Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Bob Lusk and others.......Get back to this board, or.......

watch it die a slow death.....

Seriously guys, this board always is more active when Bob and the crew are responding......

Got new pic's coming from the 55 acre lake renov.......

Totally agree! We are losing most of the pros. Cecil's gone, Shan's gone, Greg has quit posting. I have gone from posting 3/4 times a week to checking the board once a week.
I called Bob this summer about this and he said he was to busy to post during the summer.
Thanks Bill Cody for hanging in there.

Miss lakedoctor too ...

I enjoyed hearing from the pros but I think there are enough people here with personal experience to learn from and share experiences with. I enjoy it a lot and learn a lot.

I talked with Lusk last Spring and he said the magazine is a money loser. I don't know the total circulation but figure there are a lot of posters here who don't support the web site by mag subscription or book purchases. Last year Lusk dropped the subscription price drastically and told me that it didn't do much good. Also, the web site is nothing but an expense to them. The whole thing is a money losing proposition. As for other pro's, Greg Grimes told me that he advertised in the mag but it didn't seem to generate any business for him. None of the above paragraph is meant to offend anyone but I can't see much incentive for them to spend time messing with the web site in lieu of working for a living.

I'm not sure why Lusk, McDonald and others keep paying for the web site when they don't mess with it and actually have to take money out of their pockets to provide it. I know that the software that the site runs on wasn't free to them and I doubt that the Webmaster, J.P. works for free. Printing, mailing and admin costs for the mag add up. All for $30 per subscriber. Maybe they are trying to build it up enough to sell it in the future. I haven't noticed any spam or junk mail so don't figure they are selling contact info.

Bottom line: It may die a slow death but for now is the best site on the net. Hell, it's just about the only site on the net to share experiences with others on personally owned fishing holes. There are other sites but they are pretty poor. I'll take what I can get. Again, no offense meant.

Dave

I agree with with Dave, it is nice to share and learn from the rest of the pondowners on this board. This is the one site that I fix a cup of coffee and read every morning. I can't blame the pros for staying busy during their busy season. Good for them! I ran a contracting business and I know what work seasons are all about. As far as the finances of the site/mag, some things aren't done for money, but for a love of doing it(maybe I'm wrong). The funny thing is , the quality of the magazine keeps getting better and better.For my part,I think I'm going to send out a gift subsciption or two this year for Christmass. The info from this site has been priceless to me and my pond. And, to add to Bill Duggan's comment, I think we need to give Bill Cody a STANDING OVATION for all the time he's spent helping us amatures!

Bill has my thanks. I believe he once said that he loses sleep to post here.

I, for one, appreciate Lusk and McDonald paying to keep up the forum.

SOrry guys for not posting, but I usually only post when I disagree with other comments. Most questions lately have: been answered in the past, are not in my area of expertise, or most of the time been answered rather well by you the pond owners. I still read the site most weeks. I have been out of town working and vacation pretty much the last month. I post here because I enjoy it. I have sold some feeders and meet some folks because of this site. However just helping out folks who are spending time and money on their ponds in the wrong direction is my motivation. I do not see as much of that lately b/c of you who continue to post.

About this site. I doubt they are losing money here. I don't understand why folks that post questions do not get a subscription. However this a great source for generating product sells and mag subs for them. I will also say "finally" in the last year the magazine has improved.

Guys, thanks a lot for the praise. Now I get to get on a "soap box". I am not part of the PBoss "team". I get nothing for my services here. I post to help educate fellow pondowners so they can better understand & manage their pond system. When I write my pond management book, I will refer many to it. It's getting to a point now on this site where there are lots of repeat questions/topics. It wastes a lot of time repeating answers. New Comers and some "ole timers" do not take the time to search the old posts for answers before they jump in and pose a question. This could be because it is inconvienient or difficult to SEARCH, or maybe some other reason.

