President’s Message
May 2010
Hi All,
Fishing season is in full swing and there are reports of some large fish caught at the Housey TMA so get there when you can. I am still trying to get members to meet at the Sand Hole on Wednesdays about 5pm, as I said before it was a tradition some years ago and I would like to see if it can be started again. I remember meeting Bill Blotney, Frank Sorrentino, Paul Uhlan, Moose Bellows, Jay Morton and a few I can’t remember, we had some good times and usually caught fish. Wednesday meetings will depend on the weather and fishing conditions (raining or high water). This is very informal but I’m sure those that get there can share info about flies, etc. Look in your email I will let you know what’s going on by Tues. night if possible.
At the May 6th Membership meeting we have Fishy Fullem as our guest speaker, I spoke with him last week and his presentation will be interesting to all so please attend the meeting to show interest to the speaker, I know it will be hard to not go fishing but try to be there.
If you are going to the Roscoe, NY the weekend of June 10th thru 13th, Paul Dinice and I will be there to answer questions and general information during the coffee break and after the meeting, this will probably be the last meeting to discuss anything before the campout weekend and some of you may not be at the campout. I was in Roscoe on April 22nd thru 25th and I caught some quality fish it seems they really fight in those rivers, I mainly fished the East Branch of the Delaware River and the Beaverkill River, the fishing wasn’t easy and there were literally blizzards of CaddisFlies like you probably haven’t seen before but the fish weren’t on them, I finally figured out the were on Light Hendrickson even though there were none showing that I could see. This is going to be a nice weekend in Roscoe and the fish will be waiting for us. These rivers are good late night fisheries so plan on staying up late.
That’s all for now, see you on the 6th.
Max
April 2010
Hello Members
I am writing this after a great banquet and I want to thank John Santucci forall his very hard work putting this together. Also thanks to Dan Kenny and his wife and Sam D’Ambruoso and Allison Brown for giving their time at the door with the banquet and raffle tickets and all the members who helped set up before and helped during the raffle without all of these people it could not have happened.
Our Quill Award was given to Tom Toomey and his wife Nancy graciouslyaccepted for him, as everyone knows Tom passed away a few weeks ago and the club will miss him and all the tireless work he did for us.
Thanks to Bob Clouser for his presentation, I know everyone enjoyed it. Finally, thanks to all the E board members who spend so much of their time every month to keep the HFFA running. Paul Dinice finally won a rod at the banquet, congrats and use it in good health.
I fished the Mill River along with Allison Brown Sunday morning and I landed a very nice Brookie and Allison had two. There were worm fishermen who were getting fish after fish. There were black Stone Flies and some Caddis in the air but no fish rising anywhere. We have some good times planned for the spring, on opening day April 17th we will have an informal get together at the State Park on Rt. 7 in Cornwall at about 7am, bring your own eats and maybe we can fish if the water is not too high, in May we will have the Hous-stock at Short Beach in Stratford and the Campout the first weekend in June and finally the trip to Roscoe the second weekend in June, look for info in the newsletter.
Hope to see you Opening Day, keep an eye in the newsletter for any changesdue to the weather.
See everyone at the April meeting, we will hold it on the 3rd floor ofthe church as they are having a service in our regular meeting place, take the elevator to the 3rd floor and please don’t disturb the service.
Max
March 2010
Hello Members
Spring is around the corner so its time to start checking out all your rods, reels and flies, you don’t want to find out on the river something’s wrong. The HFFA 2010 Scholarship went to Kevin Job who is studying at UCONN, congrats Kevin. The HFFA Banquet is coming up on March 20th so please send in your reservation request ASAP the club needs your support and it will be one of the best banquets ever.
