Did you know that back issues (2019 & 2020 only) of River Views, the monthly newsletter of the HRFA, are available for all to enjoy on our website? Click here, or the River Views banner, to go directly there and catch up on your reading.

HRFA members are welcome to place a WANT AD in River Views. Simply Email editorriverviews@thehrfa.org a brief description of your item(s) along with your asking price etc. You may include photo(s) too. Be sure to provide your contact information.

Advertising in the WANT ADS section of River Views is FREE to all members! All we ask is that you donate a minimum of 10% of any money exchanged to the HRFA after each transaction is completed.* If it was a simple swap or trade, please contribute your best possible donation as a way to say, "thank you" and support our good works. 

Click HERE to make your donation using PayPal. You may also mail a check made out to "HRFA WANT ADS" to either address: 1.) HRFA, PO Box 421, Cresskill, NJ 07626 - OR - 2.) HRFA, PO Box 421, Piermont, NY 10968

This is a new benefit of HRFA membership which is still just $25.00 a year. Click HERE to become a member of the HRFA or to renew your membership today.

*NOTE: All transactions will be handled directly by the parties involved. The HRFA will not play a role in making those arrangements. Regarding the suggested 10% charitable donations to the HRFA - the "honor system" will be in full force. We trust you to do the right thing.

Click HERE to make your donation using PayPal.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The full version of River Views is for members only. HRFA Members, if your emailed copy of River Views ends abruptly look for this quote "[Message clipped]  "View entire message" at the bottom of the page. Clicking there will open up the full issue.

Carl Bruger has been a writer for this newsletter educating and entertaining us who read River Views for a long time. Here is his latest gem. Perfectly timed to get you through these trying times of "social distancing" necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attend the virtual meeting of the NJ Marine Fisheries Council to find out the dates of the 2021 Recreational NJ Summer Flounder Season. Will it be 1.) May 22 to September 19 (the same as 2020) or 2.) May 28 – September 28? When available, webinar information for this meeting can be found by clicking HERE.

ZOOM in to learn from Arnie Ulrich who will give a live demonstration of knot tying and fishing rigs and leaders for various species.

Starting at noon there will be free casting demos from Century Rod/Advanced Fishing USA at the old Crab House Pier (now The Yacht Club) in Edgewater, N.J. Come try casting with their entire line of boat, back bay and surf rods. Bring your own rod (striper season opens March 1st) or have a beer/lunch in the restaurant and check out the Manhatten skyline. But, come to see & try some of the very best fishing rods available. Test and compare their performance to your favorite rod(s) and learn why Century Rod has a great reputation.

GPS: 541 River Road, Edgewater New Jersey. Behind the The Yacht Club restaurant on the pier. AKA the old "Crab House" Pier. Parking is free in their lot.

The HRFA's catch & release derby supports the scientific study of striped bass in three important was:

FIRST As we always have, we encourage anglers to tag fish for the American Littoral Society. That's why the derby awards prizes for the most and the largest striper tagged and released for their program.

This year we will honor the memory of fellow HRFA member and long-time Fish Tagging Director & Naturalist at the American Littoral Society by naming the awards for the most and the largest tagged striper(s) in the Derby after Jeff Dement.

The family requests in lieu of flowers making a tribute gift in their loved one's name to the American Littoral Society. Clicking here will bring you to the appropriate page to make a charitable donation in Jeff Dement's honor to the Society if you so desire.

SECOND Competing anglers may also enter a Calcutta to win additional prizes for the largest striper caught and released. Whether or not the bass was tagged. The purchase of The Fisherman magazine's 3Rs sticker (see image) through the HRFA ($20) when you register is needed to enter the Calcutta. This raises money to support the HRFA's activities and the satellite tagging study being conducted by Gray FishTag Research. Last year we donated $500 towards that initiative. The article below from The Fisherman magazine shows the exciting new knowledge collected from those satellite tags. In 2021 the intent is to tag two more striped bass from the Hudson River.

THIRD This year's Calcutta will also contribute to Professor John Tiedemann's acoustic tagging program at Monmouth University. In the video clip Jim Hutchinson of The Fisherman mag joins the Berkely Striper Club and Prof Tiedemann on IBSP to catch, tag and release a few striped bass. The relevant section lasts about 4 minutes starting around the 6:50 and ending at 11:14 minute mark.

Do you fish for striped bass in the tidal Hudson River? Whether you catch-and-release or take home a keeper, you can be part of the Hudson River Cooperative Angler Program. Share your fishing trip information and help biologists understand and manage our striped bass fishery.

Here's how it works: Fill out a logbook we provide or record your trips on your smartphone using DEC's Hudson River online logbook, whenever you fish on the tidal Hudson River north of the George Washington Bridge, whether by boat or on the shore. Record general location, time, gear used, what you caught (or if you didn't catch anything), and return the logbook when you are done fishing. You'll receive an annual newsletter summarizing the recreational fishery information, in addition to the latest news regarding the Hudson River and saltwater fishing regulations.

