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June 2013 |
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News & EventsGeneral Meeting - Tuesday, June 18, 2013CJTU Picnic Meeting |
President’s LetterJune 2013On May 22, 2013 Central Jersey Trout Unlimited lost one of its most dedicated members, Leon Cheeka, at the age of 87. Leon passed away after suffering a major stroke a few weeks earlier. Leon was probably best known for his fly tying abilities. He was an incredible fly tier, even at 87 years old. He not only acted as an instructor for the chapter but also donated hundreds of dozens of flies to the chapter over the years. He was always very generous with his fly tying knowledge as well as the flies he tied. Many members will remember the years we ran semi-annual bus trips to the Connetquot River on Long Island. One of the many highlights of those trips was the passing around of Leon’s fly boxes. During the ride up to the river, Leon would break out several large tackle boxes filled with hundreds of flies. Those boxes would be passed around and the flies were free for the taking for whoever wanted them. I distinctly remember one trip in which, with a twinkle in his eye, he pointed out a small pink and blue woolly bugger and said “try some of these”. I was skeptical but grabbed a few anyway. It turned out to be one of my best days on that river and almost all of the dozens of fish caught that day fell to that strange little fly. Leon shared his knowledge of fly tying with hundreds of people. He was a fixture at our fly tying classes and demos. He was best known for his muddler minnows and a pattern from his home waters in Pennsylvania called a bread crust, but there was not a fly he could not tie. Leon was also a dedicated conservationist and served on CJTU board of directors many years. We will miss him. You may have noticed that this newsletter is coming to you a little later than normal this month. Our meeting schedule for June is different from the rest of the year. Our general meeting takes place on the third Tuesday of the month. Next week's meeting will be a little different from most of our meetings. The evening will be all about catching up with old friends and making new ones. We are dropping the meeting format and hosting a BBQ. The festivities will start at 6:00pm at our meeting hall on the picnic grounds behind the building. There will be food, beverages and plenty of prizes. Please come out and join us. This will be a rain or shine event. If the weather is inclement, we have plenty of room to move things indoors. While we are on the subject of meetings, remember there are no general meetings during the months of July and August. We are anxiously awaiting word on the Point Mountain River Channel Restoration Project. We are hopeful that work will beginning soon on this project. We will also be participating in a water quality and macro invertebrate study on the Musky. I just learned of the project this week and I don't have all the details yet. We will be looking for CJTU volunteers to lend a hand in this important study once more details emerge. We have a great meeting planned for September. Jay "Fishy" Fullum will be our guest speaker and as usual he will be hosting a fly tying session before the meeting. Check out the rest of Main Stream for the details. Keep you eyes on your inbox as we move into summer. We will not be meeting but there will limey be a call for volunteers for the work on Point Mountain. E-mail will be our primary method of contacting folks. I hope everyone has a safe and happy summer.
Tight Lines |
Fly of the Month“Slim Jim Red
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