Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations No Longer Alone in the USA for 45 Days

JKB, i am so worried about driving , to be honest. What if the half of the trip is just driving? It would be horrible. But having 2 drivers will make you almost 2 times faster than 1. One drives while the other is sleeping...

Huntmaster, believe it or not but i was getting ready to tell Keith "we gotta fish for some walleye sometime". We have walleyes in Turkey but they exist in very few lakes and i guess they are not very resilient. It is really hard to catch one here. I really want to catch one there. We will have up to 7 days in MI and if Erie is the best one for Walleyes , we are up for it. What options do we have for fishing? Can we rent a bass boat maybe?

Fatih,

I'm not much of a fisherman, so the only way I've ever done it is booking a charter for the day. Most guys troll for them, which can be a little boring reeling them in since the don't fight that much. If you are here when they drift fish for them, it is much better.

Erie also has good SMB that can be accessed with a small boat.

When are you planning on fishing St. Clair?

Huntmaster i see what you mean.

We will be there around 7th or 8th of July.

I'll see what I can do to get you on some Walleye. Probably Muskegon Lake on the east end.

A really good WE honey hole about 6 miles from here was converted into a LMB "pay to drop a line" gig. Membership...

Boat for LM is full with 'fish n chips' and 'Matt Rayl' on board. Welcome guys, and lets have some fun!!!

Hey, fish n chips and Matt Rayl on board for the Lake Michigan charter, this will be a blast! And by that time Fatih and I will have been on the ocean a few times so hopefully any motion sickness issues will be worked out by then (although I'm sure Lake Michigan can/will be much different!

Stay tuned for a new thread to begin soon as Fatih leaves Turkey on June 1st to arrive in NY and begin his 45 day fishing adventure in the USA!

Sounds way too cool!

Crazy cool! Wait til you see our schedule!

Your schedule is gonna be cool! Cant wait!!

I believe everyone is anxious to stay tuned for updates. June l will be here very soon.

Just a thought....I'm thinking this is a perfect opportunity for a documentary. I bet some Network would love to send along a camera crew if they knew this was about to happen.

Bill, you are probably correct, but I don't see how that would happen now in this time frame.

With all the reality shows on TV now it would be a perfect fit.

Hopefully there won't be the drama that seems to be required in most of them.

You mean like Fatih and LL fishing in a pond they didn't know had alligators and hooking one?

Don't them Nately brothers or Hermans or whoever have a tv show? How bout it Nate?

Wow, what a thought! And although Fatih will be making a documentary of this adventure and is bringing plenty of video equipment to do so, how much better it would be if someone else were doing the filming!

I'm know I'm speaking for Fatih as well, but this trip has evolved into the most incredible adventure I have, and will ever have, the opportunity to be a part of! Which, by the way I am equally excited to meet Fatih as it has truly been a pleasure talking with him and planning this trip. A super cool guy who in about 6 months or so, will be a new daddy!

Fatih will have to fill in some blanks prior to he and I meeting in Atlanta on June 10th, but here's our itinerary at this point, with an * showing tentative dates and stops until fully confirmed. Everything else is set:

June 1st – Fatih arrives in NY then spends a few days with his host family in NC, then fishes SC with a friend.

June 8-9 - Fatih meets with Basslover for fishing

June 6th – Keith leaves Lincoln, NE to hopefully make it to Nashville on the same day.

June 7th – Keith meets Yolksac in Nashville and I will likely fish Percy Priest Lake in TN. And if Yolk's able to join me that would be even better! (Yolkie?)

June 10th – Fatih and Keith meet in Atlanta GA and start heading towards Key Largo.

June 12th – Florida Keys fishing charter with Capt. Ryan fishing the wrecks and reefs.

June 14th – 2-part Fishing charter with Capt. Thadeus for Peacock Bass in the canals near Miami the first half of the day, then we fish the Everglades the second half.

June 15th – 18th – We’re renting a houseboat for 4 days/3 nights on the St. Johns River in FL and towing along a bass boat for daytime fishing.

June 19th – Arrive in Pensacola, FL and spending the day fishing and exploring.

