Fly fishing clubs

[Rip Tide]

Last night I was sitting at the club meeting with my friend George. He's 87 and can't fish anymore, but still regularly attends the monthly programs. It's his big night out.
Looking around the room it was obvious that attendance is down by nearly 1/2 of what it was just a few years ago, and he pointed out to me that everyone there was "old",... his word. He was right. Out of the whole room it looked to me that there was only 2 people who were under the age of 50. A mother and son.
He mentioned that club membership has dropped from a high of around 340 just 5 years ago to close to 200 today.

The monthly program that I went to last night was free and open to the public and featured a power point by a respected fly fishing author from Maine. There was a raffle (I won ) Tying demos and plenty of "fish fellowship"
Our club offers classes over the winter and announced the schedule last night that will include beginning fly tying, advanced fly tying, saltwater fly tying, beginning fly fishing, saltwater fly fishing, and rod building.
Our club has a presence at numerous shows and public service events every year, maintains "club water", and is a leader with important legislative and environmental issues.
And yet we're loosing members. George says it's the economy.... I'm not sure about that.
I think people just don't know what they're missing out on.

:thmbup: I urge all fly fisherman to join or at least check out their local FFF and TU clubs.
You'll get a lot out of it.

 

[littledavid123]

I am being funny here to a small extent, but am serious about possibly needing to change how the club reaches out to younger people.

FREE: Will watch your kid for 2 hours Saturday morning AND teach them how to fish.

 

[mrp1]

I am currently the vice-president of my local fly club and will serve as president next year. Like your club, our average member is "old". Well how about if instead of saying "old" I say "older". Our board of directors is looking at ways to increase membership of "younger" members. At this point I would say we are working on it and don't have one easy answer that just solves the problem.

I don't think it has much to do with the economy. My take on it is that young parents are taking their kids to more and more activities and making time for a fly club is difficult for this demographic.

Part of our efforts to attract younger members and to retain the members we have was a survey we recently conducted. The younger members wanted to see more programs that dealt with fish other than Trout and Steelhead. That was not a surprise to me but I think it was to some of our club members.

 

[tj5485]

I would love if there was one of those in the Fort Lauderdale area

 

[mrfzx]

We saw the same thing hapen here in Somerset, PA. the club dwindled and aged to the point it dissolved. Very Sad as it was the only community Fly club in the area. I response, I started a club in my school. It covers grades 6 through 12 and we tie, cast, and have taken a few trips to fish.

I highly encourage you to reach out to the schools. 1. you have to get them young and spark the interest then. 2. Many can't get to community meetings because parents are too busy (uh...yeah:icon_roll) to get their children to a meeting.

There is loads of help out there, but it takes someone to initiate it.....go for it! The intrinsic rewards are amazing!

 

[nicknick222]

I think it boils down to getting the younger generation more involved in fishing. In my local chapter I am the youngest club member by about 20 years, not that I care but it seems there is a large gap in the 20-40 rage which is interesting. I would be inclined to believe that should be the most active group of people. This might be attributed to a bad economy or no time because of work but it is troubling.

 

[woodrivertroutbum]

If my chapter of TU wasn't such a joke, I would be a lot more involved.

I am probably one of the youngest guys around here that fly fishes and I love every aspect of it, including keeping my local rivers clean. Just need to find the right club.

 

[theboz]

Reaching out to the youth is the answer. The clubs that set up programs tailored to our young people are the clubs that stay around. I've witnessed this first hand and it works!
Not every kid wants to fly fish but in my experience with the Boy Scouts 2 or 3 of every 15 that go for fly fishing merit badge or attend a casting or tying class get hooked. I have boys now men who still call me today 10 ,20 years later "Hey Mr.B want to hit the stream?". Very gratifying to say the least.
One very important point that has the greatest impact is take them fishing! It doesn't matter if it's bluegills on poppers at the local pond or bucktails for snapper blues at the beach , take them fishing . When individual club or organization members take an interest in a kid or two your membership will grow. Take them fishing the key to success!

 

[noreaster]

I am being funny here to a small extent, but am serious about possibly needing to change how the club reaches out to younger people.

FREE: Will watch your kid for 2 hours Saturday morning AND teach them how to fish.

Nicely said. Or how about

:starwars:All youth under 20 Win an iphone5 or Clone upgrade for longest most, accurate cast, biggest fish, and best fly creation.Can You master Fly Fishing?:starwars:

Then hope it is enough to get them hooked on what its "really" all about. Kidding, but not entirely

I agree. To get more young people, you need to get their attention somehow. Maybe bundle it with other activities they may enjoy (when they do go outside), like camping hiking, or wilderness survival.

So many young people now a days are owned by a monitor of some kind:icon_roll. Really is a shame. They're all becoming such wonderful virtual adventurers and killers though.

