November 2018

General Meeting

November 13, 2018

Bob Romano

"Rangeley Lakes Region - Maine"

Bob Romano and his wife, Trish, have owned a camp in the Rangeley Lakes Region of Western Maine for more than thirty years. This is a region of the country rich in sporting tradition and known for its native brook trout and wild landlocked salmon. Bob’s program includes 100 photos of the lakes, rivers and streams that remain as they were when Carrie Stevens tied her Gray Ghost streamer. Bob has updated his commentary to address not only when and where to fish, but also as what flies to use.

The tenth-anniversary edition of Shadows in the Stream, Bob’s book of essays about fly fishing, is often used by anglers as a guide to fishing the Rangeley Lakes Region. His latest book, THE RIVER KING – A FLY-FISHING NOVEL will also be available for sale.

Bob is also the author of the Rangeley Lakes series of novels that include North of Easie, which won second place in the 2010 Outdoor Writer’s Best Book Contest. Romano’s essays and short stories have appeared in various anthologies, including Christmas in the Wild, Fresh Fiction for Fresh Water Fishing, and Wildbranch: An Anthology of Nature, Environmental, and Place-Based Writing.

He writes articles for various magazines and newspapers and does his best to keep up with his blog: forgottentrout.wordpress.com and his website: www.forgottentrout.com

December 11, 2018

Annual Holiday Gathering with Fly Tying

Our Meeting on December 11th will feature some of the old and some of the new. We will start the meeting at 7:30 pm with pizza and soda available.

As for the old, as in past December meetings, we invite our Chapter fly tiers to demonstrate their patterns, techniques and general prowess to other attendees. So if you are one of these tiers, bring you materials and tools and be prepared to show off.

Due to last year's success we will continue three new twists.

First, we want to encourage those who have never tied a fly to get started. So please invite any friends , neighbors, spouses, family members, significant others or whatever that fit this category to the meeting or come yourself and one of our excellent instructors will provide guidance in tying a first fly. Tools and materials will be provided.

Second, for existing tiers who have questions about a particular pattern or technique, bring the relevant hook and materials and your own vice and tools and our instructors will guide you in answering your questions. Could it be that none can help? We doubt it. But maybe you can wipe the smug confidence off their faces to the delight of all attendees.

Finally, for those who never have or never will tie flies, we invite you to share social interactions with other Chapter Members. A few surprises may be in store too, so come on down and have a great time.

January 8, 2019

Cole Baldino

Bigger Wild Fish and Healthier Watersheds:
Combining Science & Fishing

Cole will take you through the Home Rivers Initiative’s Upper Delaware River Program within NJ. This presentation will touch on threats to current native and wild trout in NJ, planned/future projects and how we do it, how to get involved and what you can do on the river to become a better conservationist and catch more fish.

Cole graduated from SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry in Syracuse with a major in watershed science and coldwater fisheries biology, with the hopes of working for TU. He is now the Upper Delaware River Manager for TU’s Home Rivers Initiative, where he implements watershed restoration for native and wild trout populations through NJ’s Upper Delaware River Basin. In his spare time, you can find him floating the Upper Delaware or rock climbing when he’s giving the trout a rest in the summer heat. He currently lives right over the border in PA’’s Delaware Water Gap.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Tim Flagler

Unforgettable Patagonia

A trip to Patagonia should be on every fly fishers bucket list. The fish, the food, the scenery and the warmth and humor of the people are like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Tim’s video based presentation, shot in stunning 4K resolution, will make you feel like you’re there! It includes footage of his experience during his first trip to the region and perhaps explain his zeal for returning annually. Big fish, big country, big meals that you have to see to believe. 

Tim Flagler, videographer and fly tier, is the owner of Tightline Productions, L.L.C., a video production company located in Califon, NJ. Although Tightline produces video programs over a wide range of topics, their specialty is fly fishing. Almost every week they produce a new fly tying or “how to” video which appears not only on their Vimeo and YouTube channels but on Midcurrent and the Orvis fly tying blog as well. These videos often get picked up by other sites too, including Frankenfly, Chiwulff, The Limp Cobra, Globalflyfisher, Gink and Gasoline and Wideopenspaces, just to name a few. Many of the tying videos take the viewer well beyond just the tying of the fly and show what it looks like underwater, what natural it represents and how it can be fished.

American Legion Hall
137 New Market Road
Dunellen, NJ

Meeting starts at 7:30 PM - Non Members are always welcome!

