Months of speculation ended at the PAC' s AGM in Nottingham today, when the committee which will run the club for the next three years was announced.
In his first address Tim Kelly, the club's new president, thanked the previous committee for their work on the club's behalf.
"When they came in there was a real buzz, it was obvious there was a new committee and things were happening," he said. "If we can build on that it will be a great thing.
"To go forward, I would like the aim of the committee to be to make things better for pike anglers.
"Some clubs have petty rules and things which get in the way of their fishing. You have fisheries where they have braided line bans and other silly things like that."
Tim said the club would strive to be more inclusive and attract more pike anglers who were not members to join.
Graham Slater, the club's new secretary, said his initial reaction on being approached was to turn down the post.
"But if everybody in the history of the PAC had said no it would have folded years ago," he said.
"I'm a bit disappointed I don't get to dress up as a secretary, but joking aside, there's part of m that's looking forward to it.
"There are going to be times when we might have difficult times and difficult decisions to make but that's what we're here for."
Events organiser Guy Micklewright said he hoped to build on the "great job" done by his predecessor Mark Skinner.
"There's more to events than Menteith and more to events than catching a big fish, great though that is," he said. "I'm hoping to increase events and improve the social side of things.
"We want them to be occasions when people can get together, form friendships and get as much from this as they get from the fishing itself."
Guy said he expected his legal qualifications to be of use to the club over the next three years.
"I'm a practising barrister and I hope there are skills I have which may be helpful in what we do in future."
Membership secretary Chico Winterton said: "I'm your new membership secretary, together with my helper Bryan Ashford.
"Filling John Cahill and Pete Green's shoes is not going to be an easy task, they've both been coaching me for months now so whether I fail miserably will be down to them."
Chico said an increase in membership subs - which had been held for three years by the previous committee - would be confirmed in Pikelines, becoming effective immediately.
"I'm going to be the harbinger of doom now," he said. "Every category is going to be raised by £3, meaning adult membership goes up from £19.50 to £22.50."
He added a new three-year offer gave members willing to commit to the club for three years the chance to save £7.50 over that time.
Advertising manager Ben Thomas paid tribute to the hard work of his predecessor Mike Kelly.
"Attracting advertisers is going to get more difficult, as Mike's explained," he said. "I've already experienced it, having made calls to a couple of advertisers before today.
"members have to let advertisers know when they buy from them that they got their phone number, address or website from the PAC."
Ben, whose role includes taking over organising the PAC Convention, said this September's event would again be held at Stoneleigh.
"There will be new advertisers coming in and taking stands at Stoneleigh," he added. "Next year, we'll have to wait and see but we're going to keep it where everyone can get access to it."
Webmaster Mike Skipper thanked outgoing web supremo Dave Lumb, who set up the PAC website, for his hard work over the years.
"Everyone who looks at our website says it's a very well thought-out and content-rich site and I intend to try and add to it," he said.
He added the club would also be making more use of social networking media like Twitter and Facebook.
Mark Skinner will be remaining on the committee to take over the role of products manager, with help from Gary Hodd.
"Mick's done a great job, I'm going to try and sell the book so those who've not already got one better buy one as we've only got 1,000 left," he said.
Chris Bishop will remain as press officer until after the Convention, when a successor will be appointed.
John Synnuck will remain as treasurer for the first year of the new committee's term.
"I'm very enthused with the group of people I'm going to be working with," he said.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
TENPAC leaves strong club as new committee takes the reins, pike anglers' AGM told today
There have been successes and there have been failures. But the Pike Anglers Club has had a higher profile than for many years and remains a force to be reckoned with.
That was the message at the predator fishing club's AGM in Nottingham today, as TENPAC - the tenth committee to have run the club since its formation 32 years ago - handed over to its successor.
Opening the meeting chairman Colin Goodge said: "I've been very satisified with this committee, they've done a marvellous job. We didn't achieve all we'd like to have but they've put the PAC back on the map.
