Is it me, or have the forums quieted a lot on the past two years?

Its not like everyone's ponds have dried up.

All of the forums I have been active on have slowed considerably, (Except for camera sites) and the only theory I have is YouTube. I hate the blasted service as it is a spiraling pit of time waste where you start with an objective of learning, and then wind up watching two hours of pet videos. I cannot YouTube at work, but I can certainly get on forums between tasks, so it is kind of depressing to see the forums get so slow.

Otherwise there is just so much good information buried in these forums that when searched properly, yields an answer without needing to post?

Anyhow, my pond is doing OK, and I finally have hope that my wife gets employed soon so I can purchase some SoilFloc and finally clog it up. Getting kind of tired of the half-flushed toilet bowl look as plants refuse to grow well in the high lime deposits on the rim.

"I finally have hope that my wife gets employed soon"

Did it occour to you she might have other plans for that income??? Good luck with that one!

I have been suggesting for years (to no avail) my wife get a good job and support me in the means I desire.

I have to admit, I have not been on PBF as much lately. And yes, it is because of Youtube. I have been researching diets for about 9 months now. The good news about that is I have lost close to 100 pounds of excess weight (at desired weight level now), got off 100 units of insulin a day and cut out about 5 prescription drugs (off all prescriptions), have almost no more back pain, got rid of all my knee pain (was anticipating knee surgery before the diet change), got rid of hand arthritis, lowered blood pressure, no longer need the little man pills, sex life improved a thousand percent (wife lost 60# too on the diet). Pretty much got my life back.

So I consider my Youtube time well spent.

Yes it has been slow lately. I always looks on the recent posts. Somedays its the same post as the day before. It only shows the last 10 so that's pretty slow. Congrats on the weight lost @ABOY and GIRL.
I never consider it a diet just a new change in my eating. Diets are temporary. Getting off all your meds must fell damn good. Don't need the little man pills yet (only 43) but they do seem like they would be fun to try out.

Wow, and all this time I thought I needed to get in shape by not being in front of YouTube!

That is very awesome news on your health! It is very rare that people will make the adjustments in their lifestyle to improve health to that degree. You will simply get a raise by not needing to spend all that money on healthcare. All the rest is a bonus! It gets pretty hard to not let yourself go the older you get too, it is easier to chill after work than go for a hike in the dark.

In my case on the Soilfloc, we spent the money I had set aside for it on a trip to Disney a few years ago. What a money pit! I got talked into using it, under the condition we will do it when my wife goes back to work full-time when my son was old enough to be home alone. It has taken a LOT longer than expected, and a lost decent part-time job to set us back a fair amount.

Honestly I would rather spend some money and get the driveway paved. It is my nemesis! We have been getting a lot more heavy rain events in the past few years, and it has been hell trying to keep up on the washouts. However, there are a lot of other projects that need doing first that my wife deems more important. Like painting our hallway which I refuse to do myself. Probably more nooks and crannies than a Roman cathedral.

A small farm tractor may magically appear if the pavement doesn't occur. ;-)

It is definitely a lifestyle change.

Put on 3 pounds a year and in 35 years there I was. Don't notice the change year to year. Sure notice it when it comes off.

I feel the forum traffic, in general, is reducing.

I think this may also be true for other hobby forums.

If you think about these hobby forums going to social media platforms, it kind of makes sense.

People are still communicating digitally, but the medium and methods are changing.

Heck, even Luskie is doing his Wednesday Night Live gig on.....facebook, not here!!

Absolutely fantastic Snrub! Keep up the effort.

My problem is I've been loosing too much weight chasing the diabetes low carbs requirement. Seems all diabetic diets assume you are over weight already! There is nothing for us skinny folks. My doc told me I need to consume 2300 calories a day just to maintain my weight. I asked him how to do that without carbs and he said that a 7oz steak is 300 calories. So I said that means you think I should eat over 3 lbs of steak a day? What about my high cholesterol? He had no answer.

Anyway....I agree the forum has been slow. It seems it picks up some during the winter when folks are not so busy so we will see. I think Sunil nailed it. Forums may be on the way out as other social media platforms fill that roll....even Bob L. rarely participates in the forum. Hard not to notice some of the moderators have not posted for months or years. IMO Without diehard pros like Bill C that can provide sage advice on multiple topics, this forum would be in serious trouble.