About this site. I also doubt "they" are losing money. Maybe they are losing money because salaries are too high or things are not run efficiently? There are investors for this PBoss thing. You can make something lose money on purpose. Is the net balance sheet (loss) before or after investors are paid? I can testify that they are not losing money from paying too much to authors who write articles for the mag. I wrote an article about raising walleye in ponds and received just a hat as thanks. I took my yellow perch raising article to another mag. Myself and Don & Jason at Inspired By Nature wrote a Five Part article for PBoss Mag about Holistic Pond Management and got nothing in return. I don't even wear ball caps. Frequently the PBoss mag editor rewrites or edits/reworks most of the articles to make each conform to "his" style. But, he is editor and he has that choice. Well that is very time consuming and eventually costly. Plus it minimizes the diversity & freshness of the magazine plus makes the contributing author "pissed". The editor might as well write all articles himself which is the way it is basically happening now, a one man mag. Even B.Lusk's articles have the flavor of "McDonald writing style". The technique drives away authors. Soon the mag loses new "blood" and freshness and it produces the same old stuff over and over; just reworked. However this can be very good, since most of us learned in school by repetition.

Once this Forum site is up and running it should not take a lot of cost to maintain. But if they ever expect to make it a "pay to play" then the quality would have to be there and improve for me to be a part. I want to learn not just be the advisor/teacher.

I too, think B.Lusk and McDonald should drop in daily or even weekly to answer at least one question. Is that too much to ask?. If I owned it I would make sure I was here frequently. A business usually runs better when the founder has his finger in the daily operations or frequently contributes effort UNLESS the founder/owner doesn't really know much about what is going on. Then that is a different story.

I make daily time for this site primarily to help fellow pondowners and often I learn tidbits of knowledge that are shared. Again thanks for the praise, my main goal is spread the knowledge to those interested and WILLING to learn. I better get off the "box" before I'm knocked off.

I agree 100 percent in what Bill says. I vowed never to come back, but will this one time. Not sure if anyone will see this but here goes:

I think the producers of this site and the magazine have a golden opportunity but they are blowing it. The magazine should be evolving but it is not. As mentioned earlier the content gets repetitive which is compounded by the lack of fresh authors.I was impressed at first but then realized there was not much technical or scientific data, and it took less then 10 minutes to breeze through the magazine. The price is just not justified by the content. I don't know any publication that has followed this flawed formula that has lasted. Additionally the magazine could increase it's subcription rate dramatically by catering also to northern states with knowlegable writers from northern states. Not the same few southern writers that are not as adept at northern topics.

As a published outdoor writer (fishing magazines, outdoor column, and soon to be published book on trout ponds), I tried to tell McDonald they were shooting themselves in the foot by not compensating contributors. Maybe I came on a little strong but the intend was constuctive critcism. Not compensating writers really hit a nerve. The response I got was, "Good luck with your writing." No new subscription coming from me and possibly even the creation of my own magazine and interactive website in the future.

Cecil,
I'm sure you are going to get alot of this but .. It's sure nice to see your name on here again!!! :p
In my opinion the good people on this site are the ones being hurt by you're not posting anymore .. more-so than PB. You and the others have a wealth of knowledge and are sorely missed!! I've learned to look at posts dates as I've been excited then disappointed too many times when someone brings up an old post with your name in the thread.
Surley you, lakedoctor, shawn, and whomever else has been wronged by PB can tell them to kiss-off and still help us lowly want-a-be's on this site! Whatever... I'm old enough to realize that life really is too short to keep loosing friends and let someone keep me pissed off all the time. I guess if you can't ignore em, which is what I do 99.9% of the time it's best to get away from it.
Do me one more favor and at least send me an e-mail when your book is published. I want one.
Ric
PS: I'm still looking for (oncorhynchus_aguabonita) I'm closer than I've been but not as optimistic. Hopefully I'll get started on my dam in apx 2 weeks. Had been looking forward to seeking your opinions on things. Oh well .. guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

I get the magazine ever two months. It is true you seem to go through it rather quickly..very different from the GON. You know, really there is not much to talk about with this pond management thing, on a month to month basis. You can run out of ideas and topics real quick! One thing I find helpfull is the article on Mike Otts process of building a lake. This is because I am in the process of building a lake my self. On of the things that would be very help is a Classified section! Man!!! I tell you it is very very hard to find tract of land for sale with lakes and ponds on them, Very hard!! By haveing a classified section that has just properties with lakes or ponds on them would be extremly helpfull I think!

