www.cjtu.org

April 2024

General Meeting

Tuesday, April 9th, 2024

Fly Tying Night

We will be featuring several of our chapter's excellent fly tiers at this months meeting. Each of them will be demonstrating the tying of one of their favorite trout flies. The tying demonstration will also be featured on the big screen so that everyone can clearly see what's happening at the vise.

In addition to the tying demonstration, this is a great time to ask any fly-tying questions you may have, as I doubt you can find a more qualified group of individuals to answer your questions.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2024

Annual Picnic Meeting

CJTU is having our annual picnic on June 11 at the American Legion in the grove behind the hall. If it rains, it will be held upstairs in our normal meeting location.

This year we are changing up the menu with brisket, pulled pork, cole slaw, macaroni and potato salads, chips, water and soda. The cost of the event is $20.00 per person.

This will be catered affair so we need to know in advance the number of people attending, therefore we cannot allow people to pay on the day of the event. The cut off date for payment is May 31st.

You can pay at the April or May meeting by giving John Wester cash or a check, or you can mail a check to:

Marsha Benovengo
3 Regency Way
Manalapan NJ 07726

Please make sure to include your phone number with the check!

Meeting Location

American Legion Hall
137 New Market Road
Dunellen, NJ

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

President’s Letter

The opening day of trout season is right around the corner. For many anglers in New Jersey, opening day is the first time they will hit the water in pursuit of trout. The truth is you can fish for trout 365 days a year in New Jersey! While the general season closes sometime in mid-March, the year-round TCAs (Trout Conservation Areas) are open all year. For me, opening day is bittersweet. While it marks the official start of trout season, some folks (myself included) have been chasing trout since the fall, mainly having the rivers to themselves. Opening day marks the return of crowded trout waters, especially in the more popular locations. However, if you do your homework, you can find less pressured waters, even a little solitude.

There have already been a few pre-season hatches for those chasing the bugs. Of course, our little black stone flies have come and gone, but I still encounter a few adults while I am on the water. I saw some Hendrickson mayflies hatching last week. Hopefully, the cool, wet weather and high water will push the main hatch back until after opening day. The warmer days in March also saw some caddis activity, so things should be in full swing by the time opening day rolls around. This week's rainy weather pumped our streams full of water. This extra water will help move the fish around but can also make wading a little dicey. Be extra careful if you are out with the masses this weekend!

Due to inclement weather, our March meeting was our first for the year. Fritz Miller gave an excellent presentation on fly fishing for northern pike on the Passaic River. This is an incredible fishery that is underutilized by anglers. These toothy critters are great sport on a fly rod or any rod, for that matter.

Our April meeting will be a little different. Once a year, we hold a fly-tying-focused meeting. We usually have this meeting before we start our fly-tying classes. But because of all the meeting cancellations, it has been rescheduled for April. We will be featuring several of our chapter's excellent fly tiers. Each tier will demonstrate one of their favorite trout flies. The tying demonstration will be broadcast on the big screen so everyone can clearly see what's happening behind the vise. In addition to the tying demonstration, this is a great time to ask those fly-tying questions, as I doubt you can find a more qualified group of individuals to answer your questions.

I will be giving a presentation on fly fishing from kayaks, float tubes, and other watercraft next month. Weather permitting, I will bring a fully rigged kayak to display and discuss during the presentation. If you have ever fly-fished on still water, you know what a challenge it can be to fish from shore. Getting off the bank will take your fishing to the next level!

At our next few meetings, we will be conducting a fly sale. We still have a large number of flies that we used as a fundraising method several years ago. The flies are coming out of storage and will be available for purchase at our meetings. This sale will be a great way to fill those fly boxes before the season begins.

I mentioned in my last letter that we acquired a large quantity of furs for fly tying. We have decided to hold off on distributing the fur until the fall. Stay tuned for more details.

On Friday, March 22, Trout Unlimited volunteers ( a few from CJTU and a great turnout from Hacklebarney TU) completed some restoration work on the Lamington River near the dam removal site at Burnt Mills. Recent high-water events damaged some of the previous restoration efforts. The team of volunteers replanted trees, removed debris, and made repairs to previous work. This type of work is at the core of Trout Unlimited. This type of work is very rewarding and is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. Please consider volunteering for future events like this.

Our first stocking of Point Mountain took place on March 18. Over 900 fish were stocked in the Point Mountain TCA on the Musconetcong River. Ed Kordyla has a short article about the program in this month's newsletter, so be sure to check it out. Our volunteers stock the length of this special regulation water, ensuring that fish are evenly distributed throughout the tract instead of being dropped off at the bridges crossing the river. If you want to help us stock this stretch of stream, contact the program coordinator, Ed Kordyla, at edward.kordyla@aol.com.

On Saturday, April 13, 2024, we will participate in a river clean-up at Point Mountain on the Musconetcong River. We will meet on the river at 9:00 a.m. and work for a few hours cleaning up the area. The clean-up is a family-friendly event and an excellent opportunity to get outdoors and do something good for the environment! We are still looking for volunteers. Contact Masha Benovengo at casabeno@msn.com for more information or to sign up for the event.

On the last Saturday of April (04/27/24), we will attend Rutgers Day. This event is an opportunity to expose the public to our conservation work in this state. We will be set up at the event to educate folks about Trout Unlimited and give free casting lessons to anyone interested. We are seeking volunteer support for this event, so please lend a hand. You can email me at president@cjtu.org, and I will gladly give you more information about the event.

