Gary Whipple will be speaking at our next meeting about a trip that Joe Hovious, Mike Gilzow  (a West Virginia fishing friend) and Gary took to fish the Skeena system for steelhead last October.   During the trip they had the chance to catch large steelhead, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, and bull trout on two handed rods.

In addition to the requisite fish porn, we’ll get a photographic tour of the scenery and some wildlife.  We’ll also talk about their lodge experience,  the daily challenge of fishing for large fish in some very large water, the joy of and seeing your backing and the disappointment of losing a large fish.   While they’ll share their fish stories,  and even some stories about what might have been,  they’ll also share information about planning the trip that might be useful as you consider your next trip.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 14th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Guest Speaker: Gary Whipple, Steelhead on the Skeena River

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

Bill Dunn and Steve Zakur will be speaking at our next meeting about their experience fishing the Bristol Bay area of Alaska. During the trip they both had the chance to catch the stunning array of fish that inhabit this ecosytem: Salmon (five varieties), LARGE Rainbow Trout, Grayling, Arctic Char, and Pike. They’ll talk about the lodge experience, the daily grind of fishing for LARGE fish, and the joy of screaming reels and seeing your backing.

While they’ll share tall tales about this world class Salmon and Trout fishery they’ll also share information on how to plan a trip. Bill stayed at a lodge that was high-end so he can give you an appreciation for the experience and value of that trip. Steve stayed at a lower end lodge that was right on the Kwichak River and while it was lower cost gave access to the same world class fishing. Of course, there were trade-offs; learn what they are.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 10th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Guest Speaker: Bill Dunn and Steve Zakur, Fly Fishing Bristol Bay Alaska

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

Joe Demalderis will be speaking about the fishing the Upper Delaware River system with a specific focus on the East Branch of the Delaware River at our December meeting. The Upper Delaware River and its tributaries are surprisingly close by, only a couple hours by car, and can easily be done in a day trip. These waters provide fantastic fishing for trophy trout; even small stream enthusiasts can find places to satisfy their passion. Joe’s decades of fishing on these rivers will undoubtedly increase your knowledge of how to be successful when you get up there.

Capt. Joe Demalderis (known to most as Joe D.) was introduced to fly fishing in 1970. He has been fishing the Delaware since the mid 1970′s and has been an Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide for more than a decade. Joe has traveled throughout North America fishing for trout, Atlantic salmon and steelhead.  Recently he added South America to his itinerary, fishing for those hard fighting Patagonian trout.  From July through November, he splits his time between the Delaware and the saltwater where he guides fly fishermen and light tackle enthusiasts for striped bass, false albacore and blues from his 23′ center console.  He is also a Pro Staff member of ClackaCraft Drift Boats and has appeared in several national fishing magazines and fly fishing books. So far in his guiding career, Joe has logged tens of thousands of hours on the water. A life member in Trout Unlimited, Joe also serves on the board of directors of Friends of the Upper Delaware River.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, December 13th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Guest Speaker: Joe Demalderis, Cross Current Guide Service, The Upper Delaware River

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

On Tuesday, November 8th, at 7 p.m., Tom Zarecki, of the Angler’s Den Fly Shop in Pawling, New York will present an overview of the Croton River system. The Croton River system is just over the border in Westchester County New York and covers numerous rivers that run between the various New York City Reservoirs in the area. These fisheries provide some of the best fishing in the area and are conveniently located for anglers in southern New York and south-west Connecticut.

Tom is a licensed guide and has expert knowledge of the Croton System. In addition to serving local anglers on the Croton River, the  Anglers’ Den serves the Croton, Housatonic and Delaware systems with guided wade and float trips. The Anglers’ Den is celebrating its 10th anniversary next month.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 8th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Guest Speaker: Tom Zarecki, The Croton System

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

Slate of Officer Candidates reviewed at September meeting:

• President: James Belden
• Co Vice President: Dick Rothen
• Co Vice President: John Queirolo
• Secretary: Bill Dunn
• Treasurer: Chuck Rich
• Director: Tony Ballato
• Director: Tony Mortimer

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

Summer is drawing to a close, air temperatures will start going down and water temperatures with them. As the Housy cools down fishing will once again shift from Smallmouth to Trout. Be prepared! Join us at our September meeting where HRO Head Guide Adam Franceschini will be speaking about fly fishing during the Fall on the Housatonic River.

Adam began guiding on the famed rivers of western Montana, where he quickly learned how to navigate a drift boat on big water. Since then, he has guided on the San Juan, where the well-known Baetis hatches helped him refine his sight nymphing skills, and the Amazon basin of Brazil, where he chased peacock bass on the fly. Adam is a year-round Professional Guide, and spends his summers guiding for Tikchik Narrows Lodge located in Bristol Bay Alaska. Over the past four years he has used his boat handling skills, as well as his excellent indicator nymphing techniques, to help him catch some of Alaska’s massive leopard rainbow trout. This winter, Adam was named Head Guide at Housatonic River Outfitters. Growing up in just 15 miles from the Housatonic, Adam has fished much of the local waters. Guiding wading trips, drift boat trips, and instructing classes,
Adam has made a home, once again guiding on the water he where learned to fish.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 11th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Election of New Officers: All
• Guest Speaker: Adam Franceschini

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

Slate of Officer Candidates reviewed at September meeting:

• President: James Belden
• Co Vice President: Dick Rothen
• Co Vice President: John Queirolo
• Secretary: Bill Dunn
• Treasurer: Chuck Rich
• Director: Tony Ballato
• Director: Tony Mortimer

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

At our final meeting before the summer break we’ll have an update on conservation activities of the chapter both past and those forthcoming. We’ve continued to hone our focus on Youth Education and now are looking at how to make best use of our resources in continuing our strong tradition of coldwater conservation efforts. We’ll share with you some thoughts on the future and get your input.

