What ever happened to "Meet&Greet" days?

[Slackdaddy]

What happened to the monthly M&G hookups??

I'm hoping that one I showed up in the Speedo did not end it for everyone????

[J.A. Veil]

Meet and Greet meetings require one or more persons to host the event. A decade ago, many of our members stepped forward and hosted events. On the Fly (Bass Pro employee) arranged for a meeting in the Bass Pro Shops conference room each year to plan out the year's agenda. Bit by bit, the enthusiasm and participation dwindled. This seems to run parallel with the reduced participation in Snaggedline posting and replying. These days, most folks set up fishing meetings with buddies through private Facebook pages or via email communications.

You or others are welcome to set up new Meet and Greet events for kayak anglers. Hosts need to identify a date, time, and location to meet and fish. Often arrangements are made with a restaurant for a lunch at the end of the fishing time. But without individuals stepping up to do this, Meet and Greet events will remain a thing of the past.

[Red_Beard]

Last fall about a half dozen of us meet up for a day of fishing at Triadelphia Reservoir that I helped organized on here. The status of that lake has been up in the air this year between the dredging project that keeps getting delayed, plus a harmful algae bloom. It would be nice to get something similar set up in the next month or so, but someone else would need to take the helm on that. We've just moved into a new house, and my schedule is a mess. Haven't been out in the kayak in over two months, and only been fishing twice in that time.

[UnkleRob2020]

Slackdaddy (lol on the Speedo) , I was there at Tridelphia on the occassion that Cliff is mentioning above...it's funny because that same day, a couple of guys were heading to the Eastern Shore to fish for stripers and I was torn as to which group to join, but I went to Tridelphia as I had committed there first. I am glad I did as I caught my one and only LM bass on topwater last year with a whopper plopper. Also, I just like to be a person who can be counted on to keep their word.

I don't want to name drop, but I have probably fished with approximately 10 anglers from the forum over the last two years. Each time I fish with someone new, I learn something. I have not yet fished with another angler from the forum and had a bad time.

I guess the most difficult part is setting up the first meeting. After that, if everything went well, the opportunities seem to present themselves more and more.

I am happy to fish with you or attend a meet and greet in the upcoming couple of months.

[Slackdaddy]

Thanks for all the responses.
I'll try to post up a few days prior when I am going out local, any and all welcome.

Some fishing is not conducive to groups, such as smallmouth fishing on smaller mountain streams/rivers.

[UnkleRob2020]

Sounds good. One thing I have noticed repeatedly...when I am out fishing and I see an angler that clearly has a kayak outfitted for fishing, if we start to chat, I will ask "Are you on Snaggedline." If they are aware of the forum, their response is almost always, "I used to be on the forum, but I am not active anymore...but I will read the fishing reports sometimes" If a few of those anglers would come back into the fold, it would be nice...at least that is my personal opinion.

[kevinfry]

Meet and Greet meetings require one or more persons to host the event. A decade ago, many of our members stepped forward and hosted events. On the Fly (Bass Pro employee) arranged for a meeting in the Bass Pro Shops conference room each year to plan out the year's agenda. Bit by bit, the enthusiasm and participation dwindled. This seems to run parallel with the reduced participation in Snaggedline posting and replying. These days, most folks set up fishing meetings with buddies through private Facebook pages or via email communications.

You or others are welcome to set up new Meet and Greet events for kayak anglers. Hosts need to identify a date, time, and location to meet and fish. Often arrangements are made with a restaurant for a lunch at the end of the fishing time. But without individuals stepping up to do this, Meet and Greet events will remain a thing of the past.

I loved setting up meet and greets, but I think interest dwindled as the popularity of the sport increased. Finding like minded fishing buddies got easier. Conversely, benefit of meet and greet diminished.
I found some real great friends and fishing buddies back in those days!

[Mark]

The issue of legal liability should someone be injured on a M&G outing was discussed at the winter Bass Pro planning meetings in later years. The question was never satisfactorily answered -- many opinions, no legally sound conclusions -- which I believe caused some to back away from organizing and leading future outings.

Most groups I have been affiliated with, like Heroes on the Water, the Chesapeake Paddlers Association and the Free State Fly Fishers require club sponsored outing participants to sign a waiver obsolving the organization and trip leaders of liability should an injury occur to a participant.

The argument against the need for a waiver was that Snaggedline was not a dues paying organization and that its membership and leadership were informal. However, given our litigious society, some were concerned about organizing future trips open to all comers due to the potential for personal injury of a participant and the financial risks that may be incurred by trip leaders.

That is not the sole reason M&G sessions ended but it was a factor.