"I've been proud to be a part of it and I'd like to thank them for all their hard work over the last three years."
Outgoing president Phil Wakeford said the club had come a long way and achieved a lot during its 32 year history.
Of the Tenth PAC committee's term, which began in May 2006, he added: "There've been some successes, there've been some failures but the games never over.
"You've got to redouble your efforts and keep chipping away at it and one good thing is there are always people willing to put their hands up to keep this club of ours going."
One ambition of the tenth committee was to grow the PAC's membership beyond the record of 3,000 achieved in the early 1990s. Many of the outgoing regime are disappointed they failed to achieve it.
"The biggest target is regular pike anglers who are not members of the club," Phil said. "How do we get to them..?"
Phil said relations had improved between the PAC and Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland, while there were also encouraging signs that a new pike conservation group would be set up in the Irish Republic.
"What is the glue that holds us together," he said, closing his final address as president. "Clubs come and go but the PAC is still here. We're still strong and we're still a force to be reckoned with."
Events organiser Mark Skinner said his main aim on taking office had been to increase the number of events open to members.
"As everyone knows, Menteith is the club's main event, but these events are few and far between so other avenues had to be explored," he said.
"I therefore aimed our events more towards the social side of fishing and tried to offer members venues where meeting up, making new friends and rekindling old friendships was another thing to focus on , rather than just fishing a place with the chance of catching big fish."
Mark said one highlight was being on the Menteith event where Newcastle-based Lyn Baker caught the biggest pike ever to be caught by a woman in the British Isles. The capture sparked coverage in national newspapers including The Sun and TV appearences for Lyn, which raised the profile of the PAC and its work.
"I actually mentioned to Lynn how great it would be for a woman to catch a big fish on the event in the Rob Roy the night before," he said. "Needless to say I had a few members asking me to say the same thing to them on the night before our last event on Menteith."
Mark said meeting members and making new contacts had been another highlight of marshalling events.
"You can talk to members via our forum or through e-mail, but nothing bats meeting other members face-to-face out on a day's fishing.
"To finish off, I'd just like to say I've really enjoyed my time in the role and working with everyone on the committee.
"We've had our ups and downs, we've had our disagreements but we've focussed on what's been good for the club."
Products manager Michael Hastings said: "I'm going to keep it short and sweet like Kylie.
"I inherited a good system from Mick Culpan and I don't think I've messed it up too much."
Michael said products revenue had grown to more than £7,000 in 2007/08. He said products were a popular way for members to support the club, with "badges, caps and 'ats" proving more popular than mugs and mousemats, while a stock of PAC30 - the commemorative book published to celebrate the club's 30th anniversary - remained unsold.
"I've enjoyed the last three years and I'm proud to be a member of this club," he said. "This committee has taken the club forward - we've taken over a good club and we've not mucked it up too badly."
In characteristically to the point style, webmaster Dave Lumb said: "We've still got a website, we've got a forum, we've got a webshop, we've got a blog and we've got a gallery like a blog and someone else is going to be doing i from this afternoon."
Advertising manager Mike Kelly said the recession had seen many larger players in the fishing industry slash budgets, while some companies had gone out of business over the last three years.
"We've lost quite a few advertisers, Hengelsport, Harris, Lure Mania, Lureshack and John Roberts," he said. "We've got new advertisers but we've lost income. We've got a lot of small advertisers and we're in a recession."
Secretary Mark Barrett said the club still had a strong regional structure. But he said the future lay in smaller, larger regional groups.
"We don't have the number of speakers and pike anglers attending meetings to make 120-odd regions viable," he said. "It's a bit much to drive a long way and find there's one man and a dog in a pub."
Press officer Chris Bishop said his term had began dealing with negative stories about pike fishing and establishing the club as a port of call for comment and information about predator angling.
He said the club had won some high profile victories, but the landscape and the media were changing fast.
"Having a blog was fairly cutting edge when we launched it, a lot of other angling organisations followed suit," he said. "Now it's old hat and the future's going to be about finding new ways of reaching people."