As always, we’ll be also doing the casting clinic as well as some fly tying.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 10th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Raffle: We’ll have another raffle featuring a $25 Orvis gift card, flies and a couple of special items.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Other business: All
• Raffle drawing

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]



Anders Halverson, the author of the award winning book An Entirely Synthetic Fish, will be speaking at the April meeting. Anders will discuss his book as well as stick around for some Q&A.

The book is an in-depth account of the rainbow trout and why it has become the most commonly stocked and controversial freshwater fish in the United States. Rainbow trout have been proudly dubbed “an entirely synthetic fish” by fisheries managers. According to Halverson, his book examines the paradoxes and reveals a range of characters, from nineteenth-century boosters who believed rainbows could be the saviors of democracy to twenty-first-century biologists who now seek to eradicate them from waters around the globe. He discusses how the story of the rainbow trout is the story of our relationship with the natural world—how it has changed and how it startlingly has not. It is a must read for those of us who fish for trout.

Anders is an award winning journalist with a Ph.D. in Aquatic Ecology from Yale University. http://andershalverson.com/

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 12th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Raffle: We’ll have another raffle featuring a $25 Orvis gift card, flies and a couple of special items.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Other business: All
• Raffle drawing

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]



Ross on the West Branch of the Delaware

The West Branch of the Delaware River is a fabled piece of eastern fly fishing water. Not far from the Beaverkill, Willowemoc and Neversink it provides all manner of trout habitat from intitmate riffles and runs to large open water accessible only by drift boat.

The meeting features Rob Lewis, a senior guide at the Delaware River Club in Hancock, New York. Rob will discuss fishing the Delaware River. He will explain access points, flies to use, and will share his techniques.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 8th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut. Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition, pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Raffle: We’ll have another raffle featuring a $25 Orvis gift card, flies and a couple of special items.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Other business: All
• Raffle drawing

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

The idea of getting a group of people together and traveling far and wide in perfect fishing harmony is an appealing fantasy and is borderline delusional. Fishing trips involve substantial investments in time and money and require making important and difficult choices about when and where to go. The reality can be a meteorological, logistical and interpersonal nightmare.

Tony and Doug will draw on their own – sometimes ill fated – experiences and give you a method to help insure an enjoyable trip.

At this month’s meeting Tony and Doug will provide a proven system to minimize problems and maximize the fun. They will provide handouts that will walk you through the basic choices, how to research, the planning steps, and how to prepare for a successful fishing trip.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 8th at 7:00 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut.  Stop by to get some dinner, talk with members and see some of our member’s favorite, top producing ties.

Pizza: As has become our tradition,  pizza will be served.

Fly Tying: If you’re interested in demonstrating your best patterns, please contact Doug or Tony.

Raffle: We’ll have another raffle featuring a $25 Orvis gift card, flies and a couple of special items.

Swap Table: If you have something you’d like to sell or swap bring it to the meeting and place it on the swap table. Stop by the table to see if there are any bargains to pick up!

Meeting Agenda

• Call to Order at 7:30 pm

• Pledge of allegiance: All
• President’s report: James Belden and Dick Rothen
• Treasurer’s report: Chuck Rich
• Other business: All
• Raffle drawing

Tony Ballato and Doug Peterson are the co-chairs of the Program Committee and could use your suggestions and help in arranging for speakers. If you have any recommendations for speakers, please share your ideas with Tony and Doug.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting! [directions]

Our annual banquet will be held on Friday, March 25th at the Stony Hill Inn in Bethel, CT at 6:30 p.m. This event is a great opportunity to get together with your friends (fishing and otherwise) and help raise some money for our conservation efforts. Most of this money will go towards supporting our Youth Education efforts.

No speeches – just good food, friendly people, lots of stuff, and a great cause!

Auction and Raffle items include:

Youth Education

• Guided fishing on the Housatonic River
• Guided trip on the Delaware River
• Float trip on the Deerfield River
• Signed Bob White print “Close to Home”
• Signed edition of Tom Rosenbauer’s Orvis Fly Fishing Guide
• Fly reels
• Float trip on the Housatonic River
• Collectible books
• Guided salt water fishing
• Salt and fresh water reels
• Guided fishing on the Pootatuck River
• Professionally (and amateur) tied flies

Plus many Bucket Raffle items.

Tickets are $40

Available at the Valley Angler, from CVTU Board Members, by emailing Tony Ballato at aballato [at] sbcglobal [dot] net or by calling 203-740-8636.

The event will be held at the Stony Hill Inn located at 50 Stony Hill Road (US Route 6), Bethel, CT.

View Larger Map