Rodney Stevens
Interest is building in establishing a Lower Clarence Fishing Club after local Rod Ellis raised the idea less than two weeks ago.
Like many good ideas, this one was brewed over the consumption of a few ‘brews’ at Maclean Bowling Club.
“I’ve been living here for about two-and-a-half years, and I’ve been enquiring about fishing clubs and there is one where they meet down at Sandon, but their books are closed,” he said.
“Everything else was either too far away, or they’re into just river fishing, so I thought well, if I can’t join one, I’ll just start my own.
“I mentioned it to a few guys at the bowling club who were sitting at the table, and they all said, ‘I’m in’…I’ve had a lot of interest out of everyone I’ve mentioned it too already.”
A retired carpenter and cattle farmer from Murwillumbah and Leycester, Mr Ellis said despite never having been a member of a fishing club he is a passionate fisherman and knows many people who are interested in fishing or own boats.
“I’ve got a neighbour next door who has got a boat but never uses it and I’ve got a friend who I play golf with who also doesn’t use his boat,” he said.
“They said ‘we don’t know a lot about fishing, where to go and what to do to catch fish’.
“The whole idea of the club is if you have got a boat, you can join the club and we will have an outing with members who will go with you, know the location and the conditions and they will teach you.
“It’s fishing club, not a boating club, and we will have a competition of beach fishing one month, then maybe rock fishing or river fishing.
“I’m interested in offshore fishing and weekends away or a few days away fishing during the week, two or three times a year we could head down to Woody Head, or Sandon, or Brooms Head, for a weekend or longer.
“The whole idea is to get people together who are interested in having a talk about it and we can decide how we want to do things and in which directions we want to go.”
Mr Ellis said he has spoken to Maclean Bowling Club about forming a fishing club and they were supportive of the idea, suggesting two ways the club could be run.
Anyone who is interested in forming a Lower Clarence Fishing Club can contact Rod Ellis via SMS on 0481 749 226 or by emailing ellisfarm103@gmail.com