Any I am yet to find any articles that talk about good catfish management looking for somthing that talks about blues and channels! I mean good real life examples as well as the technical "how to's" and "do's and dont's" to management.

I tell you the more I write the more ideas I come up with!!! Maybe there really is more to lake management but the owner of the 'Pond Boss' just is not putting much in it!!

Wow, we have a regular mutiny here. But when I read these posts, I realize that I have been thinking the same thing myself.

The same questions get asked repeatedly because the site is hard to search. I make the effort to search, so I don't waste other people's time, but sometimes I still find the same topic under different heading.

I subscribed to the Farm Pond magazine and was surprised that with fewer adds, they can pay the authors. And I want to support the authors. Mark McDonald's writing style is easy to read and it is funny. Pond Boss is invaluable resource for someone like me, coming into this cold. But after a while the articles get repetitive. Now I want more than the old fathead/bluegill/bass/NO Crappie! thing. What happened specifically when the NO's happened, why, how it was fixed. In my 3/4 ac pond, between a dozen of stripers and my pan, I bet I can cure just about any overcrowding problem that comes up. So why not encourage nuts like me to KEEP RECORDS and report back when we are done. Diversity of fish is what I miss the most.

BTW, I will get at least trial subscription to any pond magazine that I know of.

Gee guys....didn't mean to cause an uproar. My point was simply that this board was a lot more interesting when the "owners" participated more. We have plenty of great people to ask advice on this board and I greatly appreciate them.

Where are you Bob??????

Thanks a lot BrianC. I was just living in my dark little hole oblivious to some of the experts leaving. I thought it was just a little slow and we had some others that did a good enough job at answering so those didn't bother. Now I find out that some people are "pissed" and others believe we are in a downward spiral.
But even if everything is gone tomorrow, I have gained a world of knowledge and will always think this is the coolest thing ever.
Thanks to all of you. (not a sarcastic one like the one to Brian)

I must beg to differ. I have taken PB mag for around 8 years now and find it to be an outstanding, helpful magazine. I have ordered and used products over the years from advertisers in the magazine. I have found the various articles very helpful - I was a total novice and through PB mag, Bob and Mark's excellent books, and this site, I have taken a lake from a poorly producing, over populated waterhole to an outstanding fishery. I too appreciate the pro's help and certainly it is good when Bob and Mark chip in, but just to have a site to ask questions and bounce ideas off of others of similar interest is invaluable. Personal attacks on the owners is really not warranted - if I were a pro writing an article for a magazine, I think I would find out first if I was going to be compensated and then decide if I wished to contribute or not. Be careful here that you get what you ask for - ie. no magazine nor website at all for pond owners. And I must add that most pond owners are here for good, practical advice in layman's terms - they are interested in one thing - how to manage and enjoy a small body of water. So having all of the scientific back up is not always necessary - So as for me ..... I will continue to subscribe to the magazine, buy the products advertised in it, enjoy this FREE site, and enjoy my pond!

As you can see by my log in number I have been around a while. I don't post much because I don't feel I can answer a lot of the questions without guessing. I came from the old board and I greatly appreciated the board owners. Mr. Bob Lusk has personally helped us with a situation on our lake (at no charge I may add) that was critical in timing. I greatly respect Mr. Lusk and Mr. McDonald for all they do, and the effort they put into the magazine.

It seems some where waiting in hiding for a post like I made to start a big stink. Shame on Y'all.

Once again, the point was to get more input from the board owners, yet I greatly appreciate the others like Cecil.

My statements were pro-active to help this board, not kill it, as some seem to want. I will always be here, regardless of who is posting.

Brian Carmody
Madison, Ms.

I don't think any of us or any of those participants in the future want to see the Forum Board or the magazine "killed" or "die" or do poorly. What has been done so far is good, informative and useful.

