Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss I'll be slowly moving on.

I found Pond Boss about 10 years ago. I was welcomed like a very wealthy long-lost relative about to re-draw my last will and testament.

My wife Lynda and I have made many wonderful Pond Bosas friends, ranging from the Pond Boss himself, and his lovely bride, on down to hundreds more.

We have shared more happy times than we can possibly remember (age, Peroni, local law enforcement, etc. may have interfered with some of these memories). As we've aged, we've also shared some difficult momements, especially with the loss of some of our greatest Pond Boss friends.

About a year ago, Lynda and I decided that Catmandoo Estate and Mansion (hey, it's WV and the Mansion ain't on wheels), and Game Preserve (I still cant' catch some of those darn big catfish) is just too much for us to care for. Just since the first of the year I've probably spent 50 hours on my tractor maintaining the 1/2-mile driveway through snow plowing and dragging tons and tons of gravel back up the steep slopes from all the rain we've received.

We will miss this place tremedously.

Tonight we will enjoy fresh caught (from this morning) HSB filets. The filets will be fixed English style as Fish and Chips. The "chips" will be made from fresh dug potatoes from our garden.

We were awakened early this morning by 18 noisy wild turkeys outside the bedroom window. Many of you have enjoyed the venison treats I make from the deer we harvest.

A little over a year ago we purchased a home on Oak Island in very south eastern North Carolina. We have owned/rented/vactioned there for nearly 40 years. The single family detached 3-bedroom home, with garage, is actually a condominum. That means I don't have to do any outside maintenance if I don't want to. Our front yard is the ocean, but protected by a quarter mile of dunes and yaupon (live oak) trees. Our back yard includes about a 1/4 acre pond that is home to an ever-changing population of alligators ranging from about 3 to 8 feet in length. The back yard is actually a golf course. One big alligator (6-8 foot) can live peacefully with several 3-4 foot alligators. Igor, our homeless and rescued big Siberan Forest Cat, does have some issues about being a totally indoor cat while being at that house. He doesn't understand alligator's appetities.

Fishing is great down there. Having been a part-time resident there for almost 40 years, I've gotten to know the good fishing spots -- whether surf, brackish, etc.

There are dozens of public access points in our area for small boats. Our island is separated from the mainland by the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The island and waterway connects to many tidal creeks and watery estuaries filled with fish during the higher tides.

This winter I plan to buy a used jon boat with a small gas motor and an electric motor. Although I've kayaked and canoed these areas for decades, I plan to re-take a Coast Guard Auxilary course before I set out with a "power boat" (maybe a super-powerful 10-15 HP).

Several years ago, we also inherited a similar "condominium" detached home with garage near where we live now. It is in an over-55 community in the city of Winchester, VA, about 15 miles away from here. Lynda, and one of our two cats, has been living there during the snow season, for the past several snow seasons. We expect we will be spending the hot tourist seasons away from our beach home, at this house.

So, we don't know exactly what we will be doing. But, our country home in WV will be put up for sale next spring. I will no longer have ponds of my own to manage.

I'm extremely thankful for my Pond Boss family. We are extremely thankful for our good health as we approach 70 years on this earth.

You may have already noticed that I haven't been real active on the forum for the last several months. I will be slowly withdrawing even further over the next several months.

Thank you to everyone for such a wonderful 10 year run. I'll be around, but just not as much.

Ken (Catmandoo)