NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

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NFGFC
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NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by NFGFC »

With the NFGFC club being around for more than 10+ years we are writing to try and figure out what the members want!

Many members have noticed over the past several years the changes the club has gone through. Number of participants going up and down etc.
We have noticed the monthly meetings getting slimmer and slimmer. This is where a lot of our end of the year Christmas party money comes from and we are actually LOSING money on these each month. We spend about $150-200/month on raffle prizes but are only bringing in around $100 MAYBE $150 on a good month.
This doesn't help us at the end of the year when it comes to buying prizes.

We have talked about eliminating the meetings and doing the raffles at the weigh in, people didn't like that.

We talked about eliminating them all together, people didn't like that either.

So what do you think will work? What will get people to the meetings? How do we go about making extra $ for the end of the year party?

Do we get rid of the party all together and just give out money(how ever much that may be) to the end of year winners?

We had a few sponsors not come back and based on the feedback we received from them they didn't feel they were getting their bang for their buck from the club members.
This is why we implemented the pictures with the club banner, we started posting more on social media etc to try and let these sponsors know we DO appreciate them and we DO want to support them.

We want YOUR input!!!! We would love to see the club thrive and we know making sign up online has made it convenient for a lot of people and kind of hurt us on the money end at the same time...

We also want to go ahead and start a conversation about the officers for next year and who may want to take over all positions.

So please give us any input good or bad you may have.
TroutTrent
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by TroutTrent »

One thing I would start off with is don't have separate side pots for Trout and Reds have a boat side =pot for the big fish. Lets just say $25 or even more a boat will get you in. Then take the pot and pay the same for each fish. 2nd. don't pay for Angler's of the year just give a plaque to the top three and and as for the money give it for the biggest Trout and biggest Red for the year ( And you can not win this unless you are a member at the time you catch the fish.... not you caught this fish and then money was taken out of your winnings for you to become a member---This happen to me BS :thumbdown: . This will keep people fishing for the prize all year and not be out of it with three tourneys or so to go. And this one has been talked about a lot but I Love our fun smaller fishing club :beer: we need to look at the big tournaments and if their dates fall on our's we change to another date even if our's are posted first I know this sucks BUT --- perfect example this past weekend I know myself of three boats we lost because of it. I know this might sound more about the money side of it and not so much about the participation part but I thought I would mention it anyway. As for the meetings and can't say much because I go to maybe one a year but I wouldn't have a problem with a little higher entry fee for the tournaments and take some from that and some separate pay raffles at the tournaments. I appreciate what you all and the guys before you have done for the club and hopefully we can get back to like it was :thumbup:
bcastleb
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by bcastleb »

I agree with Trent. I really like the idea of making the big trout and the big red pots the same. The meetings were cool to me in the past but it seems like most of the people at the meetings don't even fish the tournaments. If not eliminating at least cut it down to 2-3 a year. I don't have a problem with raising the entry fee also, it means bigger payout or put it towards the end of year awards. Another thing that has been brought up before is ramp tournaments, where everybody launches at the same place. I know one of the reasons we drive down from Ga to fish these things are the people that are in the club, so camaraderie is good and if we are at the same place then there's more of it. I know places like Econfina are not exactly boat friendly for some people so I understand why that wouldn't be one. It also puts everyone on a level playing field. When we started fishing the club tournaments we had never fished in most of these places, Keaton was about all that we knew, so by having ramp specific tournaments it gave us the opportunity to learn new areas. Just my two cents. "Elect James Padgett for President 2019" "Doug Tran for Vice President"
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milto
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by milto »

I think there a lot of good ideas to get more people to show up for the tournaments, but in the end we need more participation for the meetings. So, how do we get more people to show up to that. I can say that I am probably partly to blame by adding online sign ups. It made it to where you didn't have to come to the meetings to sign up. So, to combat that, just add a $5 or $10 online sign up fee that goes to the club and not the tourney payouts. We still pay a fee to use the online payment system anyways. Second, we need to have interesting or different ideas to draw people to the meetings. One idea that I think Jerry thought of was to have an auction or flea market type of sale of peoples fishing gear they want to part with. Maybe limit it to 2 items per person and 10% of that goes to raffle drawings. So its a win win for the person selling their stuff where the club makes money and they have a chance to win stuff. Third, is we need more exposure to get new members or meeting participants. Getting someone to put flyers on cars on the weekend at the St. Marks ramp to invite them to come and win a new rod or cooler. Maybe advertise on our facebook more... cant think of last NFGFC post i've seen on FB. Another idea is giving a bonus to the winner at one of the tournaments that also fished the tourney. It could be like the bad beat jackpot. If you win the big fish, but don't come to the meeting then it rolls over. Ok, I'm rambling, but in the end we all need to promote the club. Invite your freinds and family, get better prizes (gotta spend money to make money) as everyone has face shields and coozies :smt005 . Last but not least we need more help as officers or members of the club that can help. A lot of us know the added stress and responsibility it takes to run the club, website, BBF, FB etc, it sounds like an easy job, but a lot of time is put in to do these things.
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NFGFC
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by NFGFC »

Love the ideas! Keep them coming.

