December 2011
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and was able to get out and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather that followed the holiday. Myself, I was laid up sick as a dog, with no other option but look out the window and dream of being waist deep in my favorite trout stream. November has come and gone but there are still plenty of angling opportunities left for those willing to get out and brave the elements. The rivers are in prime condition and there are plenty of fish to be had, especially in our trout conservation areas.
Early last month, Lou DiGena represented Central Jersey Trout Unlimited in the 2nd Annual N.J. Fly Fisherman of the Year One Fly Tournament (that's a mouthful, we are going to have to work on that name!). The event was hosted by the Raritan Inn and Shannon's Fly Shop. In conjunction with the fishing event there was a banquet held that evening to honor the New Jersey State Council of Trout Unlimited's 40th anniversary. Lou represented the chapter well, placing second, losing by only eight tenths of an inch! The banquet was a good time as well, with C.J.T.U. being well represented. I am looking forward to next year when maybe one of you will be the one to represent the chapter and bring back top honors. You can see a great video that summarizes the event by checking out our website.
If cold water fishing is not your cup of tea, fly tying is a great way to extend your fishing season and restock your fly boxes at the same time. We are just a month away from the start of our fly tying classes. If you interested, you can sign up at either the December or January meeting. You can get all the details by visiting our web page. Our instructors will get you up to speed and tying your own flies in no time at all. Our classes are not just for beginners, we offer intermediate classes and a workshop for more experienced tiers. Our intermediate class is designed for those of you that have completed our beginners course. This class will teach new techniques that will build on what you have already learned. The workshop features a different instructor each week and is the type of class you can come back for year after year, as it always brings fresh ideas to the fly tying vice. This year we are do something different. For the first time we are offering a fly tying material collection for the beginners class. This assortment of first rate materials include everything you need to tie dozens of the fly patterns learned in the class. One of the biggest challenges for a new tier is wading through all of the fly tying materials that are available and making the correct choices. We have taken all the work out of the process. Our own Leon Cheeka has graciously offered to assemble four complete material kits that will supply everything you need for the course. The cost is $100.00 and he has agreed to donate $25.00 back to the chapter for every kit sold. Leon has decades of experience under his belt, you can be assured that the materials will be the highest quality available. The kits will be sold on a first come first serve basis, so don't wait. Before I move on I wanted to mention that if you asked Leon to build a fly box for you, they are ready. You can pick them up at the general meeting. If the boxes are not claimed by the January meeting they will be up for grabs for whoever wants one.
This month's general meeting will feature speaker Bill Kibler, the Director of Policy and Science for the Raritan Headwaters Association, who will discuss the mission, goals, and programs of the new organization. Come out and learn what the Raritan Headwaters Association has planned for improving the water quality and the cold water fisheries of the headwaters of the Raritan River, including the South Branch, the Lamington, the North Branch, Rockaway Creek and others.
Our second annual CJTU Fly tying night will take place during our January general meeting. Come on out and see what is coming off the vices of the chapter's best fly tiers. We encourage everyone to participate regardless of their skill level. This a great opportunity to bring out your own equipment and tie flies with an experienced tier. We will be there to demonstrate techniques, provide instruction and answer questions. There will be a very short business meeting at 8:00pm followed by an evening of fly tying. Feel free to come out early, as most tiers will be setting up around 7:00pm. The Saturday before our general meeting, on January 7th, CJTU will be conducting a fly tying demonstration at Efingers Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. Efingers usually runs a great sale on fly tying materials during this event so its a great time to stock up on materials and learn a few things in the process.
To wrap up I just wanted to mention that our Facebook page is the place where you can find all the latest information about our chapter. This becomes especially important as the winter season approaches. Any cancellations due to weather will be posted there as well as our website. You can visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Central-Jersey-Trout-Unlimited/338645994649.
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
November 2011
This has got to be one of the craziest weather years in my memory. This year our autumn river levels have been higher than our spring time flows. I have been chased off the river by high flows more this year than any time in the past. Typically, fall fishing means low, crystal clear rivers and spooky fish. Not so this year! Then for the icing on the cake, throw in a freak October blizzard. Despite it all, I am getting on the river whenever I can and I hope you are too.
