Deb Spalding
The name, The Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock (BOJC), sounds naughty today, but when the idea of forming the organization was discussed in the 1930s by a few men, Joseph W. Brooks, Jr., J. Hammond Brown, and Frank L. Bentz, who gathered for a weekend of fishing at the Catoctin Recreation Area above Thurmont, it was just the name of a bird. The jungle cock name solely refers to the neck feather of the Indian Jungle Fowl (now endangered), whose colorful feathers are sought by anglers for fly-tying. In the early days of the BOJC, members wore a single jungle cock feather in their hats to let others know they were part of the organization.
Those few men who gathered in the 1930s decided to create an organization whose purpose was to share angling with youth in order to carry forward the love of the sport. In 1940, the name “Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock,” was formally adopted during a meeting that was held at Camp Airy in Thurmont. The first annual camp fire was officially held there in the spring of 1941. The BOJC still meets annually, seventy-five years later, at Camp Airy. The organization hosted 430 participants this year.
BOJC’s 75th year president, Robert Abraham, Jr., opened the 75th Anniversary Celebration Dinner by reiterating the sentiment of the founders.
“The Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock is about youth, fly fishing, and conservation—to make sure it continues beyond our time,” said Abraham.
He was followed by Bosley Wright, executive vice president and sixty-three-year member of the BOJC, who recognized Gus Day for serving as the organization’s Treasurer from 1978 to 2013. Wright indicated that it now takes three people to do that job.
The invocation was given by John Adametz and dinner was served. Dinner was catered by Crooked Creek Grillers. Special guests were acknowledged and a presentation was given by Mike Brooks and Lefty Kreh. Kreh is a renowned fly fisherman and outdoors writer who worked with Mike Brooks to create a documentary about Brooks’ great uncle, Joe Brooks, Jr. In addition to being one of the founding fathers of the BOJC, Joe Brooks was a notorious angler who pioneered the sport in the 1960s and 1970s with appearances on ABC’s American Sportsman. BOJC guests were given a preview of the documentary about Brooks that Mike and Lefty have been working on. It’s titled The Father of Modern Fly Fishing, and tells about how Joe Brooks’ and his wife’s love story changed fishing forever. There is a memorial in honor of Joe Brooks along Route 77 in Catoctin Mountain Park. For more information about this documentary, please visit www.joebrooksdocumentary.com.
The BOJC is ceremonial; there is a creed, a prayer, and a poem. Attendance over the years allows young anglers to tie flies, build a fly rod, make a net, and fish. Participation culminates with a graduation of sorts called, “Fishing with the Masters” where seasoned, expert anglers take a boy fishing to where the big trout frolic.
Cole Shanholtz, a first-year participant in the BOJC, and his father, Brian Shanholtz, were beaming with pride, along with a few hundred other young fishermen at the 75th campfire of the Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock.
During the campfire, first-year participants received their BOJC patch.
Cole’s sponsor is his grandfather, Randy Gross of Keymar, Maryland. Randy sponsored two of his sons, Jason and Joe, in the early 1990s. Now he has nineteen grandchildren—eleven are boys that he plans to sponsor through the BOJC program.
Gross beamed from ear to ear as he talked about his grandson, Cole.
He said, “Today was his first time fishing, and he caught four trout—the maximum you can get—and had an awesome day.”
Cole said his favorite part was, “reeling them in.”
Gross said that he will continue to share the love of angling and the lessons of conservation with his grandsons, as he did with his sons. About the BOJC, he said, “It’s the greatest organization on earth!”
Each year, a plaque with the current year president’s name is added to the monument in front of the Thurmont Food Bank building along Hunting Creek.
For more information about the Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock, please visit www.bojcmd.wordpress.com/.