Treasurer John Synnuck presented the club's accounts and said while they would show a small surplus, this came mainly in the final quarter of the year. John said while newspapers were reporting the first signs the economy was recovering, the recession was likely to impact further on the PAC.
"Whether we like it or not, it's going to have a direct effect on people going fishing and pike anglers," he said. "People will be fishing less regularly and won't be joining clubs like ours.
"If we end up in three years' time with the same number of members we've got now that in itself will be a fantastic feat."
Pikelines production editor Steve Ormrod reported on behalf of himself and co-editor Neville Fickling, who could not attend the AGM.
"At his worst, he's the grumpiest man alive," he said. "At his best, he's the best features editor you could ever wish to work with."
Steve said the incoming committe had asked him to remain in post for the next two issues, to allow them time to review the position of Pikelines manager. He said he would be taking a back seat, non-committee role.
He outlined cost savings, which meant the magazine was cheaper to produce than in 2005/06.
"The magazine won't be changing that much in the short-term," he said. "The new chaps are keen to have an impact, so watch this space and see what happens.
"But be assured Pikelines will always be a quality product. The PAC has a very bright future."
John Synnuck gave a report on behalf of membership secretary John Cahill. He said while membership had not reached the hallowed 3,000 mark, it had grown from 1830 in May 2006, to 2065 today.
"That's a growth of 12.5 per cent so we have had some significant success at growin the numbers," John said. "John's done fantastic job and was one of the heroes on the PAC committee - it's ball-breaking work for very little thanks." John said John Cahill was "ably assisted" by his predecessor Peter Green.
Closing the outgoing committee's final reports, Colin Goodge said: "This has been a very successful committee, they've done everything they've been asked and more. We now finish with a strong PAC thanks to the lads around me."
That was the message at the predator fishing club's AGM in Nottingham today, as TENPAC - the tenth committee to have run the club since its formation 32 years ago - handed over to its successor.
Opening the meeting chairman Colin Goodge said: "I've been very satisified with this committee, they've done a marvellous job. We didn't achieve all we'd like to have but they've put the PAC back on the map.
"I've been proud to be a part of it and I'd like to thank them for all their hard work over the last three years."
Outgoing president Phil Wakeford said the club had come a long way and achieved a lot during its 32 year history.
Of the Tenth PAC committee's term, which began in May 2006, he added: "There've been some successes, there've been some failures but the games never over.
"You've got to redouble your efforts and keep chipping away at it and one good thing is there are always people willing to put their hands up to keep this club of ours going."
One ambition of the tenth committee was to grow the PAC's membership beyond the record of 3,000 achieved in the early 1990s. Many of the outgoing regime are disappointed they failed to achieve it.
"The biggest target is regular pike anglers who are not members of the club," Phil said. "How do we get to them..?"
Phil said relations had improved between the PAC and Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland, while there were also encouraging signs that a new pike conservation group would be set up in the Irish Republic.
"What is the glue that holds us together," he said, closing his final address as president. "Clubs come and go but the PAC is still here. We're still strong and we're still a force to be reckoned with."
Events organiser Mark Skinner said his main aim on taking office had been to increase the number of events open to members.
"As everyone knows, Menteith is the club's main event, but these events are few and far between so other avenues had to be explored," he said.
"I therefore aimed our events more towards the social side of fishing and tried to offer members venues where meeting up, making new friends and rekindling old friendships was another thing to focus on , rather than just fishing a place with the chance of catching big fish."
Mark said one highlight was being on the Menteith event where Newcastle-based Lyn Baker caught the biggest pike ever to be caught by a woman in the British Isles. The capture sparked coverage in national newspapers including The Sun and TV appearences for Lyn, which raised the profile of the PAC and its work.
"I actually mentioned to Lynn how great it would be for a woman to catch a big fish on the event in the Rob Roy the night before," he said. "Needless to say I had a few members asking me to say the same thing to them on the night before our last event on Menteith."