Most forums I am on have slowed down some over the past few years. I think most of the younger people use FB and such instead. One forum, I have been on over 15 years. Some of the more active members have aged out or died. Many lose interest over time, and go to other pursuits.
Some get mad over moderation, and quit, as some have on here.

Bill D, John F., I couldn't agree more with your statements.
There's a personal aspect to the forum that you can't duplicate on FB.
I came here after finding some info in one of my bio books after researching some of Dave Willis's Stuff-Then I found Bill C. Why would a guy NOT post or read here? I appreciate the hell out of having this here. I kinda feel like I fit in here, nice to bounce an idea off of someone and get a response from another that has been in the same situation and appreciates the education as much as I do.
Just like with all things good, there are pioneers in this business and it seems the younger generations are less likely to follow in our footsteps so we see the more experienced folks slowly disappearing over time. Darn happy to have those here that are-now!

Yep, it's slowed. I don't try to get a lot of info off YouTube or FaceBook. I prefer this because I get to talk things over with others with my interest. I've been here since it started. Don't remember when that was but found a black and white PB mag at the local USDA office. I subscribed and still do. That issue had a notice about the Forum that was coming. I found it soon after and subscribed. Cody and I are the only active ones left of that original group of 8 or 10. Remember those days Bill?

Without this site I wouldn't have figured out much and I enjoy kicking things around/chatting with others about my interests. Made a lot of friends here and quit killing as many fish.

I am just starting to feel a little old, relying on forums to get my education rather than being curled up on the couch delving into YouTube. I try to explain it to my kiddo, and he just doesn't understand what the value of a forum is.

If your thought becomes "Back in my day..." it is best just to drop it.

Well done snrub !!!

Many forums have slowed - agree with Sunil on the cause.

This Forum is different due to the people involved and its personal nature.

For me its the interaction.

I am tired of hearing the same question. "I want to do X but I don't wan to pay for it, and I want to be able to blame someone else when it doesn't work."

For me, this is a place to share ideas and results. I try to not hide the process. I like trying and if I fail, well then so be it. Learn form my mistake. If you have a better way, try it, share it, or stop complaining.

We have lost that fire and that is why I have stopped posting as much.

When I finally catch the ten pound LMB in my pond, I'll post the pictures and talk about how we gave it the opportunity to grow that large in our pond.

Rant over, for now.

John, Great news!! What an inspiration.

It has slowed down and that is a great shame.... Brian you are right, it is about the interaction between all of us pond nurts. There is some great minds around here that you can rely on. Some are even good friends. Let’s get this thing back running again!

My personal observation is that there has been a great deal of 'brain drain' due to personal squabbles, turf battles, power struggles, and one-upmanship.

The reason the forum did so well back in 2013 and prior was because a group of very talented and experienced people were regular contributors. After this, the best and brightest were forcibly removed publicly, or asked to leave, or were 'phased out'. (not to say there are none left who are not amazingly talented and contributing)

When the innovators and the successful ones left, the forum lost a lot. Those individuals were replaced by new ones (like myself) who can never replace those individuals in knowledge or experience.

Like highflyer said, the forum has much of the same question and answers over and over as new members come. This if fine, but if the forum is to thrive, then pondmeisters with a medium amount of knowledge need someone to challenge them to bring it to the next level. Or if they want to do something unorthodox, they need someone else to come along side who might have done that before to help encourage or point out where things might go wrong.

Several who have willingly signed off have done so because of this exact issue. They feel that they can contribute to new comers (they can tell them how to stock their new pond in XX state) but no one can help them grow their knowledge or advise on a new solution to their unique problem. So they aren't upset about leaving, but just wish the forum could continue to grow with their growing knowledge base.

I'm not trying to be critical, but I think each of us could come up with a dozen names of the real contributers to this forum who have been asked or have chosen to leave.

I think we should ask the question of how do we remake this forum that would allow them to feel welcome again? Is there no second chances or amnesty in the pondboss world?

Looking forward to getting to a feeling that we are at a family reunion that still has ALL the generations of the family clan coming together rather than only the younger ones coming for the free food.

Personally, I would like to thank all you pond veterans. I purchased my 2.5 acres pond last fall and would have been lost without this forum. It had always been a dream to own my own pond but had no idea how much was involved. I am new here but I am guessing things might have slowed down with so much information (old posts) available for review. I would be asking tons of questions but do my best to review old posts before sounding like an idiot. Knock on Wood, I haven't come across too many issues that haven't already been discussed and answered. From me to you, thank you all so much!

