I can understand anger toward the concept of private fishing clubs, but just having some trouble wrapping my mind around the bashing of the clients as somehow sub-par sportsman in either skill or concern for the resource. Neither of those conclusions are warranted, but they are commonly made and likely erroneous.
Jack,
We have disagreed over the years, sometimes slightly and sometimes very strongly. This is one of those "very strongly times." This may be long but it explains my point well, read it if you like.
I do not think that people have a ton of hate towards private fishing clubs in general. Maybe I am wrong on this but I do not think I am. I can see the value of some private fishing clubs.
A good example is the Upper Tully watershed. There are 3 private fishing clubs and 1 opens their water to the public (they are a rod and gun club).
The 2 that are completely private are fairly cheap to join. One I believe is 100 dollars and the other is 20 dollars. Both have a long waiting list. That is where the similarities stop.
The 100 dollar club has about 2 miles (as the stream goes not the crow flies) of prime wild trout water. While I wish the section was open to the public as it is probably the best wild trout stream in SEPA, I am glad they are there for now. The Tully Club(the 100 dollar club) restored their section of stream and it looks absolutely wonderful and it is a rare limestone spring. The section I have access too is directly below their property and it is loaded with fish. The landowners child is cropping the population of browns and bows off so anything under 10 is still there. In years past, a 15 inch fish was common and some brute fish were in that stream. As it works now, all those bigger fish are gone but some wonder in from upstream and you can catch them. If that club was not there, all the large fish would be gone by now. I can tell you that they have some really really big fish in that club and a good amount of them. I am not the only one from this board that knows this and has talked with the child. Hopefully one day he will change his ways. So they restored the stream, keep the fish population in great numbers and are stewards of the stream. All good, only thing bad is you cant fish it.
The 20 dollar club (Susquehannock Fly Fishers) has a great landowner. He does truly care about the stream. He has worked on his stream and the section he owns is fairly small. He stocks it with fish, yes but the wild fish population is very very small. Probably class D. He feeds the fish, yes. So there are plenty of large fish in his section of stream. Directly below his section is limestone springs fish hatchery and Riley Road. Some of the members years ago fished here when the hatchery lost a great amount of fish from that 300 yr rain event. Every once in awhile one of his very large fish wonder into that section and the public has the opportunity to catch it. Elmer (the landowner) and I both talked to Frank V (Doc Fitch TU Pres) with in a matter of days about the sinkhole problem in the Pennsy Supply area of the stream. Also Elmer teaches kids how to cast fly rods and fish in the Tully Club water and his own club water.
Both these clubs care for the stream and do care about the future of fly fishing. They have small parcels of stream on the same stream. The amount of public fishing on the Upper Tully is about 95 percent the total stream mileage as opposed the the 5 percent posted and owned by fishing clubs.
The 3rd club (the rod and gun club stocks their section in the early spring full of large fish and 15-16 inch bows. Anyone is allowed to fish their on their property and their dime. I think this is not the norm for a club and is absolutely wonderful.
The difference between these clubs and the SRC is staggering.
The little guy can afford the other clubs. The SRC (using this for Homewaters) not so.
The SRC takes some of the best wild trout streams in the state and stocks them with Apex predators. Hurting the fish populations of those streams. Down or upstream areas open the public are affected.
The SRC also buys large parcels (not small) of multiple streams (not one like the Tully clubs). This can drastically effect the amount of public fishing for a given region or area.
I hear the SRC gives back and saw on their website they have worked with disabled people to enrich their lives. While I think this is great, I read that and went and........
After all the negatives the SRC makes, they sure could cancel them out by doing much more for public fishing than this. Where is the partnering with TU's, Coldwater Hert, Growing Greener or anything to help streams throughout the state? Seems they are only worried about their waters. I would being willing to bet multiple club members of the Tully watershed clubs work on other streams than their own. While this might be true for the SRC, the SRC itself is a "large scale" fishing club. They charge a ton of money and I dont believe the Beav when he says, "there is no profit." The SRC is so large they could have leverage and and monies to do a ton of good for public fishing unlike the small clubs. They JUST DONT.
The SRC buys streams in the erie watershed that contain fish you paid for. The other clubs buy their fish.
The reason people think these people are not great fly-fisherman is because fly-fisherman often become stewards of the streams the frequent and even ones they do not. They often take a hard angle against anything that threatens public access, pollution of streams (private or public), wild trout issues (including stocking over them), blah blah blah. All the things the SRC has proven time and time again we are on our own on. Where is the help? Where is the support from this club? They are doing NOTHING to preserve public fishing opportunities and fly fishing as a sport in general. All they are doing is taking money and water. So their members act the opposite as they should.
The main thing I disagree with what you said in you above quote is this: [color=0000FF]"Neither of those conclusions are warranted, but they are commonly made and likely erroneous"[/color] I disagree with every fiber of my being. The SRC is considered taboo in the fishing ranks and world by they general public. Perhaps if that trend continues they could die off. Sure that rich doctor can talk to his buddies about all the big fish he caught on the club water, but I bet he wont mention it anywhere else. Imagine having idle conversation at the fly shop and mentioning the SRC and your a member. You might feel very uncomfortable, leave and never comeback. If anyone of the SRC members truly love this sport and want to expand their knowledge through the social aspects of this sport......they will quit. So erroneous? Maybe so but maybe not. Warranted? YES.
The hate people have spawn mostly from the SRC and not all private fishing clubs. Some have their place. IMO there is no place for the SRC. Except for maybe Patagonia or Russia. These people are rich enough to afford the membership dues to the SRC, they can buy a plane ticket and go somewhere absolutely spectacular and make it worth the monies. These are places the general public will never be able to get to go to anyways. 100,000 dollars to fish PA? They have to be stupid and know little about fishing. Period.