Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations 2009 Pond Boss Conference has been changed!

Okay Pond Boss faithful...we have heard your thoughts. New Orleans is out, for now.
The bottom line is this...we cannot make the dollars work in New Orleans. They need a much larger financial committment than we are willing to make.

We took your recommendation and took a look at Big Cedar Lodge. Now, I am proud to announce the 2009 Pond Boss conference has been confirmed for September 18 & 19, at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake, 10 miles from Branson, Missouri.

As the conference comes together, we'll keep you posted right here. In the meantime, take a look at http://www.bigcedar.com

We have blocked 100 rooms (that must be filled, or we have to pay for them out of pocket!) In the next weeks, we'll announce the details of the rooms and provide registration details. Here's the deal...we'll sign a contract with them, either next week or the following. When that happens, you will need to register early and book your room asap.

Next, we are working on the agenda and will publish it as soon as it is ready. The Pond Boss staff is currently working with Big Cedar to iron out the details of all the services which will be available. When we get that done, we'll create a conference page on this website which will detail everything we plan to provide for you. It will be an exciting and fun time.

YIPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Will we by chance get the winter rates???

WOW: I am elated. I've been PMing Bob on another matter lately and he promised something was coming that would be exciting. This exceeds what I could have dreamed up. Not only was I going to have to miss 2010 in New Orleans because of a conflict, but this location is as perfect as I could ever expect.

I think Bob went out of his way to listen to feedback on New Orleans and be flexible enough to change to serve the desires of many who expressed doubts about New Orleans. We owe it to Pond Boss to support this conference in any way possible.

I'll be there and I will register a room as soon as they are available.

Bing

That is fantastic news. Much better than New Orleans. Much better than January. And it sure beats Dallas in July. I don't think you'll have any problem booking 100 rooms. We've already thought about booking an extra room for guests.

Thanks Bob

Awesome. This is so close to where I'm at in Indiana--I can even do this one and really, really want to go to one of Pond Boss conferences!

Fantastic! Not only will I be there I will book a room as soon as needed.

Time to work on the agenda. If you have ideas post them now. Include anything you can think of - topics you want to hear about - side trips - auction items - anything else. We need everyone's help to get the word out to new attendees and participants.

Boy that sounds great, just have to get my wife to take time off, or I go alone.

For those of you who are not sure whether you want to attend the Pond Boss conference at Big Cedar Lodge please think about making the conference a vacation event for the family, or since school will already be in attendance, a get away for you and your spouse.

Big Cedar is a part of the Bass Pro Shops family of companies and is located just out side of Branson Mo. It is a fabulous resort with its own boat dock, guide service, boat rental, etc.

Branson is one of the nations top vacation locations and offers many features for all family members. I am an Illinois resident, but lived for many years in St. Louis, which is about 220 miles from Branson, and visited the Branson, Table Rock, Springfield Mo area hundreds of times. There were several years when I fished Table Rock 15 to 20 times a year.

Here are some of the features that you should consider to convince yourself or others to make the Pond Boss Conference a part of a must event in 2009.

The lodge itself has an excellent golf course and other courses are nearby. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri near the Arkansas border and offers beautiful, scenic views of Table Rock Lake and the Ozark Mountains.

Table Rock Lake, Beaver Lake, Lake Tannecomo, Truman Lake, Pomme de Terre, Stockton and Bull Shoals are all nearby and offer some of the best bass fishing in America, and, Lake Tannecomo offers excellent trout fishing. You can even fish for Trout off of a public dock in downtown Branson. Non-Resident fishing permits are less than $10.00 ($7.00 I think) per day;

Bass Pro Shops has a shop in Branson with an emphasis on trout fishing;

Bass Pro Shops world headquarters is located about 50 miles from Branson, in Springfield MO. If you are driving to the conference from the north or east, you pass within four miles of the store just off of Highway 65 and Interstate 44. This Bass Pro Shop is by far the largest shop in their chain, and the home to one of the finest outdoor museums in the country. I made a quick tour of the museum last year and left after four hours with only seeing about ¾ of it;

Branson is famous for live country music shows. Just Google Branson shows for a list, but it includes permanent theaters for Mickey Gilley, Jim Stafford, the Baldknobbers, The Presley Family and many others. Dick Clark’s American Bandstand theater, The Lawrence Welk Theater and others feature other styles of music. Groups and performers like The Oak Ridge Boys, Andy Williams, Mel Tillis, Pam Tillis, Fabian, The Coasters, Bobby Vee and countless others make frequent appearances in Branson’s theaters.

