Why I'm a Century Club Member

Being a Century Club member costs me an extra $100 a year. That's $100 to a guy who can ill afford any extra expense—money that could be invested in fishing gear, guides, fishing travel expenses, and other good stuff. It's equal to nearly a two-and-a-half months of lunch tickets for my daughter, a month's phone bill, a new power saw, and other necessary stuff.

No one requires that I do it—I get virtually every benefit of GRTU without paying it, and it's easy to put off or avoid altogether. Some years I don't get to the river enough to make it worthwhile —if I get down to fish 10 times, it means an extra cost of $10 a trip.

Why do I bother? I've thought about this some, and at first all I thought of were feel-good reasons: it’s what I owe the fish or the sport, or some equally noble but corny payback rationale. After a lot of thought, however, it comes down to one of two things that keep me kicking in $100 a year for no tangible reward:

1. The total investment I make in GRTU adds up to $225 per year—less than what I would pay for a guide for one day on water that’s no better—but instead I get unlimited access to 2.5 miles of restricted regulation water, of which over half is virtually private/exclusive water. By paying a little extra I hope to have it available for a long time to come.
2. Even though I may not get down there as much as I would like, by joining the Century Club I feel that I'm helping maintain the potential of the fishery so that it’s there when and if I can get down to fish.

OK, so they're still nothing more than feel-good reasons after all, but they work for me. I recommend it to all GRTU members: invest in your fishing future and the future of the Guadalupe trout fishery. Join the Century Club.

Return to October 1998 Newsletter