I Want To Start A Bass Club For Veterans Also Men/women/children Who Are Disabled

[DerekFisherofMenJones]

I am in Oklahoma, Norman area, How do I start a bass club? I want to fish small

bodies of water, won't charge membership fees only tournament fees. The members may use a tube, small two person bass boat's, kayak and fish from the bank, I am open to ideas. May God bless this group and good luck fishing.

[slonezp]

First thing I would do is contact your local American Legion post and see if their would be interest with the Vets. Check with local charities for the disabled as well. Then I'd contact the local DNR to find out if permits are needed. I would think some type of liability insurance is necessary

 

Good Luck

[WIGuide]

Slo has some good points. You might be able to avoid insurance by making participants sign a waiver. You also need to figure out how you are going to score the tournament. With people fishing out of the vessels as well as from the bank, it's pretty hard to keep a 5 fish limit. You might be better off having a paper tournament where each fish brought in is measured and the measurement is either what gets recorded, or it's converted to the average lbs for a fish that size. It's possible you could go the way of total catches as well or make them take pictures of the fish on a digital scale. Best of luck to you, I hope you can get a club like that going. 

[Fishes in trees]

Maybe different tournaments.   Boat tournaments and bank tournaments.   If I had to fish from the bank while other guys were fishing from boats, I just wouldn't play.  On bank fishing tournaments, guys with "mobility issues" are going to be at a competitive disadvantage compared to guys who don't have those issues.  If a contestant  has "mobility issues" can  he/she bring a lackey to help?  How many?  Maybe European Match fishing style, where a fisherman gets assigned a certain patch of the bank to fish from and that's it.   Those guys have raised chumming to a new level.  In Europe, in that scenario, 2" fish get weighed.

 

I think you've got a good idea for recreational outings.  With competitive fishing and money involved, I think there are many kinks to be worked out for it to be equitable to everyone.

 

If I were going to do this, I'd form the club first and then see from the available membership what kind of competitive situations can evolve.  JMO

[DerekFisherofMenJones]

I don't drive because of health problems, I have asked people in my area to go fishing with me but never taken seriously or no response from people in my area from my post. I just purchased a Sun Dolphin Sportsman 8' two person bass boat, the boat has never been on the water. I don't drive anymore which means I have no way to haul the boat to my secret pond's that I have permission to use. I need some advice on this subject, good fishing and God bless.

[Choporoz]

I've never been a member of a fishing club, nor been in a tournament....so, my opinion aint worth much....

 

 

But, if it were me, I'd be checking into Heroes on the Water, Reel American Heroes and the Irish Water Dogs group.  I don't know a lot about any of them, but I think they probably all started with someone who had your same idea/vision.  Maybe one of them has a local affiliate.

[Scott F]

You might consider not making it a tournament club. The number of vets that want to fish tournaments might be to limited. By making it a fishing club that might do a couple of tournaments you would increase the number of vets who might like to join. Tournaments aren't for everyone.

[DerekFisherofMenJones]

T/Y Scott for your advice, where ya located? Norman, Oklahoma here.

[Fishing03xx]

im not in OK but thank you for wanting to do something for veterans/disabled!  i hope you are able to get people to join