Chris_in_Louisiana

Heading your way. Should arrive Thursday per USPS. Thanks as always for hosting.

I'm more than happy to put a fly in front of anything that swims (56 species to date in 2022). Locally that's a mix of saltwater species, bass, sunfish, gar, bowfin and the occasional carp. Trout, pike and other cooler water quarry find their way into the mix when time and budget allow. I selected saltwater as that is primarily what I've been working on as of late. Chris

Count me in, Nick! Wasn't sure I'd have time to tie, but looks like I should have time to put together a set of saltwater offerings this afternoon. Chris

Hey guys, It's been a busy few months for me, and it appears I haven't shared a Step-by-Step since early June. With temperatures cooling, however, I've begun restocking for trips to the marsh and thought I'd share one of my favorite topwater offering when chasing reds. A gurgler variant at its core, the Popping Shrimp has paid dividends for me when targeting shallow water reds at first light. For those interested, the full step-by-step can be found at the link: https://fatfingeredflytyer.com/popping-shrimp-fly-step-by-step/ Chris Materials: Hook: Gamakatsu SS15 (#1) Thread: UTC 140 Denier (Pink or Tan) Eyes: Mono Crab Eyes Tail: Craft Fur Antennae: Krystal Flash Legs: Barred Crusher Legs Body: Ice Dub (Tan) & EP Shrimp Dub (Sand) blended Back: 2-mm Thin Foam (Tan) Ribbing: 12-lbs Monofilament

Hey guys, As has been the case the last few years, my wife and I have submitted a few of her images to the Orvis 20 September Days photo contest. And for the third year running, one of her images was selected as a finalist. Voting is open now through 10/9/22, and I wanted to share a link for anyone who may not be aware of the contest. There are some great entries this year, so be sure to check out the link and vote for your favorite three. https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/vote-for-the-winners-in-our-2022-20-days-in-september-contest-and-maybe-win-something-for-yourself Be sure to comment at the bottom of the article as well as one commenter wins a pair of those fancy Orvis nippers. For those who may be interested, my wife's entry (listed under my name in the contest) is below. Tight lines, Chris

My wife sent me that the other day. I experienced sudden acute hearing loss in my left ear back in early April. The ENT was thankfully able to help me recover about 80% of it, but the tinnitus has remained. I'm hopeful these findings will go a long way towards improving treatment for tinnitus. Hearing loss and tinnitus are not something I had planned on dealing with before the age of 40. Hope your condition continues to improve, Steve! Chris

Oops...forgot the material list. Hook: Kona Big Game Hook (3/0) Thread: 140 Denier (White) Eyes: Dumbbell (Large) Tail: Streamer Hackle (White; 4-6x) Flash: Krystal Flash (Pearl) Body: Bucktail (White) Head: Deer Belly Hair or Bucktail Hair trimmed from the base of the tail (White)

Hey guys, With all of my May travels behind me, I finally sat down this week and put together another Step-by-Step for the blog. This one is the Andino Deceiver. Originally designed as a Golden Dorado pattern, it was recommended for snook on my recent visit to Costa Rica. While that didn't pan out due to rain, it turned out to be a solid Striper pattern as well on my visit to RI late last month. Here's the link for anyone interested in more details: Andino Deceiver Step-by-Step Chris

What a fish!! Congrats to her and you!

What a smallmouth!! Beautiful fish!!

Sadly back to reality this month. Not sure how I'll handle spending more than 10 days in the office this month. Still waiting to test out your flies by the way. Apparently (per my house sitter) there was a mayfly hatch while I was in Costa Rica, but I haven't had a good one since. Crossing my fingers for another soon. Chris

When I posted some pics from my Costa Rica trip last week, I mentioned it was the first of two fly fishing trips I had slated in May. The second was a trip north to participate in The Mayfly Project's 2nd annual 25 on the Fly tournament. I had fished the same Mixed Bag tournament in 2021, driving the 20 hours to New York for pre-fishing/Day 1 before detouring to Rhode Island for day 2 of the tournament. This year, we decided to switch it up. And instead of fishing NY with a detour into RI, I flew directly into Providence for two days of striper fishing before the tournament began. We then fished day 1 of the tournament in RI before driving overnight to central NY to finish things off. It was an absolute blast to say the least, and we did quite well landing 13 of 18 eligible species on tournament days. 25 on the Fly: Part 1 (Rhode Island pre-fishing) 25 on the Fly: Part 2 (Tournament Day 1) 25 on the Fly: Part 3 (Tournament Day 2) Enjoy! Chris *Note - Some of the pics are a little blurry as they're screen shots from videos. The tournament format requires videos of each release*

Oh man! Trigger salad actually sounds really good! Going to have to try that some day.

That would be a Stone Scorpionfish (Rockfish). Perhaps the most disappoint, but cool bycatch ever. Dropped my olive crab pattern into the midst of four small Golden Trevally that were actively feeding. Watched my line go tight as the fish moved off. Set the hook. And somehow had that thing on the line. Must have dropped the fly right on its head. Believe it or not, both Triggerfish went back unharmed. The tuna, pompano and a few mackerel I caught did make their way to the table, however, along with a large Mahi another guest landed on conventional gear. With only six total guests at the resort during our visit, it was enough for a group dinner one evening.

May was a busy month for me with plenty of work obligations, and a pair of big fishing trips on the docket. The first, though not an official fishing trip (a mantra my wife made me repeat regularly), was a visit to Costa Rica the first week in May. We rented a car, and spent the first half of the week doing the eco tour thing as we drove the pacific coast towards the southern part of the country. Once there, we returned the car in Puerto Jimenez and hopped a boat to a small resort on Golfo Dulce. No charters scheduled, I spent the majority of the next four days fishing from shore. The one exception was a morning chasing schools of sardines with one of the maintenance men from the resort. He was by no means a fly fisher, but more than familiar with the water and managed to put me on a few fish. While I struck out on a few targets (Golden Trevally first among them), it was a fun trip with a fair bit of diversity landed. Pics are below, but the three links have more detail for anyone interested. Costa Rica - Part 1 Costa Rica - Part 2 Costa Rica - Part 3 Enjoy. Chris