June 20th – We’ll be treated to a Gulf fishing charter in Pensacola by a forum member Fatih met on a Florida fishing forum.

June 22nd – Renting a small boat to fish and explore the Atchafalaya swamp river basin near Henderson, LA (yep, with the gators! )

* June 23rd – Meet with Fireishot (Al) in E. Texas
* June 24th - Meet Dave Davidson and possibly Bob Lusk as well
* June 25th - Guided Striper trip on Lake Texoma

June 27th – 28th – Meeting CMM in Windsor, MO

June 28/29 Possibly meet Rainman as we travel through St. Louis, MO

June 29th or 30th – July 5th – Scott's lake house in Indiana. Some time to fish and relax after a lot of driving! Scott is also hooking us up with a friend of his for a guided Muskie trip.

Prior to arriving in Grand Haven, MI we will also meet Bob-O, and hopefully Cecil and Bill Cody as well.

July 7th – Fishing charter on Lake Michigan compliments of JKB, including Scott, fish n chips, Matt Rayl, Fatih and Myself.

July 9th – Muskie Fishing charter on Lake St. Claire near Detroit with JKB, Scott, Fatih and myself, compliments of Fatih and myself for everything Scott and JKB have done for us!

July 11th – I head home from Detroit, MI.

July 13-15th Fatih will make his way back to Turkey

I apologize if I've missed anyone we were planning to meet, so please feel free to chime in as we would like to meet as many of you as possible, as our schedule permits!

Fatih and I have been communicating on daily basis for the past several weeks either online or on the phone working out details, changing and adding things on almost a daily basis with each day offering more and more excitement, and exciting things to do (although both of us exceeding our intended budget!)

To JKB, Esshup and countless others involved to this point, we can't thank you enough for all you've done, your support and your interest!

Keith and Fatih, the traveling Cast-a-ways

PS - As we are getting a few more things confirmed, a new thread will be started about Fatih's 45 days in the USA, where we will keep everyone posted throughout this adventure.

What, no snorkeling or scuba diving while in Florida?

Guys , i have spent a couple thousand dollars on filming equipment so far. Gopros, an audio recorder and even a 4K shooting DSLR. Plus , tons of mounts , tripods bla bla.

But hoooooooooow perfect it would be if we had a professional crew.

I know there are some important people on this forum with big balls. Help us find a crew guys ! I could even pay for a cameraman. Haha. I still have 15 days for my first cast. It shouldn't be too late!

what area are you doing the st johns river deal. I live in st augustine right near the river. Perhaps we could meet and fish or visit.

Bobby, Pm sent.

Faith, hiring a professional to edit, splice etc,etc all of your film into maybe an hr segment may be better than hiring a filmer. You know that every outdoor show you watch for an hr has been condensed from many hrs of film.

But Bob what's more important than hiring someone is finding a Tv channel willing to broadcast our documentary. Editing or shooting is not the big deal part. Even if i hire a cameraman and editor how will i get it broadcasted on a tv channel?

Wow, can I come?!? My wife may divorce me, but god that sounds like fun!

Heck, why not! You'd be divorced and I'd be unemployed, but man we will have a great time!


Ah, but if we had a film crew along we would then have a bigger vehicle to accommodate them and all our stuff (at their expense of course) which at this point will be piled high in our rented Toyota Rav4! Anything bigger was limited miles and half the mpg.

I wonder if we'll get charged more when I turn it in if it smells "fishy"

A while back I thought about contacting a local TV station to see if they would be interested in a "public interest" type show with LM Charter Fishing, the Pure Michigan theme, Catch and Cook and all that jazz. Might be worth a shot.

If anyone else is serious about hitting the lake on July 7th, and can find 4-6 people to split the cost's. I'll put the feelers out for another boat. They can usually arrange for large groups of 15 or more boats, but it may be too late in the season to nail down that specific day. Never hurt's to ask tho!

Don't try cook your fish on the engine

I'm a little worried about all the horror stories from my clients about Hertz Car Rental.

"Grumpy Old Men" may come to mind at check-in time!

PS - A PB GTG on Lake Michigan! With the "Catch and Cook" dinner to follow! How cool would that be!