March 2015
Unfortunately, the snow has struck again and this time canceling our monthly board of directors meeting last Tuesday night. I will provide some quick updates, as we have to reschedule our meeting after out next general meeting.
That said we had our last fly tying class and I was able to share a couple of my favorite streamer patterns with the workshop class. We tied two by John Barr: the “Slump Buster” and the larger “Meat Whistle” both capable of moving larger fish. This is of smaller more aggressive ones to not beat them to it. Thanks to all of the students and instructors that have made our class a success again this year.
For additional fly tying opportunities please join fly tyers from CJTU at the third annual March Madness event on March 21st, 2015. This is sponsored by the NJ State Council for TU and hosted by the Rahway River Chapter. There will be opportunities to tie flies as well as a great opportunity to ask questions of the tiers that are there. Take advantage of having so much local talent in one place. Remember that the flies tied and donated will go to Project Healing Waters, and Casting for Recovery. This is a great opportunity to help these worthy organizations.
Please do not forget that we are still accepting donations of gently used fly-fishing and fly tying gear to support Andrew Dang’s school project that will support Project Healing Waters. Bring items to the next meeting and we will consolidate them and deliver them to Andres. If you forget and still have items see the home page for the address and mailing instructions, as he will be accepting donations through 3-31-15.
This month CJTU will welcome Paula Piatt as our guest speaker. Paula is the TU eastern sportsmen organizer and will be presenting “Heads Up! Protecting Our Headwaters and Trout Habitat” showing us all the importance of protecting out native and wild trout populations.
Please know that out Point Mountain project is moving into the next phase. There will be some action alerts that will go out once the work schedule is finalized. Weather and the snow pack will determine when that happens. This will be the harvesting of large boulders from the hillsides along the stream. We will be looking to have volunteers to assist in patching the holes left behind. Again look out for the action alerts and get involved.
I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting and hope that the weather cooperates. Just think trout season is only about a month away. I think that I will take that long to melt the snow and ice that we currently have.
Tight Lines
Richard Dooley
You can contact Rich at
February 2015
I wanted to thank you all for your nomination and subsequent vote to lead the CJTU organization as president. I want also to take the opportunity to speak for all of us to say a heartfelt thank you to our past president Bart Lombardo for his many years of service as a past president for so many years. I am very pleased to say that Bart continues to be involved with the board of directors in many ways as well a tremendous resource for me going forward. Thanks again for all that you do for this organization; you are a gentleman, a scholar, a great friend and one for the best fisherman that I know.
I am happy to report that the Somerset, NJ Fly Fishing show was a success this year. I am grateful to the volunteers that helped staff the booth. I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with many new people that helped us in raising funds for our conservation projects with their donations and a chance to win a collection of over 300 flies. I am pleased to say that the prize is on the way to our winner from Brooklyn NY, John Robokos, and congratulations and thanks to all of you who supported this effort.
Please join us this coming Tuesday February 10th for our general meeting. Our speaker is Robert Somes a senior Zoologist with the Division of Fish Game and Wildlife and he will be presenting a program on Dragonflies and freshwater mussels of NJ Streams. Additionally, mark your calendars for next months meeting on March 10th when our speaker will be Paula Piatt the Trout Unlimited eastern sportsmen organizer presenting “Heads Up!” focusing on the importance of protecting our wild and native trout populations. Please see the write-ups on our home page for additional details.
I wanted to also draw your attention to the fly-fishing and fly tying gear donation push also mentioned in detail on our landing page. Some of you may know Andrew Dang who has chosen to his 8th grade school service project to benefit PHW Project Healing Waters. I know that we all have some gently used fly-fishing and or tying gear that we no longer use, but has plenty of life in it. Please think of making a donation to Andrew’s effort to help supply gear that will give new life to the PHW program helping our returning veterans. For all that they have and sacrificed for our freedom. This is a great opportunity to give back. Please see the details on the home page for the donation process. The deadline for donations is by March 31st, 2015. Thank you Andrew, for your noble efforts on behalf of Project Healing Waters.
I will do my best to keep you all up to date on our dam removal projects. I know that the process is still moving forward and we are looking to finalize the permit process around the last week in February in order to begin the work in the spring window in late March. If all goes well we will need volunteers to help with stream side work around the 12th of March. If the permit is delayed the work will have to wait until at least June 15. Either way look out for an action alert to be sent when the schedule is finalized.
We will hope that the weather holds and allows us all to get together during the winter months. Remember to look out for any cancelations on the website and the FB Facebook page. I believe that the fly-tying course will be made up on March 31st as we had that Tuesday open.
Thanks again and I look forward to seeing you at the meetings and events throughout this year.
Tight Lines
Richard Dooley
You can contact Rich at