Our annual BBQ is scheduled for June 11, 2024. The event will be catered for this year, and Classic BBQ is on the menu. I got a sneak peek at the proposed menu, and you will not be disappointed! As part of the afternoon's festivities, I am working on having a few of the new Orvis Helios fly rods on hand for anyone who would like to cast one of these new state-of-the-art rods.

We are still seeking volunteers to serve on the current Board of Directors, the group responsible for running the organization's day-to-day operations. We have several vacant positions that need to be filled. I am happy to discuss what is involved and what is expected of someone who decides to help out. Don't hesitate to contact me at president@cjtu.org if you are interested.

I look forward to seeing you (in person) at our next general meeting on Tuesday, April 9, at the American Legion Hall in Dunellin, NJ. Please join us for an evening of conservation, camaraderie, and fishing!

Tight Lines
Bart Lombardo
CJTU President

You can contact Bart at president@cjtu.org

News & Events

Musky River Clean-up

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Califon Troutfest

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Rutgers Day

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Point Mountain Stocking

On March 18th the Central Jersey stocking team put 940 rainbow trout into the Point Mountain stretch. This was the preseason stocking. There will be three more stockings this spring, one on April 26th, one on May 17th, and one on May 24th. We spread the fish out for about a mile above the Point Mountain bridge. With all the rain we've had so far this year water levels are high so hopefully the fishing will be good into the fall. Thanks to the volunteers who participated in the stocking.

Photos by Jeff Bevan and Ed Kordyla.

Ed Kordyla, CJTU stocking coordinator

Fly of the Month

Thomas’s Chain Worm

Tied by Bill Ninke

Bottom: Chain Worm    Top: ?Chain Maggot?

A myriad of fly patterns have been tied, i.e. a set of materials have been applied to a hook in a specific sequence and the resultant pattern given a name. A subset of these patterns has been designed, i.e. a specific fishing problem is recognized and materials selected and applied to a hook to create a pattern that solves the problem. Flies in my box are mostly from this subset and this month’s fly is a good example. Its designer is Nick Thomas. You may recall another of his designs, the Double Bubble, and background material on him which was presented in the November 2023 Fly of the Month.

The problem is that in runoff with the resultant high and dirty flows, such that we are now facing in our local streams, the trout are driven down to the stream bottom. There the friction with the bottom slows the flow so trout can hold expending minimal energy. But they still need to eat and are looking for natural food items. A big chunk of protein in one gulp will certainly hit the spot. Enter the worm, either aquatic or earth. The high flows dislodge them from the stream bottom or bank. So how do you design a heavy but natural looking worm that trout recognize but which rides hook point up so that it seldom snags while bouncing along the stream bottom.

Thomas’s solution is to attach a section of 2 mm bead chain to the top of a hook and cover everything with a translucent wrap. The wrap could be Virtual Nymph’ Nymph Skin in the Natural color which has been around for quite a while but is now hard to find in our country. A better alternative is the new Fulling Mills Nymph-Rap in the Translucent Natural color, which can be found at many Shops in the US. What is particularly striking to me in Thomas’s design is that the chain not only provides weight to turn the fly hook point up when fished but also creates a visible natural internal structure from the glow from the individual beads of the chain through the translucent wrap.

The color of the chain and the thread used are chosen so that the result resembles a natural worm. Pre-colored bead chain, which can be found in the jewelry section of craft stores, can be used but commonly available silver stainless steel chain can be colored with a Sharpie. Thomas has published his pattern using Fluorescent Pink Ultra thread with silver bead chain colored with a red Sharpie which results in a worm with an orange under tone . See his photos and tying instruction in his recent article on the Global Fly Fisher site (https://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/chain-worm).

With regard to tying instructions, I tie his pattern as Thomas outlines in the GFF article with three exceptions. First, I use UTC 140 Ultra thread instead of UTC 70. It builds the inter bead chain structure and end tapers faster. Second, I use pre colored chain. This saves some tying time and keeps the inter-bead thread unsullied from a careless pen swipe. Third, and most important, I use the 4 mm Nymph-Rap, not the 3mm. It matches perfectly the periodicity of the 2mm chain. As I bring each wrap over the top, I center the Nymph-Rap strip on the bead. Result is a totally periodic structure with the beads shining through the wrap. You can compare the photo above of my ties with those in the GFF article to see the difference from Thomas. I'm sure the trout don't care but I like the effect from my tying technique.

Thomas specifies a Dohiku HDR hook in size 8 which is hard to find in the US. The shank length matches the 10 bead section of chain that he’s chosen. In my ties of his design I’ve used a size 6 Model 370 Competition Stonefly hook from Blue wing Olive Fly Fishing, a US Shop, which matches the Dohiku hook perfectly. But any 3 or 4XL streamer hook will work. Just match the shank length with the length of chain you’ve chosen. Since both chain and thread come in many colors, you can select colors you feel represent a food item. Does the fly with green chain and Fluorescent Chartreuse thread represent a maggot? I’ll be testing it soon to see.

So tie up some chain worms and bounce them along slots in the bottom during high flows. A trout’s normal reaction to a good looking meal coming right at its nose gives you a great chance for a tight line.

You can send comments, questions and suggestions to Bill at fotm@cjtu.org

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