Riffles

May’s Speaker Matt Grobert

Matt has written fishing columns for a number of newspapers and has written several books, nota-bly, Fly Fishing New Jersey Trout Streams. He is also an outstanding fly tier whose fly ty-ing videos can be found on many web sites.

At our meeting, Matt will talk about caddisflies. Specifically, imitations and how to fish them. He will cover reading rise forms, identifying what patterns to use, when to use them, and how to fish them depending on the be-havior of the trout and or the in-sects.

When: May 11 at 7:30 PM

Where: American Legion Hall

33 West Passaic Street

Rochelle Park, NJ

The Monthly Newsletter of the The Monthly Newsletter of the The Monthly Newsletter of the The Monthly Newsletter of the

East Jersey Chapter of Trout UnlimitedEast Jersey Chapter of Trout UnlimitedEast Jersey Chapter of Trout UnlimitedEast Jersey Chapter of Trout Unlimited

www.ejtu.orgwww.ejtu.org

Volume 47Volume 47 May 2016May 2016 Number 5Number 5

Continued on Page 3

Schedule May 21/22 [Sat/Sun]Cast and Blast May 28 [Sat] Mahwah Fishing Derby Jun 3/5 [Fri] Catskill Bar-B-Que Jun 8 [Wed] Speaker: “Rock” Rockwell Jun 10 - 17 Block Island trip Jun 11 [Sat] Ramapo River Day Jun 24-27 [Fri/Mon]Ausable River trip Jul 13 [Wed] BBQ and tackle swap Aug Lake Aeroflex trip Aug 10 [Wed}Fly tying night Sep 14 [Wed]Speaker: Andy Still Sep 23-25 Housatonic trip Nov (TBD) Salmon River steel head trip Nov 9 [Wed] Speaker Tim Flag ler

Welcome to April’s New Members

Chris Bendzak Elmwood Pk Erica Brennan Bloomfield Patrick Ciliberti Oradell Mike De Vito Wyckoff Edward Koziol Lyndhurst Victor Pallotto Passaic Kathleen Pless Saddle River David Rumpeltin Ramsey Michael Sabat Maywood Zachary Trapand Verona

President’s Beat

I was looking at some old issues of Riffles while trying to come up with an idea for this month’s

column when I realized that this spring we have been float stocking the Ramapo for 16 years. The first year was 2000 and, because the state only

allowed us to float stock every other week, we only did three floats that year. There was no preseason float stocking so all the fish were dumped from the bridges or other easy access points during the off weeks.

If my memory serves me cor-rectly, 2001 was the first year of pre-season and weekly float stockings

This all seems to have happened earlier than I would have guessed so I am really not sur-prised that our second float box is now in need of being replaced. The first float was retired a few years ago, after we stopped float-ing two sections of the river be-cause we had lost access to the upstream launch site.

One of the reasons we started the float stocking was because the state gave more fish to the river when they were to be dis-tributed over a larger area; this continues today.

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East Jersey Chapter Trout Unlimited

Board of Directors

President Bruce Seiden

1st Vice President BIll Borowski

2nd Vice President Ken Barile

Treasurer Igor Zaretsky

Recording Secretary Dino Eftychiou

Membership Secretary Gale Inwood

Education Doug Penna

Speakers Chris Henrickson

Merchandise Elio Chiavola

Points Paul Reithmeier

Riffles Editor Ray Cappock

Conservation Chair Rich Malizia

Publicity Bruce Halstater

Director at Large George Petersen

Founding President Don Ecker

Monthly General Member Meeting: the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30PM.

Location: The American Legion Hall, 33 West Passaic St, Rochelle Park, NJ. 07662.

Board Members of East Jersey Trout Unlimited meet on the last Thursday of each month at 7:30PM.

How to contact us: Website: ejtu.org Mailing Address: East Jersey Chapter, Trout Unlimited Box 366 HoHoKus, NJ 07423-0366 Membership Info: G. Inwood at: 201-489-7182 or email inwoodgale@aol.com For East Jersey and National Trout Unlimited information, visit www.tu.org. Go to chapter number 091 for the latest information about our chapter. Riffles is your publication; we encourage all mem-bers to contribute articles, tips, and stories. Arti-cles may relate to trout, trout fishing, fishing in general or conservation, but all articles are pub-lished at the discretion of the editors and should meet EJTU standards regarding protecting our environment and the merits of 'catch and release'. Pseudonyms may be used but the editors must be informed of the name of the member who writes the article. Email to raycapp@optonline.net

