February 2019

General Meeting

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.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Tim O’Neill

“Shad Fishing 101”

A look through the different Shad species we have available to us. Gear and techniques will be discussed as well as fly design.

Tim is the founder and owner of O'Neill's Fly Fishing, an online community dedicated to all aspects of fly fishing culture. www.oneillsflyfishing.com He began fly fishing at the age of 10. During the following 3+ decades, his passion for the sport carried him through many parts of the industry including: retail sales, commercial fly tying, lecturing, seminar teaching, and guiding. Currently he operates O’Neill’s Fly Fishing as well as being the owner of the Nor-vise fly tying system. www.nor-vise.com Tim’s fly fishing exploits have been written up in publications like “Out and About Delaware” and “Delaware Today” as well as being interviewed for NPR radio to discuss fly fishing. He considers himself an educator first and gets the most pleasure in helping others learn more about this great sport. When asked what his favorite fish to catch is, his response is always the same: “the one on the end of my tippet.” Please feel free to contact him to discuss all things fly fishing at tim@oneillsflyfishing.com

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Agust Gudmundsson - Fly Fishing Montana on the Cheap

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Andrew Moy - Swinging Flies from a Spey Rod for Salmon and Steelhead

American Legion Hall
137 New Market Road
Dunellen, NJ

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

President’s Letter

Well it’s February now, and we are one month closer to the warmer weather since the last time we spoke. I did get out a few times in January and I managed to get a few fish. The February fish is in the books as well, thanks to the spring like weather we had earlier this week. If you are fishing this time of year please be careful. Our rivers our full of water this year and wading can be dangerous at times. A dunking that would be a mild inconvenience in May could be lethal this time of year. Hyperthermia is no laughing matter, falling into a trout stream in the middle of winter is serious business so be careful out there!

Many thanks go out to all of the volunteers you helped us out at the two area shows last month! As a thank you, we will be rewarding those that helped us out with a random drawing at our next meeting. If you donated more than 4 hours of your time, your name will be entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate to one of our area fly shops. Remember, you have to attend the meeting to claim your prize if your name is drawn!

Fly tying season is upon us and we are preparing to kick of our 2019 fly tying classes. If you have not signed up for the beginners or intermediate classes there is still time. Classes begin on Wednesday, February 13 and we will take participants right up to the day of the class. The cost for either class is $50.00. For the beginners class we provide all the tools and materials you need to complete the class. If interested you can register at our meeting next week our send us an email at cjtutying@cjtu.org.

We have a great meeting in store for you this month. Tim Flagler will be giving a presentation on fishing Patagonia. This is one you will not want to miss! The meeting starts at 7:30pm for some socializing, the business portion of the meeting starts at 8:00pm and the presentation will begin following the business meeting. As always there will be pizza and soft drinks available before the meeting.

For those interested in fly tying we will be trying something new in the months to come. Before the meeting one of our experienced fly tiers will be on site to demonstrate the tying of special pattern. It could be a local favorite, a hot fly for the season, the showcasing of a new material or demonstrating of a new fly tying technique. We are working out the details and will begin the program in March and we will announce the tying sessions in advance so you know what is going on for each date. However, we will have a couple fly tiers on hand before the February meeting as well. If you want to tie along you are welcome to. You can bring out your vise and tools or use ours. We will have them on hand for anyone that wants to sit down and tie along. Our tiers will be setting up around 6:30pm if you are interested.

This month we can take a little breather from the hustle and bustle of show season. At the moment there is nothing on our calendar until we move into March and April. We are still planning on a clean up on Anderson Brook this Spring and our Annual Musky Clean up is scheduled for Saturday April 13. Looking forward we attending Rutgers day and possibly the Pequest Open House.

That’s it for now. I hope to see everyone at the meeting!

Tight Lines
Bart Lombardo

News & Events

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Save the date: Musconetcong River Cleanup 2019

April 13, 2019

This year marked the 27th Spring Clean Up on the Musconetcong River is set for April 13, 2019.

As we do every year, Central Jersey Trout Unlimited (CJTU) members cleaned up the Point Mountain TCA section

River clean-ups are an excellent opportunity to help reconnect and restore our trout streams.

I encourage members to participate in the cleanup, your work will directly improve our rivers and at the end of the day feel the accomplishment of restoring a small stretch of stream.

Lou Digena

Rutgers Day

April 27, 2019

Pequest Open House

Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28, 2019

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.

Fly of the Month

“Michigan Wiggler”

Tied by Bill Ninke

Crossover is a popular term in the auto industry, referring to styling and features from one market segment being used in another. Are there crossover flies? Of course, and this month’s pattern is an example.

The Michigan Wiggler originated in its namesake state as an imitation of the nymph of the Hexagenia Limbata (Hex) mayfly for use in trout streams. It crossed over when anglers discovered that steelhead running up from Great Lakes tributaries also were fond of it. We don’t have Hex mayflies in New Jersey, at least I’ve never run across any, but trout here like it too. I think it is taken for a small baitfish or crayfish or maybe a dragon fly nymph or other “food”. This last season I discovered that bass and panfish in both moving and still waters also like it. Thus, it has further crossed over to the warmwater domain. Smallmouths in the South Branch of the Raritan down Neshanic way relish it. I had a big carp follow it nearly to my feet before turning away. Guess it viewed my 3 wgt and decided I was an unworthy opponent..

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