KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES

 

     With the second tournament in the books, the season is into full gear and it's apparent that Nick Albano, John Hart, and Jason Mordhorst, have high aspirations on the 2008 Angler of the Year title.  Make no mistake though, Last year's top angler, Pat VanWettering will not go quietly nor will two other former Anglers of the year, John Ernest and Bill Vella.  Knowing that I'm missing at least one event, I'm just happy to be competing with these guys for now!  

     One thing amazed me when we returned to Montvale and I'm not really sure why.  When it came time to split expenses for the day, most guys were charging $35-$40, and that seems absolutely reasonable given today's gas prices.  I thought about it and rationalized that I had put in $100 worth of gas in the truck and boat, most of which was used up, and that didn;t consider the Tappan Zee toll or outboard oil (which is now at least $30 a gallon).  Boy have things changed from only a few years ago.  Back then, a trip up to Candlewood averaged about $25 for the rider, but with gas prices nearly doubling over the past three years, $35-$40 now seems like a bargain!  Then, another thought crossed my mind...I put more gas in this morning that I won taking third place in the tournament!!!  

     As a club, we have always wanted to keep the monetary reward of our tournaments quite modest so as to not drive up competition, but factoring in inflation, our fixed payouts now border on being somewhat insignificant.  Of course winning and taking lunker still brings a respectable paycheck but even that just covers your annual dues.  With the 5th place finisher reaping in the benefit of a $25 payout, it no longer even covers the cost of the day's expenses.  That said, to me, we should think about factoring inflation into our payouts and adjusting where necessary so as to improve the payouts into something meaningful yet still maintaining their modesty.  

    Raising payouts means that it would have to be paid for either by a corresponding raising of dues or the elimination/redistribution of other costs.  While there have been a lot of rumblings once again about not paying for the Metro team and rather giving each member of the Bergen team $100 to help with expenses for the team tournament.  I'm all for that idea but that leaves few areas where I believe we should take away monies from to support increased payouts and therefore my proposal would be for a dues increase of $25.  Of that $25 increase, $15 would go strictly towards increasing the payouts for each event.  The other $10 would be for an increase in the Classic payout and to cover the general increases in operating the club for the next few years.   I also believe strongly that the lunker prize for one fish should not be 50% more than the payout for 2nd place!  Therefore, my suggestion is to redistribute some money from lunker and increase the other 5 payout positions. 

 

Each payout would increase by $25 and lunker reduced.  Therefore, the new fixed payouts would be as such:

 

1st place - $225

2nd place - $125

3rd place - $100

4th place - $75

5th place - $50

Lunker - $100

 

     Of course, this example is predicated on a full membership of 36 anglers but I sincerely think that it is a very reasonable suggestion to consider.  The increase to each member is fairly small ($25 a year) but each tournament's total payout would increase by $75 and the club will be able to account for a few extra bucks to cover the increased costs of things like the Classic, plaques, and Awards Dinner. 

     So, give it some thought.  As we are mid year and these changes would be suggested for next year, this is simply an idea that I am throwing out to the club.  It's not a motion to change the rules in any form just yet but will likely be formalized into a motion by the October meeting with hopeful voting in November. 

     With gas prices eating away at our discretionary income, it's time the club changes to "Keep up with the times" and raise the payouts that were set back in the 90's when gas was $1.50 a gallon!!  Give it some thought and I'd love to hear if your feedback.

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