As the weather turns cold and the snow begins to fly (like it is today) I start to turn my attention back to fly tying. It's not that I don't tie flies during the rest of the year, I just tie more in the cold weather. This is the time of year when I inventory my fly boxes and determine what worked and what did not. I then restock the proven patterns, transfer the unsuccessful experiments to the bluegill box and dream up new patterns to try in the upcoming year.
For those of you that have always wanted to learn how to tie your own flies, we have a great way to get started. Central Jersey Trout Unlimited will be starting up our annual fly tying classes this January. We only offer these classes once a year. They run for six weeks (twice a month) January through March. We are now starting to take names, so if you are interested in signing up you can check out our website for the details or ask one of the directors at our general meetings.
As a reminder for those of you that are already tying your own flies, the International Fly Tying Symposium is scheduled for November 19 & 20 at the Doubletree Hotel in Somerset, N.J.. This is a great opportunity to stock up on supplies, take classes or just observe the true masters of fly tying at work. Its a great opportunity to pick up that hard to find material and learn a few things in the process.
The folks at CJTU have been constantly been searching for ways to get information out to our members. We have had a presence on Facebook for some time now, but have only recently kept it regularly updated with content. If you want to find out the last minute details of what is going on with the chapter and national organization you can find the info on our Facebook page. Just search for Central Jersey Trout Unlimited next time you log in to Facebook. "Like" us and you will be notified when ever the page is updated.
Before I wrap it up, I wanted to remind everyone that this weekend the Raritan Inn and Shannon's Fly Shop will be hosting the 2nd annual Fly Fisherman of the Year contest. After the event there will be a fund raising banquet honoring the New Jersey State Council of Trout Unlimited's 40th anniversary. Tickets are still available and you will be able to purchase them at this week's meeting.
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
October 2011
The fall season upon us and if you have been reading these President's Letters over the years you already know that this is my favorite time of year to fish. This fall has been a challenge to say the least. The low and clear water of fall is noticeably absent, replaced by high flows more reminiscent of spring time. In fact high water is a bit of an understatement as our rivers hit flood stage levels more times this fall then they have in the last few years combined. As I waited for the waters to recede (which they finally have) I occupied my time chasing warm-water species.
Now that the waters are once again at fishable levels, it's time to turn our attention to back to trout. In the next few months our rivers and streams will receive a fresh influx of hatchery fish. The issue of stocking fish over native populations of trout has always been a controversial matter for Trout Unlimited. Our core mission has always been to protect and conserve our cold water fisheries with the emphasis on preserving native species of trout. This issue was a hot topic at this year's national meeting. We are currently looking at this situation here in New Jersey. Studies done several years ago identified several populations of heritage strain brook trout in the state. We will be looking closely at the state's stocking program in the months to come to ensure we are not endangering these isolated populations of fish.
Now that I have turned my attention to trout again, it has become painfully evident that my fly boxes are in desperate need of restocking. Fortunately, I enjoy fly tying as much as fly fishing. If you have never tied your own flies you are missing out on a very enjoyable aspect of the sport. There is no time like the present to start learning how to tie your own flies. Coming up on November 19th & 20th, the annual Fly Tying Show returns to the Double Tree Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey. In addition, Central Jersey Trout Unlimited will be hosting it's annual fly tying demonstration at the Dunellen Library on Monday, November 21st between the hours of 6:30 & 8:30pm. If you interested in taking fly tying lessons, we will begin accepting student registrations for our 2012 fly tying classes at our meeting this month. We are trying something new this year with our fly tying courses. One of the biggest challenges for a novice starting out in fly tying is selecting quality fly tying materials. This year, we will be offering a complete selection of the fly tying materials needed for the class at a great price. The quality of the materials will be first rate and this alone will greatly reduce the learning curve. One of the biggest challenges for a new fly tier is struggling to make inferior materials perform correctly. Finally, reserve Saturday January 7th, 2012 on your calendar for C.J.T.U.'s fly tying demonstration at Efingers in Bound Brook NJ. We will be there tying flies and Efingers will be running their annual sale on fly tying materials. So it will be an excellent time to learn a new pattern and stock up on materials at a substantial savings.
