Kevin Harrison takes a look at what ingredients are needed for the perfect fishing club
It's that time of year when subs are due. Like many, I join more fishing clubs than I need, offering more waters than I can fish. Some are cheap as chips whilst few are such that I'm not wholly transparent when it comes to my wife's scrutiny. For some clubs my membership will be short lived whilst for others I don't envisage ever leaving.
This got me thinking - what is it that gives a club longevity? What marks a club out as a firm favourite - fit for a lifetime of membership, with no seed of doubt when it comes to paying subs.
Is it too simple to see membership as a clinical equation of cost versus access to waters? Is it the exclusivity of that access; the fewer members the better? Is it pedigree; a sense of history, heritage or legacy? Is it a sense of belonging; an association of like-minded people? Is it swayed by the club's capacity to engage members through newsletters, websites, forums, AGMs, BBQs, working parties, etc..
Three factors stand out for me. First is friendliness and a sense of welcoming and egalitarian membership. Any suggestion of petty politics, internal power struggle or superiority by committee members, and my subs are short lived.
Second is whether the club's waters offer variety and complement my wider portfolio of waters. Not just geographically but, moreover, variety in the type of water: small streams to powerful rivers, dry fly and nymph, riffles and runs, jungle and a bit more manicured, challenging and plentiful, spring fed and rain fed, grayling and trout (plus an option for coarse fishing should heathen ways get the better of me).
Third factor is the club's policy on stocking. I'm firmly in the wild-fish no-stocking camp and urge all clubs to desist, but my moral compass was thrown a curve ball by joining a club which stocks some river bows. Yes my heart sinks when I hook one but boy do they fight on a four weight. I'd prefer it if the club didn't stock but, as you get older, you learn the world is rarely black or white and change comes through compromise and small steps.
Priorities change over time. Back in the day I never thought a fishing hut would be a factor but there's something about retiring to the warmth of a hut, taking the weight off and boiling a kettle. And what goes around comes around. I've rejoined clubs I fished as a kid, on the strength of a memory, usually of a leathery old tench or a legendary gudgeon.
All very subjective and each to their own but, before renewing your subs, perhaps give thought to what matters most and what more you'd want from your club memberships.
Kevin is a fly tyer and compulsive angler, at home on the Dove and other Staffordshire rivers. He also fishes across northern England, Scotland and the Welsh Dee. Anything south of Birmingham and he gets a nose bleed. His river flies are available from www.emerger.co.uk