President’s Message

It’s Spring!

I hope you all are able to get out and enjoy the nice weather (when it isn’t pouring rain) and that you are able to enjoy some fishing on your favorite stream.

Spring has been a bit busy for the Chapter. We joined the Onondaga Creek Rats for a clean-up on Onondaga Creek for Earth Day weekend, we’ve had volunteers helping at the hatchery with stocking and Time Out to Fish days, and our Fly Fishing School is under way. Chapter Members were also involved in the Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmens' Clubs Women In Nature event this past weekend. We are meeting in person again, and planning our summer picnic on June 8 at Carpenters Brook Fish Hatchery.

Spring is a time of renewal, of getting a fresh start. And so we are setting goals for the future.

The goals for the Chapter for the next year are as follows:

              We want to re-engage members and increase member involvement. We want to see you! Please come out to our meetings and events, and let us hear your thoughts and ideas for the chapter. We want your help as a volunteer for stream clean-ups and tree plantings, or for whatever projects we engage in. We want to hear your fishing stories and share the joy of our sport.

              We want to identify stream conservation efforts where we can have a positive impact. We are blessed with plentiful streams in CNY and an abundance of fishing opportunities. We want to work on projects which preserve those streams and provide opportunities for everyone in our community.

              We want to create new and strengthen existing partnerships with other groups, agencies, and local governments in our area so that we can be more effective in working on stream projects in our community.

              We will continue working on these goals over the summer, and when the Chapter meetings resume in the Fall, as they have traditionally done, we hope you will join us in a re-invigorated, and re-engaged Iroquois Chapter.

Hope to see you all at the Picnic on June 8!

Tight Lines,

Steve

Check out the Iroquois TU

Website: iroquois.tu.org                   

Iroquois Chapter TU

Fish With a Member Trips

Spring 2022

Bob Alexander

Fish with a member trips are back!

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, once again chapter members can gather to share a trout fishing outing.  Outlined below are a couple of day trips planned this year.

Saturday May 14^th A Day on the Delaware.  We’ll head south on Route 81 through Binghamton then east on Route 86 (NY 17) to the Deposit area to spend the day on the West Branch of the Delaware River.  Hopefully we’ll find the Hendrickson hatch in full swing with the trout looking up!  Besides traditional Hendrickson ties, successful patterns have been Red Quills (14), Blue Quills (18), and Rusty Spinners (12-20).  Parachutes, Emerger patterns, and Comparaduns can be the most effective on this water; the fish here see a lot of flies and can be very choosy.  It’s known for its challenging fishing and large wild browns and rainbows.

Saturday June 11^th Trip to West Canada.  This trip will find us heading north and east along the Thruway and Route 365 to the Barneveld area to spend the day on the West Canada. For the fly fisherman, caddis is the go-to fly, just have some elk hair caddis and/or Stimulators in sizes 10-18.  A 2-fly system with a dropper can be effective here.  Caddis pupa and soft hackle wet flies make great droppers with or without beads (14 - 18).  The stream also produces some good mayfly hatches.  Most hatch charts will tell you Hendrickson’s (12 & 14), March Browns (12 & 14), Gray Fox (14), Brown Drakes (12 & 14), Sulpher’s & PMD’s (14- 20), Light Cahill (12 & 14), and Blue Wing Olives (14-22.)

Interested? Contact Bob Alexander for more info, time of departure and meeting location.

Call, text, or email  315-373-4665 Bobalex0729@Gmail.com.

Our TU Chapter meeting in May featured Les Monostory.

He spoke about Citizen Science initiatives and water quality in Central New York. Les’ goal is to bring together local volunteer groups who collect actionable stream data: TU, Isaac Walton, CSI, and SU/ESF; and along with OCFSC, coordinate from a position of unity a plan to appeal to state and national entities — DEC, EPA — to recognize and accept the stream data, and to honor the volunteer efforts and years of data collection by supporting local stream improvement projects. A conference which would bring all stakeholders together is targeted for January 2023

Next TU Board Meeting:

Wednesday

May 11, 2022

@ 6:30 - 8 Pm

Honeywell’s Onondaga Lake

Visitor’s Center

Women In Nature

The 14th Annual Outdoor Skills Workshop for Women In Nature, put on by Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs on April 30, 2022 was a huge success. The Otisco Rod and Gun Club hosted the event. For the fly fishing class, five women participated in the morning and seven in the afternoon. Vicky Lane, Nancy Lobello, and Kelley Romano served as instructors. We were able to get the women on the stream at Nine Mile for at least an hour of fly fishing with our club fly rods. Pictured below is Kayla who caught a nice little brown. In her excitement, she made the right decision not to come running over to show us. Instead, she took a picture of herself kissing the fish and then released it back into the water!

From The Fly Box

Kelley Romano, Editor

The WIN event got me so jazzed about fly fishing because of the enthusiasm of twelve women brand new to the sport, eager to learn what this type of fishing is all about. It was great to see Vicky out in a field of grass, casting with ease an orange piece of yarn at the end of the fly line. I saw too much wrist movement in some women and said, “Just watch Vicky cast and do the same.” We took them to Nine Mile which was very crowded and over-fished, but that was the closest location with somewhat open landscape for women without waders to avoid too many hookups with trees - although we still had some unfortunate snags. Some memorable comments and questions I heard: “Wow, these flies look like jewels!” “You don’t trust us with hooks?” as we handed them their own rod to cast in the grass. “Where do you get gear?” “Does Bass Pro or The Troutfitter have women’s waders?” “My husband fly fishes and I just watch. I am embarrassed to try it in front of him.” “Can you just wade into any stream and start fishing?” “People who sew and crochet will find these knots so easy to tie,” as they crowded around to watch me attach a fly to tippet with the Davy knot. Shouts and laughter when I released my wading stick and it clicked itself straight. The heartfelt gratitude for our time and patience was the best thing I heard all day. Introducing newbies to fly fishing is one of the great ways to promote our sport and emphasize the essential need for the conservation and care of cold water fisheries. In follow-up emails, we will continue to promote businesses, groups and future events that will welcome these women into our local fly fishing community.

Trout Waters Youth Camp

is Back on for 2022!

WANTED: 

Youth anglers 14-17 interested in attending Trout Waters Youth Camp sponsored by MidHudson TU in the Catskills. Our own Iroquois TU chapter would love to sponsor and send a local CNY teen to this program. It is being held Sunday, JUNE 26 - Friday, JULY 1, 2022. Please contact any TU board member if you have a teen in mind for this wonderful fly fishing experience, or would like more information about the camp.

REQUEST for fly tying donations

Iroquois TU is still looking to consolidate a supply of fly tying materials, equipment, etc. to store all in one place. Supplies will be used by the chapter for events and for charitable purposes. Please contact Steve Weiter or any Board member if you have supplies you would like to donate. We will arrange a drop-off or pick-up time and location. Thank you!!

Fly Fishing School

…in progress…

Two more Thursday evening classes to go for folks already signed up:

May 5 & May 12

5 pm - 9 pm

@ Carpenters Brook Fish Hatchery

Thanks to Marty Ivery and TU members for time and talent!

Up Next!

Chapter Picnic

Wednesday June 8

6 pm - 8 pm

@ Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery

Food, fishing, fun, raffles!

$10 / person

RSVP Steve Weiter 585-415-1680

sweiter302@gmail.com by Friday 5/27

TU and the Creek Rats April 23, 2022

____________________________________If you have a suggestion or submission for our next newsletter, contact Kelley Romano:  ka.romano@gmail.com

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