Troutbitten
Life on the water. Troutbitten is a deep dive into fly fishing for wild trout in wild places. Author and guide, Domenick Swentosky, shares stories, tips, tactics and conversations with friends about fly fishing through the woods and water. Explore more. Fish hard. And discover fly fishing at Troutbitten.com — an extensive resource with 1500+ articles about trout, friends, family and the river.
Troutbitten
The Troubles With Club Fishing
We're here for a tough conversation. This one's about fishing the pay-to-play setup of a club.
These are the troubles with club fishing . . .
One club leads to the next. One private stretch invites another down the road. So clubs lead to the loss of public water for the average angler. And that’s not good.
The manufactured fishing scenario of most clubs can teach anglers the wrong things, with easier fishing that does not translate well outside of the clubs. That then leads to unrealistic expectations or even a generous self-assessment of one’s skills.
But why does that matter? Because anglers begin to favor easier fishing and (often) stocked trout scenarios. All of this feeds into the hatchery trout system, and that’s something this country should be moving away from wherever possible.
Stop stocking over wild trout. This really should be our universal message, anywhere that wild trout can thrive. But how many clubs deliver that message? Let’s be honest about it — very few.
Not all clubs stock fish, and not all clubs are a bad choice. But in short, we believe things can be better.
This is an important episode. Please pass it around.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Posted - Club Fishing - 2065
READ: Troutbitten | Wild vs Stocked -- The Hierarchy of River Trout In Pennsylvania
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1, Ep4 -- Wild Trout or Stocked -- The Hierarchy of River Trout
READ | Troutbitten | Tags | Wild Trout
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