no-one in particular
Well-known member
The point was raised by Jimlad on another thread so rather than taking it off topic I thought I would set a new one.
Basically he asked if clubs would hang on to rivers if no one fishes them?
In my experience they do because they like it on their CV. When attracting new members they like to show how many waters they control, the longer the list the more attractive it is to induce someone to join.. Some clubs I know have at least one or two big carp waters and these are where most members fish, totally ignoring the rivers but, they would revolt if their clubs let them go. Although they may not fish them they like the fact they can; many a club member has proudly extolled and boasted the virtues of his clubs long list of waters but when I ask if they fish them they say they don't, especially the rivers..
One club I know has one very good carp and tench water, you have to phone up and book your place on it a week in advance, yet it has miles of rivers to its name that are empty and even a lot of its other lakes, most of which are miles away.
Other clubs snatch up waters miles from their base, some in my area are at least 50 miles away, no one ever travels to fish them, they are empty. Some of the very big clubs even further away.
One nice little village club that had a nice little bit of day ticket river was taken over by a club miles away. I did not want to join it to fish its waters that I could never travel to just to carry on fishing this one little bit.
Another excellent trout river was taken over by a wealthy Northern syndicate. Its empty, they never travel down to actually fish it, its just a nice boast for them to own its fishing rights is my guess.
One little Rudd pool I knew that was useless but free for kids to fish was taken up by a club once, why? Just to add another water to its list for the sake of it. Not seen any kiddies having some fun there since.
I calculated once that if I wanted to fish all waters within a 30 mile radius of me I would have to join 15 clubs and still counting. I know there are all sorts of affiliation/guest opportunities but still its not really healthy.
To my mind this has set up a unhealthy scenario, in a crowded island; a lot of good water is just being sidelined while other waters get undue angling pressure.
I don't really have an answer and this is a bit of a moan thread but I think it could be done better. A system of some sort, not just a reckless accumulation of waters without any thought to if its actually going to benefit anyone.
There must be a more intelligent way of dividing our fishing rights.
Basically he asked if clubs would hang on to rivers if no one fishes them?
In my experience they do because they like it on their CV. When attracting new members they like to show how many waters they control, the longer the list the more attractive it is to induce someone to join.. Some clubs I know have at least one or two big carp waters and these are where most members fish, totally ignoring the rivers but, they would revolt if their clubs let them go. Although they may not fish them they like the fact they can; many a club member has proudly extolled and boasted the virtues of his clubs long list of waters but when I ask if they fish them they say they don't, especially the rivers..
One club I know has one very good carp and tench water, you have to phone up and book your place on it a week in advance, yet it has miles of rivers to its name that are empty and even a lot of its other lakes, most of which are miles away.
Other clubs snatch up waters miles from their base, some in my area are at least 50 miles away, no one ever travels to fish them, they are empty. Some of the very big clubs even further away.
One nice little village club that had a nice little bit of day ticket river was taken over by a club miles away. I did not want to join it to fish its waters that I could never travel to just to carry on fishing this one little bit.
Another excellent trout river was taken over by a wealthy Northern syndicate. Its empty, they never travel down to actually fish it, its just a nice boast for them to own its fishing rights is my guess.
One little Rudd pool I knew that was useless but free for kids to fish was taken up by a club once, why? Just to add another water to its list for the sake of it. Not seen any kiddies having some fun there since.
I calculated once that if I wanted to fish all waters within a 30 mile radius of me I would have to join 15 clubs and still counting. I know there are all sorts of affiliation/guest opportunities but still its not really healthy.
To my mind this has set up a unhealthy scenario, in a crowded island; a lot of good water is just being sidelined while other waters get undue angling pressure.
I don't really have an answer and this is a bit of a moan thread but I think it could be done better. A system of some sort, not just a reckless accumulation of waters without any thought to if its actually going to benefit anyone.
There must be a more intelligent way of dividing our fishing rights.
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