed much of that, especially with the large number of young flyfishers.

2) Lack of volunteers. Simply put, "time conflicts". There's just a lot more things going on these days that occupy the time of folks. Especially young people with kids.

3) Growth of kayak fishing. In the late 90s, kayak fishing began it's rise in popularity.  Most of the pioneers of the sport were flycasters.  Today a large number of flyfishers also kayak fish. The rise in kayak clubs and tournaments has given rise to yet more "time conflicts".  Many young flycasters who might otherwise be involved in an FFI council are occupied with kayak fishing activities.

4) Growth of other events. Twenty years ago, there was one commercial event and only a trio of club conclaves across the South. Now there are a couple dozen club events and four commercial shows. If learning is your main consideration in attending a fly fishing event, why travel several hours and spend a couple hundred dollars (or more) when there's a similiar event an hour or two away?

5) Lack of exhibitors. The ICAST and IFTD trade shows are not open to the public, but if they were, the attendance might approach a million! People want to see and buy products, and at one time, conclaves offered that opportunity. While retailers have hit hard times due to competition from big box retailers and internet stores, product companies are at an all time high. Yet most do not exhibit at council conclaves. I've been told a myriad of reasons, but none make sense but one - that getting pro-staffers and reps to do these shows is like getting a bear into a box!

6) Fewer superstars. The 1960s was the Golden Age of American Fly Fishing thanks to numerous books, magazines and the American Sportsman TV show. Folks like Lee Wulff, Joan Wulff, George Harvey, Joe Brooks, Stu Apte, Lefty Kreh, Flip Pallot, Dave Whitlock, Mel Kreiger, Gary Borger and many others became icons. There were not only great writers and pioneers, but they all had personality. A conclave with any one of them drew attendees like gnats in Delacroix! Today many of those icons have passed or have greatly limited their event schedule. And while there are many young experts, only a handful have their charisma.

As mentioned, there are other reasons. But these six are enough to make any conclave organizer pull their hair!

A sad day for Louisiana coastal anglers

Yesterday afternoon the Louisiana House of Representatives debated and voted on House Bill 391 by Kevin Pearson of Slidell.  HB391 would have allowed public access to tidal waters. It was expected to be a close vote, with some momentum after having passed 5-3 in committee. And with a large number of supporters in attendance for the vote, there was glimmer of hope the bill might actually pass.

But after  much debate - and a couple amendments - the bill was voted down 59 to 37.  With many of the "no" votes coming from north and central Louisiana, whose representatives were heavily lobbied over the weekend by large out-of-state land companies and oil companies.  In fact, according to some accounts, as many as 50 lobbyists were brought in to work against HB391.

Many of the hundreds of anglers on Facebooks who supported the bill quickly posted their disgust with the politicians who clearly were trying to derail the bill, speaking the talking points given them by the lobbyists. Anglers were also quick to point out that this was just one battle - the war will go on!

As with every issue of this magnitude, there were winners and losers. The big oil companies won the vote, but anglers won their dignity. They will be more determined than ever to organize and fight on. The losers were CCA, who went back on their stance. Based on dozens of comments, I doubt there will be enough kayakers participating to hold this summer's Ride The Bull. Another big loser were the representatives who voted against HB391 in areas where anglers make up a significant portion of the electorate.  As the support for public access continues to mount, this will become a campaign issue in next year's state elections.

For more complete details of the House vote on HB391, and a list of legislators who voted FOR and AGAINST the bill, go to this article by Louisiana Sportsman magazine.

Special events this week - 4/15

On Saturday, Pack and Paddle will host the 2018 Fly Fishing Film Tour - along with a "Fly Fishing Hangout" at their store on 601 East Pinhook in Lafayette. The hangout begins at 3:30pm with fly tying, rod demos, beer and snacks. At 5:30pm the show starts. Tickets are $15 in advance and at the door, but seats are limited so pre-purchase is advised. For more info, or to purchase tickets, go to www.packpaddle.com.