I went to the river an hour ago…air temp was 32 degrees. Sure enough there were a few trout midging in the long flat pool at pemberton!
Bill
Little Juniata River Association Meeting Feb. 11th
LJRA will hold its February meeting , 7 PM, Wednesday the 11th. at the Edgewater Inn and Riverside Grill.
Agenda:
Dennis Johnson (Juniata College) will bring us the status of our Telemetric trout behavior study, scheduled for this spring.
Lenny Lichvar, PFBC Commissioner who represents our area will join us and speak to the recent changes in DHALO and Class A wild trout stream stocking.
Organization kick-off for the LJRA Spring River Bank Clean-up. Those willing to act as group leaders should attend.
New book about Little j
I have received a good quantity of the first edition of “Trout Boomer and The Little J”. It includes: Hatches, stretches, my patterns and LJRA history. You can buy it on-line at www.troutboomer.com. Orders placed on this website come directly to me and I will autograph and/or personalize your copy as you wish. It is a hardback with numerous color photos and pictures (mostly taken on the “j”).
Bill Anderson
New posts
I see that a number of the formerly active Forum members have been reregistered, but few have posted or responded to a post. Please do us a favor and post something (or respond to a post). Then let me know if you encounter a difficulty…. If you fail in your attempt, email me [email protected].
Thanks,
Bill
Merry Christmas to all those who love the river!
The Little Juniata River Association wishes you a very merry Christmas! Please join us for the annual members banquet at the Edgewater Inn on January 16th. email Bill at bjuniata @Verizon.net for details (there are plenty of seats). The banquet is a great place to make contacts and meet dozens of others who fish and enjoy the river and it’s trout.
Bill
Trout Boomer and The Little “j” – summary
Book Summary
“Trout Boomer” – The making of a fly fisher and his love affair with the Little Juniata River – Bill Anderson
In this two part book, a retired executive relates with short, often humorous tales of his boyhood, how he became a fly fisherman and the defender of the Little Juniata River in Central Pennsylvania. The “Trout Boomer”, son of a WWII sergeant and a country girl from Arkansas, brings us back to our youth as he tells of BB guns, hand lines, catching carp, a rooster named “Buster”, and early fishing adventures. Readers, especially fellow Boomers, will relate to little Billy as he negotiates his way through a succession of city neighborhoods, trades a Louisville Slugger for his first fly rod, and finds fishing in the Brandywine River as his refuge from city streets.
In part II, Bill shares his intimate knowledge of the history, the watershed, and the fly hatches of the “j” (Little Juniata). Having had a successful career in industry, Bill retired to open a fly shop; became president of the Little Juniata River Association and, now, dedicates his time to fly fishing and defending this wonderful and frequently overlooked eastern, brown trout stream. With more than 35 years living near and fishing the “j”, Bill has developed his own unique fly patterns and fishing techniques for this small river. He shares these in graphic color detail.
The “j” has 14 miles of Catch and Release water and another 16 miles that deserve special regulations (Bill’s working on it). The river flows from the city of Altoona and, unlike most trout streams, gets colder and better as it grows bigger. The reason for the coldness lies in the large limestone springs that enter the flow, as the stream turns East in the small mountain town of Tyrone. Bill knows the “j” like no one else. He has waded, fished and fallen into every part of it for almost four decades.
While Trout Boomer is a “must have” for any fly fisher who fishes, or plans to fish, the Little Juniata, it is much more than a “where to, how to” fishing book. Bill provides insights into why many of us are passionate about fly fishing and gives us a good natured glimpse into the life of a boy growing up in post- war America.
order at : Troutboomer.com
How to change pass word
All,
If you want to change your pass word or otherwise manage your presence on the Forum, look in the extreme upper right of the screen (after logging on). There is an icon of a person to the right of the “Howdy”. Click on the icon and then click on Edit My profile.
Bill
New Book about the Little Juniata River
My new book “Trout Boomer” And the Little “j” the making of a fly fisher and his love affair with the Little Juniata River is finally available. If you are interested, send me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll send you a summary and tell you how to purchase it.
