December 2019 Newsletter
Central MA Chapter of Trout Unlimited - December Newsletter
December Chapter Meeting –
Date: Monday, December 2nd
Time: 6:00 PM (Pizza arrives 6:30 to 6:45 PM)
Location: Auburn Sportsman’s Club
50 Elm St, Auburn, MA 01501
The December Meeting:
Fly Tying - The CMTU Presidents "Go To" nymph.
You need to get to the December meeting, if for no other purpose than learning how to tie the CMTU President’s "go to" nymph. Pete and Dave will supply instruction, materials and tools to tie the Green Caddis. This fly is a must have in your box. For local water, this works exceptionally well in slow to fast moving water and provides the "anchor" if using Czech techniques. My fly box is full of these and will be in many of the gifts under the Christmas tree this year.
More Flies!!
Bring you fly box as this will provide a "Big Fish" go to for your inventory. In addition, we are continuing with the "Free Flies" at our meeting. There is a good supply left over from last year that include some of of the classics - hare’s ears, spinners, etc and some of the newer patterns - sulfur emergers, and the tiny little bits of nothing that you need to have a few of. Bring your fly box and.....
This year, we are very interested in your favorite patterns to both tie and to purchase. We were able to get a great deal (Thanks Joe) on several hundred flies last year and are planning to do the same this year. So far, we have the following on our shopping list:
- Adams - 14
- Blue Wing Olive - 24-26
- Clauser
- Egg
- Golden Retriever - (Tie in November Meeting)
- Green Caddis - (Tie in December Meeting)
- Griffiths Gnat - 14 - (Tie in February Meeting)
- Klink Hammer
- Pheasant Tail
- Prince Nymph
- Spinners
- Sulphur
- Wooly Bugger
- Zebra Midge - (Tie in January Meeting)
We’ve identified a few of the patterns to tie in the monthly meetings, but look to put together a large order to make sure we are ready for the start of the 2020 season. The December meeting will finalize our order and get our shipment back in plenty of time for the
2020 opener (or your first day on the water in the New Year).
In addition, we are going to look into tippet material, nippers, and the like to improve your first day on the stream in 2020 or one of those warm winter days to keep your 2019 season still active.
2020 MA High School Fly Fishing Championships
A few of very interesting developments since our November Meeting.
The first was a phone call from the Franklin Tate. He is the Director of the Headwater Youth Program at TU National. We had about a thirty-minute discussion on our High School event and where this could go locally and provide information for other states that could be interested in a similar type event. I will be sending him some more information and setting up another call to further discuss.
The second was bumping into a recent grad of the Auburn High School who was hooked into a nice rainbow on an egg pattern. He played the fish nicely and netted a 17" er with some broad shoulders. We talked about the High School event and he suggested I call one of the teachers at the Auburn High School who is the faculty advisor for the fishing program.
Lastly, there is a new fly rod company starting up on Cape Cod. "ARROW Rods" will be producing an entire line of fishing equipment (fly and spinning) with a focus on making fishing/fly fishing much easier for all skill levels. I was fortunate enough to see some of the prototypes - very interesting technology, but cannot share much additional information other than we should have a few rods to support the High School event - the kids will like these. Not sure when this company will launch, but keep an eye out for this one.
The Council "Caddis Weekend" (The modern day Indian Hollow)
From the Council comes news of the "Caddis Weekend" for 2020 looks to be still undecided. The MA Fish and Game has yet to pick the weekend. This is the new version of what many remember as Indian Hollow. This event is up on the Deerfield and the timing is such to align with the free (no license) weekend in MA - so bring your out-of-state friends and the weekend that has the fisherman controlling the flow rates out of the dam. Last year, the reports were teaming with great caddis hatches and good action with dry flies working well.
The event is in a campground - so bring your tents. We will have discussion on a possible AirBnB option if there is interest. I’ve used this resource to book some nice spots on the Farmington and also in Colorado. May be a good option to sleeping bags and tents.
CMTU’s Farmington Weekend
The 2019 Caddis Weekend event was the same weekend as our Farmington weekend. This year, we will pick separate weekends and provide not 1 but 2 weekends of excellent fishing on Gold Medal streams! We may even be able to talk a certain chef into creating a "mother load" of the world famous CMTU breakfast sandwich for this glorious event. More to come on this one that will include dates and some other options in addition to the cabins.
Elections!!
December is our election meeting. I’ve heard that there are potentially more candidates running for the President position for our chapter than there are Democratic Candidates for the other presidency.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a Wonderful Holiday.
See you on December 2nd!
We look forward to seeing you and discussing FISH.
Tight Lines,
Peter Sterndale
President, Central MA Chapter of Trout Unlimited
© 2019 Trout Unlimited | CMTU #148 | http://centralmasstu.org
