www.cjtu.org

April 2021

General Meeting

Virtual Meeting
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
8:00 pm

We are having a virtual meeting for Tuesday, April 13th. We will be using the platform ZOOM to conduct this meeting. Look for an action alert in your inbox with instructions on how to log into the meeting. The instructions will also be posted on our website, cjtu.org.

Join Zoom Meeting on Tuesday, April 13th at 8:00 pm

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83512111698?pwd=eE9qZkVPR09BcitTSFVPdnNoUkh5Zz09

Meeting ID: 835 1211 1698
Passcode: 327169

Andrew Moy

“The Ins and Outs of Successfully Fishing the Beaverkill and the Upper Delaware Rivers”

Andrew is well known to CJTU as a supporter and the owner and head guide at Tight Lines Fly Fishing.

Andrew began fly fishing at age 4 in Norway. On this trip to visit family he tied his first fly and spent an entire evening trout fishing with his cousin Geir Grevstad, a well known fly fisherman in Norway. Needless to say this catapulted his passion.

Born and raised in Sloatsburg, NY near the Ramapo River, he spent many days and evenings learning the habits of trout, aquatic insects and alternative foods they feed on. This curiosity and drive to learn more encouraged him to extensively fish the tri-state, frequenting rivers with his father Ben, friends and on his own. Many of these rivers included the Housatonic, Esopus, Neversink, Beaverkill, Battenkill and Delaware. He also started fishing the Salmon River in NY in 1987.

In 1999 he began his passion of spey casting. This passion has taken him to many places throughout North America and Europe including Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Gaspe', British Columbia, Montana, Norway and Sweden and the west coast of the US in pursuit of Atlantic Salmon, steelhead and trout. Andrew also pursues with a two-handed rod smallmouth, largemouth, striped bass and even bonefish.

Andrew opened Tight Lines Fly Fishing in 2001 and continues to enjoy teaching others the sport that he loves.

All General Meetings until further notice will be virtual, on the Zoom platform.

American Legion Hall
137 New Market Road
Dunellen, NJ

Meeting starts at 8:00 PM - Non Members are always welcome!

President’s Letter

Spring has sprung! Good things are happening!

We have weathered the pandemic and we are carefully and selectively venturing outside, while still enjoying virtual gatherings.

The CJTU members will be participating in the Musconetcong River Clean Up on Saturday, April 17th at 9am, starting at Point Mountain. We will observe all TU Guidelines and Protocols, local and state laws as well as CDC restrictions while we work, socially distant, to make a difference!

Our CJTU Conservation, Gordon Vickers, has reached out to members seeking your participation. Please read his very informative article below or on the website. And, if you would like to join the CJTU Musconetcong Clean Up Team please reach out to Gordon at g_vickers@comcast.net and let him know. Your participation matters!

Also, on April 17th, from 9am to 12pm, the Raritan Headwaters will be holding a Clean Up. You can find out more information about the event at their website raritanheadwaters.org.

National Volunteer Week is being held April 18th -24th (www.pointsoflight.org). During the week there are several opportunities for celebrating and recognition.

Earth Day is on April 22nd, you can find information at tu.org/get-involved/celebrate-earthday.com.

One of the most exciting virtual events to take place is the “Spirit of TU Award”, on April 23rd., at 8pm. This award “recognizes the outstanding achievements of its members, chapter and councils that have embodied the values of TU and fulfilled its mission”. If your schedule permits, please register to attend the Spirit of TU Award event at tu.org/spiritoftu.com. It is going to be a special night!

Arbor Day is being celebrated on 4/30. Help by holding a family event, with those in your immediate household, and plant a tree.

The NJ State Council of TU will be holding a “Virtual Women’s Gathering” on April 27th at 7:00pm via Zoom. If you would like to connect with other women anglers, get acquainted/reacquainted with other women in the region, meet women who are new to fly fishing and learn about women in the fly fishing community pleas JOIN US!

This NJTU Virtual Women’s Gathering is a great opportunity for us to share experiences, get to know each other better, learn about leadership and mentoring possibilities and discuss how supporting each other is essential to all of our success. If you would like to attend the NJTU Virtual Women’s Gathering please feel free to contact Marsha Benovengo, NJTU Council Chair (and CJTU Interim President) at casabeno@msn.com, by Thursday, April 22nd. Feel free to invite a friend and share with others!

The Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation (NJSOC), a not-for-profit organization has finalized a temporary access agreement with NJDEP to reopen the NJSOC for limited programming starting in May.

The New Jersey School of Conservation provided a place of conservation education and outreach for almost 80 years. Elementary, high school and college students received specialized education and one of a kind camp experiences at the NJSOC. Teachers were also afforded advanced educational training.

The New Jersey School of Conservation is located in Stokes State Forest in Sussex County. It was originally started as an outdoor education field center in 1949. In 1981 Governor Bryne established NJSOC as a field center for environmental study. “Over the years, more than 500,000 students, teachers and researchers from across the state, nation and the world have participated in education and training programs there”. Despite a recent closing the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation has worked diligently to get the NJSOC reopened and back to its former glory. Programming has already started.

The New Jersey School of Conservation is a one of a kind historic operation and we want to do whatever we can to help it succeed!

CJTU is still looking for a volunteer to fill the permanent role of Chapter President. We ask that any member who is interested please reach out to Interim President, Marsha Benovengo at casabeno@msn.com or any of our Board Members.

Be well and safe, and enjoy the Spring!

Marsha Benovengo,
Interim President,
CJTU

News & Events

Annual Musconetcong River Clean-up

Saturday, April 17, 2021

Spring has arrived, finally! It’s time to enjoy the Great Outdoors once again. A great way to take advantage of the improving weather is to join your fellow CJTU members for the annual Musconetcong River Cleanup. In partnership with the Musconetcong Watershed Association, this tradition continues on Saturday, April 17. As usual, CJTU will focus on cleaning up our “home water”, the Point Mountain Trout Conservation Area of the Musconetcong.

Plan to join us at the Hunterdon County side of the Point Mountain Road bridge at 9 am. We expect to complete the cleanup project no later than Noon. Trash Collection Bags and gloves will be provided. This event is a great opportunity to fulfill Trout Unlimited’s core mission of Conserving, Protecting, and Restoring our trout streams.

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there are special protocols we’ll observe:

All participants need to complete a Health Self-Assessment:

Are you experiencing any of the following?

• Short of breath at rest
• Inability to lie down because of difficulty breathing
• Chronic health conditions that you are having difficulty managing because of your current respiratory illness

Do you have any of the following potential symptoms?

• Temperature greater than 100.4 degrees F
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of sense of taste and/or smell

In the past 14 days, have you had close contact with someone who is confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19? A close contact is defined as a person who:

• Provided care for the you; this includes healthcare workers, family members, or other caregivers, or had similar close physical contact without consistent and appropriate use of personal protective equipment (surgical mask and gloves) OR
• Who lived with you or otherwise had close contact (within 6 feet) of you while they were infectious OR
• With whom you had direct contact with their infectious bodily fluids

It is critical that all participants maintain a minimum of six feet of distance from each other if you are not from the same household. It is also critical that you wear personal protective equipment (e.g., multi-layer cloth mask, gloves.

You are welcome to bring your own work gloves.

Because of the situation, we are not able to provide food and refreshments to you this year. Please bring your own food and beverages.

All CJTU participants will be required to sign a liability waiver and to provide contact tracing information (name, email address, telephone number, and home address). The Release Form can be Downloaded Here and filled out before your arrival.

Those interested in attending this event can contact Gordon Vickers at g_vickers@comcast.net for more information or to let us know that you will be attending.

We look forward to seeing you on April 17th!

Help CJTU when you shop at Amazon!

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/23-7355313

Use the link above to access amazon.com and help support CJTU

AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. AmazonSmile is available at smile.amazon.com on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping app for iOS and Android phones. When you shop at AmazonSmile, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added benefit that AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to Central Jersey Trout Unlimited.