The New Jersey Fly Fisherman of the Year contest and banquet is returning to the Raritan Inn on Saturday November 12th. This year Lou Digena is representing C.J.T.U. in the competition. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the event last year and look forward to being a spectator this year. I plan on attending the banquet as well. This year, the banquet is in honor of Trout Unlimited's New Jersey State Council. The State Council is celebrating it's 40th Birthday.
Our Trout in the Classroom program is starting up again and we can always use some help. If you are interested in teaching children about cold water conservation drop me a line or speak to one of the directors at any meeting. We pick up trout eggs from the hatchery at the end of the month and we will be delivering them to schools across the state. There is bound to be a school close to where you live if you are interested in helping out.
That's it for now. Be sure to come out to our next meeting. The guys I traveled to Montana with this summer will be putting on a presentation on fishing the Yellowstone area. It should be a great show!
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
September 2011
I hope everyone withstood the ravages of Hurricane Irene with out too much difficulty. New Jersey and other parts of the north east were hit pretty hard by the storm. Two weeks after the storm and there are still areas flooded and without power. Many areas were affected twice, when the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee passed through the area earlier in the week. Many of us were affected by the storm but we were not the storm's only victims. Many of our local waterways were impacted as well. Now many, myself included, would argue that this is the natural way of things. Floods flush our rivers of sediment, change existing pools and runs and generally rearrange things to mother nature's fancy. This would be fine in the natural world, but we no longer live in a natural world. Our rivers have been channelized "to prevent flooding" and our development of the land cause huge amounts of sediment to find it's way into our rivers during heavy rains. In some cases mother nature needs a little help keeping our cold water ecosystems healthy after a weather event like Hurricane Irene. Trout Unlimited National has offered to help out local chapters who are trying to repair some of the damage caused by the storm.
We are currently looking over our river systems looking for potential problems caused by the flooding of Hurricane Irene. In some cases the damage was caused by the storm and in other cases the damage has the marks of man. For example, I recently observed backhoes in a stream trying to clear it of silt deposited by the storm. The work is being done to prevent flooding of developed areas but it no doubt caused extensive damage to the stream bed ecosystem. In the weeks to come, we will be identifying projects that will need our help. In some cases, it could be restoring stream side plantings to prevent erosion or it may be more demanding work, rolling rocks and rebuilding bank stabilization structures. Please keep an eye on your inbox, as we will be announcing these work projects as action alerts. While your at it, look around on some of your local waters and if you see a potential problem, bring it to our attention. The easiest way to do this is to drop us an e-mail. You can find e-mail addresses on our web page at www.cjtu.org.
Fall is right around the corner and with it brings the return of trout fishing. As the water cools you no longer have to worry about fatally stressing a fish. In addition to the return of quality fishing, fall brings the return of our general meetings. As always we will meet on the second Tuesday of every month at the American Legion Hall in Dunellen, NJ. If you need directions you can find them on our website. I hope to see you at a meeting this fall!
This is the time of year when we begin work on our trout in the classroom project. This is a very worthwhile endeavor that introduces children to the cold water ecosystem. We are always looking for volunteers to lend a hand, so I'm giving you a month to mull it over. I 'll have more information on the project and who to contact in our next newsletter. If you attend our monthly meetings you can get ahold of me and i'll explain all the details.
If you reside in central New Jersey you may be interested in dropping by the NJ Wild Outdoor Expo being held in Jackson, NJ on September 17 & 18. While it looks like we will not be able to get the volunteers to man a table at the event it is worthwhile to attend anyway! It is also a great place to bring the entire family as there will be many activities for the children. For additional information visit NJ Fish and Wildlife's website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/expo.htm
Thats it for now. I'll see you on the water once the floods recede!
