Ok - so the AGM was the place to be if you wanted to have a say in the changes. In a nutshell the AGM was carnage - there was disagreements, arguments, calls for the resignation of members of the committee, arguments amongst the committee, a member of the club were told to **** off by an office bearer (not sure if that one was a joke) and everyone now has an idea that there are deep divisions between the old and young members of the committee (as in age).

In a nutshell the changes are:

The permit will be raised to £20 for wage earners and stay the same for youngsters and the unemployed.

5 members of the club will be put through the bailiff course - the names are already decided - looking at two of the guys you do not want to mess with them.

Douglas Brown is no longer secretary; instead Paul (a reader of my blog) asked too many questions and was promptly nominated and seconded for the post. He then spent the remainder of the evening with his head in his hands.
The treasurer retired - at the moment no one has come forward to take up that post.

I am now back on the committee and contrary to what was said at the AGM urbanflyfisher.com and Urban Fly Fishing on the Kelvin are still my personal sites - I will be making announcements on behalf of the club however this has still to be discussed. This decision was made as the sites are hubs for anyone looking for info on the club - I have done the job informally for years so I may as well do it formally.

The rise in permit prices will help to fund:

Putting the bailiffs through the course and paying for expenses.
A study of insect life and water quality (possibly the Wild Trout Trust however do not quote me)
Putting up signs along the river.
Possible future implementation of tags for salmon (may be a hint of limits)
The repair of Gavins Mill fish pass

There were major arguments about all these points - the chair wanted the permit price put up to £25 to fund all the proposals however members were only willing to pay £20 - still the cheapest river in the West of Scotland. Even though the river is the one of the best rivers out of the Clyde catchment it is also one of the most abused. Appalling stories of anglers killing large amounts of Salmon on Sundays was discussed - fingers were pointed at anglers who fish the sea pool - many of these anglers were killing Salmon on Sundays. The issue of people using hand lines and badminton court nets to catch salmon was discussed, the issue of major pollution incidents - all of us have witnessed sewage in the river - the infamous "sanitary towel" pool is stuffed with trout - pity they all have breasts. Also how to educate anglers was discussed - people killing black fish is a problem - the permits may be changed in future to show anglers examples of fish that are not cocks and hens and what ones cannot be killed.

Written this very hurriedly for those that could not attend!

As more comes back to me will update.

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http://urbanflyfisher.com/

you say they were not willing to pay 5 quid more, do kelvin members decide the season ticket cost?

is a yearly permit cost of somewhere around what some pay for a day realistically going to improve the river?

Well seeing as how they appear to be spending **** all just now probably yes . in the last year they've squirrelled away another £5k and have £21K in el banco just now .

Dunno how other clubs work but do subs increases not need to go before an AGM ? You are not likely to get a large increase in one fell swoop passed are you?

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Previously known as molley
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Don't call me "mate" .

Dunno how other clubs work but do subs increases not need to go before an AGM ? You are not likely to get a large increase in one fell swoop passed are you?[/QUOTE]



why not, the same guys that pay 20 quid for the kelvin pay more to fish elsewhere, someone is taking the ****.

why not, the same guys that pay 20 quid for the kelvin pay more to fish elsewhere, someone is taking the ****.[/QUOTE]

Thats rather a sweeping statement isn't it .You know everyone who was at that meeting tonight and where else they fish ( if anywhere) do you ?

Apparently the proposal was to increase it to £25 but that wasn't agreed and what was agreed was an increase to £20 a year . Thats the way AGM's work .

I appreciate it's not a lot but I think you'll find with the new committee and a new way of working that things will be improved cos the river wasn't being managed properly and thats why folk would be reluctant to pay more . Next year I imagine that all being well the subs will increase to a more realistic amount .

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Previously known as molley
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Don't call me "mate" .

I'll try not to be sweeping...if you quadrupled the season ticket price you still wouldnt be near the bottom for a river with your number of members, if any fish elsewhere they know that.

you obviously care about this but those that are unwilling to pay a fiver extra a year dont. i wouldnt want to bailif what is now known as the cheapest no rules barred salmon fishing in the country.

What I was trying to get over ( probably not very well) was that we don't know what members fish anywhere else ...some might well ONLY fish the Kelvin.Thats something that only a survey of members would reveal. As for it being ,as you describe" no rules barred " well let's give the new committee a chance to change things and hopefully,with cooperation from the members and once the Bailiffs get trained things will improve .Rome was not built in a day .

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Previously known as molley
and
Don't call me "mate" .

This type of thing happens at most AGM's.

There always seems to be a divide between younger members who are usually more pro active towards C&R, habitat maintenance, Price willing to pay for the fishing and the older guys who feel that is there right to kill fish for the pot,Are to old to help bank clear (although many have done so in the past), feel increasing the cost of membership is outrageous.

The only way it can change is by moving with the times.

WCB

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from the outside it just seems naive to hear about radical improvements for 20quid, expecting bailifs to solve everything is just not fair, if you had a normal season ticket price like everyone else you would have a dynamically different membership or control numbers of season tickets sold.

If folk are presently fishing without permits,using illegal methods and fishing for migratories on Sundays exactly how is increasing the Ticket price going to stop them . Instead of those fishing without permits saving themselves £20 they'll be saving themselves £40,£50.£60 ???

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Previously known as molley
and
Don't call me "mate" .