Our Thursday morning stockings have gone fairly well, but, unfortunately, water levels prevented us from float stocking last week and may do so again if we don’t get some rain. Flows less than 100 cfs. are not suffi-cient to float stock and, when we have to bucket stock downstream from the Glen Gray Bridge, we need more volunteers to move the fish then when we use the boat. As always, I ask that you let me know if you intend to join us to stock. Please call or email me a t 973-304-0789 or remqcp@optonline.net. We meet at 9:00AM for coffee and donuts and it is often a long wait for the truck to arrive with the fish, but please be patient and understand that this is not something we can control. The quality and quantity of fish provided this year have been great. I released 2 “bows” in ex-cess of 16 inches last week, but I forgot where I put them. Special thanks to the few hearty volunteers who braved the elements at the Pequest Open House. Saturday started out wet but cleared before Noon. Sun-day was hampered by a blast of winter wind which shutdown most of the outdoor vendors. Weather conditions certainly reduced the number of visitors to the fewest I have seen in many years. We continue to see an as-sault on water resources and “protected” lands. While tests of water from the Wanaque Reservoir have not yet detected any contamination from the chemical 1,4-dioxane, I believe the operative word is “YET”. As anglers, we are all familiar with the fact that pollution often takes years to reach our water sources

and even longer to be r e m o v e d . How can the EPA be so shortsighted i n i t s approach to t h i s p r o b l e m ? While I fully understand that NJDEP personnel have to bow to their masters in Trenton, they are checking to see if the roof leaks on a sunny day. The residents of Ringwood have been ignored for years. Ford Motor Company and the Borough of Ringwood have danced around the issue of a superfund cleanup for two generations. The plan that was devised in 2014 to remove materials from contaminated sites was suddenly reversed in favor of “capping” and building on one contaminated site. There has been no discussion of the cleanup of the toxic waste that was dumped into the old mines. The most recent assault is the recalculation of the number of septic systems (septic density standards) that can be built in the “Preservation” areas of the Highlands. Some of us spent countless hours attending years of public hearings which finally resulted in the protection of our water resources. Or so we thought. What purpose is this study if not as the first step in development? The Highlands Preservation Area was so designated because it was deemed critical to the protection of the drinking water supply for millions of New Jersey residents.

Conservation Notes

Continued on page 33

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In 2000 we were curious about the survival rate of stocked fish and whether a trout conservation area should be considered for the Ramapo River. We had just bought our first temperature re-corders and were in the process of deciding where they should be deployed. After a number of years of recording the tempera-tures of the river and doing a 24 hour oxygen study, we found that the summer water temperatures became too warm to hold trout and only a small number of them seemed to survive at cold springs or at the tributaries. Oxygen levels were not an issue, as the places we checked had sufficient levels for the fish.

Unfortunately, the water in the Ramapo warms up tremendously before it flows into New Jersey. This is because of the lack of cover in areas of New York and

the outflows from the sewage treatment plants whose dis-charges add thermal pollution. Add the effect of the warm water coming from New York State to the lack of water in the spring and and the amount of water be-ing taken by the towns in the Ramapo basin and the result is a river that does not have the cool water needed to hold over many fish during hot dry weather. On the other hand, in the Spring the Ramapo can fish well and it is close enough for those days when you only have a couple of hours to kill. Also, because the river gets restocked in the fall, it can fish well all winter. It may not be the ideal place, but it is close and you’re likely to run into someone you know when you’re up there.

Bruce Seiden

President’s Beat continued from page 1

This brings to mind the 1950’s movie “The Horse Soldier” in which John Wayne, the Major, was caught off guard when many of his soldiers were suddenly taken ill. William Holden, the Doctor, told him that the next time he sets up camp to make sure the latrine is downstream from where they draw their drinking water. Our problem is that we all live downstream and there is no way to avoid contamination once it enters our water supply. For some reason, unknown to me, most of our elected officials have been silent. To the surprise of many in the environmental community, Rep. Scott Garrett has called for an investigation of the EPA’s findings. While Rep. Garrett has NEVER been known for a pro-

environmental record, maybe an election year challenge has brought him “religion”. In the meantime PLEASE take a few m inu tes to e -ma i l your representatives and ask that they require the EPA and NJDEP to demonstrate how their positions will benefit the environment and the majority of the residents of the State. Please check our calendar and web site for future events. We will need help at a variety of events and I’m sure one or more will fit into your schedule and ar-eas of interest. Please come out and help EJTU maintain its posi-tions as a leader in the commu-nity of conservation organiza-tions.

Rich Malizia

Conservation Notes continued from page 2

The Annual Catskills Fishing and Gourmandiz-

ing Weekend

On the June 3rd, 4th and 5th weekend, EJTU will have our an-nual Catskills picnic, a sleepover at the Catskill Fly Fishing Mu-seum and a fishing trip to the Beaverkill and the Willowemoc.

The picnic will be held on Satur-day, June 4th, with a menu that will include: roasted pork, hot dogs & hamburgers, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, cold water and soda.

The price of the picnic is free to our members and their families.

For those who are interested, again this year we'll be staying over in the Museum's bunk-house. We have reserved one of the bunkhouses for Friday and Saturday nights. The cost per bunkhouse is $240 per night, so if we have 10 sleeping over for 2 nights, the cost will be $24 per night, per person or $48 per per-son for the 2 nights.

