Thinking of Joining a Club

Keith M

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I hope you fare better than me, joined a club for the first time ever yesterday and when I got home I noticed it was from the 1st April, I have been sold time I cannot use. And I went to try out one of their waters today and it was unfishable for me. I don't know how they get away with it, might ask for a refund.

Mark, On the surface it looks promising but I didn’t see any signs of other anglers in your pics, or any signs of bank side tracks either so that definately doesn’t bode too well to me.

Did you explore the clubs other waters or talk to a member about the clubs other fisheries before you decided to join?

Keith
 
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tigger

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Those waters look fishable to me, i'd just get down through the undergrowth. At least you know no one else has fished it....perfect!
I actually seek out places like that.
 

Keith M

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That middle shot has a caravan site in view so I would at least have seen a few tracks leading down to the water every now and then; having said that there has been a lockdown for the past few months meaning that the caravan site might have been fairy empty, and even the dog walkers might have been scarce.

Apart from the lack of any appreciable flow it does look promising. and as Ian says it does look fishable and I think quite inviting.

I’m probably wrong but it also looks a bit like there’s a house garden or possibly a pub garden on the right in the 2nd shot too.

The other two shots do look very inviting and I love exploring small streams and rivers like this with a rod just like Ian does.

Keith
 
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no-one in particular

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The first pic is completely un-fishable, they have the right bank, the picture makes it look better than it is, it is very steep and that vegetation must be 6ft. The middle picture they have the left bank, that's someone garden on the right, again it is very steep and the vegetation is very deep. The right picture is possible but still very steep and very long grass. The trouble is I am getting old and my balance is not what it was after an operation and I am on my own; to much and to risky for me now.
They have other waters and I will probably look at one or two of them that are within my travel remit but I would rather pay more to be honest and they paid someone to clear a few swims now and then. I am also a bit miffed that I have paid from 1st April, it's not right to do that, unnecessary in my opinion, they could of knocked 3 months worth off or dated from yesterday for 12 months; its not the money I just like fairness. I know it is fishing but even so, selling something that is unusable is not right in my opinion. Wasted time today and on going but i am tempted to go back and ask for a refund if nothing else to make them sit up.
 
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Paste paul

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I’ve always been in one club or another since the age of nine......
The clubs I used to fish with were match fishing clubs who visited different waters each week....
But to be honest I got fed up with sitting around carp pools on occasion with loud mouthed big heads ( there I’ve said it)
Anyway I lost my way with my fishing for a few years turning up and not enjoying it.......
Then I got wind of a couple of associations that own waters local to me ( local ish) and thought I’d give them a go......
Brilliant I really enjoy it for a few reasons
1. I’ve got a variety of waters to fish that are natural and not puddles full of carp.....
2. I can pick and choose when and where I go...
3.theres no pressure in anyway if it’s not happening I just go home.
4. There is matches if I desire to go but also there’s a small group that goes and just chucks £1 in for fun...... real nice bunch of blokes.
5. I get to use a variety of techniques and fish a variety of waters.
6. It doesn’t matter what bait I take if it doesn’t work it doesn’t matter..... I usually take bread or corn sometimes I might pick up some maggots.
7. It’s value for money £51 for the year to get access to two rivers two canal stretches and about a dozen different lakes/ponds
I’m not knocking anyone that wants to fish commercial waters (I still do on occasion)
It’s everyone to there own.
8. Most importantly I’ve met some really nice guys who enjoy a few hours out dipping a line.
 

markcw

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The first pic is completely un-fishable, they have the right bank, the picture makes it look better than it is, it is very steep and that vegetation must be 6ft. The middle picture they have the left bank, that's someone garden on the right, again it is very steep and the vegetation is very deep. The right picture is possible but still very steep and very long grass. The trouble is I am getting old and my balance is not what it was after an operation and I am on my own; to much and to risky for me now.
They have other waters and I will probably look at one or two of them that are within my travel remit but I would rather pay more to be honest and they paid someone to clear a few swims now and then. I am also a bit miffed that I have paid from 1st April, it's not right to do that, unnecessary in my opinion, they could of knocked 3 months worth off or dated from yesterday for 12 months; its not the money I just like fairness. I know it is fishing but even so, selling something that is unusable is not right in my opinion. Wasted time today and on going but i am tempted to go back and ask for a refund if nothing else to make them sit up.
A lot of clubs have yearly membership starting various months, 2 I was in up north were January to December, so if someone joined in March they would have to rejoin again in the following January, They would have paid for 22 months but only had 9 months membership.
Also the rents on club waters still have to be paid whether someone joins 3 months later or on time, I am sure that's why clubs hope members will join when due, so they have money in the bank.
 

Keith M

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I don’t think you can beat being in a good well run fishing club that is run by and for its members.

I currently belong to two fishing clubs both of which allow me to fish some stunning venues which I wouldn’t even dream of fishing otherwise.

One is a small but well run local club which has leased a beautiful local 3 acre private estate lake for approaching 90 years or so now, which even some of the locals are not aware of.
I lived just a mile away from this private estate lake and I didn’t even know about it for the first 25 years that I lived there.
the estate lake has also appeared on a host of different films and TV series too.
We have a 3 year waiting list which isn’t getting any shorter as no-one wants to leave.

My other club gives me over 20 different still and running water venues within Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; some of which have held record sized fish of at least three different species.
It also has a lot of different activities going on throughout the year too. And the membership and amount of fishery locations seems to get bigger every year.

I would hate it if I was restricted to only being able to fish day ticket waters and free waters.

