Pond Boss Forums INTRO Common Pond Q&A (archives) LIVE FROM PB CONV III

Table Rock Lake and the Fishing Tournament

First off let me start by saying Table Rock Lake is beautiful and HUGE! Ewest had arranged to have a pontoon boat available to those who wanted to go on a brief tour of the lake. I mentioned to him that I had grown up around boats (physically not mentally) and he asked if I would pilot the boat. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and off we went.

Women are always drawn to men of authority and being the pilot of a lake going pontoon boat is no exception. On the first cruise I was surrounded by JWHAP (not in this photo), in this photo from right is Sue Cruz (who not only is lovely, but is such a warm and kind individual), her beautiful daughter (who is very a intelligent and well mannered young lady and who in a few years will have a line of gentlemen suitors lined up around the block just to spend time with her), Ruth West (who is the epitome of a true southern belle, in fact when you google search Southern Belle, her photo should appear) and the motley but happy Captain. Yep it’s good to be the captain.


So off we went across table rock lake, here’s a few private docks and one of the unbelievable homes that is on the lake.


The lake has a bunch of islands, here is one of the small ones..


This bridge crosses on portion of the lake, I piloted the boat beneath it, just for fun…


And the tournament begins, off the boats go, once they passed the 5 MPH buoy it was pedal to the medal…


One of the tournament boats in action. I believe that the gentleman in the black shirt is Nate’s dad…


Another boat in action…


FISH ON and net ready…


The boats were required to be inside the buoy line by 5:00. At 4:59 they were coming in…


Natester returning to the dock with Otto’s son-in-law Phil (married to Otto’s daughter Jennifer). It was a tough day on the water, rain, wind, and difficult fishing. Still they had fun. Let me take this opportunity to say, that Nate and his family are fantastic folks. His mother and father are friendly and quick to laugh, his brothers are they type of young men that you would love to be able to have as your own sons (in fact I offered to adopt the Herman brothers but Nate’s mom and dad we unwilling to give them up).


TomG walking up the dock. JWHAP and I got to spend quite a bit of time with Tom and his wife Sherry. Both are wonderful people, I only wished we lived closer to them, I can only imagine the trouble Tom and I would get into that Sherri and Ricki would have to bail us out of. I pointed out to Sherry that she should be commended for keeping TomG in line, to which Sunil instantly responded, "I don’t think there is much of a difference between managing TomG and managing you JHAP, both wives should received commendations!" It’s fairly difficult to argue with that logic. Note how Tom deftly manages to carry the tournament bag filled with fish in his right hand and both an open beer and a cooler full of beer in his left hand. I’m telling you the guy is a pro…


2cat poses with a fish and one of the lodge employees. Sue Cruz in the background recording tournament catch information…


Some of the fish that were caught…


Wouldn’t you know it, the smallest fish of the day was a GSF. This is Greg Grimes's son Wyatt holding the magnificent specimen...

Nice work JHAP. I enjoyed our time together...I hope it's the first of many meetings me amigo.

When did Mickey Rourke join PB?

that is wyatt with the "big catch" of Jim Morgan thanks for sharing the pics.

Nice job Jeff.By the way,did you happen to catch the expression on Sues face at the wiegh-in?If you did,please send me a PM.

I'm going through my back pack and just found a cookie from the cookie lady...too bad its just crumbs now but still good with milk!

Some conference antics:

The “Bent Hook” market and marina was a site to behold. There were schools of bluegill swimming around the place. I caught TomG in the middle of planting an anti-personnel mine on the entrance walkway. Once my deathray laser sight illuminated his shirt he promptly surrendered…


Once inside the Bent Hook there was an opening in the floor onto the water below. Through the opening you could see BG and several turtles swimming around. There was a machine filled with fish food that you could buy and throw to the fish. Bruce informed me that he had decided to perform and informal fish food test and that I was going to assist him in this test. He and I walked up to his truck and loaded a zip lock bag with two different types of fish food. He handed me the ziplock bag and turned back his back to close up the truck. When he turned back around, I informed him that the Aquamax tasted like a cross between tuna, salmon, anchovies and beef jerky. To which Bruce replied "Idiot, I intend to test the food on the fish and not you, now give me back the ziplock bag before you eat it all." He then grabbed the bag from my hands. Although I thought Bruce had treated me rather harshly I felt it was a nice snack and well worth some minor humiliation. Little did he know that I had put some in my pocket for later, who's the idiot now Bruce????

We re-entered the marina and approached the fish viewing area. Bruce threw some of the food in and the fun began. Not only did the fish love the Aquamax but out of the depths came a respectable LMB that we had not previously seen. You can't tell from the photo but the guys are looking past a suspended boat into the water below, from the left this is Aaron (taking a photo), James Holt, Bruce Condello and Eric West…


Inside the marina/market Dr. Condello demonstrates the Condello Method of Photography with a can of Mountain Dew. Immediately after I showed this photo to Theo, believing that Bruce had discovered that the rare and elusive 22oz Mountain Dew can, he tackled Bruce and searched his backpack. Theo was not happy to discover that (1) he was taken in by the Condello Method of Photography and in fact the can only contained 12 ounces and (2) it was regular and not diet Mountain Dew. I was careful not to show Theo any additional photos…


Upon realizing that he didn’t win the fishing tournament, TomG asked Sue Cruz if she could hold something for a moment, before thinking she reached out her hand and Tom handed her a stick of dynamite and began to light it. There was an outbreak of nervous laughter by those folks that didn’t know Tom. Those of us that did know Tom, well we ran, fast!

