THE ULTIMATE FISHING EXPERIENCE ? Neil Travis - August 3, 2009

[rtidd]

THE ULTIMATE FISHING EXPERIENCE - FISHING DEPUY SPRING CREEK

Neil takes Dee fishing the DePuy Spring Creek.

This is a nice tour of this months drawing prize as well as highlighting the advantages of fishing premium private waters. It must be rough doing some of the research needed for an FAOL article.

[fcch]

Neil !!

The ?Boss Herself? trying hard to keep from falling in and cast at the same time ...

Love that photo. 'ya have to watch out for Deanna! ... it seems that on every cast, she takes a tiny step forward!!

[Betty Hiner]

Chris! That is so funny! You picked up on the same sentence I did!!

Yah ... the research is tough, but somebody's got to do it!!

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I pity the trout that shows it's nose to Dee/ When a trout rises she is like a bird dog on point. All business until that trout is caught and released. Love watching that woman fish.

Uh, Trav, the next time you need to do some more "research" I'd be glad to offer my services. I know how tough it is to "research" some of those places.

[fcch]

Betty ...The problem is ... according to Deanna herself, ... is that when she fishes in the surf, ... she takes a small step forward with each cast ... concentrating on the fish.

Before she knows it, ... she's in DEEP WATER!!!

[Wild One]

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!

[Cold]

**For those of you who do not pay to fish private water-why? What is the drive behind your decision?

First of all, I spend plenty on gear, fuel, tying materials, etc. and really, with the fishing opportunities present in PA's public water, I can see neither a need nor a justification for spending even more to fish someone's private fishpen.

Second...there's just something that rankles me about charging to fish. When I think of fishing, one of the things I like the best about it is that, once you've got your equipment, it's shockingly cheap, compared to most other hobbies, if cheap is what you're looking for (okay, fly fishing is NOT cheap), still, if you get a kid a good starter setup for a birthday or christmas, and he has access to water, he can fish from thaw to freeze, quite literally, for pennies a day. While most pay-to-play operations cater to other, more wealthy, clientele (which is a whole new can of worms I wont get into), it just seems to be..."not in the spirit of the sport".

Thirdly, I believe that in many situations, the success of one small for-profit fishery leads to more of the same, which slowly but surely cuts down public access to good fishing, especially in areas with smaller streams and local laws that prevent all access to privately owned water.

Now, I dont mean to say that any pay-fishery is BAD, or that the people that fish there are BAD, and in fact, I think that alot of good could come of them. Its just that I, personally, am not a fan. Just one man's opinion...but you asked for it.

[Muskrat]

I am a member of a local Sportsman Club. We have a small pond that is stocked and fishing is restricted to club members only. If someone is caught fishing there without a membership we invite to fish for free for the day. However, if they want to return we require them to buy a $25 dollar annual membership.

Buying a membership entitles them to a lot more than fishing too. We have an excellent rifle range, pistol range, archery range and clay bird shooting range. We have a very nice modern club building with an indoor .22cal rifle range. We have parties, pot luck dinners, seminars, instructional sessions and so on for all to attend. We work with the Game Commission and Fish Commission to teach safe, ethical hunting and fishing practices to all but particularly to the youngsters. No child is ever turned away and we tend to help our lower income folks become members. Many of us, myself included, share my firearms and fishing gear while at the club with folks that don't "have one of those".

Not all pay fishing is bad. Some of it promotes fellowship and allows underprivileged folks a chance to do something they would not normally be able to do. Without the funds form a simple $25 dollar membership these things would not happen.

Oh, I will also mention that all hunting and fishing regulations must be followed. Valid licenses are required for folks of licensing age that wish to hunt or fish on the premises.

I fish both public and private waters.

[Cold]

Thanks for the post, Muskrat, I guess I should have qualified my post by specifying my aversion to the fishing "resort" businesses that close off sections of water and charge to fish for their own monetary gain, not the local clubs that have their fishing areas as an accessory to other facilities, that often have many grass-roots level conservation efforts going, and who often do things to benefit the community at large. In my area, there are several sportsmens clubs that stock public water, put on demos, teach hunter-trapper safety education courses, and stream cleanups. In no way did I intend my comments to be directed toward them. Though I dont belong to any such clubs myself, many of them get my thumbs up.

[Bamboozle]

I have nothing against any pay-to-play fishing options regardless of their rates or membership.

I have been invited as a guest to several, but haven't yet taken anyone up on the offer.

I once belonged to a shooting club that had a pond on their property, but that was years ago although I am planning on joining another soon.

The biggest reason paying or clubs don't interest me is: I am a bit of a wild trout snob and where I live there are TONS of open public streams with wild trout. I have a really weird perspective on stocked fish and the thought of chasing huge stocked fish on private water really doesn't hold much interest to me.

I would however, gladly pay to fish a wild trout stream or section that was otherwise unavailable to me except as a paying guest or member provided it didn't cost me more than a round of golf on a decent public course.