Silver Dollar City is a theme park that is consistently recognized as one of the most family oriented parks in America.

The School Of The Ozarks, just a few miles from the lodge has an outstanding Americana museum. It hosts a huge collection of firearms and also one of the best big game taxidermy anywhere. It even has the car the Beverly Hillbillies used to “move away from here to Beverly Hills.”

Tracker Boats are made locally and it is a great place to pick up a new boat and save shipping charges.

The area has several outlet malls, and dozens of craft and antique shops.

Bing

After Bing's glowing and informative review of the Big Cedar area are 100 rooms enough? I guess there are lots of other places to stay in the area. Sounds like a great idea - I hope to see and meet you there!

Bill: Thanks for the glowing review of the glowing review. There are thousands of other motel rooms, but I think we owe it to Bob to stay at Big Cedar if at all possible.

I forgot to mention the fall colors of the magnificant hardwood forests that should be in full color at that time of year.

Bing

decent aerial view on google maps
The main lodge appears to be at the junction of Devil's Pool Rd and Stone road.

How about a riverboat trip with dinner or something? A few on the water seminars would be cool too. I know I'll be bringing the fishing gear!

Branson is a great place. I have been there 3 or 4 times. I don't know how much extra time we will have but I will probably bring my boat so that I can fish on Table Rock or Taneycomo.

To Greg and Nate,

We may need to look into doing a teal hunt one day.

Cecil:

How does this look?

http://showboatbransonbelle.com/

Bing

Crap Gail and I were fired up for New Orleans.

The Bremer Brothers fishing trip at Birch Lake, MN is set and deposits paid for: Saturday, September 12, 2009 Saturday, September 19, 2009.

Why, am I never consulted?

That is some real good news!!!!
Gonna be a fun trip! Chris, I am going to have to pass on the hunting and focus on the water. Definitely bring your boat!

Guys, we only blocked 100 rooms...there are more than that, but we didn't block them.
Bing nailed the offerings around Branson. As the conference comes together, we'll have some great opportunities. We are planning to have some "hands-on" stuff on the water. It is Sue Cruz's idea...one which we will definitely do.
Dwight, so sorry. I'm grieved over the deposits. Can you get one of them back?
Let's go have some great times together. Part of our intent is to schedule plenty of time before and after the conference for everyone to be able to participate in the activities around the area. Also, the program will be more relaxed (as far as time goes) than the first two. We will have some intense time together with speakers, etc, but we will definitely schedule plenty of "social time" where we can congregate in small groups and just talk and brainstorm. That seemed to be important for everyone last time.
It's great to see the enthusiasm.

Yessss!!!! Home sweet home. You southern boys will be happy to know that Stockton Lake boasts an excellent walleye population and Pomme de Terre will challenge your angling abilities should you want to target the Toothy One- that's right- Musky. Of course, this should occur either prior to or after the conference. What a great location with many opportunities for those traveling out of state wishing to make a week out of it.

Depending on my class schedule I am going to try and get up there as early as possible. I would like to get up there Thursday morning and fish all day.

When I fished on Taneycomo we drifted worms with powerbait eggs. That worked pretty good. The last time I was up there I used small rapala's and caught a few. Mostly Rainbows with the occasional Brown. The upper end of Taneycomo is a trophy area and is good for flyfihing.I haven't fished on Table Rock so I don't know what works good there.

I want to go - BUT - my wife thinks I'm crazy and my Doc doesn't know about it yet, and I don't want to impose on Dave D. and Eric to have to "baby-sit", and I can't fish big water anymore, and not flled with self pity - dang it's tuff to get OLD......

How many planning to attend from DFW MetroMess?
Wive's attending?
Carpool?

Plenty of time to think about it but sure would hate to miss out on all the fun.....

george
I am absolutely positive if your Doc gives the thumbs up we can ALL SHARE time assisting with any needs you may have. Count my son, and I in on this. We will probably fly in but once there it would be an honor and pleasure to spend time with you.
al
and I'll sign for my son david also!

George, you can ride with me. I'll be driving the manly Dodge and there's nothing I would love more than hanging out with you, in a truck, listening and learning and sharing stories. I'll probably go up a couple of days early and head home either on Sunday or Monday afterward. And, it's no more than a 6 hour drive from here.

That sounds like fun if we got a bunch of people together on it.

How about big panfish like bluegills and crappies? I don't know about the others but I just love catching big ones on light spinning gear. I also like fishing at night for crappies. If most people overlook the panfish that's fine with me.

Bruce?