To conserve, protect, and restore North America’s Trout and Salmon Fisheries and their watersheds. November, 2008

November Meeting MONDAY November 10

th

The next monthly meeting of the Ernest Schwiebert Chapter of Trout Unlimited Chapter will be on Monday, November 10th. See also our website, www.esctu.org for further information and to put future meetings on your calendar. We start at 6:30 with a fly tying demonstration (doors are open by 6:00), and then commence with the featured speaker at 7:30PM, at the Pennington Firehouse, Broemel Place in Pennington, New Jersey. You’ll find directions to the Firehouse below. There is no charge for attending any of the Ernest Schwiebert Trout Unlimited Chapter’s monthly meetings.

November Program

Trooper Robert Fracke “Maritime Security”

Featured Fly Tying Program Steve Maurer

“Simple Saltwater Fly Patterns” Doors Open 6:00 PM Fly Tying at 6:30

President’s Message

As most of our chapter members know by now, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has made the decision to close the Connetquot Trout Hatchery at the end of this year. The reason for this closure is due to the detection of a virus known to cause the disease Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis (IPN) in salmonoids. The disease is rather common in places where fish are unnaturally congregated, such as hatcheries and commercial fish farms. It can cause increased mortality in the fry of the reared fish but to date I haven’t been able to get any numbers on how the virus has impacted the operation at the Connetquot facility. In fact, the only reason the virus was detected in the first place is because the state recently added testing for IPN to its routine disease screening panel used to check the conditions in the various NY hatcheries. There is some speculation that the virus has been present in the hatchery as well as the surrounding ecosystem for decades. Because the virus has numerous carriers including birds, crustaceans and other bait fish, the IPN virus is apt to remain in the Connetquot River regardless of any action taken to remove it from the hatchery. The probability that the hatchery becomes re-infected after it re-opens (it’s currently predicted that it will remain closed for five years) is quite high. The virus is harmless to humans and I could find nothing in the literature that IPN impacts wild fisheries. I for one lament the State of New York’s decision to close the Connetquot operation. My first experience with ESCTU was a trip up to the river that I made with my good friend Mark Dettmar on a cold April day in the mid 1990s.

.

The highlight of that day was an enormous rainbow that I caught down at beat #8. I’ve made more than a dozen trips back to the river since that day, but I’ve never been able to match that big fish. I was so impressed with environment, not to mention the quality of the fish in the river that I immediately joined and became involved with ESCTU. I believe that our chapter outings to the Connetquot are essential to retaining some of our core membership and I want these trips to continue. For those of you that share my sentiment, I’d like to urge you to do two things. First learn a bit about IPN. There is a lot of information available online and I’ll include a link to the informative Schering-Plough Animal Health website below. I’ll also enclose a link to the Friends of the Connetquot website that will allow you to take action on your own by writing to the New York DEC Commissioner and asking him to keep the hatchery open. I hope you’ll take the time to learn more about this important issue and then take action to protect this wonderful resource. Advocacy should be an important part of the life of every conservationist. Don’t let this opportunity slip by. As the late author and wilderness advocate Edward Abbey once said: “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul”.

Learn more about IPN here: http://www.spaquaculture.com/default.aspx?pageid=532

Take action with the Friends of the Connetquot here: http://www.friendsofconnetquot.org/IPNNews.asp

Tight Lines!

Bill Hannisch Chapter President

November’s Program Trooper Rob Fracke “Maritime Security”

This month’s featured speaker will be Trooper Rob Fracke of the Maritime Security unit of the New Jersey State police. Trooper Fracke will present a program entitled “Maritime Security, Addressing Trends in Terrorism and Criminal Activity”. This is an important program for anyone who enjoys recreating on New Jersey’s waterways, so please plan to join us.

Trout in the Classroom Update Delivery of the brook trout eggs to our participating TIC schools took place successfully on Thursday, October 16th. chapter is now currently supporting TIC programs at the Princeton Middle School,

Allentown High School, N.J. Audubon Society in Cranbury, NJ, the East Amwell School and New Egypt High School. ESCTU owns the TIC equipment at the latter two schools. The brook trout eggs are scheduled to hatch in early November. I’ll continue to keep the chapter updated on this ongoing important program.

I’d like to thank Bill Todd and Roger Bruestle for taking time from their busy schedules to assist me with the egg delivery.

Closing the Connetquot Hatchery

This is, as Bill noted above, a controversial topic. There is a group advocating keeping the hatchery open. If you’d like to contact them, try “Friends of the Connetquot, Box 472, Oakdale, NY 11769. Unfortunately we don’t have any other contact information for this group at this time.

Rod Building and Repair Service Do you have a rod that’s a little beat up after a long season of fishing, or, are you thinking of getting a new custom rod built to suit your current fishing needs? We’re pleased to announce that our good friend Bill Dettmar is still doing business from his home in Skillman, NJ. Bill has always been a terrific friend to the chapter and we’re very glad that he’s still active and doing business. If you need to contact Bill about a job, you can reach him via telephone at his home: 908-359-1830, or via his cell phone: 908-625-7322. Give Bill a call. He would love to hear from you.

RODS For Sale Bill also has a number of rods for sale. Here’s a brief listing and he can give you more details:

• Loomis IMX 1089, Salt water reel seat, full wells grip. Used once. $350 • Loomis IMX F1086 REC reel seat, reverse half wells grip. Never used. Cloth bag, alum. Case. •

$275 Loomis IMX F10812/12 9' 12/13 wt. Mega fly rod. Full well grip, fighting butt; fore grip for two handed control. Very light use. Cloth bag only. $300.