 

[romanl]

So many young people now a days are owned by a monitor of some kind:icon_roll. Really is a shame. They're all becoming such wonderful virtual adventurers and killers though.

sorry to say it, but maybe thinking like that is what turns us young guys away from you older guys in local clubs :thmbup:

 

[Jackster]

What I found is that there really is a need for families to find ways to share quality time together. With so many single Moms and overworked Fathers doing a job that normally required 3 or 4 people that it's just plain hard to find the time to see each other over anything but homework or the dinner table.
What I did was send out an announcement through my homeowners association that the FFF charter club I belong to is willing to give free fly fishing lessons to the first 12 parent/kid combinations who sign up for the class to be held at our subs clubhouse. Those classes filled within 1/2 day with many other parents begging to be allowed to take the class.
What this told me is that there is a need for this type of activity and that the parents took this as a chance to be with their kids in a fun, educational activity. The fact they could walk to the class right from the breakfast table didn't hurt much either!
Being that we are an FFF club that promotes all species in all waters, having the class near our local bluegill pond was a no brainer.
A motivating factor for having a parent along was that without us hooking the parent too, the kid would likely have to wait a long time before he/she could take themselves fishing. If the parent learned to love fly fishing as well as their kid, we did our job and probably created new club members to help mentor others down the road and carry on the fly fishing tradition.
Also, an activity like this allows 'old' club members to teach their skills, become active club members giving something back to the club and community and hopefully earn a little respect from the upstarts for the knowledge and concern they shared.

 

[Guest1]

I started the Rainy River Spey Club. I have a shirt and everything. Once in a while the club gets together with the Rainy River Distance Casters. Bill and I go fishing.

Pretty tough to have a club when you only have two fly fisherman. I really
did make a Rainy River Spey Club shirt. I'm about the only one that gets the joke.

 

[grassonfly]

is there a chapter of the fff in south florida? ive never heard of one down here.

 

[noreaster]

sorry to say it, but maybe thinking like that is what turns us young guys away from you older guys in local clubs :thmbup:

No disrespect intended.
Here in PEI we have some of the highest incidences of obesity, cancer, asthma and juvenile diabetes, in Canada. With short summers and long harsh winters our climate can promote a more sedentary lifestyle. This combined with the popularity of games and computers, I really have seen how technology has impacted negatively on many generations, not just the youth.

Its not so much "thinking like this" as it is observations I have witnessed. I was a member as a youth in the local FFF club here on PEI. We don't even have a chapter here anymore due to the changing landscape.

Besides I thought grumbling, old cranky, crusty, guys were a given in every club and part of the allure.

 

[Jackster]

is there a chapter of the fff in south florida? ive never heard of one down here.

There are quite a few in fact: FFF Florida Council Member Clubs
If there isn't an FFF club near you, start one. It does take some effort but the FFF has made it much easier with guidelines, forms and assistance with starting a local club through the region councils. The FFF even has the tools you'll need to become a 501c3 non-profit organization.
Here's a link to the Florida council: International Federation of Fly Fishers > Councils > Florida > EXPO

Hey WJC... get together with grassonfly and get a club going! :thmbup:

 

[mrfzx]

Reaching out to the youth is the answer. The clubs that set up programs tailored to our young people are the clubs that stay around. I've witnessed this first hand and it works!
Not every kid wants to fly fish but in my experience with the Boy Scouts 2 or 3 of every 15 that go for fly fishing merit badge or attend a casting or tying class get hooked. I have boys now men who still call me today 10 ,20 years later "Hey Mr.B want to hit the stream?". Very gratifying to say the least.
One very important point that has the greatest impact is take them fishing! It doesn't matter if it's bluegills on poppers at the local pond or bucktails for snapper blues at the beach , take them fishing . When individual club or organization members take an interest in a kid or two your membership will grow. Take them fishing the key to success!

Most scout troops are begging for people to come to a meeting and talk/demonstrate fly fishing for their pack. I do a demo/talk for our local cub troop every year.

---------- Post added at 06:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------

Oh, and yes they meet in a CHURCH!!!:yikes:

 

[Rip Tide]

I've belonged to the same club that I attend now since the late 70's
Back then I never went to meetings.
I couldn't understand why a bunch of old guys would rather sit around talking about fishing than actually go fishing
Took me a while to understand that there's a lot more to it than that

 

[jpbfly]

When I meet a fisherman on the water,I'm often asked if I belong to a club....my answer is yes...It's a private club "the Fischmeister's friends"we're five...more seriously there are several clubs in the area but don't feel like joining one...got enough fishing buddies already.
Dan ....make me think we should have a tshirt....going to think it over

 

[Noiso]

The Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club has free casting classes monthly and even provide gear (first-come, first-served).
Great historical club - go read up for details. If you are a fly fisherperson visiting San Francisco you ought to visit the casting ponds and angler's clubhouse. Seriously, skip Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square (you have shopping malls in your hometown right?) and check it out - along with the rest of Golden Gate Park.

 

[wt bash]

I would be more involved with my TU Chapter if the Chapter itself was more involved! The age gap doesn't bother me as I've always hung around an older crowd but they really don't do a whole lot when compared to what different chapters around the country do, even the state. We do stock a local creek and have a big garbage haul out, other than that the meetings usually consist of talking about fishing in Pennsy! In all fairness there really isn't alot our chapter can do in regards to certain issues and I've always been somewhat of a loner so the club atmosphere isn't really my cup of tea.