Keith
 
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tigger

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The first pic is completely un-fishable, they have the right bank, the picture makes it look better than it is, it is very steep and that vegetation must be 6ft. The middle picture they have the left bank, that's someone garden on the right, again it is very steep and the vegetation is very deep. The right picture is possible but still very steep and very long grass. The trouble is I am getting old and my balance is not what it was after an operation and I am on my own; to much and to risky for me now.
They have other waters and I will probably look at one or two of them that are within my travel remit but I would rather pay more to be honest and they paid someone to clear a few swims now and then. I am also a bit miffed that I have paid from 1st April, it's not right to do that, unnecessary in my opinion, they could of knocked 3 months worth off or dated from yesterday for 12 months; its not the money I just like fairness. I know it is fishing but even so, selling something that is unusable is not right in my opinion. Wasted time today and on going but i am tempted to go back and ask for a refund if nothing else to make them sit up.

Surely that's not the only bit of water they have?

As I said, it wouldn't take much to trample down some of that cover anyhow.
I find rivers that are manicured or have platforms very off putting on the whole.
No chance of that round these parts as the rivers are spate and any platforms etc would only last until the next heavy rainfall.
 

no-one in particular

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Surely that's not the only bit of water they have?

As I said, it wouldn't take much to trample down some of that cover anyhow.
I find rivers that are manicured or have platforms very off putting on the whole.
No chance of that round these parts as the rivers are spate and any platforms etc would only last until the next heavy rainfall.

They have other waters but some of them are out out of my travel remit but I will investigate those I can reach. I can't trample down deep vegetation on steep banks, my balance is not very good anymore and flat or flattish areas are best for me. I know what you mean, wild out of the place swims that have not been fished much were my forte when I was a lot younger and fitter but not anymore, so were weekend marathons and wild women and crawling home on all fours if I hadn't drunk myself sober but give me a nice platform to sit on now and I am happy as larry, something for you to look forward to..
 

tigger

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They have other waters but some of them are out out of my travel remit but I will investigate those I can reach. I can't trample down deep vegetation on steep banks, my balance is not very good anymore and flat or flattish areas are best for me. I know what you mean, wild out of the place swims that have not been fished much were my forte when I was a lot younger and fitter but not anymore, so were weekend marathons and wild women and crawling home on all fours if I hadn't drunk myself sober but give me a nice platform to sit on now and I am happy as larry, something for you to look forward to..


Don't really know what to say to you other than, I hope the club has at least some waters that will be suitable for you, failing that you may have made a mistake joining the club. I doubt the club will refund your money, but you never know so no harm asking.
You'll need to check the available waters of any clubs in future before joining to avoid another dissapointment.
 

steve2

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When I fish streams like this I have been known to carry pruning saw, hand scythe and a bush cutter. A bit like jungle warfare. They were my favourite places for chub fishing.
 

mikench

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A notice on a club website.

PLEASE NOTE DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF CLUB MEMBERS NIGHT FISHING, TILL THE END OF JUNE NIGHT FISHING WILL BE RESTRITED TO CLUB MEMBERS ONLY.

THE BAILIFFS ON LYMM DAMM ARE INSSTRUCT TO REMOVE ANY NON MEMBER NIGHT FISHING!

:sick:
 

Reemul

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Weather looking ok tomorrow, some rain in the morning and my son is insisting we go to Kingsbridge to try the big lake for our first fishing trip at the new club.

So the car is all loaded up, baits ready now hoping it's not too rainy in the morning and we can get a couple of decent swims. He wants to be there between 7 and 7.30am as well and fish till it gets dark :)
 

markcw

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A notice on a club website.

PLEASE NOTE DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF CLUB MEMBERS NIGHT FISHING, TILL THE END OF JUNE NIGHT FISHING WILL BE RESTRITED TO CLUB MEMBERS ONLY.

THE BAILIFFS ON LYMM DAMM ARE INSSTRUCT TO REMOVE ANY NON MEMBER NIGHT FISHING!

:sick:
Yet Bay Malton charge stupid money for non member to night fish.
 

Mark Wintle

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Weather looking ok tomorrow, some rain in the morning and my son is insisting we go to Kingsbridge to try the big lake for our first fishing trip at the new club.

So the car is all loaded up, baits ready now hoping it's not too rainy in the morning and we can get a couple of decent swims. He wants to be there between 7 and 7.30am as well and fish till it gets dark :)
I hope you all do well and catch some decent fish.
 

mikench

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One of my clubs has , for the first time in my memory, halted all further memberships until 2021 and created a waiting list. I can only assume that it has had a flurry of members since lockdown. Strange really but joining makes financial sense as I have said several times in a variety of posts.
 

Keith M

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One of my clubs has , for the first time in my memory, halted all further memberships until 2021 and created a waiting list. I can only assume that it has had a flurry of members since lockdown. Strange really but joining makes financial sense as I have said several times in a variety of posts.

I wouldn’t be surprised, one of my clubs has had an unusually large number of new members applying since the lockdown too.

Keith
 

seth49

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One of the clubs I’m in has extended the length of the subs to the end of March instead of December to make up for the time lost to lockdown, and as a thank you to the members, I think that’s very decent of them, they didn’t have to do that.
 

108831

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I wouldn’t be surprised, one of my clubs has had an unusually large number of new members applying since the lockdown too.

Keith

With lots of morons included,i've seen em,appalling fish care and angling practice,litter leaving,rule breaking etc....
 

mikench

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There should be a proficiency test! Mind you I might have failed it.


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