Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss WV Pond Boss Gathering with Bob Lusk

All,

Bob Lusk will be visiting us next Saturday, March 5. This is an open invitation to anyone who would like to come visit.

Starting at about 3:00 PM we will be serving snacks, food, and beverages. There will be plenty of my venison pastrami for snacking. We will have non-road kill foods for those who might be a little squeamish.

We are located about 20 minutes west of Winchester, VA, just off US Route 50. We are about 2 miles east of Capon Bridge, WV.

If you wish to stay in the local area Saturday evening, we can recommend a Holiday Inn Express at US 522 and VA 37. The Courtyard by Marriott at US 50 and VA 37 is a little closer (3 minutes), a little bit fancier, and a little more expensive. Winchester has an excellent general aviation airport, and we are about 90 minutes west of Dulles Int'l airport.

If you wish to attend, send me a PM via the Pond Boss site and I'll send phone numbers and directions.

Ken and Lynda

Ken, wish I could make it. I hope you enjoy the visit from The Boss!

I'm tied up with a kids trout pond at the local outdoor show or I would be there and you would run out of road kill and pastrami.

I'm up in Calgary where it's - 35 C. Really nice....not.

On my way to Banff for a conference.

I only get home on Saturday, so I can't make it.

Wish I could.

BTW, Wivell sent me a link saying that Power Line project has been shot down. Is that true? If so, great news to celebrate!

That is true. They may have caved due to our agressive legal team.

The reason for Bob Lusk's visit was to help with the last part of our appraisal. We are now evaluatating whether or not Bob will be visting.

I'll post a little more this evening when I'm not at work.

I think that more than anything, it may have had to do with this picture of my new intern I sent the PATH folks - they probably got a little skeered!

There were more!

You guys have fun. Be sure you have plenty of ammo to use on the powerline project in case it come back from the dead - zombie like.

I'm coming to your house...regardless.

And we're looking forward to it - I'll bring the black rifle just for fun!

Yeah, now I see why they went elsewhere. Some loony Ayrab with a shootin iron is running around the area.

A visit with Ken will give anyone an affinity for roadkill...Wish I could be there! You guys have some fun.

It's not too late to decide. Lots of questionable characters have threatened to show up.

Here is the "subject to change" itinerary:

7:30 AM -- Prunes and coffee for those over 50.
9:00 AM -- Home-fries, bacon, eggs, and more coffee.
9:15 AM -- Legal advice for the remainder of the day.
10:00 AM -- Manure vs. Ponds field/pond trip.
1:00 PM -- Surprise food arrives -- not road kill!
1:50 PM -- Smoker is Ready for 1:00 PM surprise critter arrival.
2:00 PM -- Road Kill Surprise with Crackers
3:00 PM -- Grill Opens -- some road kill, some not.

Who knows what will happen after that?

Send me a PM if you need directions, or if you have questions.

Sounds perfectly lovely. But then, it is WVA.

It was an absolutely wonderful day, even though the weather was a little cool and cloudy, and the "perch" weren't interested in biting.

Bob arrived Friday evening. Lynda and I got to have a few hours of just enjoying Bob's presence. About 8:30 Saturday morning, Todd 3138 from Clarksburg, WV, and long-time Pond Boss member Victor from Carlisle, PA arrived for breakfast and just more friendly conversation.

After breakfast, we bundled everybody into our Explorer and headed to a friend's farm where I've been helping plan methods to cut down on nutrient in-flow and algae issues in their ponds. (More about this will be presented at the Pond Boss Conference.)

Bob and our friend Claudia on one the dams.



Todd and Victor


Bob, our friend Tom, and Victor holding court in Tom and Claudia's training/conference room.


We had a stream of visitors throughout the day.

Shortly after we got back from Tom and Claudia's farm, a friend and his wife showed up with six huge trout that we smoked. More friends arrived. Several pounds of venison pastrami was devoured while we waited for the trout to get done.

We had two sets of pond owner/pond lover grandparents, parents, grand children present.

We didn't completely wear Bob out, but per local custom, we partied late -- actually about 15 minutes later than most Saturday nights. I think the parking lot was cleared out at 9:15.

It is really fun and relaxing to have so many enthusiastic, happy, and interesting people all in one place. It was also a real learning experience having so many passionate and diverse people in one place. I spent an hour this morning just Googling things like "barrel-ponics." (Raising fish and vegetables in a barrel. Free 100 page guide available here). Just what I need -- one more hobby.

Bob and Todd have more photos.

Thanks Pond Boss

Catmandoo...Barrel-ponics was what got me so busy I had to stop trying to hide the sales from Uncle Sam...You would be AMAZED how many people are into barrel/aqua-ponics!!!