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
June 2011
This spring has been a cool wet one up to now. As I write this the thermometer is threatening to reach 100 degrees and we have been a solid two weeks without any significant rain. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. I was hoping the cool weather and abundant water would extend our New Jersey trout fishing well into June. If this weather trend continues it may come to an end sooner than expected. We need to remind ourselves to give the trout a break during the warmer parts of the year. Generally, you should not fish for trout when water temperatures are 70 degrees or higher. Instead of trout fishing there are plenty of warm water and salt water opportunities available. Myself, I find it difficult to stay away from trout fishing, so I travel. Many areas to the north and west of New Jersey still offer first class trout fishing throughout the summer.
I want to remind everyone that we will not be meeting on the second Tuesday of June for our general meeting. Our meeting will take place on the third Tuesday at the usual time.
Throughout the day on Thursday, June 16th CJTU will be manning a table at the Sustainable Raritan River Conference at Rutgers University. At 4 pm we will be conducting a casting demonstration at the same location.
On June 25th we will be conducting a fly fishing seminar for the Millstone River Watershed Association, at their pond in Pennington New Jersey. The class will run from 10:00am until 3:00pm. We are still looking for volunteers to help out. If you interested drop me an e-mail and I will forward you the particulars.
Finally I would like to remind everyone that we do not hold regular meetings during the months of July and August. Our regular meetings will commence on the second Tuesday in September. I hope everyone has an safe and enjoyable summer.
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
May 2011
This spring is turning out to be a cool, wet season. Great for the trout, not so good for the trout fisherman that does not want to fish in the rain or deal with the high water. If getting wet and the fear of drowning is not enough to keep you the off the water you'll find fish and lots of them. All this water is a good thing and personally I would like to see the trend continue. The more water in the system the better the chance of good hold over populations through the warmer months of late spring and summer.
A down side to all this high water is some of the classic insect hatches of early spring become lost opportunities. The insects always find a way to come off and replenish their populations but adverse water and weather conditions may impede fishing. On some rivers traditional insects like Hendricksons made their usual appearance and on other waters they were noticeably absent, but rest assured they came and went as usual.
This past April we had our annual cleanup of the Musconetcong River. We noticed an increase in volunteer turn out from CJTU which was great to see. Thank you to all of our members who came out on a rainy morning to help clean up our waterways.
We are looking for volunteers for a fly fishing class we are giving for the Millstone Watershed Association on June 25th. This will be our first endeavor with this organization and we are looking forward to it. I have commitments from a half a dozen people so far, but I can use a few more instructors. Don't be scared away by the term "instructor". If you can show some one a basic roll cast and overhand cast you'll do just fine. The group we hope to instruct are beginners and we are set up to deliver a presentation on the basics of fly fishing. What we need are a few more volunteers to work with individuals one on one with their casting and hopefully the landing of their fish. We will be conducting the lessons on one of the association's warm water ponds. I'll have more details in the next issue of MainStream. If you are interested see me at next week's meeting or drop me an email at president@CJTU.org.
Fundraising was a big topic at our last director's meeting. We will be discussing some of the ideas presented at this month's meeting. I look forward to additional feedback from the general membership on this topic. I am confident that we can get our fundraising efforts back on track despite the poor economy.
Our Point Mountain stocking program received some new volunteer help last month. Over two hundred and seventy five trout were stocked in this stretch of river by our volunteers. We have two more stocking dates in May if anyone is interested in helping out. Reach out for Rich Post or myself at the next meeting and we can give you all the details.
We also have a event coming up in June on the Rutgers campus where we are giving casting and fly tying demonstrations. I'll be speaking more about it at this month's meeting.
Before I wrap things up I want to mention that our June meeting will be taking place on the THIRD TUESDAY instead of the second Tuesday. Please make a note of the change. That's it for now I hope you get a chance to enjoy some of the fine fishing there is to be had this spring, just bring your rain jacket!
