can bream fishing go this way?

[JAYRO]

Just wondering if anyone can see bream fishing on lures going the way of game fishing. By this I mean can you see there could be a time when we have Bream clubs around the states who run their own comps, club meetings, memberships, point score comps for each of the clubs, socials etc and then major comps that are open to all.

Anyhow just curious if anyone thinks it will head this way or is the market not big enough for it. When I was into game fishing joining a local club and being involved was the "done" thing and was very enjoyable. I guess it is still only in its early days so who knows where it will end up but just curious on peoples thoughts really.

Cheers
Jase

[forsterfisho]

Jase,

Lots of fishing clubs (generally associated with pubs and clubs) have estuary and lure only sections. I believe theres a bass and bream club out of the hastings area too. So i guess it's already happening to a point, from my viewpoint I wouldn't get too involved in one of these fishing clubs as they seem a bit more of a booze fest than a fishing club (not saying thats bad, just not my thing).

Now with my own boat and planning on fishing more bream comps, i'd find it hard to find a balance between fishing the outings for a local club and fishing dedicated bream comps and social fishing/hanging out with my fiancee on the water ect.

Can't really see the club thing taking off, again mainly cos it seems to be an older generation with a bit of a kill n grill attitude and that won't sit well with a lot of dedicated C and R anglers.

[JAYRO]

yeh I see your views Dion and quite possible your right it may not take off but you are way off the mark with your views on clubs thats for sure. Gamefish clubs for example have evolved considerably and the way you describe is correct for times past but certainly not this day and age. Game fish clubs for example these days are generally run as professional organisations and there has been a massive push over the yrs heading towards T&R with game fishing and certainly not the kill and grill of yester year. A far cry from the local pub weekend fisho bash that is still the way you describe and thats fine also as there is that market there for it.

Anyhow cool. Interesting reading a sensible opinion on it.

cheers
Jase

[forsterfisho]

Yeah I do agree with what you say about game fishing clubs, but locally the pubs/club thing is still a big kill and grill. Lots of older generations bragging about getting 10-20, kilo bream, luderick ect off rocks with mullet strips and weighing in dead 10lb flathead for winning points. Drives me up the wall, lucky those guys spend lots of money where I work so I guess i'll keep smiling and nodding

I think to a point that the online communities maybe putting the ol' fishing clubs to shame. Where else can you swap stories, access information, tee up fishing trips at anytime that suits you?

Interesting topic all the same

[Breamobsession]

Whilst i agree that a lot of Clubs are very much a booze up and kill/grill fest there are some Clubs that are starting to wake up a little. I'm a member of a Local Club and whilst there are still some old fellas killing everything they catch there are just as many that aren't, (well when it comes to Bream anyway).

Our club awards many extra bonus points for Bream released in a healthy condition, this tends to encourage members not to weigh in dead fish. There will always be those that do and it bugs the hell out of me when i see big breeders being weighed in dead but it does not happen often enough to stop me from enjoying the freindly competition. The club has also been set up as a Family Friendly club so lots of youngsters are involved as well, stops it from being just a big booze fest for all the blokes and provides an opportunity to educate the younger generation.

[GregL]

In Gamefishing, to fish a comp you must be a member of a club.
Alot of guys join clubs as they don't have access to a sea worthy boat. Alot of boat owners join clubs to find crew to run their boats as they don't have friends that are "that" into it....
To run a larger game boat for a days fishing you can use over $1k in fuel alone...

Bream boats, max out $120/day in fuel.... Only fit max 3 fishing and breamers hate sharing spots! it'll never work! LOL

[crusty]

Originally Posted by forsterfisho

Jase,
I believe theres a bass and bream club out of the hastings area too. So i guess it's already happening to a point, from my viewpoint I wouldn't get too involved in one of these fishing clubs as they seem a bit more of a booze fest than a fishing club (not saying thats bad, just not my thing).

Now with my own boat and planning on fishing more bream comps, i'd find it hard to find a balance between fishing the outings for a local club and fishing dedicated bream comps and social fishing/hanging out with my fiancee on the water ect.

There is a Hastings Bream and Bass club and about the only thing they grill are sausages after the C & R comps. I was involved for about a year but the comp timings didn't fit in with the other family things going on.
If you are into fly fishing there are a heap of small fly clubs around the place that aren't aimed at the kill and grill type comps more about social get togethers for a C & R fishing.

There were some social comps run out of the gold coast through another bream forum and I believe there has been some social comps/outings organised amongst the WA members of this forum.

There is certainly a place for these type of clubs. I can't see them being like the sport fishing clubs with big clubhouses and the like. Requires too much capital outlay. Although maybe some of the sportfishing clubs would provide a umbrella for which a small Estuary sportsfishing club can operate.

But it needs people to put up there hand and get involved in the paperwork, organising the comps and prizes, entry lists entertainment/tucker afterwards, paying the bills and drumming up members and sponsors and all the other thankless administration tasks that come with running an organisation. My experience shows me there are less and less people with the time and the will to get involved in clubs in an administration capacity.

There's definitely a place for this sort of club, time will tell whether it takes off.