I enjoyed attending the M&Gs. I met good friends through Snaggedline M&Gs. Plus, we had some really nice events, like the ones at Lowes Wharf in the summer that were well attended. I also sponsored or co-sponsored a few M&Gs here in Anne Arundel County. Getting the word out was not difficult thanks to this forum. But there was non-trivial work involved for trip leaders in keeping count of attendees before, during and after the outing and reserving a suitable site for lunch. Some folks just don't want to be involved in organizing an outing and that's understandable.

But as others have said here, it's easy to approach those with your fishing interests here on Snaggedline either in an open post or a via a PM to seek their company on an outing.

[CHOC]

The issue of legal liability should someone be injured on a M&G outing was discussed at the winter Bass Pro planning meetings in later years. The question was never satisfactorily answered -- many opinions, no legally sound conclusions -- which I believe caused some to back away from organizing and leading future outings.

Most groups I have been affiliated with, like Heroes on the Water, the Chesapeake Paddlers Association and the Free State Fly Fishers require club sponsored outing participants to sign a waiver obsolving the organization and trip leaders of liability should an injury occur to a participant.

The argument against the need for a waiver was that Snaggedline was not a dues paying organization and that its membership and leadership were informal. However, given our litigious society, some were concerned about organizing future trips open to all comers due to the potential for personal injury of a participant and the financial risks that may be incurred by trip leaders.

That is not the sole reason M&G sessions ended but it was a factor.

I enjoyed attending the M&Gs. I met good friends through Snaggedline M&Gs. Plus, we had some really nice events, like the ones at Lowes Wharf in the summer that were well attended. I also sponsored or co-sponsored a few M&Gs here in Anne Arundel County. Getting the word out was not difficult thanks to this forum. But there was non-trivial work involved for trip leaders in keeping count of attendees before, during and after the outing and reserving a suitable site for lunch. Some folks just don't want to be involved in organizing an outing and that's understandable.

But as others have said here, it's easy to approach those with your fishing interests here on Snaggedline either in an open post or a via a PM to seek their company on an outing.

Mark, I sincerely hope people didn't stop planning meet and greets because they thought they'd be sued. If so, that's really sad and pretty silly. If I called you tomorrow and asked you to come fishing with me, and I got hurt, I couldn't sue you. I don't see this being any different.

-Crazyhorse

[J.A. Veil]

Grant - Mark's points are valid. In today's litigious society, folks look for any opportunity to push blame onto another party. Our legal system allows for a variety of law suits, some justified -- others not really.

I am not an attorney, but recognize that there is some potential for getting sued in many boating situations. When I owned a boat and took passengers with me, I understood that if an accident occurred (whether my fault or not), I could potentially be sued. For that reason, I tended to invite only people whom I knew and had some certainty that they would not sue me.

I disagree with your statement above: "If I called you tomorrow and asked you to come fishing with me, and I got hurt, I couldn't sue you". If you asked me to fish with you, and you operated or crashed the boat in a way that caused serious injury to me, I could definitely sue you. For me personally, I probably would not sue, but there are many (both the affected party or survivors) who would not hesitate to sue.

I know of some (but certainly not all) fishing guides that require their clients to sign a waiver form before the trip begins.

In past years, when I hosted or co-hosted kayak fishing Meet and Greet events, I included a statement in the online announcements of the event that each participant was responsible for their own safety, and that appropriate safety gear should be worn by anyone joining the event. I don't know if that type of language would be sufficient to forestall a lawsuit.

So sadly, concern over having a lawsuit filed against a person or organization is real and bears some consideration. My wife and I watch local TV news from 6:00 to 6:30. About half of the commercials for those broadcast are personal injury lawyers who are chomping at the bit to file suits.

I don't think that issue was a major consideration in the decline of Meet and Greet events, but it may have contributed.

[Mark]

Choc,

The difference in your analogy is that you initiated the trip and that attendence was limited to me. Presumably you knew my capabilities and I knew you would not endnager my wellbeing and that you would lead the outing with due caution and safety in mind.

But conditions that are safe for you and me, say in a kayak outing, may not be so for a novice or others in an outing open to all comers. If someone were to drown or be injured their family or the injured party may seek legal redress for their "endangerment". That's a fact in our society today. And frankly, even a signed waiver may not hold up if a court decides the trip leader acted in a wreckless manner.

I also know from my experience as president of a fishing club that finding insurers for on-the-water club sponsored events is difficult to impossible. That's why many such organizations require participant waivers.

Indeed this topic of potential liability was discussed at M&G planning meetings and the concern expressed was genuine.

I agree that it's a sad situation that some would seek to profit from an honest accident. But it happens every day. Hence the barrage of TV and billboard ads from injury lawyers.

Again, I didn't say that fear of litigation is why the M&G outings stopped. But it did cause some of us who led M&G outings in the past to pause and think.

That said, I have led some on this forum on informal outings to places of my choice in the past and I have joined others here in locations they have chosen. I will continue to do so.