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
April 2011
Well, trout season is finally upon us. It looks like we have made it through the cold wet winter. The rivers look like they are in good shape for the season opener. They are a little running high, but thats to be expected at this time of year. Hopefully the cool, wet trend will continue, which will keep our trout in good condition. I hope everyone gets an opportunity to get out and sample the fine trout fishing this state has to offer. Remember, the season does not end in May. It is possible to catch a trout in New Jersey twelve months out of the year, but you need to pick your days and locations carefully during the summer. High water temperatures put a lot of strain on these cold water species. Fortunately that is not a concern for us right now. Get out there and stretch a line!
All though we like to talk about fishing, it is important to remember that Trout Unlimited is a conservation organization. We strive to improve the cold-water habit that trout happen to live in. As part of our efforts to do just that, we will be conducting a stream clean up on Saturday, April 16th on the Musconetcong River. As always, we are looking for volunteers to help lend a hand. Its a great day out for the family, so bring out the kids and show them one of the ways we can improve the world we live in. Please refer to the article in this month's newsletter for all the details.
We just wrapped up our 2011 fundraising event. The winner of our Delaware River fishing trip was Stephen Laney. Congratulations Stephen, we all hope you enjoy the trip. This year the raffle yielded just over $3,000.00 profit for us. Each year this number gets smaller, a definite sign of the times. The board of directors spent a considerable amount of time discussing this issue at our last meeting. Fundraising is our largest source of income and at this time we are spending more than we have coming in. So here is a challenge to each and every member...if you have an idea for a fundraiser please share it. If you have a skill or a talent that you can share please step up and make yourself known. In the past I have been approached by members or are craftsman or hobbyists that have offered they skills or products to assist us in our fundraising efforts. We would love to hear from you. Please contact me or any of the members of the board of directors and share your ideas. I can be reached by e-mail at . I look forward to hearing from you.
Another source of income for the chapter is though donations. In the last thirty days we have been fortunate enough to receive donations from two generous sources. Unfortunately both of these donations came as result of a death of a chapter member or friend. In February of 2011, Roy T. DeVoe tragically lost his life. Roy was a local businessman who enjoyed fishing and was an avid collector of vintage fishing lures. In his honor Nicole and Matt Barry have donated $150.00 to Central Jersey Trout Unlimited.
Ross Kremer and his family donated all of his father's fly tying equipment to the chapter. His father, Francis Kramer, was an avid fisherman. There was a wonderful photograph of Francis with a beautiful brown trout included with his letter. Francis was 80 years old when he caught that fish! I hope I'm still reeling them in at that age. During our last meeting we held a fly tying material sale and raised several hundred dollars from the items donated by the Kramer family. We still have some of the material left and will be offering for sale at up coming meetings.
We offer our condolences for the families and friends of these two fine men and extend our thanks for the generosity of those who thought of us during their time of sadness. Your actions mean a lot to us and we would like to let you know that you donations will go towards conservation to ensure that future generations can enjoy the pastime that meant so much to these two men.
Now that trout season is underway we will be resuming our stocking program on the Point Mountain stretch of the Musconetcong River. Our stocking dates are April 29th, May 20th, and May 27th. To participate in these stockings we ask that you become a member of the Wildlife Conservation Corps. This is required by the state to answer liability concerns. There is no cost involved and if you are not a member yet, we will have applications on hand at our meetings. Fill them out and we will handle the rest. If you are interested in helping out reach out for a director at the next meeting or drop me an e-mail.
That about wraps it up for this month. Come on out to a meeting if you can break away from fishing. We have some great speakers lined up for the rest of the year.
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
March 2011
With any luck winter is starting to wind down. It has been several weeks without any significant snow and their have been a handful of days where the temperature spiked into the fifties. The shelf ice is coming off of most of the streams so the next few weeks will be you best chance at some reasonably comfortable winter fishing before the season closes for stocking. This time of year midges will be the predominate insect although there is a good chance you can run into some little black stone flies. For those who chose to wait for the season opener you have one month left to get your gear in order. Myself, I am way behind in my fly tying. I need to get cranking to fill up the depleted boxes. In addition, there is plenty of equipment maintenance I have been meaning to finish but never got around to it. Fly lines to replace, waders to repair and a host of other items. The tough part is I have to squeeze all this in between fishing trips!
