JOIN THE CLUB
While there has been a decline in the number of club anglers, with some organisations even disappearing, this group is determined to buck the trend…
How one organisation keeps the faith.
As a lad, and approaching my teens, weekends were pretty much full on and I was always kept busy. I can vividly remember back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, how much I really looked forward to my weekly club fishing events.
Saturday mornings, though, were always an early start for me, with my dad taking me to play football for the school team. I was a number seven, a right winger and quite nippy with the ball too. Many a goal was headed home as I skilfully swerved a few innocuous challenges and sent in a searching cross, inevitably always finding our tall-for-his-age centre half. A towering five-footer at nine-years-old was certainly an advantage.
However, Sunday was definitely the most important day of the week for me...this was the day I got to go fishing.
Growing up in the North East, club fishing was incredibly popular back then. There must have easily been at least six fishing clubs in Sunderland alone – and even more north of the Tyne. In fact, club fishing was at its peak nationwide.
My club was Sunderland Shipbuilders SAC and, as the name suggests, it was put together by a group of anglers who all worked in the local shipyards on the River Wear. With around 150 members
– 30 or so of which were juniors too – it wasn’t just a day of competition, but a chance to meet up and have a good social.
When you think about it, many more clubs up and down the UK were doing exactly the same. Just imagine how many more thousands of anglers nationally would actually have been fishing on that day too.
Fast-forward 40 years, though, and things aren’t quite the same. Famous angling clubs that regularly saw turnouts of hundreds of members are now lucky if they see a dozen turning up. I recently heard of a Tyneside club having just six anglers fishing its event…sadly some clubs are no longer in action.
CLOSE TO COLLAPSING
One organisation that has felt the effect of dwindling attendances, but still remains determined to forge ahead, is the Yorkshire Federation of Sea Anglers.
Originally, it was part of the National Federation of Sea Anglers, but in 1974 two of its members, Robert Smithson and John Amery, made the decision to break free from the NFSA, opting to go it alone.
With their base at the Bay Horse pub in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, it wasn’t long before other clubs in the surrounding areas soon joined them. These included the Carnival Club at Barton-upon-Humber, as well as others at Harrogate, Bridlington, Humberside Fire Brigade and the Pennine Pirates, who all decided to come together under the Yorkshire FSA umbrella.
The ‘fed’ ploughed on successfully – that was until three years ago. With interest waning, it was perilously close to collapsing. Things looked bleak, until Keith Mumby, Harry Brown and a few other members, rescued it from the brink of collapse.
With a few tweaks to how the federation operated, it was resurrected with a new ethos of turning it into an easy going and friendly group, where anglers of all abilities would fish suitable venues.
One major change included altering the competition day. Instead of fishing on a Sunday, it was decided Saturdays were more convenient, especially for those who needed to travel a fair distance. In addition, it gave those who wanted to fish major open events the opportunity to do so.
TURNOUTS VARY
Nowadays, the Yorkshire FSA attracts turnouts varying in numbers between nine and 20 anglers. They fish eight matches between October and March on a variety of venues along the Holderness Coast.
Its latest match, which was also open to non-members, took place at Withernsea, just 24 hours before Storm Ciara was due to hit the UK. Conditions were calm, with a hint of colour in the water, and with a turnout of 12 members, they were hopeful of a fish or two.
From the off, good whiting up to a very acceptable 40cm were being landed in decent numbers. That meant most of them switched to tiny baits and multi-hook rigs.
Ian Beach, from Scunthorpe, livened things up a bit when he landed a good 46cm codling to a lug and squid bait on a clipped Pennell rig.
When the tide crept further up the beach, the whiting showed no signs of relenting and continued to feed.
As the match neared its finish, positions were tight at the top. At the death, it was Grimsby angler and organiser Keith Mumby who beached a plump 45cm codling to ultimately seal the victory.
RESULT
Yorkshire FSA Open, Withernsea East Yorkshire: 1 Keith Mumby, 12 fish, 10lb 2oz 8dr; 2 Michael Suddaby, 14, 8lb 9oz 12dr; 3 Paul Scott, 12, 7lb 2oz 4dr; 4 Ian Beach, 5, 5lb 4oz 8dr; 5 Graham Dyas, 3, 2lb 2oz. Heaviest round fish: Ian Beach, 2lb 2oz codling. Heaviest Flatfish: Keith Hodgson, 4oz 8dr dab. See page 108 for Penn Sea League points. ■
“Keith Mumby beached a plump 45cm codling to seal the victory”