The first week in June is prime time for dry fly fishing on the Bea-verkill and Willowemoc rivers.

People who are interested need to let me know so we can make plans. You can contact me by email at paulr21@optonline.net or by phone 973-907-0093

Paul Reithmeier

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May Fly of the Month A glorious time to be alive and knee deep in a Trout stream. The first major hatches should be in full swing: Hendricksons, Blue Quills, Quill Gordons, and Sulphurs. These are the flies that made the Catskills famous, and defined the “Catskill Style” of dry fly. So as you prepare for your next

day on the stream and tie up a few of your favorites, how about whipping up an extra dozen for the chapter.

Blue Quills

Sulphur Dun

The EJTU Forum The photo (by Berthold Werner) of the Forum of Jerash in Jordan shows the central market place and the columns of its surrounding stoa, but , while the Roman citizens who lived there must have had animated discussions about all of the important topics of their day, there does not seem to be any section devoted to fly fishing, conservation or fly tying.

If you take the time to go to our EJTU web site (ejtu.org) you will find that Chris Henrickson has remedied this flaw in the ancient forums. There is now a forum section on our web site.

When you go to our site, look at the black tabs that line the top of the page and just about in the middle of them you will find the EJTU Forum tab. Click on that and it will bring you to a list of the topics that are being discussed; if you want to start a new topic, there is provision for doing so. All you have to do is sign up and you can join in or originate.

You don’t have to worry about harassment or finding prurient matter on the forum because the postings will be monitored.

Quill Gordon

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Digging and Fishing at the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum

Even though it was cold and rainy in the Catskills, we had a great turn out for the EJTU tree planting event at the Catskill Fly Fishing Mu-seum. And, because of the number of people who braved the weather, we were able to complete the job rather quickly.

Thanks to all who helped!

Of course, after all of the digging and shoveling, most of us stayed to fish afterward and the Willow was very kind to all.

We also started discussions with some of the museum’s trustees about tackling some other projects in the future. I will keep you posted as they develop.

Until then, remember June 3, 4 and 5, what's traditionally called bug week, when we will be staying at the cabins on the museum grounds. It should be a good fishing weekend and June 4 is our annual pig roast/bbq.

Elio Chiavola

SRO!

The Tony nominations have been released, but forget Hamilton! Doug Penna’s Library Display has been held over at the Oradell Library.

Doug was ready to get his gypsy caravan on the move, but the li-brarian requested that he keep the display in Oradell for another month, so when you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and check out Doug’s work.

The Oradell Library is located at 375 Kinderkamack Road. The entrance is on Church Street, but if you can’t find a parking spot in front of the library, there is a large, free parking lot immedi-ately to the west of the building.

Maybe if we try hard Doug will give us a Hip Hop version of how he put the display together. Then, we’ll really show Hamilton how to put on a show.

The Trout Stocking

Crew Underway

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Each just over a finger-long and translucent, a fresh swarm of glass eels wriggle their way

through the Hudson River Estu-ary. Though glass eels are juve-niles—weighing barely a thou-sandth of their adult weight---by the time they appear in the tribu-taries in the upper reaches of the Estuary, they’ve already completed a major leg of their life’s journey.

Born in the Sara-gasso Sea thou-sands of kilometers from the shore, leaf-shaped American Eel larvae drift for years along ocean currents before

reaching the continental shelf. There, in preparation for the long swim to inland rivers and lakes, the larvae lose their girth and elongate into their characteristic shape.

During peak migration season, hundreds of glass eels enter the Hudson from its tributaries each day. They’ll spend at least a decade in the river’s freshwater reaches, developing first a yellow, then a dark silver sheen as they sexually differentiate. When they return to the estuary, they’re as long as human toddlers, and strong enough to complete their final swim to their spawning and resting place out in the open ocean.

From the New York-New Jersey Harbor and Estuary Program’s April Tidal Exchange E-News

http://tinyurl.com/gt9mkaj

Creature of the Month: American Eels

New Jersey Marine Fish-ing Regulations

The 2016 Recreational Minimum Size, Possession Limits & Sea-sons summary sheet for marine species is now available in PDF format. The Marine Digest will be available later this month.

To view or download the docu-ment go to http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/2016/maregsum16.pdf on the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s's website.

2016 New York State’s WAVE Training Sessions

DEC’s Water Assessments by Volunteer Evaluators (WAVE) project is recruiting participants to conduct water quality assessments in streams and rivers of the Lower Hudson River basin this summer.

Citizen monitors visit stream sites once per year, anytime between July and Septem-ber, and collect macroinver-tebrates - insects and other small organisms - from the rocks and rubble on the stream bottom.

A WAVE training session is scheduled for Friday, May 13, 9 AM-4 PM, in Monte-bello (Rockland County) To register for a training ses-sion or for more information, email DEC’s WAVE Coordinator Alene Onion.