We received a lot of positive comments about our Fly Tying Night last month. I think this will become an annual event. This month's meeting is going to be a double feature, with a good friend of mine, Jerry Fabiano giving a presentation on Sand Eel Fishing on Sandy Hook and Surf Fishing for Rooster Fish in Mexico. It is going to be a presentation you will not want to miss! In addition we will be offering for sale a large quantity of fly tying material. This material was donated to the chapter by one of our members. We will begin selling at 7:00, so get there early!
At the end of the month CJTU will have a presence at the Pequest hatchery Open House event. To learn more about the event you can visit http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/peqoh.htm . The hatchery website says it best: "Every year the Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center opens its doors to the public for the annual Open House, which usually takes place the weekend before Trout Season opens. The Open House allows the Division of Fish and Wildlife to show off the trout we raise at the state of the art Pequest Trout Hatchery and it serves as a reminder that spring is just around the corner. Each year, thousands of people come to the hatchery to experience this event for themselves. And each year, the Division of Fish and Wildlife strives to make this a bigger event than the year before. This event is great for people of all ages and there are so many things to see and do throughout the day. This year's Open House will be April 2 & 3 from 10:00 - 4:00 daily, so plan to join us as we celebrate the beginning of trout season and spring. Bring your families, friends, scout troops, church groups, fishing clubs and anyone else for a fun time in the outdoors." It is a great event and a fantastic outing for the whole family. As always we are looking for volunteers to help out. If your interested reach out for me or one of the directors at this month's meeting.
There is not much news to report on any of our other projects so thats it for now.
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
February 2011
I have been hearing a lot of complaining about the winter weather this year. There have been above normal amounts of snow and cold temperatures, but I am loving it. Granted, I am not getting out fishing as much as previous winters. In fact I have only been out once since the beginning of the year, but I am getting in a lot of fly tying time and my fly boxes were in desperate need of replenishment. All this snow and ice should mean that we can expect normal possibly even high spring time flows in our area streams and rivers. We have had some low water years in the past and low water is typically bad news for our wild and hold over trout populations. So the next time you have to go out and shovel the driveway or scrape a 1/2" of ice off your windshield remember all this water is slowly seeping into the ground and is good for our fish.
Last month old man winter caused us to cancel our general meeting. Hopefully most of you got the word. In the event we need to cancel a meeting due to inclement weather or some other unforeseen event we will attempt to get the word out in several ways. We will sent out an Action Alert via e-mail to everyone who receives this news letter. So if you are reading this, you will receive an e-mail advising you that the meeting has been cancelled. We will also post a prominent message on our homepage at www.cjtu.org in regards to the cancelled meeting. Finally we ask that if you receive a message about a meeting cancellation make some phone calls to your friends who may not have access to the internet and advise them of the situation.
Since our fly tying night never took place due to the cancelled meeting we decided to push it back to February. So this week's meeting will feature a fly tying workshop. A dozen or more of the chapter's best tiers will be on hand showing off their skills and will entertain any questions you may have on this topic. If you are a fly tier you are welcome to bring your equipment out and join us. This will be a great opportunity to learn from some great tiers or get some insight into some "secret" local patterns. We will be setting up a little early and will not have our normal business meeting beforehand.