President’s Letter

This year seems to be flying by, as time goes by the years seem to get shorter and shorter. It looks like yesterday I was enjoying warm spring days on the river casting to rising fish. Now, the holidays are right on our doorsteps, and the cold winds of winter will be close behind. Until old man winter covers the banks of our trout streams with ice there is still plenty of quality fishing to be had, so make sure you make an effort to spend a little time on the water this fall.

Late fall is a great time to be on the water. As I write this, falling leaves can make fly fishing a bit frustrating. However, the leaves will fall off the trees soon enough, and the streams will be clear once again. We are enjoying plenty of water in our rivers and streams this year, maybe a little too much. With all this water the fishing has been exceptional. The skinny, clear water and spooky trout were not something we had to deal with this fall.

All of our major trout streams received a final stocking of fish last month, and some of these fish were quite large. Although I prefer solitude when fishing it is good to see the large numbers of anglers on the water this fall. The more people that enjoy our rivers and streams for recreation the better the chance we have to protect them.

Do you have a fishing friend that is not a member of Trout Unlimited? Why not encourage them to join? Invite them to a meeting to check us out. Our meetings are and always have been open to the general public, no membership is required.

October and November have been busy months for Central Jersey Trout Unlimited. On Saturday, October 20th we had our annual banquet which was quite a success. I would like to thank all of the folks on our banquet committee that put this event together. They did a phenomenal job and the evening was enjoyed by everyone in attendance. There were great food, great prizes, and great company!

Early November has been busy as well. On Friday, October 26th a group of Trout Unlimited and Raritan Headwaters volunteers headed out to the Lamington River to continue the invasive plant species removal efforts that have been ongoing at the Burnt Mills Preserve. This important work is just a small part of the restoration work being done at this site.

On Saturday, November 3rd the annual One Fly Tournament and State Council Dinner took place. The high water I mentioned earlier came into play this year. When the sun rose on the day of the tournament we were greeted by the South Branch of the Raritan River overflowing its banks. This made fishing the river impossible. The tournament organizers quickly switched gears and moved the event to a local golf course where the quarry changed from trout to panfish and bass. I was a guide/judge during the competition and had the privilege to be assigned to East Jersey Trout Unlimited’s Fred Madura. Fred went on to win the event with back to back largemouth bass that measured 20’’ and 16” respectively. Do you want to know the killer fly that took those two respectable largemouth bass? A size 16 red copper john!

On Sunday, November 4th, we assisted other local TU chapters in planting trees along the recently restored A-frame tract on the Musconetcong River. Our thanks go out to all the volunteers that came out to help work on this vital project!

Later this month Central Jersey Trout Unlimited will have a booth at the International Fly Tying Symposium On November 17th & 18th. Due to a few members being involved in this event as featured tiers, we are in desperate need of help for this show. If you would like to help staff our table for a few hours, we will cover the cost of the $15.00 ticket to get you in the show! This is a great way to meet new folks and help spread the word about all the great work CJTU is doing in New Jersey. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me at president@cjtu.org, and I will explain what is needed (trust me it is easy!) and make arrangements to purchase your tickets to the show. Without help from our general membership, we will not be able to attend this show!

Moving forward we will be scheduling a clean up on Anderson Brook sometime in December. Anderson Brook is a tributary of the Musconetcong river that has been identified as containing wild brook trout. The clean up will be the first of many projects on this watershed to protect these fish. We will send out a request for volunteers when we nail down a date.

That about wraps it up. I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming meeting on Tuesday, November 13th. The meeting starts at 8:00pm, but folks start showing up around 7:30 for a little pre-meeting socializing.

Tight Lines
Bart Lombardo

News & Events

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CJTU 2019 Fly Tying School

Dates: February 13, 20 & 27 & March 6, 13 & 20, 2019

Time: 7:30 to 9:30 PM

Registration Fee

$50.00 for Beginners, Materials and Tools provided.
$50.00 for Intermediate Courses (Students must have there own vise and tools.)

Catching a fish on a fly you’ve tied yourself is a great thrill. And Fly Tying is a wonderful hobby in itself. It leads you to a better understanding of insects and other fish prey and thus become a better fly fisher. To get you started on tying or to help you grow your skills, we offer three six-session classes expressly tuned to the Internet Age.