"To which Bruce replied "Idiot, I intend to test the food on the fish and not you, now give me back the ziplock bag before you eat it all." He then grabbed the bag from my hands. Although I thought Bruce had treated me rather harshly I felt it was a nice snack and well worth some minor humiliation. Little did he know that I had put some in my pocket for later, who's the idiot now Bruce????"

Now that is really funny!!!

BTW, I think that is james holt in the picture w/ Brucille, ewest, and AaronM.

More conference antics:

At the auction Theo had arranged for a “2009 Condello Signature Edition Pink Cowboy Hat.” As you can see from one of the posts above (photo of the bid sheet) the bidding was fast and furious. 2cat won the hat and the official hat transfer occurred at Saturday’s conference dinner. Here Bruce reluctantly gives up the hat to 2Cat…


As I had informed you previously, that devious TomG, placed an improvised explosive device under my chair at Friday’s dinner. The device “went off” during dinner. To say that this was a classically funny event is an understatement. Fortunately the bomb didn’t explode, the alarm merely rang.

TomG and I were asked to pose for a photo. This photo was taken immediately after TomG handed me the bomb and whispered to me "JHAP the fuse system is fixed and is now in good working order and you ought to be careful not to shake the bomb or make any sudden movements, in fact you might want to hold still, real still…


During the entire conference, the moderators displayed the highest level of professionalism and integrity…

Mickey Rourke, Mickey Rooney - they're so close.

Just wondering why JHAP thinks we would bail them out?!

Some of the conference room building and the grounds:

This is the registration desk that Pond Boss used to register folks for the conference, pretty classy!!!


This is the fireplace that was right inside the conference center’s main doors, a fire was burning in it each evening. The windows looked out over Table Rock Lake. The view was magnificent.

This is one of the hallways in the conference center. The “flying geese” were a sight to behold…


This one view from the “Buzzard Bar.” I had no idea the bar had a view until we had brunch with Bob and Debbie on Sunday. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Some photos and stories of people:

From left: 2Catmom, JWHAP, and Girlfriendlakechair. Ricki and I really enjoyed their company, the two of them are so very fun to be around. The background is a waterfall that is beside the conference center.


Cary Martin and the Bings. A little known factoid about Cary. He races motorcycles (road racing) and has ridden his motorcycle to over 180 mph during a race. His wife drag races and her car is fuel injected. Cary, after tweaking the car’s injection system, realized that the fuel rail delivery system could be adapted to aeration systems. Cary designed such a system that is in use today. Well known factiod about the Bings. They are a great couple, quick to laugh and enjoy life. Ricki and I really enjoyed spending time with them.


From left Aaron (who lost a great deal of weight and looks fantastic), Catmandoo and his wife Lynda, Randy (rmedgar) and JWHAP. Randy told Ricki that one evening he and Catmandoo were standing side by side and some passerby told them they looked like a couple of winos. Fortunately I am no longer recruiting for Whinoceres World.


Beasly and some of his coworkers having fun…

On the final evening of the conference, we were enchanted by an amazing sunset. This photo does not do it justice. The sky was glowing pink and purple, the sun was a magnificent red/orange. We watched as it dissapeared over the forrest above the lake.


Attending the Pond Boss Conference 3 is an event that I will never forget. Thank you all for the friendship and the good times shared. My only regret is that it did not last longer so that I could have spent more time with you all.

I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to some of you and for that I am sorry. Rather than say goodbye however let us say "see you at the next conference."

Folks these events are epic. Consider attending the next conference, each one is getting better and better.

+1, my friend.

Hey! just thinking ahead if we don't bail y'all out that leaves us more $ and time to see how much trouble we can get into!

I don't know how to resize or post pictures on PB if you see some on my Facebook you want to put on here feel free to use them.

Really enjoyed meeting and spending time with y'all.

Now I know why Tom spends so much time on here...it's like IM'ing...and I love doing that with friends and family.

Nope, only caught her from behind. The photo I have is in the this thread.

Thanks Greg, I updated the post.

Mickey Rourke, Mickey Rooney, Mickey Mouse - I'm an unusual blend of all three.

Oh you love us and you know it. Just think how peaceful, serene and uneventful your life and Ricki's life would be without Tom and I. Wait on second thought perhaps that it not such a good idea.




We really enjoyed meeting you as well.

It's good that Tom and I spend so much time on the forums. Think how much safer our communities are by having this forum keep us off the streets. Heck the forum ought to charge our communities for this service.

You thinking something like $1 per year?

-- -- --


Bob and Debbie



Greg , Wendy and one tired Wyatt



Eric and Ruth



One big bear




Purple SDSU shirt at the Bent Hook



Marina View



JHAP the Calie driver of the Pontoon



Fuzzy Theo



Red sky at night sailor's delight

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=59114&l=db037acb7d&id=100000205771225


A dollar? Adollar? A dollar?

Do you want me to come visit,or stay home?

I blame the endless iced tea service.