Bill Anderson
President
Little Juniata River Association
LJRA Members Banquet January 16, 2015
All LJRA Members should have received an invitation to our 1st annual Banquet to be held at the Edgewater Inn and Riverside Grill. If you did not receive an invitation and would like to attend…email me at [email protected]. This is not a fund raiser…just a chance to meet directors, officers and other members of the Little Juniata River Association in a festive atmosphere in a great setting.
Bill
LJRA Meeting Oct. 2014
Meeting of the Little Juniata River Association – October 14, 2014
Our October meeting was held, for the first time, at the Edgewater Inn and Riverside Grill, Alexandria PA. This magnificent facility was purchased recently by Keith Beamer and his wife Sarah. Many of you know Keith as a member of the Habitat management team for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. He participated in several of our bank stabilization/trout habitat projects in the upper river from 2010 to 2013. Sarah is the former science teacher for Grier School and headed up the Trout In the Classroom program at Grier School last year. LJRA partnered with Sarah on this very successful program. Both Keith and Sarah are LJRA Life Members and they recently signed their new business up as our first corporate member. Sarah and Keith have invited the LJRA to hold all our meetings in their beautiful facility. In addition to fine dining, they offer a full “Bar and Grill” menu! Finally, we have a great place for our “after the meeting drink”
There were approximately 23 officers/directors, members and guests in attendance. President Bill Anderson welcomed us and opened the meeting. Keith formally welcomed us as well.
Summary of LJRA Trout Mortality Presentation
Our guest speakers for October were Mark Nale, Bob Carline, and Mark Jackson. They gave a presentation on the methodology and preliminary results of a study on bait-hooked trout mortality. The study was conducted during the April 2014 Trout Tournament held on Bald Eagle Creek, Centre County.
Participants could use any tackle but had to keep the fish alive and turn them in to tournament officials who interviewed the anglers regarding the circumstances of their catch. All fish caught were held in a hatchery run for nine days monitoring their health each day.
There were 490 trout, all species, caught during the two day event, with 87% of the fish caught using bait. Of these, 26 died. This represented 5.5% of the bait caught trout – a much lower mortality than that reported from most prior studies. Most trout which died did so on the day caught. Less than one percent of the fish which died did so during the nine day holding period.
A discussion followed with questions such as whether or not there have been such studies on mortality of bait caught wild trout, what about mortality with circle hooks, and whether or not (given the study results), it was yet a good idea to limit certain areas of the rivers and streams to fly fishing or lure fishing only. A thought to consider being that opening all waters would create more friends for the waterways-an important consideration given present day challenges.
President Anderson pointed out that historic objections to the use of live bait on the Little Juniata had more to do with the fear of invasive species introduction (from bait buckets) than with trout mortality.
The study will be repeated in 2015.
THE EFFORT TO REMOVE BROWNS FROM BELLS GAP RUN
On November 19th there will be electroshocking done on a 2 mile stretch of Bells Gap Run. An effort will be made to eliminate the burgeoning numbers of brown trout, which threaten the viability of the native brook trout population. The Bells Gap Run Reservoir will be drained and brown trout removed next year.
WHERE DO THE TROUT GO?
LJRA will fund a telemetry study to be conducted by PSU/Juniata College in 2015 to try to determine (among other things) where the Little Juniata River trout go during hot weather/low water periods.
SPRING CLEANUP
We will once again conduct our LJRA spring clean-up. The date chosen is Saturday, March 28th, 2015. This will be the 10th anniversary of this annual event.
Fall Float BOAT CLEANUP
A very successful cleanup by water craft and some bank walkers was held on October 4, 2014. Total weight of trash/junk gathered was .5 tons. The April 5, 2014 water craft cleanup yielded .5 tons and the October 2013 effort yielded 1.5 tons! Nice. Lunch for all participants was provided at Green Hills Camp. John Corr was project leader for this worthy LJRA effort