• Lamiglas 6’6” 3 wt. 6 piece. Reverse half well grip. Black Alum. Reel seat, rosewood insert. $275.

Featured Fly Tyer of the Month Steve Maurer

As we are under tough economical times, Steve will be tying “Simple and Inexpensive Saltwater Patterns”. Tying your own flies is the most economical way to keep your fly box filled with flies, but we all seem to buy more materials than we really need too. Steve is going to show us what materials to buy so we still have effective and proven patterns to use while keeping cost down.

Come early and watch Steve’s entire Feature Fly Tying Program!

I would like to thank Aaron Jasper for being our October’s Featured Fly Tyer. Aaron tied flies specifically for “Euro Nymphing”. He tied the: Vladi Condom Worm, Rubber Legged Stonefly, Davy Wotton Hare's Ear, and a "Czech" Nymph. I must admit that this is the first time I have seen a condom used for tying a fly and how it made a realistic worm imitation. I don’t think the condom companies thought of this use for there condoms. I didn’t see this in Cabela’s fly tying material section.

The Fly Tying Program is an important part of the meetings for all who fly fish. The program presents different fly patterns that have been tried, as well as flies that work well throughout the region (some even worldwide). Please take the time to watch the monthly tyer work and learn the hot flies of the month. We have a video system that allows us to project the tying on the Big Screen, so you can really see the process up close. It makes it a very good learning experience as you can see the tyer’s hands and motions in detail. The doors open around 6:00pm. Tying starts at 6:30pm. Come early and make sure you see the whole Featured Fly Tying Program.

May your lines always be tight.

Jeff Conover

Final Fall Connetquot Trip November 14 The first Connetquot trip was very successful with lots of fish and fun per reports from the stream. The second trip will be Friday November 14. Cost: The cost of each trip is $50.00 and it must be paid before the trip date. You can not pay on the day of the trip. The cost includes the two sessions fishing morning and afternoon ($20 per session) and the chapter’s donation to the food bank $10.00 per person to help establish more of the large trout that we have caught in the past. Please see note below explaining the new wading rules to help prevent the spread of the IPN virus that has infected the Connetquot waters. Signup: Signup and payment for the October will be at the September Meeting and beats will also be drawn at that time for October. You can also sign up for the November trip at this time. Who is Eligible? The trip is offered first to all members with a paid up 2007 activity feet, then to family members and finally to guests. Licenses: A valid 2008 NY State fishing license is required. Note that the New York license year is from October thru September, so be sure you have a new NY State license to fish this year.

The NY State license can be acquired by telephone by calling 1-866-933-2257 with your credit card (allow 2 weeks for delivery). Cancellation Policy: There will be NO REFUNDS for cancellations unless we meet the required anglers (15 per session) to reserve the Preserve. If a refund is available the $10 per angler will be deducted towards the food bank. Please do not sign up just to reserve a spot unless you really plan on attending. On the Day of the Trip: We will meet at the mansion (just inside the gates) at 7:30 in the morning and start fishing as soon as we take attendance of those who signed up. Fishing will end at 4 PM. Unless authorized by the chapter no one is to call the Preserve to acquire additional times for our chapter to fish.

If you would like to fish at this remarkable stream, need directions or advice, please contact:

Bill Todd 908 874-3382 Email: [email protected]

Directions to the Pennington Firehouse

Take Route 31 1.6 miles north of the Pennington circle, or 1.9 miles from HIB Ribs, the old meeting place. Go to Broemel Place that is the first road north of the intersection of Route 31 and Delaware Avenue / Pennington-Titusville Road. Turn right if you are coming from the south [left if you’re coming from the north] –both from Route 31 onto Broemel Place and you’ll see the Pennington Firehouse ahead on the right, directly across from the Pennington Post Office. Park in the back and go upstairs to the meeting hall on the second floor.

Reminder: Activity Fees are Due

It’s time to renew for 2009, so below you will find the form to send to Bill Todd. Please note that there is a new line which gives you the option of adding something to your renewal to help with educational and conservation project expenses. These contributions are, of course, tax deductible. LIFE MEMBERSHIP Better yet, why not just sign up as a Life Member right now since you’re probably never going to stop trout fishing if you’re this involved in the sport, to be honest to yourself! You can avoid this annual renewal by signing up as a Life Member, and you’ve probably more than paid a life membership if you’ve been coming to meetings for the past decade as I know many of us have.

Don’t forget to include your e-mail address if it’s new or changed as this is the primary means of contact now.

Here’s the form:

Activity Fee Application—New/Renew 2009 Name:

Address:

City, State, Zip:

Phone: E-mail:

Date: NEW RENEWAL

Activity Fees: $25 individuals; $35 families. Life Membership: $250 Make checks payable to: Ernest Schwiebert Chapter – Trout Unlimited

ESCTU Officers 2008 www.esctu.org

Bill Hannisch, President Steve Maurer, Secretary Bill Todd, Treasurer Pat Key, Conservation Committee Chair & Trout in the Classroom Coordinator Jim Ahlbach, Banquet Committee Chairman Jeff Conover, Fly Tying Program Chairman Ron Ghoshal, Web Master David H. Miller, Newsletter Editor

1 Ernest Schwiebert Chapter of Trout Unlimited • Pennington, New Jersey • http://www.esctu.org