Angling Clubs, good/bad or ugly?

[stevieboy]

Hello all,
Angling Clubs. Any good? Particularly talking about Wight based clubs. Good, public spirited groups or a clicky bunch of individuals? Anyone got any good/bad experiences? Are they only for those interested in match fishing?

Cheers,

Steve.

[slippery]

BAD N UGLY.............
from my experiences.............

[Pete B]

I think its a question of how involved you decide to be as a member.
I was a member of a fair sized club for along time, from a junior member (9 yrs old or so) through to my early twenties. Half the senior members were there because they were keen anglers & the other half were there because of the cheap beer.

Several other users of this forum were members there at the same time as me, I know that we are all grateful for the education we received from those senior members that gave up their time offering to take our weekly meeting, casting lessons, evening & weekend comps, boat handling courses & outboard maintenance etc quite often at their own expense.

On the other hand as I became a senior member I saw the other side of the coin & I have to say that my overall opinion of angling clubs is that they are just a bar full of little clicky groups moaning about each other. I think its a real pity because there is so much to be gained, experience & advice to be swapped & its nice to have a beer with someone else with the same passion as yourself.

Maybe these forums are the angling clubs of today. It was the main reason I started this one but even then we've witnessed other large forums to develope that clicky, nasty vibe!

We've all seen the angler up the beach from you turn up to fish with a five & a half foot 30lb boat rod & after a session or two experience should tell him that theres an easier way to do it but my point is that you can spend alot of fishing time wasteing your time, doing that one thing wrong, fishing just in the wrong place or over the wrong bit of the tide. In a club someone will see you going wrong, correct you & offer the right advice. A forum can in theory offer the same benefits but a good club can offer even more...if such a thing exists

[slippery]

spot on! I got fed up with armchair do gooding clicky attitude! Last straw was being accused of cheating in a competion that I did not even weigh in at!!! I am more intrested in fishing than yarning....

[meoc4life]

i think there good because you can gain a lot of knowledge and can make friendsplus many more

[solehunter]

stevieboy said:

Hello all,
Angling Clubs. Any good? Particularly talking about Wight based clubs. Good, public spirited groups or a clicky bunch of individuals? Anyone got any good/bad experiences? Are they only for those interested in match fishing?

Cheers,

Steve.

Dont bother with the totland bay club mate unless you like doing their once monthly comps that normally (bizarrely) end 1 hour before high water

[cuckoo]

chalkie said:

i think there good because you can gain a lot of knowledge and can make friendsplus many more

well good for you chalkie !!!!!!!!,
here goes ,
for the past year me and a few others have put a lot of hard work , time and effort , into making a club that is a recreational angler friendly club , mainly aimed at the younger anglers , trying to get them interested in our great sport , we are all friends and of course there is a lot of friendly banter , but no hostilite towards others in any form !!!!!!!
we have a club match once a month , and also a JOLLY BOYS OUTING once a month where we hire a mini bus and all bog off somewhere for a fishing expedition nearly always a place none of us have ever fished before , also a species hunt every now and then ,we have a membership of around 30 anglers , young , old , and us inbetweenies lol , we are always willing to help each other out , and take time to explain different rigs , baits , casting methods etc........we have 6 match marshalls at any given match to log , photograph and release all fish ,
we do have a pools for anyone who wishes to enter , its not big money , but a bit of fun !!!!!,
at every match , all anglers are welcome to attend with a small match fee , and our day trips our open to all !!!!
every indivual will be treated the same , knoweldge and skill will be offered to all , as will be greatly excepted !!!!!!!!!
so yes the right club has a lot to offer , freindship , advice ,
and above all a little club banter ,
i am on our club committee , public relations ,
so if any of you want to witness a great friendly club , then come along to 1 of our meets , ill post most of the catch reports on here anyway as i think this is a great up and coming and true forum ,
merry xmas all and a tight lined 2007 !!!!!

cheers lee.

[meoc4life]

WERE IS IT SOUTHAMPTON OR NEAR THERE

[solehunter]

Maybe you should run our local club as you seem to know whats right!
Good on ya!

[Pete B]

Spot on Lee, sounds like a promising set up with all the right intentions and by no way was I saying all clubs dont work in my last post.
I think most start in the right manor but with large numbers of members you will have a few bad ones stray in. The club I referred to was well established (100+yrs) & had a full club house & bar, the club was in many senses a business & therefor aswell as attracting anglers would attract social members & at points the social members equalled & out-weighed the fishing side & consequently lost direction & drive, at one point the junior section was folded completely, Im not sure they have one now but I believe the club is on the up at present.
The set-up you describe sounds ideal, the probs seem to arise when the clubs running becomes more involved unless your commitee really is on the ball, IMHO.

[cuckoo]

The club is based in hamble ,
at our local tackle supplier ,not a plug !!!!!!
but our next meet is a weekend tour on the island ,
after picking solehunters brains on venues lol ,
hope to see a few of you there for a chin wag and possibly a fish !!!!!,

cheers all ,

lee.

[meoc4life]

be good if people in portsmouth could set something up like you cuckoo

[cuckoo]

Hi pete ,
a sound reply , we have restricted members to being 35 only , no more , as you are right in everything you say , and its not what we want , each member will be affiliated to the nfsa , giving members full knowledge of rules and regs that must be adhered to at all times , hence club funds being spent correctely on what really matters , not just a p** up at the end of the year , so hopefully all new junior members will look at the nfsa site , and also what defra have to offer and really understand the true meaning of sea angling in the 21st century !!!!!
cheers guys

lee.

[RichardB]

Sounds like you've got a really nice thing going there Lee - long may it continue.
I used to be a member of a local club (in fact my dad was a founder member of it, so I was around it from childhood. But I gravitated away from it for all the reasons given above. Plus I've little interest in match fishing and I've never been a natural 'joiner' by nature.
I must say though I'd be tempted if I lived closer !
For me forums like this (and I think now particularly this one) are the way forward. Fishing for me has been a mosty solitary affair up until recently (nothing wrong with that), but through this I've discovered some real nice, like-minded fishing companions. Also, many who I've never even met face to face but I think of as freinds.

[solehunter]

cuckoo said:

The club is based in hamble ,
at our local tackle supplier ,not a plug !!!!!!
but our next meet is a weekend tour on the island ,
after picking solehunters brains on venues lol ,
hope to see a few of you there for a chin wag and possibly a fish !!!!!,

cheers all ,

lee.

Us lads over here will be glad to help if we can. Have you any venues sorted? If not, tell me the dates then we should be able to put you in the best location considering the tides of the comp ect... ;D