I want to join a large bass club next year, how do I know if it's a "keeper" Lol! Junebugman

What are some things you want out of the club? For me when I was scouting for a club I wanted a larger schedule, specifically fishing a wide variety of lakes.

You may find that there are many clubs who will fish one or two lakes, and thats it. Many clubs will have a big annual trip out of state. Most clubs will have weights posted from previous tournaments. I checked the weights to make sure there were some quality fisherman that I could learn from.

Most clubs will allow you to visit for a meeting or two before joining. When you go to the meeting see how it's ran, and meet the members. Don't be shocked if the meeting has a flare up, and an argument occurs (it happens). If the argument stays intelligent and controlled no big deal. That's about all I can think of as of now, but it's really about what you want out of it.

Get to know as many as possible away from the water and the meetings. see how they live.

Attend a few meetings, fish with as many as possible before making a decision.

I'm going to disagree with the above post concerning the outbreaks at the meetings. We never have arguments in ours. We might/do disagree on a lot of things, but never an uproar at all(EVER). Can't remember the last time anything got loud or out of hand at one of our meetings.

Clubs come in all shapes and set ups. Some are federated/or not, some fish big water, some only fish small water, some fish a team events, some pro am, some split time, they all have different payout systems, some have junior clubs, some do a lot of conservation work/some do none, some only meet on the second Tuesday of the month and maybe you can't make Tuesdays!

So what I did:

1.) Make a list of why you want to join a club.

2.) Make a list of clubs in your area.

3.) Start visiting those clubs.

4.) Ask other fishermen about those clubs.

The one that matches your personal criteria the closest will probably be your best bet.

Number 1: Quality of the people. Do you get along with everyone and do you like everyone.

Everything is personal preference. I mean I only see/talk to my guys twice a month. One for the meeting night and one for tournament day. But we are spending 8+ hours on the water together, so you need get along. Some people out there aren't meant to be people persons.

See, Look, Listen and Learn, then Learn what you want out of the club.I like clubs to were you change partner's for your tournament's,you find different techniques, strategies,and locate fish as well fishing with other's.  Draw  Tournament's