News & Events
Fly Tying School Returns!
Part 1: Saturday, February 11, 2023
Part 2: Saturday February 18, 2023
10:00 to 3:00 PM
Beginners Fly Tying Class
This is our entry-level class for the person just getting started in fly tying or who has very little experience. We will cover the basic tools, techniques and materials necessary to tie a variety of basic flies, concentrating on patterns that work well on local rivers and streams.
Learn to do things “right from the start” from our excellent instructors who are some of the best in the East. Techniques are taught in a sequence that continually builds competence. Our instructors watch you and make sure you are doing things right. Further, we will provide a quality vice, tools, hooks and all materials or you can bring your own. Finally, we provide a manual with summarized tying descriptions for each pattern plus a reference to a web video we believe is the best for that pattern.
Intermediate Class
This class is for the intermediate tier who has acquired the basic skills in handling tools and materials either by previously taking a beginners course and/or tying flies regularly for a year or two.
While our Beginners Classes are the same from year to year, our Intermediate Class constantly evolves. New patterns, techniques and materials introduced by tiers through-out the world are monitored, and the best ones that mesh with the skill set of the intermediate tier are selected. Thus the class remains interesting to past attendees and also to those who have never taken it before. Students must bring their own vise and tools, some materials will be provided.
The cost for all classes is $50.00. To register or ask any questions contact us at cjtutying@cjtu.org. Please register early so CJTU can plan ahead to make your course a success.
Stocking at Point Mountain
The CJTU stocking team put fish in the Point Mountain stretch on October 12th. This concluded the fall stocking. We stocked 150 rainbow trout in the river in various pools along the trail for about a mile upstream from the Pt. Mountain bridge. Hopefully the fish will holdover till the spring and provide some good fishing along the stretch.
We will pick up stocking again in the spring with the first stocking in March. This will be the biggest stocking and we will put in about one thousand fish. We will need the most volunteers for this pre-season stocking. Anyone interested in joining the team can see me at any of our in person meetings and give me your email address and I will put you on the list. Photos of the stocking are courtesy of Jeff Bevan.
Ed Kordyla, CJTU stocking coordinator
Help CJTU when you shop at Amazon!
AmazonSmile 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.
Fly of the Month
Hackle Wing Baetis Dun
Tied by Bill Ninke
A few Baetis should be popping this month giving us a chance for a little dry fly action before the trout descend into the deep runs and pools. Over the years I’ve successfully used a number of well-known Baetis dry patterns to tempt them. This month I add another. When you look at the above photograph, you’re probably saying “Isn’t that just a Compara Dun?” Well almost. Instead of a deer hair wing it has a wing of a wound and then carefully shaped hackle. And instead of a tail of split micro fibetts, it incorporates a tail of spread hackle fibers. This tail is less tedious to tie and supports better than a micro fibett one.
I first saw this wing style combined with a spread hackle fiber tail in a fly tied by Mike Romanowski at the 2019 International Fly Tying Symposium. His article, “The Delaware Dozen”, had just been published in the autumn issue of Fly Tyer and he was demonstrating patterns from this article. It was late on the second day of the Symposium when I stopped by his table and I suspect he was getting tired of tying the same patterns over and over again. So when I asked him if he had something he really liked that wasn’t in his article, he readily obliged by tying this pattern for me. I had not seen the shaped hackle wing before so I took notes and have tied and used it ever since.
I’ve forgotten whether Mike claimed he originated this idea or he learned it from someone else. But to prepare for this writeup, I tried to contact Mike to get his take on the origin. Unfortunately, I found Mike lost a battle to cancer in 2020. So, unless someone can point me to another reference, I will continue to attribute this wing style to him. A good friend of Mike seems also to think that the idea is Mikes’ and has done a tribute video illustrating it. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FchhK9QRfo
The pattern is easy and fun to tie once you do a little practicing with the heat shaping as described in the tying instructions and above video. So give it a try. The wing technique is not limited to a Baetis pattern but can be used on patterns for many small mayflies. I use it on Sulphurs and Paraleps. When the trout are finicky, showing them something just a little different from what they have seen before can often get you a take.
Click here for the recipe!
|
