THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD ON: Wednesday Sept 15 (see inside for details)

Thanx

Frank

This is the season were you never know what kind of bait will be in the water. One night while fishing on the Lobsterville jetty on Martha’s Vineyard, small squid surrounded the rock pile. The bass were in a calamari mood and I happened to have a small squid pattern back in the truck, so I had to use a little red Lefty’s. Later on that same evening sandeels and spearing (silversides) moved out of Menemsha Pond with the bass hot on their heels. As the sun came up tinker mackerel and mullet were all around the jetty and being snagged by bait fishermen. Their offerings thrown out to waiting bonito and false albacore. You just never know what bait will be in the water so be prepared.

Your flys should "match the hatch" but the general shape is what counts and whoever heard of a lime green and chartreuse anything? Yet these are great colors to use on bass, bonito, false albacore and bluefish. But rainbait or the bay anchovy is something that should be matched as close as possible. Here on Long Island and down the Jersey coast, the bay anchovy invades the inshore waters to the delight of fly rodders and hungry predators. They get to be plentiful; in fact they get to be too plentiful, turning the water a reddish brown as the huge schools of fish move inshore. I was fishing at Mulford’s, on the North Fork, where the anchovies were so thick it looked like an algae bloom had taken over except it was moving up and down the beach. Bluefish were swimming lazily through the school and acting like stripers, just rolling through bait "gulping" down their meal. No one was catching a thing except for one kid using a large black Rebel about five and half inches long. So I tied on a large black Lefty’s Deceiver to take a couple of fish but there were just too many anchovies. Albacore were off the point mixed in with the bass just out of casting range there was a guy I a canoe in the thick of it but he was using a large tin and only catching the odd bass. But occasionally the fish would charge the beach and we hooked up on some quality fish.

So what to carry during the fall run? Well here are my top choices for fall fishing. First the Epoxy minnow because it is a great imitation of small baitfish like sandeels, bay anchovies and spearing. The Joe Blados Crease Fly is a must when the fish are feeding on top, easy to make and cast. This fly is great on albacore, bass and blues and when fished on a fast sinking line around rocks has enticed some large bass to strike. Of course the Lefty Deceiver tied in different sizes and colors. When bunker are in the water a large bucktail fly like Glen Mikkelson’s bunker imitation is good to carry along. I like to have an eel imitation in my box for night fishing during the fall, big bass love eels so give them what they like. Clouser Half and Half has been very successful for me over the past few years as well as the Clouser Deep Minnow but I’d have to say the Half and Half has take more fish.

Any seasoned fly rodder has his or her own favorites these are just a few to get the novice fly rodder started. If you have a particular fly that has worked for you in the past with good success then why not submit it to the newsletter and share your ideas. A fly that you have developed may be improved with the help of another fly rodder. Some flies that we use are really the creation of several talented individuals though the originator gets the credit for coming up with the idea.

Now if you tie up a couple of these flies in different colors and sizes you should have enough flies for the rest of the year, baring a major bluefish blitz which could wipe out you out in one afternoon of hot fishing. Several years ago my friends encountered a bluefish blitz that last three days, these fish had come inshore to feed on herring and peanut sized bunker and would eat anything that was offered. My friends were using forty pound test tied directly to there fly line with a piece of eighty pound test wire about 18 inches long. Nothing fancy, just something they could grab when the landing the fish and then enough wire to retie again and again. They called me on the second day but I couldn’t make time to join the fun and just as well because the next afternoon the bait was gone and so were the blues. I wish I could have been there for that one but such is life.

In order to add to our archives and make our web page and newsletter more interesting, the first of two photo competitions starts now and will run until September 20, 1999. All members are invited to send their pictures to the club in any reasonable format up to 8" x 10"

In color. The winner will be selected by the officers of the club who will not be allowed to enter. Fish, water, equipment, boats, and flies are all fair game for this contest. The prize:

Submit entries with a note/caption to:

Joel B. Filner

345 East 57^th ST 2C

New York, NY 10022

Prints become the property of the Salty Flyrodders.

By Frank Abbate Jr.

By Alan J Evelyn, Conservation Chair

WET COOLING POWER GENERATING PLANTS ENDANGER SPAWNING GROUNDS

CCA New York and other environmental and sportfishing groups are opposed to building additional Wet Cooling Power Generating Plants on the Hudson River. At present there are proposals for two wet cooling power generating plants on the Hudson. These plants will be used for generating electric power to be sold to the highest bidder and will not be a directed power supply source for the State of New York. One plant will be located at Kingston and the other at Athens. The problem with these plants is that they need water from the Hudson. 7.5 million gallons of water per day, apiece! That is 5,000 gallons of water per minute per intake pipe. The plants are located in the middle of the spawning grounds of the Striped Bass, Alewife and Blueback herring, the American Shad, the Atlantic sturgeon and the endangered Shortnose sturgeon. These two plants are the leading edge for a proposed 14 more wet cooling plants. The annual average fish kill for five of the existing plants are as follows:

American Shad------------736,107

Herring------------------36,000,000

Striped Bass--------------763,000

The estimated annual average fish kill if all 14 wet cooling plants are constructed on the Hudson River:

.

