The Kyabram Anglers Club were paid a visit by the Kyabram Historical Society on Tuesday, June 11 where a group of 15 fascinated guests were treated to the history of the long-running fishing club.
The club itself is celebrating 40 years in October this year, and treasurer Shirley Soares and member Stephan Warde were more than happy to talk about the amalgamation of the group.
Founded in 1984, the club is a Kyabram community staple with over 120 members who enjoy regular fishing trips and share stories over Friday night drinks at the clubrooms.
In addition to weekly drinks, the club meets on the first Monday of each month to discuss upcoming trips, past adventures, and successes, and to participate in a monthly raffle.
Club treasurer Mrs Soares is not a fisher herself — more inclined to settle on the bank with a book rather than on a swaying boat — but she’s passionate about the club, nonetheless.
Mr Warde, who has been with the group since its inception and served as president from 2018 to 2021, has witnessed the club's growth.
The clubrooms were built through the dedicated hard work of members over many years.
Before they owned the clubrooms located on Wood Rd in Kyabram, the fishing club ran out of a shack down in Werribee, which they still own to this day.
However, as interest in the club grew, Mr Warde said they decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things — and for a new clubroom, they needed $140,000.
“We ran a big fishing comp out at Morgans Beach, out that way,” Mrs Soares said.
“We started that in about 2002, and ran it for about seven years, and we made $20,000 profit per year until we had secured the funding,” she said.
Mr Warde said the club received “a lot of help” from volunteers and club members to build the Wood St clubrooms into where it stands today.
In addition to volunteer support, the club is renowned for its contributions to the Kyabram community.
Anglers club members were partly responsible for the development of the skate park on Fenaughty St that is still frequented by eager skaters today.
“It was one of the first things we did for a community outside of fishing — we had guys laying concrete and building the dome — and all up it took about 18 months,” Mr Warde said.
The club also partners with schools and community groups around Kyabram and provides them with access to fishing experiences.
In April, the group hosted a fishing trip for the ‘Don’t Demention It’ group, a Dementia Peer Support Group in Kyabram, where members were provided the opportunity to try their hand at the sport.
“We’ve done that for about three years, where we take all the equipment, chairs, lunch and everything else out and get on a bus out to a place in Nathalia, and they can have a go and get out and do some fishing,” Mrs Soares said.
While the group is still chugging along, and is completely funded for by the offices they rent out to local businesses on their Wood Rd property, their next goal is targeting young families to get involved with the club and carry on their legacy.
Mrs Soares said the club was seeing positive changes, with more young people engaging through their Facebook page.
“We’ve had probably half a dozen or more young fellas join up, so it’s good,” Mrs Soares said.
“We need them, but we also need more kids back in it again.”
“We need the middle-aged adults with teenage kids because we always used to have teenage kids running around,” Mr Warde said.
“All the others are 40s 50s, 60s and 70s, but we really need to hit that 30s and 40s demographic.”
As for now, Mrs Soares said they are in the process of planning their 40th anniversary celebrations in October, and are excited for what the future holds for the club.