Leaderboard

Yes , I use WhatsApp . Over fifty names on it now, mostly non members from my other life. All folks who have said, “I might like to come with you one day”. At the push of a button I can invite them all and when they don’t come I can reward them with reports and pictures, sometimes almost live from the action . And so earlier in the week when wives, work and other worries put paid to to any of my contacts dropping the “other life” stuff at hideously short notice ,I once again had no crew for the weather opportunity which was Friday. The good skipper of Looby IV sportingly offered to take me on for the day and plans were made. We went with plan “c”; early trip down 7.30 bridge. Every fishing trip is an adventure . I’ll always associate the Dorset countryside with a sense of excited anticipation and the scene as the dawn broke over Cranbourne Chase seemed to articulate my mood. That’s why I was one minute late Jerry! But not too late for the Bridge The rest of the plan was simple; put the world to rights in the total absence of any political correctness whilst trying to assail the species comp leader board by scoring a bull Huss and/or a thornback dustbin lid. I’ve disguised our secret chosen location by cleverly photo shopping popular local tourist destinations into the background of my trophy shots.😉 suffice to say, with only two of us aboard we didn’t go further than we needed to. We anchored two hours before slack . The tidal run still had spirit for a while. We fished three well weighted ledgers an up tider and two lazy lines. It was fish from the off! (I will one day use that line to head up an Endeavour3 report!) Gurt (Wiltshire term) dustbin lids with spots on. To Jerry l He was pulling another up as the ferry went by. Jerry explained that the reason his lazy line had been out fished by mine was that a tope had eaten all his! Eventually he nearly got to interview it about its crimes as he got it up on light gear but it jumped bail and absconded. The mark produced six species,Rays(Blond or Spotted. I always get them the wrong ray round.) bream , four or five pouting , a couple of mackerel, a couple of troublesome small eels. That’s not six is it.? But there was something else. The wind got up so we went to Swanage and Jerry showed me how to read the ground there. Productivity was down; fish wise I mean. We weren’t short of inappropriate banter. I got far too excited over a two pound conger again and another bream came up The wind got up more. We opted to run round to shelter in the lee of old Harry. It was a popular call and the charter skipper who ran up and anchored just stern of our starboard became the focus of J’s endearments. I tied to calm him as the stag party aboard reached its crescendo. “Just young men having a good time. Like we were once” We stuck it there for a fruitless hour. But you can always pick up tips Like this ; the bucket in the foreground is full of fresh water . All used rigs and lines and ledgers go in there to get rinsed. The bucket in the background is allegedly full of hoodlums😕. Our last hoorah was an east west drift across the Swash and quietly beyond. I was was privileged to witness the first time Jerrys ever done that without Catching a single thing. Seems I did teach him how to do something after all! Four thirty bridge End of play great day. All spic and span again Thanks Looby IV Thanks Jerry Final thought ReWhatsApp. I did a WhatsApp report of little content beyond photos in very few minutes when I got in last night.. very easy and very immediate. This club report took longer, much longer . I struggle with the file handling etc . It’s not such an easy medium. If I had committed these experiences to a club WhatsApp exchange this report would not have been written in this style . You judge. I feel Terry Plaicemat has written the wise words on this. MG

I don't think the choice of technology is the answer to attracting younger members, what we need is to attract those who are enthusiastic about fishing and boats. Boats are a problem with the younger demographic which, if we are honest, has always been the case. Getting married, setting up a home and starting a family generally take precedence. I believe that the age range we are likely to attract are those who's families have grown up a bit and promotions have given them a bit of spare cash. We've all seen them at the marinas, keen and inexperienced and in need of a bit of help and, hopefully, they will bring their youngsters along with them. This is where we can come in but, how to make the connection, there is the rub! I, probably like the rest of you, am frequently accosting people on the pontoons and slipways of Poole extolling the advantages that membership of PBSBAC brings and what a bargain it is. How can this be ramped up? Perhaps we all need to carry promotion business cards to hand out at appropriate opportunities with online details, etc.. Terry.

All the above comments are very valid, yes certainly younger members would no doubt Whatsapp more but at present we cannot attract them into the club, (i use it a lot). Have we now not got a FB page? Something i look at but very seldom post and dont want to know most of what is!! For techy members, would Instagram be better than You Tube??? I follow various fishing friends around the world on this, just short videos which pop up on your phone and most of the Poole charters post on Instagram which i am tuned into. The meeting may of been light on numbers but it has created good discussion, WELL DONE Lofty!! ps i am more unsociable than Graham above!

I completely agree Greg, Im on a number of forums for my trade and football, but as soon a Watsapp groups take over they literally do that .. TAKE OVER. The order of the forums disappears and the conversations I'm interested in just get lost in a sea of posts that are not of so much interest. I like that I can follow the catch reports or trip planning without having to wade through loads of posts that are not of so much interest. Incidentally, I don't go to club meetings mainly because I am in bed by 8pm most nights ready for a 4 or 5am start in the morning. Im an unsociable git too 😉

Hi everyone. It was great to come to the club last night but saddened to see not many people made it out. We talked about how to improve participation and I have a suggestion . A club WhatsApp chat. One person adds every member to a WhatsApp group. Others can join with a link. This could drive participation and is always a good way to communicate. If you don’t want to join in you don’t have to leave the group, just mute it. Many people use WhatsApp. It’s free. You can share photos and arrange meetings. I’m a member of several Spanish WhatsApp groups and they are always busy. Something for the committee to consider as they have everyone’s phone number. Gracias Lofty Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interestingly, Carol and I were having a conversation with Brad last night and he is interested in creating Short Short Films/Vids. These are mainly distributed amongst three platforms:- Instagram, Tic Toc and You Tube. And apparently no one platform is more popular than the other. Face Book and Twitter are not so popular with the Youngsters anymore!! This is half the problem. The club as an organisation trying to keep up with technology is dammed near impossible!!! There's only one answer for it. Attract a committee of 14 year olds 😁

I agree terry, the club site serves the needs and doesn't need diluting, it needs to encourage more use, sometimes I think it's lack of confidence in the technology that needs encouraging, bit by bit there are people willing to help those struggling i am sure of that and they would post and participate more then. Colin.

I have done a bit of research into the use of WhatsApp for interest groups through my role as IT and Media officer in the local U3a. My findings, for what they are worth, is that there is not a lot of benefit to be gained. We have the benefit of a forum which everyone is happy to get involved in which leads to protracted discussions at times and also a PM system which is useful. Another level, I feel, would only dilute what we have and may even create cliques within the club. Of course, there is nothing to stop members forming their own WhatsApp groups, for all I know they probably already have. However, although it is a very efficient means of communication and passing photographs, etc, it doesn't tick all the boxes that the forum does which is the organ to which members associate membership of the club with. If members have regular companions with whom they fish or skippers they crew for, WhatsApp away but, there may be occasions when an offer of a trip may not be wanted to be shared with the whole group. For a loose group of friends who do not have the security blanket of a club, WhatsApp is perfect. Horses for courses! Terry.

I get what you are saying Lofty, but the club has just recently had the expense of up grading the forum. Would there be a danger the WhatsApp chat group could make the forum redundant? Plus you may miss notifications whereas when they are on posted on the forum they are properly formatted for everyone to view and post comments as and when they want to. It’s a difficult one as I am not sure they could effectively run alongside each other. This is just my opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As Mal said last night, it’s an aging club. A club WhatsApp group might appeal to the younger generation? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk