A Little Bit About Our Club.. Then & Now We would like to think that our club is well known but there are a lot of non-sportsmen and women who may not know of us or the things that we do. We believe our activities reach out to everyone in our community not just sport-fishermen. We are not the typical fishing club. We are very community orientated. As a club, we try to do a lot for our community through fishing. The seventeen individuals who founded our club wanted to save the walleye from over-harvest by commercial fishermen in the New York State waters of Lake Erie. At the very first public meeting of the club, over six hundred new members joined. As a result of their efforts gillnetting was banned in the New York waters of Lake Erie. Our club was also instrumental in getting the walleye designated as a game fish in New York, protecting it from further commercial exploitation. The new club expanded its mission to include conservation of all species in the lake and ecosystem, education of our youth, boating safety, access to Lake Erie and promotion of our region as a tourist destination. We started an annual amateur walleye tournament in 1985, and today it has grown to be one of the largest tournaments of its kind in North America. Last year we gave away cash prizes totaling over $34, 000 and much more in merchandise. Our club has also grown to be one of the largest in the country with over 2000 members. We publish a monthly magazine the FISHLINE, which details club activities, conservation information and how to articles.