Glad everyone had a good time!!!

Since no one else has posted about the road-kill....yet....I'm a little worried they may be recovering still!

Ken, sound like a great time was had by all. I'm going to try something like
barrelponics this year too.

I'm going to have to download all my photos later tonight and will post some of them if there ended up being anything interesting on my camera.

I echo Ken's sentiments that it was a great time and we had a blast hanging out with Bob. It was also a real treat meeting Victor - for those who don't know him, that's one fun dude! If you ever get the chance to spend a few minutes chatting with him, ask him about the origin on his name - great story!

And the roadkill was, as usual, outstanding! Venison pastrami and smoked trout, both of which just can't be beaten! Ken and Lynda were wonderful hosts, as usual. And, as usual, the Pond Boss family came through again for a great day!

To echo that, a.k.a "Victor" is so very typical of the many firefighters, EMTs, and police I've known over the years -- plus he is a Pond Boss dude. Somewhat quiet, but just plain friendly and extremely polite. Perpetual smile. The kind of person you want as a friend, and the kind of person you really want around when you are in serious danger.

Lynda and I are so grateful that we had our get-together yesterday.

This is what it says about our current weather:



I took this picture about an hour ago. It is from out our basement door, looking towards the pond. Presently, there is about an inch of snow on the back steps, and it ain't slowing down.



If Todd were heading home this afternoon/evening, I think he'd probably have a lot of trouble getting over the mountains in Garret County, MD on I-68. Not sure how bad it would be for Victor, but probably not a whole lot better. We are just hoping that Bob is well into North Carolina by now, and the snow isn't that far south.

Thanks for including us!

Wish I could have been there!

God smiles on Pond Meister gatherings!

That's a REALLY nice picture Ken...Worthy of framing!

Well...I'm settled in at King Fisher Society for the next few days. What a great time with Ken & Lynda! I arrived Friday night after a pleasant 5 hour drive from RDU to Capon Bridge, WV. We were within a stone's throw of Virginia, not too far from Maryland or Pennsylvania. About 90 miles northwest of Washington D.C.



Ken & Lynda's cabin...deep in the woods. This photo doesn't do it justice. It's a log cabin, with hand-hewn logs, painted outside, but natural colors inside. Very cozy, with a great wood-burning stove that kept the cabin quite comfortable.



Their pond sits about 150 yards below their home, a very pleasant view from the porch.



Saturday morning, after a nice visit with the Grymalas, Todd and Victor, we headed to the Swisher place. Tom and Claudia have a horse ranch, where they teach beginners the finer things about horsemanship and life. They are salt-of-the-earth folks who work hard to make ends meet...and they love their water. Catmandoo is helping them figure out how to deal with organic nutrient load that has accumulated for years in their ponds. They have a unique idea. From the left, that's Todd LaNeve (todd3138), Claudia & Tom Swisher, Lynda & Ken and Victor (real name is John...but he really does go by "Victor"...like Todd said, it's a very cool story.)


And, of course, we had to have a little fun. Anyone out there care to guess what those boys are doing?


And, the end gain of that photographic endeavor.



Here's a key part of the story that Ken will tell at the Pond Boss conference. That water fountain has a great story...and extremely practical.

By the way, Ken...I drove through rain much of the trip, but decided to take I-95 the entire way from Richmond for two reasons. Thought I could get ahead of the storm, which I did for several hours. And, I was intrigued by your recommendation to try Ralph's BBQ near Roanoke Rapids...it was classic North Carolina pulled pork bbq with a vinegar dressing. Great stuff. So was the southern fried chicken (I only ate one piece).

After we left the Swisher's place, we headed back to Catmandoo World Headquarters and Road Kill Emporium to process and digest his ideas for supper. Along the way, we took a look at a great place to build a pond...just upstream of his existing one.


Victor inspects a limb that broke loose from a wind gust. The thing fell and impaled itself several inches deep into the mud.


Matt and Joelle popped in. Matt is an energetic young fellow with a passion for raising fish. He brought some trout...


Golden trout. Matt and his crew are experimenting how to efficiently feed these fish. Part of their experiments include different vitamins and pigments.


Catmandoo did one of the things he does expertly. Filleted those fish to prepare them for his smoker. The guy loves doing what he does.


Beautiful fillets. Notice the color difference. Different fish are fed different diets. That's what makes the difference in the flesh color.



Ready for the smoker.

One interesting observation...Ken mentioned that there's thousands of ponds in West Virginia. People are interested in making them better, but they don't know how. But, the bigger problem is that that don't know that they don't know how. Interesting thought.

We had a great time with Pond Boss fans. Like all over the rest of the nation, these good folks are passionate about their water and each is fun loving. I enjoyed the time. Thanks for including me.