Show Off Your Favorite Fishing Spot!

I was a Club member for over a year before I went on my first outing, and it was almost as long after that before I hosted one for the first time, a half-day local trip. I was completely crazy about being organized, copying maps and typing up directions, what to bring, and so on. Total control freak! But we all had fun despite that, and I found a whole new pleasure in sharing my favorite places with friends, old and new.

Since then I've had the delight of introducing some of my fellow club members to Pennsylvania fishing waters near and dear to me, feeling a proprietary pride when they caught "my" fish and admired them. One unsung benefit I found from being host is, I get to fish myself, rather than putting off my angling because there's something supposedly more important to do! After all, the host has to show up.

Hosting an outing doesn't have to be at all difficult. Nor is it a pleasure reserved only for Club Board Members. If you have a phone or e-mail and a piece of water to show off, you can be a trip host. Day trips to local waters are the easiest to organize, and most members appreciate a day's outing because it's easiest to make time to go. Do you have a pond on your property, or access to a little-known creek? Or perhaps you know of a productive stretch on a well-known river that fly anglers pass by? Do you have a sixth sense for when panfish are running in the local reservoir, or hickory shad in a favorite river? Or do you usually fish one of the local fly stretches and just want some company for a day? You have an opportunity to share! Contact a member of the Events Committee (listed in the Club Directory in the newsletter, or by hyperlink from our website) and let them know where the trip would be to, and a preferred date and back-up date in case there's a conflict with another event. Do this before the newsletter deadline preceding your outing. (the first day of March, June, September, and December) You will be asked a time and place for people to meet, and a cutoff date for sign-ups, usually a week before the event. After that, you have only three responsibilities: Take down the names and phone numbers of people signing up; Call them if the trip must be canceled due to inclement weather; And show up and have fun!

If you are a control freak like me, you can get much fancier, offering box lunches, sending out maps and lists of effective flies, arranging a convoy to a local restaurant, or even cooking a meal for the participants. Use your imagination: Host a 'bring a child' outing, or a family day, if that happens to stir your enthusiasm. Or keep it simple by specifying 'trip limited to 5 Club members only' for a quiet day on some small creek.

Overnight trips require a lot more work for the host, but there are advantages you may like. You may have some destination in mind where a chaperone might be a good idea, or be heading somewhere remote enough that the 'buddy system' is a sensible precaution. Maybe you want someone to share travel or lodging expenses, or feel you could get better rates with more people. Possibly the camaraderie of the evening 'debriefing' appeals to you, and the fact that several people swapping success stories can contribute to everyone having even more success the next day. Planning these kinds of trips require six months or more of lead time, so that price quotes can be published, vacation time scheduled, travel arrangements made, guides and lodging researched, and to allow time for cancellation if things don't come together.

The goal of the Events Committee is to get more Club members out there fishing, by offering a wide variety of trips, local and exotic, tried-and-true annual favorites and new destinations, day trips and dream trips. Personally, I'd like to see four outings scheduled a month during the season, with something for everyone. Experienced hosts have even put together checklists: "How to Host an Outing", to make it even simpler. Here is your chance to share that great secret spot. C'mon, we won't tell anyone…

--Rabbit Jensen--