Opinions on what makes a good fishing club

[offdtop]

I'm a member of a pretty good little club and have been member in others and if you could take the best of all or any the clubs and combine what are some of the best rules, events you could think of? I mean keep it to a minimum - but "your" club would have charity events? then what kind? 3 fish minimum or you like 5? Saturdays vs Sundays ? Weeknights?

Just interested in seeing different responses, others may see and notice things they may add to their existing club..... who knows

[fishincreek]

Low entry fee. Low prize money. Draw for partner at the ramp. Switch front to back of boat every two hours. Mandatory statement from top five on how fish were caught. "Classic" at the end for top 6-8 anglers and another four drawn out of a hat that fished every tourney.

[Astrobass]

Low entry fee. Low prize money. Mixture of lakes that are close to the central of majority of members. 8 hour tournaments (though 6 hours is plenty on smaller lakes). Entry fees per angler, not per boat. People that fish by themselves are handicapped enough against teams, to make them pay double entry fee is crazy. I like our format for the AOY and Classic, we count your top 7 tourneys and if you fish at least 7 then you get to fish the classic. Right now after 9 tournaments we have 5 teams separated by 5 points with 3 tourneys to go. My team is right in the thick of it. I'm excited about the rest of the year!!!

[artcarney_agr]

I like any club that doesn't have a membership fee or any meetings. Just meet up every few weeks, have a fun little tourney, and keep it simple. The more emphasis on fun the better the club.

[offdtop]

We have a best 8 of 11, some complain it's too many. We evenly divide Saturdays and Sunday's and have at least one night/evening tourney. One of the points tournaments is a 2-day where total weight from 2 days is combined for a winner and we added another pay place as where guys would get there entry back for say a 4th place finish. We usually pay 3 places throughout the rest of the year.

I agree there should be something for the single boater against teams but I don't know if half entry is fair but maybe give a pound or two in return? Hmmm food for thought.... i like the mandatory statement as to "how" they can keep the "where" to themselves because honestly it doesn't help another team beat you if you find out they threw crankbaits in shallow water and you threw C-Rig in deep. I like the keep it simple method and leave all the BS politics out!!!!

But if your tourneys are all on the same lake wouldn't you like to have a classic on a foriegn body of water? I would....JMO

[Astrobass]

Nah, you took my single boater comment too far.

Entry fee should be per person, not per boat.

[willybite]

Nah, you took my single boater comment too far.

Entry fee should be per person, not per boat.

If it's a draw tournament club,I agree. But if you have a team format,
the solo angler needs a partner to help pay tourney fees. Half the
investment & double the reward, Aint right.....as long as the club
limit for fish doesn't exceed state limit of 6 fish. If I choose not select a partner, I would expect to pay a team fee.

[floatman]

If it's a draw tournament club,I agree. But if you have a team format,
the solo angler needs a partner to help pay tourney fees. Half the
investment & double the reward, Aint right.....as long as the club
limit for fish doesn't exceed state limit of 6 fish. If I choose not select a partner, I would expect to pay a team fee.

I belonged to a club, we fished teams, that single fishermen would pay 1/2 the entry per boat, but if they won 1st, 2nd or 3rd they would receive 1/2 the payout for that place, the other 1/2 would go into the club fund,or added to the total amount of the next tournament, seemed to work

Gary

[yankswon96]

If someone fishes a team tournament solo then they should have to pay what every other boat pays. It was their choice to fish alone. Don't like draw formats, I don't want to fish with someone I don't know and may have a totally different still of fishing ( shoot me if I get talked into fishing a shakey head all day). And no way should the person with the boat have to let someone else run it for half the day. Why have membership fee's for a small club,unless you need to get a set of scales ?

[offdtop]

Membership fees in our club is used for trophy and payouts we donate $100 per tourney to the purses 50/30/20. In a small club with small entries makes the pot for a 15 boat tourney around $200 or so dollars for first. We try to carry a zero balance at the end of the year if there is excess we donate to a local charity and add some to our classic pot. Question I have is when you live on or real close to a lake and all your tourneys are on that lake would You want to have the classic on a foreign body of water?

[sweetwater]

I like any club that doesn't have a membership fee or any meetings. Just meet up every few weeks, have a fun little tourney, and keep it simple. The more emphasis on fun the better the club.

I agree with you 100%. It's alway how much does it cost to enter and how much does it pay. Fishing is not about boosting egos by showing off a nice fish and winning money for catching it. If you like doing that then try poker. Fishing is about having fun with friends and family and maybe keeping enough fish for a nice meal or two. Unfortunately there's no such bass club like artcarney_agr speaks of around GRL, (that I'm aware of) but there are plenty of KVD wannabes out there.

[4given]

Boy there are some strange opinions on this post. If a club has low entry and low prize why fish? Why not just join a 10 boat club that charges $10 per tournament and pays 10 places? If you won a tournament or even finished second wouldn't it be nice to win enough to at least pay your gas money? If you don't have the money just go fishing for fun where there is no entry fee. Or if someone chooses to fish by himself let's let him pay half an entry fee. What? If any of you'all fish a club with at least 20 boats and you will let me fish for half price I want to know about it, what a deal. Or how about this one, switch from front to back. Let's figure this out. A person owns a boat, makes the payments on the boat, maintains the boat to make sure it runs well, puts oil in the boat, charges the batteries, cleans and waxes the boat and then is required to let someone else fish in front. Great deal there! This attitude of entitlement is one of the reasons I will never fish a draw club anymore. The second reason is if you show your partner a really hot place the next tournament he will be sitting on that place. If you try to teach a pig how to dance you will only frustrate yourself and annoy the pig. In a team club tournament my partner is more than welcome to fish in the front and if it is his spot or fish he has found I may insist on it. But that is a privilege not a right. We work torgether. Why membership fees? Scales are not the only expenses a club has. And what's left over from membership can be put into the classic pot. There are many great clubs out there find one and fish it.