At the last meeting of the HFFA E-board it was decided to have any would like to talk to us or has a problem or concern to feel free to come to the meeting at 5:45 pm which is 15 minutes before the E-board meeting at 6:00pm. We will be glad to hear what you have to say or if you cannot make it, send a letter to HFFA P.O. Box 185092, Hamden, Ct. 06518-5092
The club elections are coming up in June at the campout weekend, if anyone would like to run for any position please see the nominating committee at the March meeting, the names must be posted in the April newsletter. Lot’s of good things will be happening this spring. We will be having an informal gathering at the Housatonic River on opening day, for who would like to get together to fish.
There is the trip to Roscoe, NY being set up for a weekend of fishing and the River Cleanup in May. Look in this newsletter for more info, dates and times. In years past a group of us would meet at the Sand Hole every Wednesday night about 6pm, I would like to revive that tradition again this year, we brought our own sandwiches and drinks and would eat before or after the fishing, it was a fun time for all and sometimes we even caught fish.
Hope to see everyone at the March Meeting.
Max
February 2010
Spring is around the corner so its time to start checking out all your rods, reels and flies, you don’t want to find out on the river something’s wrong. The HFFA 2010 Scholarship went to Kevin Job who is studying at UCONN, congrats Kevin. The HFFA Banquet is coming up on March 20th so please send in your reservation request ASAP the club needs your support and it will be one of the best banquets ever.
At the last meeting of the HFFA E-board it was decided to have any would like to talk to us or has a problem or concern to feel free to come to the meeting at 5:45 pm which is 15 minutes before the E-board meeting at 6:00pm. We will be glad to hear what you have to say or if you cannot make it, send a letter to HFFA P.O. Box 185092, Hamden, Ct. 06518-5092.
The club elections are coming up in June at the campout weekend, if anyone would like to run for any position please see the nominating committee at the March meeting, the names must be posted in the April newsletter.
Lot’s of good things will be happening this spring. We will be having an informal gathering at the Housatonic River on opening day, for who would like to get together to fish. There is the trip to Roscoe, NY being set up for a weekend of fishing and the River Cleanup in May. Look in this newsletter for more info, dates and times. In years past a group of us would meet at the Sand Hole every Wednesday night about 6pm, I would like to revive that tradition again this year, we brought our own sandwiches and drinks and would eat before or after the fishing, it was a fun time for all and sometimes we even caught fish.
Lastly Marcus White’s wife passed away 2 weeks ago, Marcus and Dan Rodak have been providing the coffee and donuts at the membership meetings for many years, if you would like to send a card his address is 4316 Ashlar Village, Wallingford, Ct. 06492.
Hope to see everyone at the March Meeting.
Max
January 2010
Hello Members,
The Eboard is preparing for the 2010 Banquet, John Santucci and Tom Toomey have everything under control and there are some real nice raffle prizes. This is the 49th year for the HFFA so we hope that there will be a strong turnout. Send in your money so we can get a good headcount. We are planning some trips this year and the trip to Roscoe with Paul Dinice and myself should be a great time, we will do our best to show you the places we have found during the last 20 plus years we have fished there. That weekend is June 10,11,12 and 13th, more info to be sent out soon.
Paul Dinice and I are trying to set up for the Expo and it will be held at a new place as the church is booked for all the weekends we had planned,
there will be a special notice emailed to you soon. We are planning an informal Opening Day get together on The Housatonic River in Cornwall and for newcomers we will have casting lessons and suggestions on what flys to use, you can bring your own lunch and there are grills if you wish to cook up some burgers and hot dogs. We hope there will be fishable water and no rain that day. I will have a final meeting place in the April newsletter. Don’t forget to renew your membership this club cannot run without your support.
That’s it for now and I hope to see a good turnout for the February 4 come early and spend some time with your friends.
Max
December 2009
Hi Everyone,
By the time you read this the holidays will be over and we can start making our plans for fishing this year. I along with 3 other members have a Montana trip planned again this year and a few weekends in between, I hope everyone get’s a chance to go somewhere special too.
