|
|
|
February 2012 |
|
News & EventsGeneral Meeting - Tuesday, February 14, 2012Bob Romano“Flyfishing the Rangeley Lakes Region of Western Maine”
The brook trout of the Rangeley Lakes Region are about as big as you’ll find south of Labrador and the rivers and lakes also contain a thriving population of landlocked salmon. Outdoors writer, photographer and illustrator Bob Romano and his wife, Trish, have had a camp in this area for over thirty years. Bob has a unique voice in describing the lakes, rivers and streams of this part of country, where Carrie Stevens tried her Gray Ghost streamer and Louise Dickinson Rich wrote her books about life along the Rapid River. American Legion Hall
|
||
January Show Reportby Dick TurseOn the first Saturday in January eight of the best fly tyers in CJTU spent several hours tying flies in Efinger Sporting Goods store. We were located at a table in front of the large fish tank and had several customers enjoying the “show”. We all tied flies that we loved to tie, needed for our own boxes or were teaching examples. But the most dedicated instructor was Bill Ninke, as usual. Bill, the always innovative tyer, had the biggest audience because he was the point man and also because he did his best to help the onlookers. I hope we all take a lesson from this for next year. The first show we participated in was the Garden State Outdoors Show which ran from Jan.13 to Jan.15. It turned out to be an enjoyable and successful show for all of us that participated in it. While doing our best to raise money and inform the public we also had the opportunity to enjoy the antics of the animals in the cages in front of us. Bart’s relationship with the monkeys was one of the highlights of the show. Ask him about it. Of course, the Fly Fishing Show (Jan.27-29) was a great success for the vendors, customers and participants, as usual. Financially we raised more money from these shows than any in recent years. Obviously we are getting better in determining what the public wants and we try to promote it. Barry Russo and his gang broke all records for money raised in selling flies at the Outdoors show. I would love to list all of the members who worked these shows so that I could personally thank them all. However, I am afraid that I might forget one or two of them and that would not be good. So, thanks to all of you who participated. I might add that the new process of setting time slots for participation was very successful thanks to the fact that most everyone honored their slot. This allowed all of us to see the show as well as work the booths. 
Bill Ninke and Bart Lombardo at the Effingers demoMore photos can be found here! 
Leon keeping the crowd entertained at our January fly tying nightMore photos can be found here! 
The kid's fly tying area is always a popular attraction at our booth in the Garden State Outdoors Sportsman Show More photos can be found here! |
||
President’s LetterFebruary 2012How about this "winter" we are having! There have been more opportunities to fish this winter than there was in the spring and fall combined! River levels are great and the temperature resembles spring and fall more than winter. On February 1st, I was on the water, and by noon I had to strip off my outer garments because I was getting too warm. I fished until sundown in shirt sleeves! The fishing was excellent by the way, with fish coming to the net all day long. January was a very busy month for Central Jersey Trout Unlimited. We had a presence at two area shows and we kicked off our 2012 fly tying classes. All in all we had pretty good show season this year, bringing in around $1,500.00 that will be dedicated towards future conservation projects. My thanks go out to everyone who participated in these two events. It would take an entire page to mention everyone, but a few folks deserve mention. Dick Turse has worked tirelessly for the chapter for decades, organizing these events. Thanks to his organizing and planning skills these events go off with out a hitch. Many members donate flies to the chapter for sale at these types of events, but none contribute as much as Leon Cheeka. Leon donates hundreds of dozens of flies a year to our chapter to keep our display boxes full. While on the subject of flies, Barry Russo has set new goals in fly sales each year and continues to beat them. He doesn't do it alone as many of our volunteers help out with fly sales at the show, but his enthusiasm keeps keeps us all motivated. Finally I would like to thank all the folks who are part of the set up and take down crews. Again, there are too many to mention here but you know who you are. We could not participate in these events without your dedication to the chapter. We have a few upcoming events in the months to come, especially in March. We are doing something new this year in conjunction with Efingers Sporting Goods. On Saturdays March 10th and 17th, we will be conducting a Fly Fishing 101 seminar in the building space next door to Efingers. We are still in the process of working out the details but what we do know at this point is that we will be offering instruction on all aspects of fly fishing. If you are new to the sport this will be a great opportunity to get some first rate instruction on everything from entomology, gear and fly selection, knots and leaders as well as hands on instruction on fly casting. In addition we will be giving fly tying demos at the store around the same time. Right know I know we will be there in the evening of March 9th, but there may be additional dates as well. As we have more information we will make it available. Special thanks go out to Efingers for all they do for our chapter. The folks at Efingers have been long time supporters of our organization. Not only do they help us put on events like our fly tying demos and fishing clinics, but they also donate gear and equipment to the chapter to be used in our fund raising efforts. In addition to supplying a lot of the merchandise given away at our monthly meetings, this year they donated the fully stocked tackle box that we gave away at the Edison show. They also offer every TU member some pretty deep discounts on fishing equipment. Stop by their store and pay them a visit. We will also be at the Pequest Hatchery Open House event March 31st though April 1st. We are still looking for a lot of help for this event. You can contribute in two ways. First we are looking to run our annual fishing flea market at this event. If you have any old gear you would like to get rid of to make room for all the latest and greatest equipment that came out this year please consider donating it to the chapter. We will have a table in the outdoor sales area at the open house this year. If it is a piece of equipment you would like to see a return on we can sell it on consignment for you, just let us know what you would like to donate to the chapter when it is sold. You will have two opportunities to drop off your gear at the February and March general meetings. If you can't make a meeting contact one of the directors or myself and we will see if we can make other arrangements to pick the stuff up. We are also looking for help for this event. We can use some assistance at the sales table, the inside tiers table and the children's fishing event. Grab ahold of one of the directors or reach out for me if you can donate a few hours your time. We have a great speaker this month. You can read all about him in this news letter. Normally during this time of year I remind everyone that attending a general meeting is a great way to get rid of cabin fever. Maybe that is not the case this year, but if you can break away from fishing for the day come out and join us.
Tight Lines, |
||
Fly of the Month“Chimarra Caddis Larva”
|
 |
Click here for the recipe! |
