Trout Unlimited Lifetime Membership Offer

R

riverwhy

Active member
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
563
I posted about this back in 2016 and never pulled the trigger. Back then it was a Scott. Last year it was the Orvis Helios/Hydros reel offer. This year it is the Winston AIR 2 9' 5-weight I am interested in. No reel this year and the price has gone up to $1,800. This is a substantial investment for me but doable. I am 56.

How many of you have the TU Life Membership?
Does anyone have the Winton Air 2? Thoughts on the rod?
Pro's- A great rod and no more membership mailers. Good for the environment and the clutter on my desk.
Cons and Questions
  • a very expensive rod. I plan to get a 9'5 anyway but is there something cheaper that would be as good or almost as good? I like that the Winston is made in the U.S.!
  • No reel. What would be a good reel to complement this rod? How much?
  • I was planning to make a couple large donations to conservation groups. This would pretty much suck up my planned donations. I know TU is a good group, but would it make more sense to buy a cheaper rod and make separate donations to TU and other local organizations. I am particularly interested in donating to local stream projects. Local conservancies such as Manada are also on my list. I will likely be retiring next year and also plan to volunteer for this group.
I really value the opinions on here and would love to get some feedback. TIA
 
A Local organizations would be impacted more with your donation imho. They work in the local areas and can impact a restoration (local TU or other sportsman's organization) or land acquisition (land bank)much faster than a national organization.
New rod? it is up to you and your pocket book . Casting lessons may be better than a new expensi rod purchased just because so and so indorses it.
 
I don't have any experience with the rod in question.
As for reels, I have become a fan of Lamson. Made in Idaho, I believe. They have worked well for me. Also Ross reels, but I haven't used/bought one of theirs for a long time.
I have been active in TU for a looooong time, and I have frequently thought about a lifetime membership, but never pulled the trigger. The way I looked at it, I was doing a lot more good by being active in my local chapter than the net cash benefit to TU from the lifetime membership. (Net of the rod cost to TU - which they probably get at a substantial discount off retail.) Oh, and I'm kinda cheap.
I have been rewarded for being active in my local TU chapter by forming a good circle of fishing friends. I've given lots of my time, and thankfully we as a chapter have had good success overall.
 
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Reactions: CRB
Honest question, what is the benefit to joining TU? Through my various hobbies they all have the large national organization with annual (or lifetime) dues, and I never feel like I get my monies worth outside of NWTF because I really like their magazine. I've always felt donating money/time locally has the greatest impact. If I'm missing any big benefits though, let me know and I'll look into it.
 
FlyLikeTheFish said:
Honest question, what is the benefit to joining TU? Through my various hobbies they all have the large national organization with annual (or lifetime) dues, and I never feel like I get my monies worth outside of NWTF because I really like their magazine. I've always felt donating money/time locally has the greatest impact. If I'm missing any big benefits though, let me know and I'll look into it.
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I would say the biggest "benefit" is that it's large, well connected organization with money, clout, culture, and influence. You can donate, take a hands off approach (or hands on if you're involved in your chapter) and hope it's working towards the common goal

Nothing wrong with going the local route as it directly affects your community and you're directly involved in the results. My local TU group does some good projects on my local waters alongside the local conservation clubs, etc etc.

I'll keep giving to TU and to Delta Waterfowl. Those are the only two I belong to but I'll keep donating.
 
CRB said:
A Local organizations would be impacted more with your donation imho. They work in the local areas and can impact a restoration (local TU or other sportsman's organization) or land acquisition (land bank)much faster than a national organization.
New rod? it is up to you and your pocket book . Casting lessons may be better than a new expensi rod purchased just because so and so indorses it.
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Yeah his casting needs a lot of work!
 
I remember when it was $1200. I think it was a Sage or a Winston rod and a reel. High end for both rod and reel. I did the math and my "break even" point was around 60 some years old. I never pulled the trigger but still contribute my $35 annually.

Somebody above made mention about donating the money for a larger impact. That is very true statement although tough to swallow for most.

Getting the lifetime TU depends on what your goals are....Then your decision should be easy. Do you really need another rod?

Also, I don't have any experience with the Winston AIR rod. Too bad it's not the high end Orvis rod anymore.
 
