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Did you know that back issues 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.

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

"The HRFA Bass Derby finished up in July with 18 anglers fishing for their biggest 5 bass limit. Scott Havner was able to put up over 90 inches in the 1st week and never looked back. He also caught the biggest bass of the derby, a 19.5'' smallmouth. 2nd and 3rd were highly contested but Matt Rivera (2nd) and Joe Duemmer (3rd) edged out Llyod Castillo and Richard Duemmer at the end. Overall, eight 5 bass limits on the leaderboard with 5 fish breaking the 19 inch mark. It was a great derby and we look forward to our next Derby on August 20th, the Catfish Chaos Derby." - Alex Spindelman, Derby Organizer

Stephanie Hess

Largest single bass

Largest 5-bass stringer

The day was full of activities, hands-on environmental science with Resilience Adventures, Tours of the Hoboken waterfront with Ron Hine, kayaking or stand-up paddle-boarding with the Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse, and of course, fishing.

The HRFA held a fishing clinic off the Castle Point fishing pier (just south of the Union Dry Dock site). Dozens of Hoboken residents showed up to fish. The majority were first-timers. The HRFA had rods, bait, and members ready to assist those that wanted to wet a line. I am sure that those that attended are now Hooked on the Hudson. In the end, it was a fantastic event and a great time along the river, and looking forward to next year’s City of Water Day event.

Special thanks to Arnie Ulrich, Edward Delapp, Tony DiModugno, Wayne Geider, Joe Albanese, Dave Mercer, and Janice Soto. Your dedication as a volunteer is an inspiration to others.

NOTE: This is the second reported recapture of a striper tagged during our Fred Rung Memorial Striped Bass Catch, Tag & Release Derby. Last year Keith Baez tagged a striper in the Hudson River and it too found its way to the Cape in one month's time where it was recaptured. The ALS letter to Dirk says the angler who caught the bass released it. That means, if it gets caught again, it could provide additional info for science. For a fish that's a purpose full life. - The Editor

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.

Encounter a six year old girl who has never fished before and has an intense desire to catch her first fish. Combine her exuberant enthusiasm with an old coot who Gil Hawkins dubbed “The Johnny Appleseed of getting kids to fish.” (Me). What do you have? The perfect storm of kid’s angling nirvana.

A dear friend, Ruth, from my wife, Pat’s long ago Girl Scout days came to visit us at our Lake Ontario home with her youngest six year old granddaughter, Abigail. From the onset she vociferously and pleadingly asked to go fishing as the most important aspect and goal of her brief three day visit. Was old man Bruger ever prepared! I gifted her with a new pink pushbutton spin cast reel matched with an appropriate balanced two piece spin cast rod.

Abigail turned out to be a quick learner combining excitement, excellent coordination and

remarkable patience as she absorbed the rudiments of casting a line. Within three practice casts she was already tossing the worm baited hook line and sinker in the general direction straight away from our pontoon boat.

The first day was challenging fishing as strong winds hindered all of our casts and tangled the dangling lines enough to frustrate anyone. She still managed to catch a white perch for her first fish ever and then reeled in a fat yellow perch that I’d hooked on a Mepps spinner with my rod. A few mini sized fish were also released as was my anchor which lodged itself in an immovable shelf rock. The arctic tern that grabbed the wounded release was an added birding bonus.

Abigail handled the worms with nonchalance and watched with curiosity, focus and glee as I cleaned and filleted what she was excited to eventually eat for her first self-caught fish dinner. She even fed the turtles with the entrails and was totally indifferent to the blood and slime on her hands, washing them in lake water like a deft little surgeon after an operation.

Her enjoyed recipe that resulted in a clean plate and desire for next nights’ meal consisted of drenching the fillets in whipped egg, dipped them into Japanese Panko crumbs, and frying the fish in canola oil. Simple condiments included Old Bay, onion powder and pepper. The golden brown crispy result vanished quickly.

Our second repast was a better repeat of the first night as we caught a dozen keepers up to a foot long and provided plenty of white perch to journey home for future meals. The five of us relished every bite of perch, homemade French fries and fresh corn on the cob.

Added adventure occurred overnight when we baited my large Ugly stick spinning rods with perch heads to catch potentially huge channel cats. To our chagrin the cats were coy and did not bite. Abigail still had the thrill of hauling in two large catches. The first night yielded a five pound bowfin that swallowed the bait and the next evening saw her crank in a monster snapping turtle with my help that weighed over 25 pounds and filled the bottom of my salmon net. Some of the catches can be seen in the accompanying pictures.

Abigail, the ardent angler, went home with a shore rock fern fossil, several bags of perch fillets, plenty of cell phone photos enough to fill a mini album, and hopefully fond memories of “getting hooked on fishing” for the rest of her life. She planned on going to her lake based day camp the next day to show off her gear and maybe catch some fish there. This old scribe

never the less may have had more fun than she did!

If you really enjoyed this article as much as I did penning it, seriously consider doing your part to involve young people in youth angling, It’s even better if a young child in your family or a close friends has a yen to fish. There are millions of potential neophyte fishermen and women out there that are waiting for folks like you to teach them. Maybe volunteer with Wayne Geider and the HRFA Youth Anglers for starters. We need a next generation of enthusiastic anglers because if we don’t, PETA types will certainly be brainwashing more

children to eschew the fishing opportunity.

Get those kids away from the #@%$ing computer video games and take them into the glorious God given outdoors! - CB

Very educational. And that's okay. Doesn't scare us.

HRFA Welcomes new Member Paul Tinghino from Brick NJ.

 Fight For the Hudson  

If anyone would like a current JCAA newsletter please click here > https://jcaa.org/JCNL2204/Mainpage.htm

What is HRFA Free Money? Are you a paid member.?

 At every HRFA in person meeting, half of the HRFA portion of the 50/50 money goes into a virtual jar. At the end of the meeting, a paid HRFA members name is picked (from a jar of all paid HRFA members) to receive the money. The name is announced three times. If the HRFA paid member is not present, the money goes back into the jar for the next months meeting. The process continues and is repeated at the next HRFA meeting.

The HRFA paid member picked from the bucket by Sarah Sardinas was Meadows Ryan, and was announced to all present three times. Member Meadows Ryan was not there, so the HRFA free money goes back into the bucket. Note: Treasurer holds the HRFA free money.

Arnie Ulrich Membership Chair

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 (3 months) 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 ([email protected]) or call me at 1-201-304-4691.

Hudson River Fishing and Boating Public Access <--- click here

So how old is your fish? <--- click here

Got tuna? The XTC Sportfishing 6-pack charter headed offshore from Shark River with a full complement of HRFA members. President Aram Setian, Joe Marchese, Dirk VanEverdingen, Jerry Crean, Mike Mitt & the club's newest member Paul Thinghino did well on the July 27 trip.

There is enough red in the some of the photos to make even Quentin Tarantino proud. Rest assured nothing went to waste. The gang is going to eat well.

Last month I mentioned two dishes without providing recipes. So, here are my wife Michele's Manhattan Clam Chowder (from www.simplyrecipes.com) and Joe Albanese's Drunken Clams recipes (from www.justapinch.com). Joe said he first had a version this dish at Tommy's Tavern in Sea Bright with a beer, or two, and fell in love with it.

By Wayne Geider

Just call our Youth Angler Program Chair Wayne Geider at

Due to the restrictions imposed on our lives by the COVID 19 pandemic our plans are on hold. We hope and pray that one day 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 [email protected].

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.

To be posted on Instagram, photos of your catch should be emailed or texted to Alex Spindelman: (845) 548-0003, [email protected]