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www.cjtu.org |
January 2021 |
General MeetingVirtual Meeting
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President’s Letter
Let’s look back at our end of year meetings and forward to the first meeting of 2021:
Annually during the Holiday season Jim Holland and the staff at Shannon’s Fly & Tackle in Califon, NJ, do something special for NJ anglers. Each December, they stock the South Branch of the Raritan River’s waters around the town of Califon with an assortment of Rainbow, Brown, Tiger and Palomino Trout. This Holiday Season stocking always involves some trophy fish, including two tagged fish affectionately called “Bubba”. If you catch “Bubba”, remove its jaw tag and document its release, you can return the tag to Shannon’s in exchange for a fabulous prize! This year the shop’s effort was expanded to include the Point Mountain Tract of the Musconetcong River. In mid-December, at the invitation of Jim Holland of Shannon’s Fly Shop, CJTU along with three other Trout Unlimited Chapters (Hacklebarney, Ridge & Valley, and Fred Burroughs) supported and participated in stocking 350 12” – 20” rainbow trout in the point Mountain Trout Conservation Area. This program gives anglers on both watersheds an opportunity to enjoy some quality winter fishing! Our thanks go out to Shannon’s for their continuing efforts to partner with and TU and NJ anglers. CJTU continues to need Volunteers to fill the President’s position and the position of Conservation Chair. We invite all members to step up and become involved in the Board or helping with Club activities. CJTU needs and values your experience and welcomes your help! We wanted to make sure that all of our members are aware of the information that was put out by the Governor’s office regarding the COVID vaccine. The website to pre-register for the vaccine is now live. Please visit https://covidvaccine.nj.gov/ to register. The general public can now pre-register, and this will allow you to put in your information, and will also allow individuals to schedule an appointment for those who are eligible based on screening questions. Also, if you haven’t gotten the chance to get tested and you would like to, you may make arrangements to do so by going to doineedacovid19test.com. The site will help you find a location that should be convenient to you, based on your zip code. CJTU wants to know what interests you and what you would like to see the Chapter include in it’s activities. Feel free to talk to any of the Board members or myself and share your suggestions! Thank you! And, stay well and safe!
Marsha Benovengo, |
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News & EventsA Message from the Membership Chairman - Bart LombardoAs the new Membership Chairmain for Central Jersey Trout Unlimited, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish each of you a happy and healthy New Year. While many of you reading these words are familiar with your local Trout Unlimited chapter, some of you may not be. Central Jersey Trout Unlimited is one of the oldest Trout Unlimited Chapters in New Jersey and one of the largest. We are an active chapter with plenty of conservation, outreach, and fishing-related activities to get involved with. Most people join Trout Unlimited because of their interest in fishing and their desire to do something good for the environment. Central Jersey Trout Unlimited offers fishing-related activities and provides a way to give back to local communities and educate others on the threats facing our coldwater fisheries. Becoming an active member of Central Jersey Trout Unlimited has many benefits. Being an active member of CJTU allows you to network with other like-minded anglers. These interactions can provide you with information on fishing hot spots near and far and introduce you to new fishing techniques like fly fishing and fly tying. It will also allow you to get involved in conservation-related activities. How can you take advantage of this? The answer is simple, GET INVOLVED! There are many ways to get involved. The first step is to sign up for our newsletter. You can sign up for the newsletter at www.cjtu.org. That is the best way to stay up to date on chapter activities. The easiest way to get involved is to show up at one of our general meetings. We meet on the second Tuesday of every month (except for July and August)at the American Legion Hall in Dunellen, NJ. Our meetings begin at 8:00, but many folks show up 30 minutes to an hour early to socialize and pre-meeting fly tying. We have a fishing or conservation-related speaker every month. Our presentations cover various topics from trout fishing to fishing for warm and saltwater species and information on angling destinations near and far! Due to the limitations of social gathering due to the COVID-19 virus, we have been conducting our meetings virtually. We will continue to do so in the immediate future. We use the Zoom platform to run the sessions, which still include presentations! You can get more involved by participating in a chapter fishing trip or outing, helping out with a cleanup or conservation project. You can also help spread the word of the great work we are doing in New Jersey at an outreach event at a local fishing show or community event. In addition, we offer education programs on fly fishing, fly tying, and conservation-related issues. You can join the program as a participant or help us present the course. The rewards of volunteering can be great, and you can donate as much or as little of your time as your schedule will allow. Consider becoming an active member of Central Jersey Trout Unlimited. I am always available to answer any questions or provide additional information about our many programs and can be reached at membership@cjtu.org. Trout Unlimited's (TU) mission is to conserve, protect, and restore North America's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. Today TU is a national organization with more than 340,000 members and supporters organized into 400 chapters and councils from Maine to Montana to Alaska.
