Neil's column this week has got me thinking about whether I would be willing to pay to fish at a private location. I know that there are obviously a large number of people who either pay to fish on private waters or are members of a club which allow you to fish private waters (paying membership dues).
I cannot picture myself EVER paying a large chunk of money to someone to fish on private water. Anything that would cost me more than my annual fishing license would be considered a large chunk of money by me I just can't imagine any piece of water or fish that would warrant that action. I tried looking at DePuy's Spring Creek site for rates but couldn't find it, but I'm sure it isn't cheap.
**I am wondering, for those of you out there who do regularly (or even semi-regularly) pay to fish on private water-why? What is the drive behind it? If you were trying to sell this idea or a specific pay-to-play location, what would you say? How much do you pay? Is there a limit/cap to what you would pay?
**For those of you who do not pay to fish private water-why? What is the drive behind your decision?
Note: I certainly have nothing against those who offer pay-to-fish options or those who pay to fish. (In fact, if I owned prime fishing property somewhere I'd likely want to charge people to fish it too). I'm also not trying to spark anything negative, I just genuinely want to know why folks pay to fish!
Also, I am not talking about paying for a guided trip somewhere on public water, though I understand many private waters are guide-only. I'm also not talking about paying to go to some exotic location to fish, like Chile--If I could afford that it would be a no-brainer!