There is lots of activity started for the Expo and the Banquet this year and both will be worth going to. We have a special guest speaker for the Expo which will be on March 6th so try to be there to make it a success. There is a very serious problem with Zebra Mussels in Housatonic Drainage System and this could affect our home water in the near future, look for additional info from Sam D’Ambruoso in this newsletter.
I am looking for an active member to store 3 folding tables and 15 folding chairs that the club uses for various functions, he will have to have a van or truck and be able to get them to these functions, if not I will store them in our storage locker at Lou Eagle’s trailer at Eagle Leasing and they might not be so easily available to get if we need them for anything. So let me know if anyone can do this.
The upcoming Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ on Jan.22,23 & 24th is always a good time so if you can don’t miss it, there are lots of dealers and outfitters there and some good tackle bargains, several dealers have flies for sale for 79 cents to $1.00, I always buy a few dozen when I’m there.
Jeff Purcell has a new steering committee to help with the way the club is headed, see his article in the newsletter.
Signing off for now and see you on Jan. 7th.
Max
November 2009
Hi Members,
Reports are that the Housey is still fishing well so there’s still time to get up there and get a few before it gets too cold. Our Treasurer Sam D’Ambruoso had surgery this past week and looks like he will be ok, Sam has been a great asset to this club and has been a member for 38 years. HFFA is starting it’s 49th year and I’m sure it will continue for many more, we need members to get involved so that it will be around a long time, it doesn’t take much to help out so see me or any executive board member and ask if there’s anything
you can do.
There’s a lot of activity going on for the Banquet in March and there will be info in this newsletter in the coming months, Tom Toomey and John Santucci will need some volunteers for that night so see them if you are interested in helping. This coming year we will be trying to put together a few fishing trips and one possibly in the Roscoe, NY area there will be a notice in the newsletter and by email when that’s decided. I guess that’s it for now. On behalf of The Executive Board and myself we wish
everyone a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season and hope to see you at the next meeting.
Max
October 2009
Hello Members,
Another month has gone by and the Housatonic River continues to fish well. Those that were able to take advantage of this know how great the conditions were. I had a few good days myself and it’s been years since I have been able to do so.
The club has some great things planned for the coming year. Our speakers will all be worth coming to the meetings for, so try to be there. It’s only once a month and it’s always a good time. There’s always a good raffle and a special rod outfit will be raffled at each meeting.
We are progressing on our nonprofit but these things take time and Sam D’Ambruoso has spent some serious time setting things up for the future of this club. We are hoping everything goes well to allow us to become nonprofit. There are many benefits connected with it.
There are some good upcoming future events starting for the banquet in March. John Santucci has come on board to help Tom Toomey. With his experience in dealing with the banquet in the past, I know it will be better than ever.
Lastly our Past President Russ Bevans had by-pass surgery and is coming along well, we wish him a speedy recovery and to see him at a meeting soon.
Let’s all try to be at the next meeting
Max
September 2009
Hi everyone
I hope you have had the chance to get to the Housey, if you haven’t you must go. I haven’t seen the river in this condition for many years and there many many fish and some real big ones too and lots of them clearing the water over and over.The last time I was there I hooked into a fish that I couldn’t move and after awhile the hook came out, I wish I had a chance to see him so I would have known how big he was. Everyone is catching fish and our Membership Chairman Allison caught 12 fish along with a sizable Rainbow, check out the river reports on line they have some of the latest of what’s going on.
Meantime there are some great meetings coming up with some good speakers and raffles which include 2 rod and reel outfits that our 2nd V.P. Paul Dinice got from Albright Rods, so let’s all try to be there and meet your old friends and there are new members joining all the time so come and meet them and make them feel welcome too.The eboard is doing all it can to help make our meetings more interesting and if you have any suggestions feel free to see me or any eboard member and discuss it with them.
Coming up is the annual club picnic, look for info in this newsletter. Sam D’Ambruoso our Treasurer has almost completed our non profit paperwork so we are hoping to get it finalized by the end of the year this will be a good thing for the club with many benifits. Thanks to Mary and Craig Macbride for running last months raffle they helped out in a pinch when we needed them.