Mark said meeting members and making new contacts had been another highlight of marshalling events.
"You can talk to members via our forum or through e-mail, but nothing bats meeting other members face-to-face out on a day's fishing.
"To finish off, I'd just like to say I've really enjoyed my time in the role and working with everyone on the committee.
"We've had our ups and downs, we've had our disagreements but we've focussed on what's been good for the club."
Products manager Michael Hastings said: "I'm going to keep it short and sweet like Kylie.
"I inherited a good system from Mick Culpan and I don't think I've messed it up too much."
Michael said products revenue had grown to more than £7,000 in 2007/08. He said products were a popular way for members to support the club, with "badges, caps and 'ats" proving more popular than mugs and mousemats, while a stock of PAC30 - the commemorative book published to celebrate the club's 30th anniversary - remained unsold.
"I've enjoyed the last three years and I'm proud to be a member of this club," he said. "This committee has taken the club forward - we've taken over a good club and we've not mucked it up too badly."
In characteristically to the point style, webmaster Dave Lumb said: "We've still got a website, we've got a forum, we've got a webshop, we've got a blog and we've got a gallery like a blog and someone else is going to be doing i from this afternoon."
Advertising manager Mike Kelly said the recession had seen many larger players in the fishing industry slash budgets, while some companies had gone out of business over the last three years.
"We've lost quite a few advertisers, Hengelsport, Harris, Lure Mania, Lureshack and John Roberts," he said. "We've got new advertisers but we've lost income. We've got a lot of small advertisers and we're in a recession."
Secretary Mark Barrett said the club still had a strong regional structure. But he said the future lay in smaller, larger regional groups.
"We don't have the number of speakers and pike anglers attending meetings to make 120-odd regions viable," he said. "It's a bit much to drive a long way and find there's one man and a dog in a pub."
Press officer Chris Bishop said his term had began dealing with negative stories about pike fishing and establishing the club as a port of call for comment and information about predator angling.
He said the club had won some high profile victories, but the landscape and the media were changing fast.
"Having a blog was fairly cutting edge when we launched it, a lot of other angling organisations followed suit," he said. "Now it's old hat and the future's going to be about finding new ways of reaching people."
Treasurer John Synnuck presented the club's accounts and said while they would show a small surplus, this came mainly in the final quarter of the year. John said while newspapers were reporting the first signs the economy was recovering, the recession was likely to impact further on the PAC.
"Whether we like it or not, it's going to have a direct effect on people going fishing and pike anglers," he said. "People will be fishing less regularly and won't be joining clubs like ours.
"If we end up in three years' time with the same number of members we've got now that in itself will be a fantastic feat."
Pikelines production editor Steve Ormrod reported on behalf of himself and co-editor Neville Fickling, who could not attend the AGM.
"At his worst, he's the grumpiest man alive," he said. "At his best, he's the best features editor you could ever wish to work with."
Steve said the incoming committe had asked him to remain in post for the next two issues, to allow them time to review the position of Pikelines manager. He said he would be taking a back seat, non-committee role.
He outlined cost savings, which meant the magazine was cheaper to produce than in 2005/06.
"The magazine won't be changing that much in the short-term," he said. "The new chaps are keen to have an impact, so watch this space and see what happens.
"But be assured Pikelines will always be a quality product. The PAC has a very bright future."
John Synnuck gave a report on behalf of membership secretary John Cahill. He said while membership had not reached the hallowed 3,000 mark, it had grown from 1830 in May 2006, to 2065 today.
"That's a growth of 12.5 per cent so we have had some significant success at growin the numbers," John said. "John's done fantastic job and was one of the heroes on the PAC committee - it's ball-breaking work for very little thanks." John said John Cahill was "ably assisted" by his predecessor Peter Green.
Closing the outgoing committee's final reports, Colin Goodge said: "This has been a very successful committee, they've done everything they've been asked and more. We now finish with a strong PAC thanks to the lads around me."
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