The lure of joining more and more fishing clubs...

[108831]

I don't know about you guys,but every year I look at different clubs,been doing it the last week or so,the thing is i am without doubt joining the club I've fished with the last four or five years,I'm virtually guaranteed getting into a club which has good crucian and tench fishing(though not big tench),I also love fishing in Bedford on the Ouse,which is free fishing so I'm wondering where I'm going to fit any other waters in my busy schedule,lol.

 

[sam vimes]

I tend to consider my syndicate and one club as an absolute given, mainly down to their proximity to home. I tend to join A.N. Other club on rotation. Variety is the spice of life. Once I get bored with that extra wheel club waters, or whatever itch I had is scratched, I'll look to the next. I will have the odd visit to a day ticket water, especially in winter.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

This year I am trying to decide if I'll even keep my club and syndicate memberships open as I'll not be here for the entire season . . . . . I have been a member of both for many years and even when I was working and living overseas I kept the memberships open for holiday visits.

As my next move will be, (or is at least intended to be) for the rest of my life I will stll make the odd visit back, just not too often.

Decisions decisions

 

[steve2]

I have been a floating member between many clubs in the past I tend to join for a year or two and then move on.
At one time I had different clubs for Spring, Summer and Winter fishing.

I have already decided not to rejoin one club this year.
But have rejoined one I haven’t been a member of for 5 years.
One other club I am waiting on membership.
So just two clubs this year.

 

[mikench]

Throw in a few decent day ticket waters on my two club cards and i struggle to do either clubs waters justice. I'll stick with these I think until I have.

 

[xenon]

Last few years have settled into a routine of either fishing the thames of the colne where it enters the thames-all free.

 

[rich66]

I’m guilty of looking at new clubs every year. Always end up joining the same one. However this year I’ve already joined one that has mainly canal and river. So I can get out all year round and plan on joining another that has more lakes and river access too. So again have year round fishing instead of the traditional open season that my current 2 lake club imposes.

 

[john step]

I have 4 very close to me. All have a different emphasis so I can ring the changes. also I like to buy a Trent club book for some very good barbeling. Mind you the Trent ticket is a bit exorbitant for the OAP price of £20 a year for miles of bank..:wh

 

[nottskev]

Tell me about it! There are several rivers nearby, but a typical portfolio of club waters goes: a decent river section, a well-developed carp lake or lakes (often on a premium ticket and reflecting cormorant-proof stocking policies) and a fairly shabby general coarse pool. Since I like a bit of variety in river fishing - Trent, Derwent and Soar - and I want plenty of "old style" mixed fishing on stillwaters, I end up with several club books plus a fair outlay on day tickets. I'd love to have good river and stillwater fishing available on a club book, and I keep looking.

 

[108831]

I have been in most clubs around here over the years,Vauxhall,Luton,Milton Keynes,Leighton Buzzard,Blunham,Shefford,Biggleswade & Hitchin,Verulam,Hatfield,Bedford,Letchworth,plus many more a bit further afield,over the years fishing changes and waters become weedy or big fish only,I have gone back to fishing natural venues only,I don't remember ever being a member of Tring,which is quite a shock to me,bearing in mind how local it is...

 

[flightliner]

I have three Trent club memberships that I consider to be amongst the best or as good as you can find on the river that will suit my needs. £10/£25/ and another a little more.
Prior to these cherry picked bits of river I was in a club that was rather more expensive but I felt it was time to move on for a variety of reasons.
I also enjoy a season ticket on a couple of stillwaters to help keep a balence between still and river .
Amongst all that I enjoy several day ticket waters and a few days free fishing on the river Don.

 

[S-Kippy]

I wish more clubs did half seasons or part tickets. Both my local clubs are IMO over expensive for the waters they have but if they did a river only or winter half season I'd probably join.

As it is I this season I will have 4 club memberships....all for specific species or waters and I wont do any of them justice....but I have to have them. And then there's day tickets on top.

None of them are £25 a season either ! The cheapest is £60.....thats the effluent sarf for you !

 

[peter crabtree]

,I have gone back to fishing natural venues only,I don't remember ever being a member of Tring,which is quite a shock to me,bearing in mind how local it is...

I think Tring anglers would be right up your street Alan.
All their waters are natural venues. Affiliations with other clubs such as Oxford and district, Barnet AC to name a few give the club some great fishing on the Thames. The club also OWN a superb stretch of the river Thame. And of course the 3 canals and reservoirs in and around Tring, all for £60. Or £40 OAP.

 

[108831]

Been looking on their website(again)just now Simon,as I say I'm a member of one club,which I really enjoy(at the moment,lol)and a new one from June the first,fingers crossed as I love crucian fishing,so time is limited,too busy doing the washing to get away with fishing as much as you.

Left out Ampthill in my list,distant clubs I've been a member of,Christchurch(more than ten years),Coventry,BAA,three Oxford area clubs,Reading,Wellingborough.

 

[theartist]

I think it's natural to want more options and the new club feeling is pretty special when you get the handbook for the first time. I'm limited by the price as I also pay for my Dad's ticket so that's an outlay of £160 gone straight away, I joined a second club as it was such good value, prices are too high in the south and southeast though.

All this despite having access to around 200 free stretches of river. Clubs offer waters where the stock is better protected and it's generally safer to take a companion.

 

[sam vimes]

I wish more clubs did half seasons or part tickets.

Great for individuals, but not necessarily good for the clubs themselves. A club I know had to stop doing part season tickets. They impinged on either season, or day ticket, sales to such an extent that they were losing out on income. The only alternative was to hike the price of the part ticket. If that happened then no one bought them because they were deemed too expensive. They can also be a bit of a pain to administer and account for.

 

[nottskev]

I take that point. Still, this year I bought a December-onwards discounted ticket for one club, thinking it might give me a chance of catching the odd chub in the cold weather, and after nosing around the waters a bit, I'll probably buy the yearbook next season as I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The loss-leader pricing might well get them a new member, and I even found out there's an attractive tench lake on the ticket - oddly enough , these days, it has a close season. I expect it will be busy for a while after the 16th June!

 

[108831]

I've looked on Tring Anglers website and have just read that you can't have a oap concession until you start drawing your state pension,robbing b@stards,especially when you can be pretty sure more than half the committee have been drawing concession tickets,that means when the poor beggars that have to work until they are 67-68 ,won't be given an equal opportunity and I might possibly not be long before a lot snuff it,ridiculous imv,but there you go...

 

[Mark Wintle]

Out of six local clubs I'm currently a member of two big clubs, CAC and RDAA at £160 and £170, and two small clubs that are £53 and £65 apiece. I fish twice a week and these give me plenty of choice, including access to four day ticket waters. The other two local clubs I have been a member of in the past, in both cases for many years, and might yet rejoin at some point in the future.

I have had an Oxford DAA affiliated club card in the past which at about £10 a year was good value when I was able to make the journey but haven't fished their waters for three or four years.

 

[108831]

If I lived nearer I would be a member of Ringwood Mark,it sounds a lot on paper but what what you actually get for your money is incredible,the river water alone you would be hard pressed to do it justice in twenty years...even these days,the quality fish available is awesome.