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.

Next, I would like to congratulate Scott Havner, the recipient of the Pete Barrett Award for 2020. He exhibits what is expected of our younger dynamic members. His enthusiasm and dedication to HRFA resulted in organizing, participating, and conducting events, continuing the tradition. His consistent friendly and humorous attitude help motivate and engage new and potential members. I greatly appreciate all he is doing and encourage him to continue in good health.

Congratulations also to all the winners of our 2020 HRFA Fishing Contest. Scroll down to the bottom of this email to see the list of happy anglers. Now accepting entries for 2021!!!

As the COVID-19 situation continues and the Elks lodge remains closed, we are still forced to conduct the HRFA General Meetings using video teleconferencing. I would like to express our thanks and appreciation to those that participated in the last video conference. This was a remarkable, well timed (season-wise), presentation on ice fishing by Scott Havner and Andy Ward. We had excellent attendance and I know that there was valuable information for all.

We were still unable to resume our E-Board meetings at the Elks Lodge. However, we did not conduct our December and January E-board meeting for safety consideration. We will be conducting the next E-Board meeting at the earliest possibility to review the past year and set our 2021 objectives.

We are trying to conduct programs as the conditions permit. Currently we are considering an Ice Fishing Derby in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, the ice conditions in the local lakes are inadequate currently. Dedicated ice fishermen, willing to travel , are reporting rewarding catches further north. Also in January, some striped bass were unintentionally caught showing their presence in both the Hackensack the Hudson River throughout the winter.

Unfortunately, the Elks Lodge is still not opened to allow conducting the general meetings at this time. Also, we will be unable to conduct one of the traditional activities, the HRFA Year End Auction, however we will have a video teleconference, as described below.

Reports still indicate that 2021 will continue to be a challenging, COVID-19 year. We have early information that the Sportsmen, Outdoors, and Fishing shows, are suspended. At this point, we are postponing our activities, the Annual Award Dinner, and the Auction, that we eagerly look forward to every year. As you are aware, these functions are also used for raising funds. We will be looking for alternatives for generating funds to enable us to successfully conduct the HRFA very worthwhile programs. We thank you for your help and appreciate your donations.

Be well and stay safe

Capt. Aram Setian

HRFA 2021 President

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.

FBW is working to complete a contiguous public park along the Hudson River and promote development that meets the highest standards of urban design.

The Outdoor Families of NJ Program is offering an Ice Fishing 101 Webinar. Join Division biologist Keith Griglak on Friday, February 5 at 7:00 p.m. to learn about the coolest sport on ice. This FREE webinar will answer all of your ice fishing questions.

Click here to register.

ZOOM in to watch and listen to Artan Hasanaj, the owner of Art's Tackle & Fly Shop in Nanuet, NY as he gives an introduction and live demo of fly tying.

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

Registration is now open for the 2021 Introductory Fisheries Science for Stakeholders (IFISSH) course offered through Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE). 

Class sessions will meet weekly on Tuesday evenings (6:30 - 9:00 PM) from February 16 through April 20. All classes will meet via Zoom webinar during the COVID-19 pandemic and will include a mixture of presentations with Q&A and open discussion periods. Additionally, as circumstances surrounding the pandemic allow, there will be two optional field trips during the summer of 2021.

Please visit the following link to register by February 9:  https://go.rutgers.edu/a03sxx4d

If you have any questions, then please contact me via email or phone (732-349-1152), or contact Kelly Jurgensen (Administrative Assistant, RCE of Ocean County:  kjurgensen@co.ocean.nj.us | 732-349-1152).

IFISSH website:  Introductory Fisheries Science for Stakeholders - RCE of Ocean County (rutgers.edu)

The HRFA's catch & release derby supports the scientific study of striped bass in two ways. 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. Secondly, we offer competing anglers a Calcutta prize 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 is needed to enter the Calcutta. This raised money to support both 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.

Scott Havner (hidden behind his co-instructor Andrew Ward in this photo) gave us a great 45-minute intro to ice fishing. Scott's outdoor garage was all set up for show-and-tell. They covered safety first, staying warm, equipment, techniques, bait & lures, ice shelters and the rest of the need-to-know things to get started enjoying this winter pastime. Interested in going ice fishing? At the end of the virtual session they graciously offered members an invitation to join them out on the hard water.

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 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.

HRFA Membership Information

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.

What to do after completing the prerequisite Ice Fishing 101 ZOOM meeting put on by HRFA members Scott Havner and Andy Ward. Simple. Go ice fishing and put all that learning into practice!

The Editor of River Views snapped the photo of this sign last week while hiking (okay "strolling" may be a more apt term) along a section of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway in Edgewater.

People should know that the HRFA played an important role in the development of the walkway. The following is taken from the club chronology available on our "old" website:

"7/13/93 HRFA members Tony Evangelista and Ray Marione escort Mr. Bill Neyenhouse of the NJ DEP along the shoreline of the Hudson discussing his Walkway Project."

I asked past Presidents Capt. Chas Stamm & Sergio Radossi for a little additional club history on the walkway initiative. Here is what I learned from them:

Pete Musse

On January 23rd, the coldest/windiest day of the year so far, I went ice fishing with Wayne Geider and Joe Albanese. As I anticipated, all we managed to catch on Lake Wandea near Livingston Manor were pickerel. Not especially desirable table fare for many people because of the many small bones that remain in the filets. However, Wayne just loves them! He grinds them up to make fish cakes. His latest culinary delight is pickled pickerel. He took home a couple of keepers to do just that. I don't have his exact recipe but here is one I pulled off the internet.

SOURCE: https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin’/2013/01/wintertime-recipe-how-pickle-pickerel/

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.

The photo above comes from the pages of the Winter 2020 issue of UNDERWATER NATURALIST; the semiannual publication of the American Littoral Society. The paragraph shown is part of Jeff Dement's Tagging Report for 2019. In summary it says that the winner of the 2019 Jersey Coast Angler's Fluke Tournament won with a doormat fluke that was previously caught, tagged and released in 2017 by the HRFA's own Howard Lemann. Nice work Howie!