I want to see a good turnout at the Oct.1st meeting so try to be there, look for our speaker elsewhere in the newsletter.
Best Regards and of course Tight Lines always.
Max
Summer 2009
Hi Everyone:
I hope you all had a great summer and caught lots of fish. I was in Montana for ten days in July near Missoula and stayed at a great cabin near Rock Creek, I was there with 3 other club members, Allison Brown, Bernie White and Jim Behuniak, we had a great time and Rock Creek is an awesome river. We saw mountain lion and bear tracks in one area that we fished and some deer carcuses too where the lion was feeding. We also fished the west branch of the Bitteroot River which is about 50 miles south of where we were.
On Sunday we made a trip to Glacier National Park and you have to be there to appreciate it, no words can describe the scenery. Everyone should get to fish in Montana at least once, its well worth it.
Now we start a new year at HFFA and there are some changes going on with club officers and we are working on making the club a better experience. Tom Toomey has put together some real good speakers in the coming months and a couple of the very popular ‘Pie and TIE’ nights, look for his section in this newsletter. Allison Brown is again in charge of membership and I hope everyone renews early to keep our treasury in good shape so we can have all the activities this year and we have the non-profit application that will be another expense. Sam D’ambrouso, our treasurer is handling that too and he have will reports as things happen.
I want to thank Craig and Mary Macbride for all their work with the website and they will be taking some time off from club activities for awhile. Paul Dinice and Harold Sinclair will be in charge of our website. I want to welcome John Santucci our Second treasurer, John will be taking over the monthly raffle and there will be some good items that I’m sure everyone can use.
I guess I’ve said enough for now, I would like to see a good turnout for the Sept. 3rd. meeting so please make an effort to be there I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.
See you in September ( I think that was an old song)
Max
Spring 2009
Hi Everyone:
This is the last newsletter until September and there is a long summer of fly fishing ahead of us. As for me, I will be heading out to Missoula, MT on July 9th and will be staying on Rock Creek, a river I haven’t fished since 1982. I hope you all have a special place to go to this year and I wish everyone tight lines.
If you were at “Houstock” in Stratford a few weeks ago I’m sure you had a good time. The CT/ Rhode Island Fly Rodders joined us and there was lots of food and drink. Not many fish were caught but it was a sight to see all those fly rodders lined up along the beach. A special thanks to Paul and Becky Dinice and Bear and Debbie Cochrane and everyone else who helped to make it a success. I’m sure we will do this event again.
I was at the river cleanup on May 16th and was a little disappointed to see only a handful of HFFA members there. In years past we would be at least 40 strong. We did collect a lot of trash and the Long Island Fly Rodders cooked lunch for us as usual. Thanks to them as they have been good friends to the HFFA. We should return the favor.
The Campout meal didn’t work out so the E-Board will be cooking up lunch at about 12pm on June 6th for members who are there. Tom Toomey is bringing his big grill so bring your appetites.
Following the lunch there will be election of officers and a rod raffle so try to attend and let us know in advance if you will be having lunch.
Now down to business: the HFFA will be looking for volunteers this September to take over a very important post. We need someone to get the prizes for the monthly raffles. We are also in need of a Second Treasurer. The E-Board has been picking up the slack until now but we can’t do everything. We need help. It doesn’t take much especially if two members work together. If this doesn’t happen we will not have an internet site or monthly raffle prizes so please step up to the plate and help out. I am available to talk to anyone interested so please call me at 203-530-9984 or by email @ max.ruggiero1@gmail.com . I will be happy to discuss anything with you.
This club cannot run without more help and the E-Board has put in lots of time to see that everything is running …maybe not smoothly at times… but we hope it’s getting better.
Lastly I want to thank everyone who helped to run the club this past year and I am looking forward to the next one.
