June 5th at 6:30 pm we will hold our annual meeting at the Chamber of Commerce Building. The board of directors will be elected for the coming year. The six directors proposed by the selection committee are: Randy Johnson, Clint Barton, Bob Williams, Keith Lovin, George Kurhajec and Brooks Bouldin. We will have one video for our program selected to please our warm water fly fishing enthusiasts and another for our salt water fanatics. I'll tie my shrimp pattern before the meeting.
Clint Barton has scheduled another fly tying session at the library for 6 pm on Wednesday, June 13th. Grab a vise and join the fun.
I am happy to report that the Gulf Coast Conclave in Lake Charles was a blast. I drove over on Thursday and fished a half day with Devin Palomino out of Grosse Savanne Lodge on Friday in Calcasieu Lake. The lake water is considerably muddier than the water on our coast, making the redfish harder to spot until they are close enough to the boat to be spooked by it. But a couple of nice reds between 23 and 24 inches succumbed to one of Tom Horbey's spoon flies.
Friday night we enjoyed a complementary dinner of all-you-can-eat crawfish with corn on the cob and new potatoes. And, oh yeah, a few cold beers. What a great way to start. Saturday and Sunday there were 43 classes, demonstrations and seminars offered. I elected to attend a class on outdoor photography taught by Lefty Kreh. I hope Lefty continues to appear at conclaves for a long time. At 82, he hasn't lost a step; every time I see him I am delightfully entertained and I learn something new.
The conclave was held in the beautiful Lakefront Civic Center on the waterfront where several redfish were taken on flies after the crawfish dinner. There were 20 Exhibitors including Gulf Coast Tackle of Lake Charles with a lot of interesting tying materials, TFO Rods, Orvis, East Cape Canoes, Boone Spoon, and a couple of Kayak dealers. There were raffles and bucket drawings throughout the day. Over 60 fly tiers displayed their talent throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday until after lunch.
The Saturday night banquet was delicious, featuring shrimp pasta, rolls, boudin balls, crawfish pistolettes, cochon de lait (whole roasted, melt-in-your-mouth hog), and bread pudding. Those Cajuns know how to eat.
When a group of clubs apply to the FFF to form a new council, they must demonstrate, among other things, the ability to produce a successful conclave. While the turnout was just over 200, everyone I talked to was delighted with the quality of the facility, programs, exhibits and food. The location seems centrally located in the council which stretches from the Florida Panhandle to Brownsville. It was a pleasant 5 hour drive from Georgetown. The best news was that by Friday, mid-afternoon, the breakeven point had been reached. The group of volunteers who produced the conclave have much to be proud of. Next year's conclave is being planned to return to Lake Charles. I hope you will join me.