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Well folks, its here again. The Fly Fisherman of the Year contest at the Raritan Inn. This year, Hacklebarney will be represented by Rich Tullo.
After last year's wash out, and Fredy's R&V win, its about time we take home the prize.
This could be the year, as the conditions are so crappy that the playing field is equally level and lousy for all.
Go get em Tullo. Dont come home without the trophy!
There are tickets still available for the banquet. Call Shannon's if you would like to go.
The Raritan Inn outing is off for this Columbus Day, due to the low water conditions on the South Branch and just about everywhere else. Never fear, we will reschedule for the Spring. Commence crying!
While some in Hacklebarney slaved away at the Whippany River cleanup, others made their way to Tightlines North to fish the Beaverkill and surrounding areas.
That said, there wasnt much happening on the Beaverkill. The flows were very weak. The West Branch on the other hand was brutal if you were wading-a flow that was between 950 and 1200 CFS. Just like the three little bears though, the third bowl of porridge was just right-The East Branch.
I stopped into Dette, to get a report and ended up buying some Caddis pupas on the recommendation of Joe. His description was "you probably wont need them, but if you do and dont have them it can be maddening." How prophetic!
I hit the East Branch and fished nymphs for over an hour with no results. I then saw some sporatic rises and tied on the pupa. Bang, bang, bang. My luck changed. I caught ten over the next hour and a half. Granted, not one of any size, but my luck changed 180 degrees. Thanks Joe!
I then headed over to a different section of the East Branch and caught a few on Sulpher emergers in the riffle water.
Last, I headed to junction pool to meet up with the other Hacklebarney boys. Some guys were doing very well, but for me, in the main stem, the flow was very heavy and I couldnt put anything together.
I walked over to the side channel, and saw a few nice rises. I tied on a #18 risty spinner and threw. After 3 or 4 drifts, I placed a perfect cast. It drifted down a foot and slurp! The fish was NICE and bolted. Plick! The leader separated between the #2 and #4 tippet. By the time I retied and tried to cast to some of the other feeding fish, it was pitch black and I couldnt see a darn thing. Game over. Whaat....whaat...Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
Anyway, John Eng sent me some shots of the trip, but I cant find them this minute. When I do, ILl post.
Brian and Nancy will discuss channel restoration and the science behind it with lots of pictures and data on before and after findings of macroinvertebrates.
To put it another way, stream restoration works well and they'll prove it.
Im looking forward to hearing what they have to say, especially knowing firsthand how sucessful the restorations were at The Raritan Inn stretch on the South Branch and on the Musky in the heritage stretch.
Yay Brian! Yay Science!
Thats 10/9 at 7:30pm. Mike Russo will be buying beer for the first 20 attendees.
Brian Cowden
Nancy Roberts-Lawlor