FEATHERS FLY OVER FASHION

We came across an interesting article in the NY Times Digest, a mini version of the paper slipped in early morning under the doors of guests of the Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid, NY.

It seems some customers at fly shops are not there to buy feathers and fur or other materials to hand tie their favorite fresh or saltwater creations.

Nope, it's women who are looking for brightly colored plumes, hackles and saddles to decorate their hair.

Some shops in trendy upscale areas have had their supplies depleted by the ravaging hordes of women, much to the dismay of serious fly fishermen.

Choice hackle comes from chickens that are genetically bred to produce quality material for fly tying.

This is a revolting development, and hopefully only a fad, like most fashion statements.

GETTING THEIR ROCKS OFF

Rock on! That would be four million cubic yards of rock from dredging operations by the Army Corps of Engineers is being dumped on nine New Jersey reefs. The program started last month and is expected to take three years.
The reefs getting from baseball to boulder size chunks of shale, sandstone and granite are Shark River, Alex Carlson, Garden State North, Atlantic City, Great Egg, Townsend Inlet, Wildwood, Deepwater and Cape May.

A FIRST FOR THE REEFS

The sinking of the destroyer (didn't they call them "tin cans" back in the war years?) Arthur W. Radford marked the first time a warship went down off our coast for the artificial reef program.
Sunk on August 10, the ship is on the bottom 28 nautical miles southeast of Cape May at the Del-Jersey-Land reef in 130 feet of water at the coordinates: N 38 30.850' W 74 30.656'
The ship is 563 feet long, 55 feet at the beam and displaces more than 9,000 tons.
It's expected to last 100 years as a fish hotel and scuba diving site.