Even small boats can load their fish boxes fishing in this Venice hotspot.
According to Roger del Rio, the dark side of the fly fishing force threatens.
“Our sport gets a lot of exposure on television these days,” he said. “Most of it is good, but some of these outdoor shows, where the host knows nothing about the sport and just decides to wing it, well, that’s about as damaging as it gets.”
Del Rio is a Federation of Fly Fishers certified casting instructor, one of nine in Louisiana. He’s very tolerant with his students, no matter how difficult the situation, but highly intolerant of those who promote bad habits.
Two recent programs stirred the wrath of Del Rio.
“In the first show, the host was sightcasting to redfish,” he said. “He was retrieving the fly with his rod tip almost 3 feet above the water. He kept missing or losing fish, and blamed it on the barbless fly he was using.
“The second show had the host chasing bluegill with popping bugs. He couldn’t understand why he was only getting one strike at every spot. He was also struggling with his backcast, and his explanation was that you needed good arm strength to cast a fly rod.
“At that point, I jumped out of my chair. Joan Wulff, nearly 80 years old and all of 5-feet-nothing, can outcast most men.
“This joker’s problem could be summarized in three words — technique, technique, technique.”
Here are some tips that Del Rio offers, for any folks who may have watched those same shows.
• When retrieving a fly, always keep your rod tip near the water. The higher the tip above the water, the more slack is created, and a much greater chance of missing a strike or losing a fish due to poor hookset.
• Barbless flies never lose fish. A fish is lost due to slack or an improper hook set.
Fly line has an inherent amount of slack and stretch in it. When retrieving a fly, especially on bass and saltwater species, continue to strip when you first detect the strike. That is, strike the fish with your strip. Then bring the rod up or sideways about 45 degrees to finish it off.
• Always bring the line off the water slowly.
First, it breaks the tension of the line on the water.
Second, the key to a good backcast is to start the rod tip slowly and accelerate to a hard stop at about the 1 o’clock position.
According to Del Rio, many popping-bug anglers make the mistake of ripping the line off the water. This creates an enormous amount of drag on the line and on the popper, which kills the backcast, but also makes lot of noise.
“I’ve seen on my pond where just quietly lifting a popping bug off the surface can sometimes spook big bream,” he said. “Just imagine what happens when you rip the bug off the water. It’s like whacking the water with a paddle.”
Fly Fishing 101
For those looking to learn good habits, Del Rio recommends attending one of several clinics hosted by fly shops and local clubs throughout the state.
On Saturday, June 18, the Red Stick Fly Fishers will hold their “Fly Fishing 101” clinic for anyone looking to improve their skills in casting, knots, fly tying and presentation.
Location is the Waddill Outdoors Education Center on 4141 North Flannery Road in Baton Rouge. Time is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The clinic is open to the public, and there is no charge. Soft drinks and lunch are provided.
To register, contact Jody Titone at (225) 767-1895 or Roger del Rio at (225) 751-3304.
Flip Pallot Coming
For 13 years, the award-winning Walker’s Cay Chronicles has been the highest-rated outdoors show on ESPN. It is produced and hosted by fly-fishing legend Flip Pallot.
Pallot, a former corporate banker, was guiding in South Florida in the early 1980s when he was called upon to host the classic “American Sportsman” on ABC.
The rest, as they say, is history.
On Saturday, July 23, Uptown Angler of New Orleans will host Pallot for a day-long signing of his latest book, “Memories, Mangroves and Magic.”
There will also be informal presentations and question-and-answer sessions with this great legend of our sport.
For further details, contact Alec Griffin at 800-974-8473 or check the Uptown Angler web site at www.uptownangler.com.
Another Louisiana book
More titles have been written about fly fishing than any other outdoor subject.
Most, like Pete Cooper’s “Fly Fishing the Louisiana Coast,” deal with the craft of the sport.
Others, such as John Gierach’s “Dances With Trout” or Norman McClane’s “A River Runs Through It,” consist of essays and stories that revolve around water and an appreciation of the sport we love.
Falling into that second category is “Native Waters: A Few Moments in a Small Wooden Boat,” a new book from Roger Emile Stouff of Charenton.
The content is a collection from his award-winning, twice-weekly column “From the Other Side” as staff writer for the St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune.
Stouff, a member of the Chitimacha Tribe, and born of mixed Chitimacha-Cajun heritage, writes of life growing up in South Louisiana, about “Water that flows into eternity,” and of wooden boats, fly fishing and native culture.
“Native Waters” is currently the highest-rated new title on amazon.com in both the Native-American and fly fishing categories.