American Shad---------10,305,498

Herring------------------504,000,000

Striped Bass-------------4,906,692

To put this into perspective, the present annual combined commercial/recreational - Ocean/Hudson River Striped Bass kill is only 486,792.

Air cooled power generation is a better alternative to the proposed wet cooled plants. Air cooled power generation is more friendly to the marine environment. These proposed plants are also going to be located in the most scenic areas of the Hudson, the cleanest water and within the significant coastal wildlife habitats. True they will be eyesores, but if they are air cooled the fish kill rate would be negligible. Please join CCA New York in protecting the Hudson River marine environment. Enclosed is a petition for you to gather signatures. Please make copies and gather as many signatures as possible. Send to the address on the petition or bring you signed sheets

to the Salty's September meeting.

Fort more information on this issue you can contact Lou Del Santo at 914-229-7905 or by email at reddog1927@vh.net

It is extremely important to remember that the conservation battle never ends and we must continue to make our voices heard in Albany. The immediate fight is to prevent the proposal, supported by Governor Pataki, to reopen the Hudson River to commercial fishing. Enclosed is a letter opposing this proposal. The Governor needs to hear your opinion. It is always more effective to send a personal letter, however, signing the enclosed letter lets the Governor know where you stand on this important issue. Sign it, add your address, place it in a stamped envelope and mail or bring your signed letter to the Salty's September meeting and we will mail it for you.

What else can you do? Also enclosed is a petition from CCA New York calling on Governor Pataki TO MAKE STRIPED BASS A GAME FISH IN THE INLAND WATERS OF NEW YORK STATE. Again, join CCA New York in protecting Striped Bass from the over harvest by the commercial fishery. Enclosed is a petition for you to gather signatures. Please copy and gather a many signatures as possible. Send them to the address on the petition or bring your signed sheets to the Salty's September meeting.

Still want to do more to protect Striped Bass? As discussed at the last Salty's meeting, the Governor's Office can be reached by telephone in NYC at 212-681-4580 or in Albany at 518-474-8390. The Governor's email address is gov.pataki@chamber.state.ny.us

Also for future reference, the Governor's Legislative Bill Status Hot Line is 1-800-342-9860

OTHER CONSERVATION EVENTS

Saturday, September 11th: Lemon Creek, Lou Figurelli Park Clean Up: 10am to 3pm. Join NRPA, Princess Bay Boatmen's Assoc. and Urban Park Rangers at the foot of Seguine Ave in Princess Bay, SINY, for this summer clean up. Pack a lunch and bring your fishing rod. Call NRPA for more details at 718-987-6037.

Sunday September 12th: The Long Island Beach Buggy Association's "Courtesy Patrol" will be conducting a 4-wheel Beach Driving Class at Robert Moses State Park (field # 2) 9:00am. The class is "Free" and is open to both members and non-members of LIBBA. Whether you are a novice or experienced at driving on the beach, LIBBA highly recommends you attend this class. For additional information or to register for the class call LIBBA Courtesy Patrol Director, Chuck Hollins: (516) 286-3848, E-mail: cpdir696@aol.com or call the LIBBA Hotline: (516) 579-1344.

Sunday, September 19th: Cresent Beach Clean Up: 11:30am to 3pm. Join Staten Island Tuna Club, NRPA, and concerned Citizens of Great Kills for this National Beach Clean Up Day. Call NRPA for more details at 718-987-6037

Sunday October 3rd: Owen Johnson Beach Clean-Up (tentative date) For up-to-date information call the LIBBA Hotline: (516) 579-1344.

Saturday, September 25th: First Annual Manhattan Fluke Fishing Bonanza to benefit the CCA NEW YORK, a 501C3, Non-profit Corporation organized to conserve and protect NY's marine resources aboard the newest and fastest 82' Party Boat: Elsie K Princess. Pick up at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan at 12:00 noon.  Boat returns at 6:00pm Beer, soda and lunch provided. Raffles, door prizes for adult and kids. Price: $60 adults and $30 for kids, tax deductible donation. Pre registration required.  To register call John McMurray at 516 422-4162 or E-mail: director@ccany.org.

Remember, if you want other conservation issues brought to the Salty's

attention, please talk to me at the monthly meeting or contact me at: home

(516) 256-0726, work: (718) 951 6522, work fax: (718) 951-4744 or by email:

aevelyn@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Times have changed since then. Synthetics have revolutionized fly-tying to the point of dizziness. Not that all this material growth is bad, on the contrary. It has helped to stimulate and energize a great sport and it has certainly added a new source of income for many.