Happy New Year! 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 CJTUAmazonSmile 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 SmileLed by Shannom's Fly Shop and with support from Central Jersey, Fred Burroughs, Hackelbarney and the Ridge and Valley chapters of TU, 350 12-20" rainbow trout from the Musky Hatchery were released in the upper portion of Point Mountain TCA on Wednesday, December 16th. We got our work in before the storm. Happy Holidays and tight lines all ! 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 Fly of the MonthGlass-Beaded Micro WormTied by Bill Ninke
I first tied this month’s fly in early 1996 shortly after being introduced to the potential of using glass beads in fly patterns by Jim Pettis as described last month. My intent was to produce a close imitation of the aquatic earthworms that are prevalent in tail waters like the Big Horn and Missouri rivers and the Spring Creeks around Livingston MT and in Eastern Pennsylvania. It is really just a size variant of the San Juan Worm fly pattern that had been around for over twenty years. My idea was to connect the worm material to a hook with only a small glass bead instead of tying down the material along the hook shank as was usually done. I thought this would allow the material ends to wiggle more. The pattern was an outstanding producer from the start in a basic red or wine color scheme that represents such worms. It has been a staple in my fly box ever since tied. I believe there are a number of reasons for its effectiveness. First, it is the right size and color. Next, the weight of the glass bead keeps the fly near the bottom when fished on an indicator or Euro rig. The bottom is where natural aquatic worms are most prevalent. Finally, the weight of the bead combined with a down eye scud hook causes the fly to ride hook point up so that it tends not to snag bottom vegetation nor collect such vegetation as it drifts. For a about a year I thought I had invented the attachment technique. Then, when reading Joe Warren’s 1997 book on “Tying Glass Bead Patterns”, I discovered another tier had beaten me to this technique by several years. I consoled myself by recognizing that I had at least created the attachment technique independently. Tying this pattern is extremely simple as evidenced by the very short set of instructions below. After all it’s just vernille threaded through a bead, the bead then impaled with a hook, and the result tied and glued in place. But an exactly matched set of materials is needed for the version that I believe most closely matches the size of aquatic earthworms. The vernille (ultra chenille) used must be small enough to easily be threaded through the bead and the bead must have a large enough hole to accept the vernille and hook. I use 10/0 beads which are available from craft suppliers. The holes in 11/0 beads are just too small for easy threading. My preference is for silver lined beads with an AB (pearly) finish but plain silver lined beads work just fine. I use the vernille manufactured by Cascade Crest tools which has a 1mm diameter. It is available from The Fly Shop (where I first got mine) in size labeled Mini. Or you can purchase it directly from Cascade Crest or the Fly Shack (one of our sponsors) in size labeled Small. Local fly shops do not carry this product. Other Ultra Chenilles in size Micro are available from Hareline and Wapsi and are stocked by local shops. The diameters of both these chenilles are about 1.5mm making them too large for a use with10/0 beads. You’ll have to use 8/0 beads with these. Flies using this latter chenille-bead combination work just fine although I stick with my slightly smaller version through stubborn support of my original. A VERY SMALL drop of gel super glue holds the bead in place. Regular superglue wicks into the vernille around the bead and stiffens the vernille such that the vernille breaks off after a few fish. The Worm on the left side of the photo uses 1mm wine vernille and a 10/0 red bead. The Worm on the right uses 1 mm red vernille and also a 10/0 red bead. The Worms in the center are a recent modification, adding two beads instead of one. This slightly heavier version seems to work a little better in the freestone streams of our area and in sections of tail waters where flows are faster than in Spring Creeks. Click here for the recipe! |
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Central Jersey Trout Unlimited’s Supporters
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As we embark on a New Year we do so mindful of what we have accomplished through a challenging time. CJTU has continued to hold our meetings, through the Zoom platform, with well-known speakers and interesting topics. Arrangements are continuing to be made for more activities so that our members stay connected.