We spent last week stuffing envelopes with this year's fundraising raffle. The letters have gone out and some of you may have already received yours. This year we are giving away four days of fishing on the Delaware River with guide Ben Turpin. This trip will include guided float trips on each day, lodging, meals and even your flies. All you will need is your own gear and the appropriate fishing licenses.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped out at last month's shows. We raised a record breaking amount of funds mostly in part to our fly sales and rod and fly raffles. I want to thank everyone who has tied flies for our shows and our raffle prize. I would like to recognize a few of our members in particular. First is Leon Cheeka who supplied about half of the flies in our raffle prize. A lot of members came forward with flies and my original plan was to continue collecting flies from members for several months thinking it would take that long to fill the box. Thanks to Leon we had it filled by December and were able to sell raffle tickets at both area shows. Leon has also supplied most os the vast number of flies that we sell at our shows. Secondly, I would like to recognize Barry Russo who has made it is personal mission to break records in fly sales each year. This year he did it again! I would also like to thank everyone who takes time out of their busy schedule to help up us set up, take down and man the booths at these events. But there is one individual who is really responsible for making all this happen. That man is Dick Turse. Dick has been the chapter president for as long as I can remember and served several terms as president in the past. Dick is responsible for making all of the arrangements for these events and also coordinates all of the chapter's fund raising activities. The chapter would have a hard time existing with out the dedication of these individuals.
Thats all i have for now. We have some great presentations lined up for the rest of this year so I encourage everyone to get out and attend our monthly meetings. It is always a great evening out, especially during this time of year. With a winter like this one talking about fishing may be as good as it gets unless you are an ice fisherman!
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at
January 2011
I want to start off by wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Hopefully most of our members did not get the big dump of snow that we did in my neck of the woods. Thankfully for me the blizzard hit in the middle of a two week vacation. I was able to enjoy it by staying home and spending a few hours a day tying flies in front of a warm fire. Fly tying is a welcome distraction from the winter weather. Although a diehard fisherman can find water to fish twelve months out of the year, fishing at this time of year, though sometimes productive, is seldom comfortable. So fly tying becomes a way to "extend" the fishing season as well as keeping the fly boxes well stocked.
Fly tying will be the focus of this month's meeting. We will be hosting a fly tying clinic instead of our usual guest speaker/presentation format. Some of the chapter's best fly tiers will be tying flies at Tuesday's meeting. They will be there to answer questions, provide instruction and show off what's up and coming in the world of flies and fly tying. It will also be a great opportunity to learn a little about the patterns that work on our local waters.
January is also the month we kick off our fly tying lessons and workshops. Our program offers something for everyone, from beginners to experts. We run a beginners class tailored for someone new to fly tying and workshops for more experienced tiers. The cost of the class is $50.00 for 6 lessons/workshops. The classes will take place at the same location that our meetings are held at and will occur on the 3rd and 4th Tuesday of January, February and March. It's a great opportunity to learn about fly tying, hone your skills or just get out of the house and break the spell of cabin fever.
January is a busy month for Central Jersey Trout Unlimited. We have a presence at two area shows, the Garden State Outdoor Sportsman Show and the Fly Fishing Show. The first show will be the Garden State Outdoor Sportsman Show. The Garden State Outdoor Sportsmen's Show (www.GSOSS.com) will take place on January 13 - 16, 2011 at the New Jersey Convention & Expo Center in Edison, New Jersey. The Fly Fishing Show (http://www.flyfishingshow.com/Somerset__NJ.html) will take place at the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset NJ, January 21,22 & 23. We can always use an extra hand with the booth at the Edison Show so if you want to help out speak to one of the directors at the next meeting. We will be running raffles for a rod and reel as well as a killer selection of flies at the show so stop by and support your chapter by taking a chance on these great prizes.
In February we will be kicking off our annual fund raising campaign. This year we will be running a raffle and the winner will receive a 4 day guided fishing trip on the Delaware River with room and board included. You will be able to check out all the details on our website. Tickets will be sent out in the mail and will also be available for sale at or meetings and any events we are attending.
On February 12th we will also be hosting a fly tying demonstration at Efingers Sporting Goods in Boundbrook, NJ. Come out and spent the day with us and take advantage of some great sale prices on fly tying materials.
That's about all for now. I hope everyone can make it out to our January meeting it should be a good one. If not stop by and say hello to us at the shows. Tight lines and ice free guides!
Tight Lines,
Bart Lombardo
You can contact Bart at