April 2025 activities

AFR monthly meeting
Thursday, April 17th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost (behind P&P)
601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette

Join us Thursday April 17th at the Pack & Paddle Outpost (behind the shop) for some fly casting. Now that Daylight Savings is here we can spend some time outside doing some casting. We’ll set up a couple simple games and try some casting exercises. Bring a rod or several and try other folks rods as we try to improve our casting and as always have some fun. Hopefully some of our better casters will be here to offer assistance.  

As always guests are welcome! Come early to get in a bit of retail therapy at Pack & Paddle.

Acadiana Bugs & Brews
Thursday, April 24th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette
Open to the public

Acadiana Bugs & Brews is an open community fly tying event. While not affiliated with AFR, several of our members participate and assist beginners.  Bring your favorite beverage, and enjoy a cold one while tying and sharing fishing tales. Join in tying a featured pattern, or bring your own fly to tie.

If you're like many saltwater anglers, this is time of year we start thinking about speckled trout. The late May/early June period offers up the best surf fishing for specks each year. We're not sure what our featured pattern will be, but it'll be something for those surfer specks!

As always we’ll have materials and extra tools, so beginners are welcome. Come early and get in a little retail therapy at our fine sponsors in Pack & Paddle. 

Registration now open for 2025 Gulf Coast Classic

3rd annual Gulf Coast Classic fly fishing festival
Friday & Saturday, May 2-3, 2025
Gulf State Park
20249A State Park Rd, Gulf Shores, AL
www.ffigulfcoastclassic.com

Click on the image for full size poster

Registration is now open for the 3rd annual Gulf Coast Classic on Friday May 2nd and Saturday May 3rd at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL.  The Classic is the largest fly fishing event on the Gulf Coast, and features seminars, fly tying demonstrations, casting and tying workshops, a fishing contest, a film festival, and much more!  Many of the tiers are nationally-recognized and some are even professional tiers. Several of the tiers will be leading workshops as well.

Hosted by the Gulf Coast Council (GCC) of Fly Fishers International (FFI), it's a fundraiser and community gathering for the council.  The GCC consists of clubs and members in Louisiana, Mississippi, south Alabama, and northwest Florida.  Acadiana Fly Rodders is a proud member of the Gulf Coast Council.

On the registration pages, you can pay for admission, signup for a workshop, purchase film festival tickets, and even procure inexpensive onsite lodging on the campus. Or you can register for the Classic now, and register for the workshops later.  But don't wait too long...  workshops and lodging can book up in advance of the event!

Fly tier bios are currently available, and later this week schedules, seminar descriptions, and speaker bios will be posted. Seminar topics cover a wide range of fishing opportunities, from bluegill and bass to tarpon and speckled trout to Louisiana redfish and more.  In addition, there are speakers on conservation topics, including the Director of Alabama's Marine Fisheries Division, and Friday Keynote Speaker, William Strickland of Mobile Baykeepers.

There's also an incredible array of raffle and silent auction items courtesy of our amazing sponsors.  And our always popular "Mixed Bag" fishing contest - it's FREE entry with registration!

Again, to learn more about the Classic, and links to registration and workshops, go to: www.ffigulfcoastclassic.com. 

March 2025 activities

AFR monthly meeting
Thursday, March 20th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost (behind P&P)
601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette

This month we’ll tie Kelly Galloup’s Cougar Minnow, which is a small fly that can be part minnow and part hopper. It’s pretty simple, but will give us a chance to tie a deer hair head, something that can intimidate newer tiers.  This fly doesn’t require tightly packed hair with multiple bunches. So it's a good place to start or practice.  If you're a good deer hair tier, you can help folks learn and get a great fly as well.  So everyone bring your vise and tools, materials will be provided.

As always guests are welcome! Come early to get in a bit of retail therapy at Pack & Paddle.

Acadiana Bugs & Brews
Thursday, March 27th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette
Open to the public

Acadiana Bugs & Brews is an open community fly tying event. While not affiliated with AFR, several of our members participate.  Bring your favorite beverage, and enjoy a cold one while tying and sharing fishing tales. Join in tying a featured pattern, or bring your own fly to tie.

This month our featured pattern will be Dirk Burton's Tussle Bug.  A great bluegill fly for the spring.  It's a pattern that uses an overhand knot weave to produce a great segmented body.

As always we’ll have materials and extra tools, so beginners are welcome. Come early and get in a little retail therapy at our fine sponsors in Pack & Paddle.

February 2025 activities

AFR monthly meeting
Thursday, February 20th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost (behind P&P)
601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette

Join us this month for a discussion and demo on hand furled leaders. While our leader is important in delivering the fly to the target and allowing the fly to be presented naturally, we are constantly looking to make improvements while keeping things simple.

Enter the furled leader. We’ll make a hand furled leader and discuss the pros and cons so you can see how this compares to other leaders and if this option fits your fly fishing needs.

As always guests are welcome! Come early to get in a bit of retail therapy at Pack & Paddle.

Acadiana Bugs & Brews
Thursday, February 27th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette
Open to the public

Acadiana Bugs & Brews is an open community fly tying event. While not affiliated with AFR, several of our members participate.  Bring your favorite beverage, and enjoy a cold one while tying and sharing fishing tales. Join in tying a featured pattern, or bring your own fly to tie.

This month our featured pattern will be the Balanced Leech. It was to be our featured pattern in January, but with the snow storm we decided to be prudent and cancel AB&B. So we'll pick it back up for this month.

As always we’ll have materials and extra tools, so join us Thursday February 27th at the Outpost behind the shop. Come early and get in a little retail therapy at our fine sponsors in Pack & Paddle.

January 2025 activities

AFR monthly meeting
Thursday, January 16th
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost (behind P&P)
601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette

Happy New Year! We kick off 2025 with Glen 'Catch' Cormier giving us a talk on "A Crappie Day Fishing". No that's not a misspelling! Catch will discuss fly fishing for crappie, or sacalait, or white perch, or whatever you prefer to call them. 

Catch is Conservation Director of the Gulf Coast Council of Fly Fishers International, and is 2024 recipient of the FFI Conservationist of the Year.  He'll also cover hot topics related to conservation of this species.  

So please join us on Thursday, January 16th, as we kick off the new year and continue to provide Acadiana fly anglers a place to meet and exchange ideas and information.  

As always, guests are welcome!

Acadiana Bugs & Brews
Thursday, January 22nd
6:00pm
Pack & Paddle Outpost, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette
Open to the public

Acadiana Bugs & Brews is an open community fly tying event. Bring your favorite beverage to Bugs & Brews, and enjoy a cold one while tying and sharing fishing tales. Join in tying a featured pattern, or bring your own fly to tie.

In keeping with the focus on sacalait, this month the featured pattern will be a balanced leech.  For species like crappie, balanced flies  under strike indicators work great since they keep a horizontal orientation.

As always, extra tools are available for use and materials will be provided. Come early and get in a little retail therapy at our fine sponsors in Pack & Paddle.

New Orleans Fly Fishers Expo
Saturday, January 25th
8:00am to 3:30pm
St. Christopher the Martyr School Gymnasium
3900 Derbigny St, Metairie, LA
Free admission!

Our neighboring club in New Orleans is hosting their 3rd biennial expo, featuring fly tying demonstrations by regions top tiers, seminars, Iron Fly Tying Contest, exhibitors, casting clinics, raffles, and more. Whether you’re wanting to get into fly fishing, or a seasoned veteran, there’s a program or activity certainly to be of interest.

For more info, go to www.neworleansflyfishers.com