Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!

Here's wishing our members and friends, and all of their families, a most blessed holiday season and a prosperous and healthy 2020.  Hopefully Santa will put something under the tree that helps us catch more fish - or at least make the trip more enjoyable!

At the same time, let's remember the reason for the season.  Please be generous to those in need, and pray for those in suffering or distress, and for those away from their families this season - especially our troops.

As always, the club has several great things in store for 2020.  Including our 25th annual Red Stick Day fly fishing festival on March 7th at Waddill Refuge here in Baton Rouge.  Fishing-wise, dates have been set for our annual Spring and Fall freshwater weekends to Lake Concordia, our annual Spring and Fall marsh outings along Highway 1 (aka, "Catch-n-Eat"), and the annual Leesville Fly Fishing Weekend.

Also, many of our friends are holding events this coming year.  Those include the Kisatchie Fly Fishers (Jan. 18) and Texas Fly Fishers (Feb. 8).  Also, the FFI Gulf Coast Council is hosting their first-ever "Sweetwater Classic" fly fishing tournament and festival at Percy Quin State Park near McComb (Mar. 13-14).   Our friends at Orvis will be hosting two fly fishing film events this year, including the International Fly Fishing Film (Mar. 2).

For details on all these events and more - including club meeting dates - check out our Calendar page.

Rainbeaux trout have arrived!

On Tuesday, BREC stocked five ponds around the parish with rainbow trout. Already several anglers have posted their catches on Facebook. Most of the trout are being caught on worms or corn. This is the case each year. As the trout become acclimated, their diet diverts to aquatic insects - and it's advantage flyfishers!

The daily limit is four (4) trout per person. However, catch-and-release is strongly encouraged to allow the maximum number of anglers to enjoy this fishery.

The ponds that were stocked are:
- Central Sports Park, 10501 Lovett Rd, Central
- Forest Community Park, 13900 S. Harrells Ferry Rd
- Howell Community Park, 5509 Winbourne Ave
- Perkins Community Park, 7122 Perkins Rd
- Zachary Road Community Park, 20055 Old Scenic Hwy, Zachary

New this year... at each pond there were four (4) tagged fish. Anglers who catch a tagged fish are eligible for a prize. Details of the program can be found at the BREC Rainbow Trout webpage.  Click here.

Red Stick members are encouraged to post their rainbeaux trout stories (with photo) on our Facebook Group page. Members can also check on what flies and tactics are working best. Click here.