In the tidal Hudson River north of the George Washington Bridge, the recreational slot limit is 18” - 28” (not less than 18” nor greater than 28”) and the season is open April 1 – November 30. Visit Tidal Hudson River Regulations for more information.

Join today! For more information on the angler program and instructions on installing the Survey123 App to access the online logbook, visit Hudson River Cooperative Angler or email hudsonangler@dec.ny.gov.

Note: If you primarily fish for striped bass in New York’s marine waters south of the George Washington Bridge, please contact the Diadromous Fish Unit at sbcaprogram@dec.ny.gov or visit DEC’s Striped Bass Cooperative Angler website. In marine waters, the recreational slot limit is 28” - 35” (not less than 28” nor greater than 35”) and the season is open April 15 – December 15. Visit Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations for more information.

Currently, due to the CV19 pandemic, there are no planned outings. However, the Ridgefield Park Environmental Commission has set a tentative date of May 1st, 2021, for it’s next Earth Day celebration. If COVID is under control by then, and they have state and local approvals to proceed, the HRFA will conduct a fishing derby for kids at the event.

Just call Youth Angler Program Chair Wayne Geider at

A celebration of Jeff Dement's life will take place on Sandy Hook on Friday, May 21st. 

Charitable donations in Jeff's name can be made to the American Littoral Society, 18 Hartshorne Drive, Suite #1, Highlands, NJ 07732; https://www.littoralsociety.org/. The funding will be directed towards the Captain Al Anderson Fund in support of the fish tagging program, as well as educational programming for the Littoral Society. For messages of condolence, please visit Jeff's page of tributes at www.woolleyboglioli.com.

GSFT General Information and Registration Form (pdf, 4.6mb)

Anglers interested in participateing in the tournament in 2021 can request a brochure by e-mailing karen.byrne@dep.nj.gov.

During Art Hasanaj's fly-tying demo Arnie Ulrich noted in the ZOOM chat box that "He's got George Costanza hands." Should be a new song sung to the tune of Kim Carnes' "Betty Davis Eyes". Yes/no?

Art's Tackle & Fly Shop carries everything one needs to start creating their own flies. He offers in-store fly-tying workshops too!

Thank you Art, and your film crew of Scott Havner, Andy Ward and the brain's behind those two (Andy's son James) for making the ZOOM session a success.

artstacklenfly@gmail.com

Phone: 845-215-5470

161 Main St. Suites 2-3

Nanuet, NY 10954

Arnie Ulrich and Joe Albanese listened to a webinar presentation "Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial & Recreational Allocation Draft Amendment Hearing" and follow-up comments by many of the attendees who have a vested interest in the titled subject matter. March 16th is the deadline for final comment.

For the uninitiated it was difficult to follow along with the presentation. It was like an alphabet soup of an acronyms. For instance there's ABC (Acceptable Biological Catch) & MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program), etc. MRIP is a state, federal & regional partnership. It's part of NOAA. That's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (most everyone knows that one). With a little perseverance, actively listening to those who have been engaged in the discussion of fisheries management for a long time, one begins to get the lingo.

The MRIP and NMFS (that's National Marine Fisheries Service, also a part of NOAA) harvest & release/discard numbers of the species being discussed are not easy to comprehend nor are they reliable in the opinion of many who participated in the webinar. Many comments were in favor of maintaining the status quo - especially from the commercial group. One reason for this is that last year, due to the pandemic, was anything but a normal year for fishing. Many want a pause in the proposed changes in regulations until more research is done to gain greater confidence in the stock assessments.

The virtues of Catch-based vs. Landings-based accounting methods were debated.

Some want to eliminate size limits since mortality rates of discarded or released undersized fish have such high mortality rates (80% for commercial catch and 15% for recreational anglers). Many want liberalized quotas (less restrictions) because too many undersized fish are gut hooked, won’t survive and will die a slow death. So, why not allow them to be harvested?

Transfers (reallocation of unrealized quotas between commercial and recreational fishermen) is confusing because it is complex with many unknowns in the data. It will be difficult if not impossible to manage and regulate.

Recreational anglers, for hire charters, party boats and tackle shops are hurting and if stock assessments show a big rebound why not help them by liberalizing regs?

Bottom line? Its complicated

The management decision will be presented at the March 4, 2021 Marine Fisheries Council Meeting. When available, webinar information for this meeting can be found HERE.

