Bass Club Digest

Put 20 bass anglers in a room and the odds are they’ll get along just fine. Ask that same group to show up once a month, every month, and it won’t take long for at least a few of them to come up with some lame excuse for missing meeting after meeting.

Club meetings can be a chore, something few members look forward to each month. Sure, you can make meeting attendance mandatory, the equivalent of a once-a-month hour-long jail sentence, or you can turn the meeting into something more than just a discussion of upcoming tournaments and other ho-hum business. Of course, business is part of a club meeting, but meetings are supposed to be fun, or at least they should be. That’s why members of the Georgia Peaches Bass Club, a 17-member, all women’s club, include a raffle prize in every monthly gathering. Each month, a different member—chosen alphabetically—is required to bring a surprise gift that will be given out through a drawing at the end of each meeting.

“One time, a member brought a hand-made clock with a picture of a bass and the name of our club on the face. It was a very thoughtful prize and it was a real hit,” recalls club tournament director Diane Smith. “We’ll have members bring everything from fishing tackle to a big basket of lotions and other stuff women always like. It doesn’t have to be fishing related. In fact, there are no requirements at all, other than actually participating in the raffle. No one has objected and I think it’s one of the highlights of our meetings.”

The 160-member Potomac River Smallmouth Club (PRSC) has never had a problem pulling in at least a quarter of their members to each monthly meeting and on some nights, they’ll fill a room with as many as 80, a good turn-out for a club that doesn’t hold tournaments or any other mandatory events. Ron Marafioti, president of the PRSC, said the key to the club’s success can be credited to a variety of ingredients.

“We conducted a survey of our members recently and found that the biggest reason members attend our meetings is the opportunity to learn new techniques and new places to fish, but we also learned they are very interested in environmental issues, especially with so many things going on in the very waters we fish so often,” he said.

To bring in those members—to give them a reason to attend—the club invites guest speakers to every meeting. The topics range from photography tips and environmental issues to fishing tactics and even the occasional comedy night in which everyone can offer their favorite (clean) jokes. One night each year is reserved for the club’s annual party and awards night, in which members are given trophies for various achievements that range from best five fish (in length—the club is strictly catch-and-release.)

Those speakers, whether a guide from a distant water or a biologist talking about current issues, are asked to focus on smallmouths, the club’s primary interest. Marafioti said club officers will talk to speakers prior to the meeting to make sure they are in-tune with what the club members want to hear.

“The speaker at our most recent meeting was planning on talking about environmental issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay, which is important, but we made sure he tied it into the watersheds we fish, which are almost all Chesapeake Bay tributaries. He included information about a variety of fish from local waters, so it was a good presentation and one that the membership really seemed interested in,” he adds.

Some of the more popular speakers are guides and other experts on local and distant waters, places that club members want to learn more about. In most cases, those guides willingly give up local secrets, but they also book quite a few trips. That’s why the club rarely has to pay anyone to show up and talk.

“Every once in a while someone will ask for money and we’ll offer travel expenses if a speaker has to come a long way to get to our meeting, but most are happy to share what they have to offer at no charge to us,” Marafioti said. “Sometimes we have a little trouble lining up a speaker, but we can always find someone interesting and educational, even if we have to dip into our own membership. After all, there is plenty of local knowledge, so we’ll have some of our members, who are guides or who may be experts at specific techniques, speak at meetings.”

Shared Information

There’s more to the PRSC’s strong meeting attendance than the presence of a different speaker each month. Marafioti said members often show up early to swap lures and discuss past fishing trips and at least one member sets up a table where he sells hand-made jigs and spinnerbaits. Another feature that’s proven popular is a fly-tying or lure-making demonstration. Members gather around the table and learn how to make certain baits and how to use them.

“We are going to start a 15-minute session prior to the featured speaker where our more advanced club members offer an in-depth discussion on a specific technique or lure to help everyone become better at catching fish with it,” he adds.

Peter Mclellan, president of the Massachusetts Bass Federation and vice-president of Wildside Bass, a 26-member club based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, said his club members are required to share information regarding past tournaments.

“One thing I learned a long time ago is to create total unity among our members. There are no cliques, no insider groups that keep information from the rest of the guys,” said Mclellan. “Fortunately, it hasn’t been a problem because nobody minds telling the rest of the club how and where they won a tournament.”

By staging a roundtable discussion of winning strategies, everyone feels included and the newer anglers are clued into what’s working and what isn’t. Mclellan said more experienced members don’t seem to mind sharing their winning tactics, even if they hope to advance to higher stages in the tournament circuits.

Mclellan’s club as well as the PRSC, is committed to helping newer members learn more about the skills necessary to catch fish under a variety of conditions. By sharing information, everyone feels welcome.

Let’s Eat

Where your club meets can determine attendance rates, agree Smith and Mclellan. Clubs that meet in the president’s dark, musty basement will likely struggle to get more than a handful of members to attend meetings regularly, especially if there are arbitrary, stifling rules forced upon members. Those clubs that gather in a lively, inviting atmosphere will certainly see higher attendance. Members of the Georgia Peaches Bass Club meet in a private room at a local barbecue restaurant in downtown Atlanta. Not only does that give them the privacy to hold meetings without worrying about outside distractions, it gives members another excuse to attend monthly functions.

“Several of our members drive a long way and they’ll usually get there in enough time to eat dinner with the rest of the group. I think the monthly meal is the highlight of the meeting for those members,” jokes Smith.
Smith said it’s wise to hold meetings at the same place every month, something that helps avoid confusion. She adds that the restaurant where her club meets is more than willing to reserve a room for them, especially since so many members order food and drinks. Both sides get something out of the deal.

Mclellan’s club meets at a local Knights of Columbus hall where they shoot pool and socialize after the meeting officially ends. He said members are certainly free to leave at the end of the official meeting, but many stay late and hang out with the rest of the club.

“We get at least 20 out of 26 at every meeting because our members want to come and be with the rest of the club. A lot of our members don’t really care about advancing to higher tournament levels. They just like hanging out with their friends. We try to create that atmosphere where they want to be there,” he said.

Equally important, adds Mclellan, is making sure everyone, including new members, have a stake in the club and its viability. He said virtually everyone knows how to run a tournament, from assigning pairings to running the scales and keeping track of the weigh-in results. That way, no one feels like they are completely responsible for any single item and they don’t feel like they are doing everything while the rest of the club is sitting idle with their hands in their pockets. It also gives everyone a feeling of importance, a vital ingredient in the success of any organization.

“Everything is open. There are no secrets and every time we take a vote, it’s by a show of hands, not by some sort of secret ballot,” notes Mclellan.
Bass clubs may have an ultimate purpose—to fish for bass—but the underlying motive many members join is to have fun off the water as well as on. Clubs that make meetings as fun and interesting as the tournaments themselves are most likely to keep members longest. Take your meetings beyond the basics of boring business and you’ll have a strong club with a good attendance rate.

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