We should remember, however, a more bygone era when the basics were really basic. In that late 1920’s a fella by the name of Tom Loving and a small group of friends regularly fished for shad along the tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. Loving had designed a fly for taking these Shad but with a startling observation found that Striped Bass ate his Shad pattern with unadulterated gusto. He made some minor adjustments to the design and with this simple act, secured in saltwater flyfishing history his place as being the creator of the first Striped Bass fly.

The Loving Bass fly is so simple it makes me giddy. Some bucktail, a saddle hackle and some flash( a modern concession) and you have a fly that bass can't resist. The color, red and white is classic in nature. Anyone who has fished with plugs on spinning gear knows full well how deadly the red/white combination is. No difference here. If you cant tie a dozen in less than an hour, try finger-painting.

Wing/Tail- White bucktail.

Collar-red saddle hackle

Thread- Uni-thread, 6/0, black

Flash- Tiewell pearl

Step 1. Tie in a small bunch of white bucktail, about a 1/8" behind hook eye.

Step 2. Add some pearl flash along sides of bucktail.

Step 3. Take a single red saddle hackle, strip away the fluff, clip the stem and with the remaining tip of stem, tie in behind hook eye.

Step 4. Palmer(wind) the hackle forward, folding the feather back as you wind and tie off at the hook eye.

You're done! Remember progress is good, but don’t forget the past.

This week has been on the tough side. Although there is plenty of bait in the water on both the North and South Shores, there is not much on them. It is hard to believe that all this bait is virtually unmolested. A good day consists of improving your casting skills, telling stories of the past and fantasizing what the fall run will be like, with the occasional interruption of a fish hitting a fly. If one is inclined to, one can get bass by live lining or using clam bellies, but for the diehard fly fisherman it can be tough. Being there is so much bait in the water, I am confident it will turn in the short term. I will try my hardest to change this lull around and start producing. As a side note, I have a crew for the Oct 2nd Zenbait tournament, and my guys are really charged up for it. Speaking for myself, I always enjoy participating in a tournament that benefits others.

It's 4:30 am and we're going "Off" again today. This will make the last 4 out of 8 that at least one of us is out there and have had dolphin on every trip! Last minute cancellations put Dino and myself out there on our own on Tuesday and the Fish Gods smiled on us! (I know it wasn't the preparation or knowing where to go) We had a couple of double digit mahi, a 16 pounder that I hooked on a bait, I know, but after a big guy like that rejects a fly 10 times it's time to see if something else would work! And Dino took an 18 pounder on his baby bunker fly. We were applying the pilchard chumming method from Florida. with a New York spin; we used live peanut bunker, and it worked well. The gods also graced us this week with bass, blues, bonito, and skipjack. John from Orvis Paramus was out with Dino and had a nice mixed bag of these guys all under the NY skyline! Just stick with what you know works, and you'll catch 'em.

Big, big blues (and bass)--15-20 pounders--around the Point--not that surprising given the last few days of easterly and northeasterly winds and cooler air. We should start seeing this fall run type action from here on when the wind has some east in it and the air and water cool a bit. There are bonito from the west jetty of Montauk harbor west all the way to Napeague. Working on setting up the new Contender 23 to take advantage of the weather and big fish around Montauk in the next few weeks.

We had a North Flats client out in Gardiner's Bay and also saw speedsters--wasn't sure if they were albies or bonito--west of Montauk harbour into Napeague. There were some bass on the flats as well, but they were few and far between. Mostly shorts and very spooky. Otherwise now occupied in setting up out at Montauk for the fall run.

1) Don Avondolios name is synonymous with saltwater flyfishing on Long Island, my question to you is the obvious one, when did first get started in saltwater flyfishing?

(2) What was the saltwater flyfishing scene like on Long Island in the early days?

(3) Did you ever think that this sport would ever get as popular as it has in the past ten years? What do you see as the factors that helped fuel this popularity?

(5) Where do you see this sport, in relationship to other forms of sport fishing, in say, another ten years?

(6) Of all the places you have fished on Long Island, which are your favorite spots, or more specifically, those areas that gave you the most personal enjoyment.

(7) You used to teach a class on flyfishing at Kings Park, I believe, for

many years. How did that come about?

(8) You recently moved to Delaware. What's the prognosis for saltwater flyfishing there?

(9) You were with and still are a member of the "Saltys," and one of the first inductees along with Lou Rossi, to the "Salty's" Hall of Fame. What do you see as the role of clubs such as ours in the grand scheme of things, concerning our sport?

(10) If you had a single bit of advice to give to a novice, just getting started, what would that be?

The current mind frame of most of the members is stuck on one fall fish. The albacore is certainly the catch that we all chase as it gives us the run and rush of excitement on our September back t o the fish days.

2nd Annual Surf Fishing Seminar

With Rich Johnson

In Assoc. with Nor’East Saltwater magazine

&

Cost: $10 / $5 children 12 & under

400 So. Broadway in Lindenhurst, Long Island

Reading Beaches/Fishing Tins/North Shore Surf