Area biologists give their picks for the top public areas for deer, squirrel, rabbits and more this season.
Cosmologists believe that over 90 percent of the universe consists of something called “dark matter.” This is not to be confused with anti-matter. Anti-matter is the stuff that, if you were to come in contact with, it would really ruin your day — and likely several thousand of your closest neighbors. Dark matter can coexist with regular matter. In fact, some scientists believe that, since it is dimensionally transparent, it might actually be all around us and we don’t know it.
We could even be sharing our space-time with “dark people.” Since they are polar opposites from us, the majority of dark people in Louisiana are animal-rights activists and eat tofu.
If there is such a thing as a “dark bream” in this dark-world that parallels ours, it likely looks similiar to a Rio Grande cichlid, that now infamous invasive species that inhabits many of the fresh waters in the greater Jefferson and New Orleans metro areas.
Last June, I wrote about how the rios have long been a popular flyrod species in their native waters of Southwest Texas, how anglers from across the country travel to San Antonio to cast flies to them and how they became established in the Big Easy as the result of aquarium trade suppliers dumping their stock in local waters.
I also stated that the rios were a resource worth managing rather than decimating. We already had the best offshore and the best redfish and seatrout fly fishery in the country. And now we had the best tropical fishery outside of Florida.
Well, my column wasn’t well received by a few folks. They looked upon it as one man’s crusade to save the rios.
Which brings me to my next topic in physics: momentum. For example, LSU scores 31 consecutive points against Ohio State after being down by 10. That’s called “change in momentum.”
With rios, the change in momentum is observable on any given weekend along the banks of City Park Lagoons, Bayou St. John or numerous canals that interlace the city. Where once flyrodders were as rare as a Democratic-sponsored tax cut, there are now a dozen or more every weekend.
And not all are from Louisiana.
In May, my friend Larry Offner and I attended a major fly show in Georgia. Offner operates the warmwater fly fishing website, warmfly.com. He’s also president of the New Orleans Fly Fishers.
The first day we took in a presentation on sunfish by Robert Prytula of Tennessee. If there’s such a thing as a sunfish specialist, that’s Prytula. His journeys take him to some of the best bream spots in North America.
After 40 minutes of covering different aspects of bluegill, redear and other centrachids on fly, the tone in Prytula’s voice changed to that of anticipation and excitement.
He then introduced us to a species he was pursuing out in the Texas Hill Country, one that would be the holy grail of warmwater fly fishing. He clicked up the next screen. Sure enough, there was a photo of a big black Rio Grande cichlid with a bulging forehead — a “brainiac!”
After the presentation, Offner broke out the photographic evidence to show Prytula how large our rios get. It’s not often we can say we grow ’em bigger than Texas, but in this case we do. The Texas state record for this species would be a typical large fish in Bayou St. John.
Now is the time to get in on the rio action. Pretty soon the cold fronts will be moving in, and the fish will move to their secret winter holes. And besides, October kicks off great marsh flyfishing for reds and specks. Only dedicated warmwater types will pass that up.
There’s a few things you need to know about rios to be successful.
First, they are cautious. They seldom go out of their way to eat like bream do. If you spot one, cast your fly close and strip in very slowly. Often the bite is nothing more than tension. For this reason, I prefer a light leader with a 0x butt section and a 4x tippet.
Second, the bigger ones hold to the bottom. Weighted streamers and nymphs will be your best bet.
Third, bring lots of flies. Rios have small sharp teeth that will rip and tear through just about anything short of epoxy.
Because long casts are not necessary, this is the ultimate use for any 1-weight through 3-weight rods you may have. If you own one of the Orvis Superfine or TFO Bug Streamer rods, you may need a gaff to land one of the brainiacs.
Casting record broken
Steve Rajeff is to competitive flycasting what Tiger Woods is to golf. He’s dominated the annual American Casting Association Championships in all distance and accuracy categories for the last several years.
At this year’s ACA Championships the first week of August, Rajeff broke his own world record in the one-handed distance category — one he has held for the last 20 years.
How far? Try 243 feet! I suspect steroids.
Incidentally, that’s about 193 feet further than most of the fish I cast to.
Another star of the competitive casting circuit is Jay Clark, a California native who now calls Lafayette home. Like Rajeff, Clark has been a member of the American Casting Team that competes worldwide. In 2006, Clark finished second in the Trout Fly Accuracy category at the Emerald World Masters in Ireland.
Instructor workshop
For anyone interested in taking the Federation of Fly Fishers exam for certified casting instructor (CCI), the Camp Fly Fishing School is offering a preparatory workshop on Sept. 12.
Students will learn to improve their casting mechanics, accuracy and distance, as well as knowledge of casting faults. Teaching the class will be four Master-level CCI instructors, including Jay Clark, and one member of the CCI Board of Governors, Tom Jindra. This may be the best instructor group of any such workshop in the country.
Classes are held at “The Camp” facility in Breaux Bridge. The price of $135 includes a full day of instruction, lunch, refreshments and handouts.
For more details, contact Keith Richard at 337-332-0167.
