A River Runs Through It

Fly casting, as anyone who has tried this ancient, but challenging, fishing method will tell you, is no easy business. Hand most of us garden-variety fishers a fragile, nine-foot flyrod and the only thing we’ll catch is adjacent vegetation at best, or possibly an unfortunate bystander’s ear. But when demonstrated by an expert, fly casting is a beautiful thing. Standing by a riverbank, tracing graceful arcs of weighted line through the air, the accomplished fly fisherman might shoot a dry fly, weighing just one or two grams, upwards of fifty feet before setting it lightly on the water’s surface, inches ahead of a hungry trout. 

In the popular imagination it’s usually the wary, elusive rainbow trout that is the fly fisherman’s main quarry. But here in Louisiana, with our muggy weather and murky water not generally suited to trout, the state’s fly fishermen have adapted, casting flies for bass, bream, sac a lait; and in saltwater for redfish, jack crevalle, and even tarpon. So, while planning the visual diversions for the latest in our Country Roads Supper Club series—an outdoor dinner entitled River Run that will take place on the banks of a trout-stocked artificial river running through the West Feliciana estate of Mr. Mike Wampold—we wondered whether there might be a few accomplished, local fly casters who might like to come along and demonstrate their craft. That’s how we got in touch with the Acadiana Fly Rodders’ fly fishing club.

“You can catch just about any kind of fish on a flyrod,” observed Clint Crowe, Lafayette resident and longtime Acadiana Fly Rodders member, who plies a flyrod in saltwater marshes across South Louisiana. In addition to actually catching fish, Crowe explained that many fly fishermen are drawn to the sport for the sheer pleasure that comes from a well-cast fly-line. “It’s quite hard to do well, and can be just mesmerizing to watch,” he said, noting that an accomplished caster can send a fly fifty feet or more, and land it within inches of the target. As a member of the Acadiana Fly Rodders, Crowe knows some accomplished casters, several of whom will be demonstrating their craft at Country Roads’ River Run Supper Club in the Felicianas on May 15. They’ll be casting, and also sharing information about Reel Recovery, a nationwide volunteer organization that provides support and companionship to men living with cancer by taking them fly fishing.

Learn more about Reel Recovery and how to support its good works at reelrecovery.org. Acadiana Fly Rodders will hold a fly fishing event in Youngsville, LA on May 12. Non-members are welcome. acadianaflyrodders.com.