For my part at least, any comments that seemed negative were meant to be helpful suggestions for IMPROVEMENT. If no one points out errors, mistakes, or short comings how is one to know what items or parts need work or improvement?. Without comments, critique, and outside review one keeps proceeding at the same rate or on the same path and the "mistakes" eventually "kill" you and or Others eventually "out do" you. Criticism can be taken positively or negatively. Comprehended positively leads to improvement and better able to compete, whereas taken negatively it usually leads to primarily "hard feelings". And where does that last one get you?

If no one cares about a topic they usually won't bother to comment or critique. How the comments are handled is most important.

PB and this website have been very helpful to me.
I would like to thank everyone for their time.

There are going to be slow times on any site. This is one of those times.

It is easy to get bored with some of the same questions from new-comers but many years ago I was new and yet, many people took the time to advise and educate me. I hope that I can have return the favor to others in the future.

Again, thanks to everyone for the help you have given me.

I have visited this site regularily for a couple years. I got most of my knowledge from Cecil and others as well. I think that all comments are valid and your concerns are warranted. Being a fairly new pondmeister i have learned a ton about just managing a pond and have helped others by my so called school of hard knocks experience. I chose not to re-new to the magazine simply because as someone said in an earlier post that there is virtually no Northern topics and i don't ever recall one on trout and that is all i raise. If you are going to have a quality magazine you need a variety of topics that apply to all species of fish. That is what is lacking as i could care less about all the bass/bluegil/catfish articles. Maybe that is the magazines intent and that is fine it just doesn't apply for the most part for a pond owner in the West Nebraska/ Eastern Wyoming area of the country. Thanks god i have the best trout mans e-mail to help me along. As i always say instead of bitchin lets all try to find a solution and correct the problems and issues! If the owners are not making money the magazine would be pulled. Lets all consult and encourage them to fix the problems it would be hard to start over.

Jeff

Man we finally got some post on a topic. I try to not come off as strong as some of the others. However, I agree I have written 9 articles and been paid for all of them, excpet the one I submitted to POnd Boss. However, I do think the magazine has gotten better in the last year. The Otto articles are fresh and I finally learned a thing or two from the magazine.
Maybe you the pond owner could request more detailed articels wirttine by professionals. If they heard this maybe they would pay for it and the magazine quality would improve.

Overall I support PB and have encourgaed my clients to get a subscription. However, I also push strongly for my clients to get another mag also. It is specfically for southern pond owners, but just read it once and you will see the diff. Why b/c it is full of artciels written by the pros. We are paid for our time in writing these. PB you may want to listen to this thread. It might just increase your subscrption base.

I agree... I think the magazine is great and so is this forum.

Ok, let's help out Pond Boss. What articles would you like to see in future issues. Here are my two.

THE TRUTH ABOUT GEORGIA GIANTS; AN INTERVIEW WITH KEN HOLYOAK

CURRENT HYBRID CROSSES RESEARCH

Greg you say that there is another magazine out there??? Man what is it!! I'll get a subscription today!!!

The two topics I want to see is stocking and growing Blue Catfish, NOT channels along with the usual Bream/Bass mix.

Also some good Crappie succes stories people love crappie including me!!

If you read Bill Cody's post in A Northern Ponds Long Winters Nap, that's the exactly the type of information that us northern pond owners need and are looking for.I think many of us (although not marine biologists) have been reading and learning and are looking for more detailed information as in the above mentioned post.I'd also like to see more information on raising Yellow Perch as in Perca flavescens not some form of sunfish.

Well I have not posted in a long time, but I have faithfully read the posts on the web site and recieved the magazine for the past two years. The one thing that I can tell you is that both the magazine and the web site have helped me a great deal. Now to some of you experts, maybe the information has been not has helpful, but to me it has kept me from making a lot of very costly mistakes.

As for Bob Lusk, he has helped me free of charge on a lot of issues rangeing from bacterial infections to what type of fish food to use, and never has he charged me for that info or refused to lend a hand. Now I am not saying that you folks don't have a gripe, but let's remember who brought us to the dance and give credit where credit is due.