They were 1200.00 for a rod and reel or essentially about the cost of the outfit retail. One year they gave you the choice of 3 different Sage rod models and I would have chose the 7wt Ignitor. The reel was a perfectly good model but their lower priced offering. A decent deal. 1800.00 is a bit much even for going to a good cause.
 
JeffP said:
Yeah his casting needs a lot of work!
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That is definitely true! But as I mentioned before I am interested in a 9' 5-weight anyway. That is why I asked for other rod suggestions as well to help me with my decision. I would be open to a used rod purchase also.
 
riverwhy said:
That is definitely true! But as I mentioned before I am interested in a 9' 5-weight anyway. That is why I asked for other rod suggestions as well to help me with my decision. I would be open to a used rod purchase also.
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Just my opinion but I know others that share the same opinion..... buy a Redington CT 9' 5 weight. It's cheap, it's a good rod, and it can't be beat for the money.

I own quite a few fly rods and both of my Classic Trout rods are some of my favorite and also some of the cheapest.

If you want to spend big bucks go for it, but if you want a high performance to dollar ratio the CT is where it's at.
 
FlyLikeTheFish said:
Honest question, what is the benefit to joining TU? Through my various hobbies they all have the large national organization with annual (or lifetime) dues, and I never feel like I get my monies worth outside of NWTF because I really like their magazine. I've always felt donating money/time locally has the greatest impact. If I'm missing any big benefits though, let me know and I'll look into it.
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Ha! I’m with you. I belong to TU primarily for the magazine. I hunt Africa every so often and belong to SCI mainly for the magazine as well.
 
I know local TU chapters do a lot of work with stream improvements, which is wonderful. They can always use some help.
I have also read that TU, as an organization, will not get involved in stream access issues because, the rumor is, some of their big money donors don't want the public to have access to their privately owned waters. Is this true?

Regarding rod alternatives - I read that Taylor and Stickman make great rods but have never tried one.
 
I joined with the lifetime membership and got the 8'10 winston graphite rod based on the B2x taper. I also got a lamson reel. I think i paid 1200 or 100 a month for a year. I was winston guy back then and wanted the rod. Now i fish bamboo and my dad stole the rod from me, lol.
 
FlyLikeTheFish said:
Honest question, what is the benefit to joining TU? Through my various hobbies they all have the large national organization with annual (or lifetime) dues, and I never feel like I get my monies worth outside of NWTF because I really like their magazine. I've always felt donating money/time locally has the greatest impact. If I'm missing any big benefits though, let me know and I'll look into it.
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Pretty good overview:

This isn't meant to be disparaging, but if you look at the numbers, membership dues are one of the smallest slices of the pie in terms of overall revenue. Think about what it costs to send a magazine, all the physical mailers (which seems to have reduced lately), and other costs associated with individual members. Very little of that $35 or $1,800 or whatever actually goes to conservation or operations.

What they're doing is essentially buying a member roster so when they go to the fed for money they can say they represent X number of people. I think there's a little bit of generating ownership in the org so that members might leave an endowment or make a significant financial contribution too, but the bulk of their "revenue" is tax dollars. So really, your membership helps TU get funding which is a good thing.

That's just the financial side, though. You can make your membership whatever you want to make it. Get involved locally, spearhead projects, help raise money, or just hang out and talk fishing at the meetings.
 
It is my understanding that TU National does not "allow"" individual Chapters to accumulate a large amount of funds over excessive periods of time. My Chapter typically has a net balance of a couple thousand. There is fundraising that brings in quite a bit more but it is allocated to projects and is spent rather quickly.
 
BradFromPotter said:
wonder what percentage of dues goes to paying the big buck salaries ?
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Screenshot 20230205 155043
 
falcon said:
It is my understanding that TU National does not "allow"" individual Chapters to accumulate a large amount of funds over excessive periods of time. My Chapter typically has a net balance of a couple thousand. There is fundraising that brings in quite a bit more but it is allocated to projects and is spent rather quickly.
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I don't think this is true. My old chapter was bequeathed in excess of $40,000. If you exceed $50,000, you have to file an annual 990 form to the IRS.
 
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