Keli post on NFGFC’s FB page monthly regarding our tournament times, any changes, winners etc. but maybe we need to promote it even further somehow
Steve Stinson
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by Steve Stinson »

The NFGFC has been around way more than 10 years. It was started back in 2000 when a few members (Myself, Tom Keels and Chuck Simpson) of the Florida Sportsman Forum got together and decided to create a tournament that was fished on Saturday instead of Sunday so that we could go to church. Jerry's bait and tackle was the only tournament going at the time and they fished on Sunday. We actually went to see Scott, the owner of Jerry's and asked him to move his tournaments to Saturday, but he refused.
I don't think canceling the meetings because a tournament gets postponed is a good idea. I realize you have two different groups of people - those who attend the meetings and those who fish the tournaments, but both should be supported.

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4reels
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by 4reels »

I've "stalking" NFGFC for several months now, but haven't joined. I have honestly felt a little intimidated by my lack of fishing experience compared to others. I just recently got back in to saltwater fishing and purchased a boat that can fish with the whole family (wife and 3 kids). I think it would be fun to fish the tournaments with my 2 sons (10 and 12). I'd essentially be donating our entry fee to the winner - but the fun and memories are well worth it. What would encourage someone like me to join and participate? Maybe a "rookie" classification - something for first year members. Maybe a father/son or even family (my wife usually catches the most fish) tournament? Something else that comes to mind is a tournament strictly to raise funds for a charity . . . . . a great way to have fun and raise money for a cause (the officers could determine which charity) - maybe that would spark interest and hopefully carry over to other tournaments during the year. Like fishing secrets - sometimes you've gotta give to receive :)
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geofish
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by geofish »

I like the idea of a rookie category, maybe for first year members or first 3 tournaments. I've also been intimidated from doing the tournaments, because everyone else seems to know exactly what they're doing, but a charity tournament for a good cause would get me out there. I also have scheduling issues with my fishing buddy working every other weekend, and a boat that's allergic to the rocks at Econfina, so I can't promise to do every tournament. But I've paid my dues, been to a meeting, and really appreciate everything the experienced folks have taught me on the forum. Keep up the good work, and keep the conversation going!
mpa_72001
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by mpa_72001 »

The kids will enjoy it i have my 8 year old daughter fishing with me.this is her second year doing it and I'm trying to teach her some each time out and they especially enjoy the raffles at the weigh in.
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by Steve Stinson »

Seems like there is a lot of folks who don't fish because of the more experienced folks dominating the tournaments.

This would require some really big changes, but what about doing draw tournaments? Captains and non-captains could all attend the meeting where the captains could draw names out of a bucket and meet the person they would fish with the following Saturday. Jr. Anglers would follow their parent / guardian and be a third party on the boats.

I would be willing to take some less experienced folks with me.

I realize this would make the tournaments not all that serious, but it would give the less experienced crowd some help.

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SHOWBOAT
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by SHOWBOAT »

I'll add my .02. Contrarian again...

I think the sentiment is going the wrong way for tournaments in this thread. It is great to have a mystery fish that provides everyone a chance to win. I also like LAOY and YAOY categories. With those acknowledgments, tournaments are a competition. I don't even fish slot tournaments anymore b/c I would rather target trophy fish than grind out a limit of popping cork fish in 4' b/c that is how to win the tournamnet. I certainly don't want to spend a Saturday with a stranger in my boat. I'm not a fan of points or money for trash fish, flounder, etc. I think the greatest participation can be recognized through competitive, trophy fish tournaments, with consistent rules (including launch/weigh-in times) and prescheduled make up dates. Any changes during the season creates an illusion of impropriety, real or not.

What I personally would pay to participate in aside, folks are missing the benefit of these tournaments if it is about winning money or prizes. Some Club tournaments (especially in the heat of the summer) the winnings may not cover the cost of participation (entry, gas, launch, etc). My first NFGFC tournaments were fished from a Gheenoe with 9.9HP. We were largely donating money. However, I learned more talking with folks at weigh-in and at meetings then I could have imagined. Tin Can, Birddog, JT. Stinson, Bassboys, Warrior and Junior, Gary Droze and countless others provided a ton of insight. Being forced to try different locations, sometimes during less than ideal weather, was also a huge jump in the learning curve and compelled me get my first real boat. If someone is trying to learn to fish our section of coast, then there is not a better, cost-effective way to expedite the learning process than to participate in these relatively inexpensive tournaments. However, you have to keep dedicated anglers engaged if you want that type of exchange to take place.

One way to do that is reintroduce lunch back to weigh-ins. It was an incentive for everyone to return even if they weren't in the money. Weigh-in participation went way down when you had to wait through raffles and prizes with women, children and tired anglers without any food. Ramp specific tournaments also help create that environment. Money into food and a couple nice raffle prizes goes a lot further than extensive raffles with boxes plastics, widgets and coozies. Creating an atmosphere that fosters conversation and reflection on a day of fishing can be much more valuable to the participants than the prizes one thinks they have a chance of winning.

Finally, don't overemphasize the meetings. While some of the speakers are great and there is good conversation to be had, this is a fishing club.

NFGFC is a great organization with great people. Good luck as you move forward.
Last edited by SHOWBOAT on May 22nd, 2018, 11:46 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: NFGFC CLUB INFO AND DISCUSSION

Post by Steve Stinson »

I agree with Brian on the food at the weigh-in location. At one time, we owned a trailer full of fish cookers and bbq equipment that we towed to the ramp each month. The food created more time to sit and socialize, but we ran out of volunteers to make sure everything was in place. Larry Cobb was the last person I remember dealing with this for any length of time. I believe he quit fishing the tournaments and just showed up to prep the food.
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