Beginners Class: People have learned to tie flies from books for years. Books allow an ordered sequencing in the introduction of new techniques that build on previous ones. But books are static and subtle dynamics are hard to convey. Youtube videos convey dynamics, but the quality of the instruction is not uni- form. Some videos are good; some are bad and bad habits are hard to break. Proper introduction of techniques is commonly missing. Books and videos can’t correct you if you are doing something wrong. That is where our individual instruction excels.

Learn to do things “right from the start” from our excellent instructors who are some of the best in the East. Techniques are taught in a sequence that continually builds competence. Our instructors watch you and make sure you are doing things right. Further, we provide a quality vice, tools, hooks and all materials. The only upfront cost is our modest fee and your time. Finally, we provide a printed manual with summarized tying descriptions for each pattern plus a reference to a web video we believe is the best for that pattern. So sign up for and take our course and “be the best that you can be” in the shortest time possible.

Transitions Class: Did you take the Beginners Class last year or have you been tying a while on your own and feel you’re not quite up to our Intermediate Class. Then you’ll want to enroll in our Transitions Class. You’ll tune up your dubbing and hackling techniques and learn new families of techniques including working with deer hair, CDC, Snow Shoe rabbit and UV resins.

Intermediate Class: While our Beginners and Transitions Classes are the same from year to year, after all, basics are basics, our Intermediate Class is redesigned each year. New patterns and techniques introduced by tiers through-out the world during the previous year are monitored, and the best ones that mesh with the skill set of the Beginners and Transitions Classes are selected. Thus the class remains interesting to past attendees and also to those who have never taken it before. So sign up to continue your growth as a tier and enjoy the camaraderie of other like-purposed students.

Location, Registration and Payment: All Fly tying classes are held at the American Legion Hall, 137 New Market Road, Dunellen, NJ 08812. We ask you to register as soon as possible so that we may plan accordingly to make your class a success.

You can register at the Registration Table during the CJTU Chapter Meeting held in the American Legion Hall on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 or Tuesday, February 12; at the CJTU booth at the NJ Outdoors Show or Fly Fishing Show, or by email at cjtutying@cjtu.org.

Payment by of check or cash on or before the frst session is required. Please make your check payable to Central Jersey Trout Unlimited.

A-Frame Project Update

Cole Baldino

On Sunday, November 4th the banks of the Musconetcong river flooded quite literally but were also flooded by TU volunteers from across NJ, representing Central, Hacklebarney, Ray Neirle and Ridge & Valley TU chapters. They visited the site of a recent habitat restoration project on Musconetcong State Lands, locally known as the A-Frame property armed with shovels and native trees. This riparian planting marked the completion of a successful partnership project between Trout Unlimited National, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and all NJ TU Chapters led by the Central Jersey Chapter. This project enhanced the instream habitat by creating pools, riffles, and runs along this third-of-a-mile section of public water. The $35,000 project was funded by a NJ TU fundraising effort, Embrace-A-Stream grant, and the William Penn Foundation. Not only does this project benefit trout, but also water quality and natural sediment transportation which is anchored by stable and shaded banks.

The team of volunteers planted and protected over 100 trees that will act as the next generation of Musconetcong riparian zone, shading the river, stabilizing banks, and acting as habitat to migratory birds and eventually a wild trout. You can visit the A-Frame property to hike, bird, and of course fish at 253 Bloomsbury Rd Bloomsbury, NJ.

More photos can be seen here

CJTU Brings Back the Fall Banquet

After a hiatus of over a decade, CJTU brought back it’s annual banquet on Saturday October 20th. Hopefully this will become an annual event again, and with the strong turnout and good time shared at the Grillstone Restaurant in Scotch Plains, there’s good reason to believe it will.

The Banquet Committee

CJTU members, their spouses and family were in attendance to enjoy the excellent food, drinks and service the Grillstone staff provided. We even raised some conservation funds due to the amazing work of banquet chair Marsha Benovengo and her committee, consisting of Sal Lauro, John Wester, Lou DiGena, Nick Romanenko and Bart Lombardo, who solicited and collected a slew of great donated prizes for the evening.

More Banquet Photos

Burnt Mills Invasive Plant Removal

Members of Central Jersey and Hacklebarney chapters of TU teamed up with Raritan Headwaters to clear invasive plants at the Burnt Mills Preserve on Friday Oct. 26th, allowing native understory plants to flourish. These efforts, and the eventual removal of the partially breeched dam there next summer will improve the habitat along the Lamington River.

See other photos from this event.

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