More about amazon Smile

Opening Day of the NJ Trout Season is Saturday, April 11, 2021

It's time for a new NJ Fishing License and Trout Stamp! You can get it here:

https://nj.aspirafocus.com/internetsales

2021 New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Digest is available Here:

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/digfsh21.htm

If you fish in saltwater you will need to register here:

https://www.nj.gov/dep/saltwaterregistry/index.html

Article

My Life Observing Trout

By Wendell "Ozzie" Ozefovich

Wendell (On the Left) with his dad
(Wendell Sr) and brother Joe

Since the age of six when I caught my first brook trout on a garden worm, I developed a pas-sion for trout and their exciting world. I was fascinated by any body of water, stream or brook, even the tiny rivulets that form after a heavy rain.

The closest trout streams were a hike with my father over the nearby mountain or through a mile-long train tunnel, which saved us a few miles. To this day while driving, I must slow down at every bridge, large or small, either to take a quick peak depending upon traffic, or pull over and check the layout of the stream or river and picture where those beauties might be holding.

Trout are fascinating because they are so perfectly made for their environment : sleek, efficient, beautiful and surprising. Surprising because they always find new ways to show me something new about a trout’s life in their natural habitat: how they move, feed, spawn and behave under all stream conditions.

My Underwater World of Trout videos open a beautiful and magnificent window into a world few have ever seen and are of interest to more than just anglers. The view under the stream is not as bucolic or stable as you might believe. A stream is alive, not just with trout and insects, but with darters, dace and crayfish to name a few. What looks like clear water is chock full of bubbles, sticks, detritus, leaves and haze. Underwater we see different shades of green vegetation, some many feet long, swaying in both slow-moving water and flourishing in extremely turbulent water. When directing my camera directly upwards toward the surface from below, I was mesmerized by the sight of bubbles from underneath the water which were created by a small waterfall swirling around sliding into a gin clear pool.

Click here to read the rest of the story

Fly of the Month

Zug Bug

Tied by Bill Ninke

Does this scenario ring a bell? In a morning in late Spring trout are flashing in a nice run out in front of you. So you put on a double nymph rig with patterns matching the expected hatch. But you hook nothing and the trout continue flashing. You could just sit on a streamside rock and wait for the hatch. Or you could put on other patterns and keep nymphing. But what patterns? When this happens to me I put on two different sizes of an attractor nymph, the Zug Bug. And, more often than not, I hook a few fish before dry fly activity starts. The Zug Bug become my “when all else fails” pattern.

The Zug Bug is an old pattern, created by Pennsylvania tier Cliff Zug back in the 1930s. My path to tying and fishing it started in the late 1990s. I was in the Blue Ribbon Flies shop in West Yellowstone talking with owner Craig Mathews about fishing Cliff and Wade Lakes on one of my next trips. I asked him what flies I should take. He told me that many old-timers swear by Zug Bugs and that I should be sure to bring some in sizes 10, 12 and 14 if I went. At that time, even though I knew the name, I had never tied or fished that pattern. I asked Craig what the Bug represents. He admitted he honestly didn’t know but there are damsels, dragons, caddis and small minnows in the Lakes and trout could take the Bug for any of these or as just an attractor to mouth.

So, during the following Winter, I tied up Zugs in 10s through 14s, some weighted and some not, and stuck them in my nymph box. While I did get back to the Yellowstone area the next season, I didn’t get to Cliff or Wade Lakes as I had thought. The Bugs idled in my box for many years. Then, about ten years ago, when I experienced the scenario I described earlier I started running through my nymph box with no results until I tried the Zugs. They caught a few trout. The next time I encountered the opening scenario I put the Zugs on as the first option and again hooked a few trout before dry fly time. So, that’s the history of my “Zugs to the rescue plan”.

The pattern is simple to tie. Peacock sword, peacock herl, tinsel ribbing, a triangular mallard wing case, and brown soft hackle collar are all that are needed. For those that you weight use non-lead wire. You may someday want to use the flies in Yellowstone Park where lead is illegal. How will you know if a fly is weighted? I use black thread at the head for weighted ones and brown thread for unweighted ones. Then, even though they may get shuffled around in fishing and replacing, I’ll always know the heavy ones.

So, give a pair a try when other patterns fail, weighted on the point fly, unweighted on the dropper. Hopefully, the Zugs will be the drug to give you a tug.

Central Jersey Trout Unlimited’s Supporters