Twenty anglers signed up to compete in the HRFA Ice Fishing Derby organized by Scott Havner. The event raised money to support our club and doled out $100 to Brian Baez for the largest pickerel. Second to Brian's 19" pickerel was Joe Albanese's 18" one. Joe won the Honorable Mention award*. Ice fishing rod and reel combos went to Heather Baez (largest crappie), Stephanie Hess (largest yellow perch) and Linda Havner (largest bluegill). President Setian won the top raffle prize - a primo rod & reel combo. Lots of goodies like tape measures, ice skimmers, even an ice fishing rod and lures made and donated by Meister Carl Bruger went to other participants.

From L.to R. Lloyd Castillo, Christian Hoops, Linda Havner, Pres. Capt. Aram Setian, Scott Havner, Stephanie Hess, Joe Albanese, Tony Carbone and Wayne Geider. More photos from the event are in the HRFA Photo Gallery section below.

No full length feature film. Just a few video shorts shot with mobile phones on location.

Wayne Geider and Joe Albanese met a couple of surfcasters (apparently lost) walking on hard water with their kids. One of them was Tony Tsai who snapped this selfie with Wayne and Joe. Naturally, photos of their biggest surf caught stripers were shared. Wayne let the children jig a lure with an ice fishing rod, which they really enjoyed even though they did not catch anything. (Just like their mentor.) Tony sent along a short video too. Thanks Tony. Nice to meet you all.

SCENE 1: The Gathering. In this opening scene guest Cinematographer Tony Tsai pans across the lake before turning his attention to the crowd of onlookers gathering in the distance. See, hear & feel the crisp blustery winter air buffeting your face as snowflakes melt on your cheeks and you are THERE, instead of sitting in front of the fireplace with a snifter of cognac where you'd rather be.

SCENE 2: The Triumph. In this video clip, Past President Dan Harrison's camera gets close-up to the gathering and captures all the excitement of this epic struggle between man (the victor) and 18" pickerel (the vanquished). Fish released back into the lake; perhaps to fight again some day.

SCENE 3: Carl's Catch. At a little over 15" in length this barely legal-sized pickerel wasn't so lucky. The future for this keeper is a pickle jar.

Be sure to check out the H.R.F.A. Events Calendar below for this month's member birthday notices, holidays and events.

Let's welcome our new members this month, Fighting for the Hudson. Eric Puente, Croton-On-Hudson, NY, Desmond Miller, Harrington Park, NJ, and Joseph McCarthy, from Sussex NJ.

                                                                                    Arnie Ulrich Membership Chair

HRFA Membership Information

Let's get with it folks! HRFA cannot run on wind pudding and air pie. Thank You to those members that have already paid the 2021 HRFA dues. For the rest of us ,please scroll down to the membership application below and renew on line or print out the membership form and mail it in. Any questions please email me kavester@aol.com or call me @ 201 304 4691.

For those people who join(ed) the HRFA in October (or later) of a given year, their new or renewal membership also is covered for the following new year. There is also a generous grace period for those who are unable to update their membership in January, however paying your dues late puts a strain on the records maintenance and consequently the ability of the executive board’s planning of activities and events.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or want to help (time, skills, or financially) on any particular club projects or events, feel free to email me, Arnie Ulrich (kavester@aol.com) or call me at 1-201-304-4691.

Have a photograph and/or fishing story you would like to share with the club? If so, we'd love to hear from you. After all, no one wants to see the same members over and over again. Email it to editorriverviews@thehrfa.org and we will do our very best to squeeze it into an upcoming issue of River Views.

Pete Musse

With the reopening of striper season March 1st in NJ's back-waters I thought I would share these recipe ideas from On the Water's resident chef Andy Nabresky. While we encourage the use of circle hooks when bait fishing for striped bass (as now required by law) and to practice proper catch & release techniques, there's nothing wrong with bringing home a legal striped bass for the diner-table every now and then.

By Wayne Geider

Currently, due to the CV19 pandemic, there are no planned outings. However, the Ridgefield Park Environmental Commission has set a tentative date of May 1st, 2021, for it’s next Earth Day celebration. If COVID is under control by then, and they have state and local approvals to proceed, the HRFA will conduct a fishing derby for kids at the event.

Just call Youth Angler Program Chair Wayne Geider at

Due to the restrictions imposed on our lives by the CV19 pandemic our plans are on hold. We hope and pray that in the Spring of 2021 volunteers may start working to refurbish Riverkeeper to her former days of glory when she was the world's first and only riverkeeper vessel. To offer your time and talents contact Dan Harrison at dharrison@cdtresources.com.

The HRFA hosts an annual fishing contest which runs from January through December and is open to all HRFA members. You have 30 days from the day you catch a fish to send in your entries. So, the deadline for submissions is January. As a member of the HRFA you and your immediate family are eligible to enter fish in any of our categories. Various divisions are available for prizes presented at our Annual Awards Dinner in March of the following year. Website updated daily. River Views newsletter updates below are done around the first the month. * indicates a new club record.