Fly Tying Monday, September 19th 7-9pm

Our first fly tying session with start at 7pm on Monday, September 19th at The Parsippany Library, 449 Halsey Rd, Parsippany. Larry Szycher will be the lead tyer. Larry is an artist and professor at Caldwell University. If you have ever fished next to him on the upper Delaware or Farmington you realize quickly that he knows his stuff. We will attempt to tie three stages of sulphurs: a nymph, an emerger, and a cripple. You should bring a vise, hackle pliers (small plunger style wire grabbers preferred), bobbin, whip finisher, fine scissors, dubbing wax, head cement or uv bone dry, and a bodkin. Please bring only what is necessary as the space is limited. Eight tyers is the maximum. The cost is FREE.

Materials list:

Sulphur split back nymph.
Hook: Daiichi 1710 or 1280 size 16
Thread: dark brown
Tail: yellow/brown pheasant tail or partridge
Abdomen: pheasant tail, xs copper wire rib
Legs: partridge (or pheasant)
Thorax: brown (some yellow mix) dubbing
Wing case: yellow foam, pheasant tail.

Sulphur snowshoe emerger:
Hook: Daiichi 1130 size 16
Thread: pale yellow (same)
tailing shuck: amber darlon
Dubbing: pale yellow
Wing: White/cream snowshoe rabbit foot

Sulphur emerger/cripple:
Hook: Size 18/16 Umpqua U204, Daiichi 1130, or similar, klinkhammer ok.
Thread: 14/0 Veevus pale yellow thread.
Tail/shuck - Rusty brown Darlon or Antron
Abdomen- Rusty Brown goose biot, or pheasant tail reinforced with xs copper wire.
Thorax: pale yellow dubbing
Wing bud and wing: dyed yellow mallard flank
Hackle: cream/pale warm dun hackle.

Email me if you wish to come. HTUPREZ@GMAIL.COM

September 8th Chapter Meeting with Allen Rupp

Come to our next meeting 7:30PM Thursday, September 8th at the Whippany American Legion Hall and meet Allen Rupp, the Owner of Fly On The Water. His topic is The TU Driftless Area Restoration and 10 flies that kill there (with tips on how to make the patterns better). Allen is a business sponsor of Trout Unlimited and has been a TU member for more than 20 years. This will be his 34th year tying flies and he ties flies for Fly Shops, Guides, and for people who are tired of poorly tied flies.

Allen has been mentored by Dave Whitlock for almost three years now and it has been an awesome experience. The way Dave Whitlock thinks about fly design and materials is very different than most tyers. Allen has learned more in the last three years than he did in the 10 years prior.

Jim Holland 1966-2022

It is with deep sorrow that I note the passing of Jim Holland on Sunday, July 31. Jim was a major influence in the fly-fishing community. He was a generous supporter of Trout Unlimited and a good friend of the Hacklebarney Chapter. Because of Jim, Shannon’s Fly Shop became a fixture for many of us. As well as an educator, he was a conservation advocate for New Jersey.

Jim donated prizes for our raffles, stocked our streams, gave talks to our chapter and others about local hatches, and provided free fly tying classes with the likes of Tim Flagler, Matt Grobert, John Collins, and Allan Landheer. Jim was also my friend. When I last spoke with him in July he told me about plans he had to improve more than two miles of the South Branch as it flows through Califon by removing dams and river landscaping. We will all miss his wonderful enthusiasm for fly fishing.

May he rest in peace.

MP

Greetings from your New Hacklebarney TU Chapter President

Dear HTU Members,

In case you weren't paying attention there was a board of directors election at our June Zoom Chapter Meeting. Most of the incumbents retained their status. I was elected President and Jim Langell now serves as Speaker/Programs Director. I want to say hello to all our members and especially to thank "Big Daddy" Jim. He has earned a well deserved retirement after five years. I am grateful for all the hard work he has put in to make our TU chapter the best in NJ. Last May I was asked by the board members to "volunteer" for the position as chapter president and couldn't come up with a good excuse not to. After all, I just fish, babysit, eat, and sleep!

I would like to congratulate Lucas Liston. In early July he completed the 2022 TU Teen Summit at Lake Logan Retreat Center in Canton, North Carolina where he learned about TU's commitment to leadership, conservation, community, and fly fishing. I am proud to say that our chapter contributed $500 to Lucas' expenses. We want to encourage young people to get involved with Trout Unlimited.

I was able to attend the New Jersey Council of Trout Unlimited on July 17th along with our representatives Cris Giordano, John Melluso, and John Montefusco. We met with the other chapter presidents and representatives. It was the first in-person meeting since the pandemic started. One of the important things we discussed was funding the Beatty's Mill Dam Removal Planting Plan. Without going into too much detail, the NJ Council voted to give the Musconetcong Watershed Association approximately $6,000 to help replant the floodplain area using volunteers to save on costs. Our chapter pledged $500. I'll let you know when they need volunteers to help with the planting.

Big things are being planned for this fall. We should have our first in-person chapter meeting on September 8th. Please check this website as we get closer for more details.

In addition to the regular events I want to try a Monday night fly tying session every 3rd Monday of the month from 7 to 9pm starting September 19th. We have booked a room at the Parsippany Library through December. The tying sessions will be open to all members regardless of skill level. Cliff Behrens will decide on the fly patterns to be tied and we will post a list of materials on this website. A lot of you are talented fly tyers. We would like to have you share some of your special flies. Please contact Cliff if you would like to attend or lead a session. His email address is cliffbehrens at optonline dot net. 

Stay tuned and keep fishing!

Michael Peters

"There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm." -Patrick F. McManus