I second the thanks to all of the experts that are willing to share their experiences and knowledge. I also really like the experiments folks run and then share whether successful or not. I must admit that I find the interactive forum environment enjoyable. My first 2 ponds followed the advice of experts here and have been a great success. My 3rd pond will be experimental but still be based on principles taught here. I will eventually share my experience with this experiment here as well. Having a friend pull a 6.4 lb LMB out of my first pond a few weeks ago, and a neighbor catch 16 recruited SMB out of my second pond in the last couple weeks (1 over 16") really is satisfying!

I wanta piggyback on the thanks to the crafty experts on here. Also thank you to all the posters. This site has got my wheels turning faster than my wife appreciates.

Canyon did you ever hit the head on the nail.... I can think of a few that were asked to leave and a few that said this is b s@@@t and have given up.... its up to the remaining to re- patriot those back into the family

I guess im still a newbie. Never heard of anyone being asked to leave. Which im glad I don't like drama that's why I don't do social media at all. This forum is it.

Rusto you would not have liked it at all, was not a pretty moment. Not our finest hour but I’m hoping we can come back from it. There is always hope

Like others here, I too have a project running. My solar setup has been upgraded to 48V DC and Tilapitopia has been reborn. I have added a few more brood ponds that still need work before I can use them the way I would like. Also, I do not have a great place to host the pictures where I can easily tag them for this forum. I would love it if this forum could get a few upgrades like secure connections and a better place to upload multiple pictures for our threads.

I do know of a few that decided to leave. Others were asked to leave because of their positions and posts. This is a business and a family. At times, there are going to be squabbles, but its what passionate family members do. I agree as we age, we should be able to come back into the fold if maturity has been found on both sides.

Hope my old friends are doing well.

I just don't think the reduced forum activity is due to the handful of members who have been asked to leave, or left on their own due to not liking how conflicts between posters, or moderators and members (myself very much included) were handled.

But just so everyone clearly understands, all decisions to ask a member to leave were, and have always been, Lusk's decision. I want to say that Bob has asked less than (7) members to ever leave in the sixteen years I've been here. As moderators, of course, we had input.

We probably do need to upgrade things around here to keep up with 'forum' technology, regardless of our opinions on why there may be reduced traffic. That costs money to Pond Boss.

If you love the place so much, can't you financially support it? Some people donate only $5.00. We even had one person who gave $1.00. I easily noted many of the members with opinions on this thread have not given any support. Why not???

Also, subscribe to the magazine.

Thanks for your post, Sunil. I've subscribed to the magazine the whole time I've been on here. You just prompted me to Donate to the Forum.
Good job. Or as they say these days, Good on You.

And I hadn't even offered up an opinion on this thread. Ha!

Thank you! Both the magazine subscriptions and the donations make a difference.

It is sad when some of the squabbles developed, but it is not too much to ask folks to be respectful of one another. It is this respectfulness that has kept me here (for better or for worse with regards to others:)). I found that adequate warnings were given, but sometimes emotions get the best of us. As a scientist, I believe we never know anything with absolute certainty even when there is a pile of evidence supporting something. There is a difference in saying that you (or I) find the evidence non-compelling versus denying the evidence exists. The latter can get me fired up as well. For example, I accept that black crappie in a small pond often leads to poor results, but still plan to try them with blue catfish in a 1/2 acre pond. If my experiment turns out badly, I accept that I was forewarned by those with far more experience than I, and I do not deny that the recommendations were offered based on strong data.

I just made a donation today and have been receiving the magazine for the past year. Thank you for the reminder on the donation!

I am not privy to any of the past squabbles being a relatively new member, but I can say that I truly appreciate the lack of drama, name calling, and degrading here at PB. Other forums that I have visited are full of smart-aleck-know-it-alls who obviously need a whoopin'.

Some of this has to do with the pond hobby mostly being a middle aged and above activity and it does not take too many gray hairs to thwart a cocky newcomer. Even though I hate to see the thwarting happen, I'm glad for this family-oriented place to hang out.

As far as the forum being slow...I'm sure alot of it has to do with the abundant amount of info already captured and available for those who have the time to search through it.

AND, I may be wrong here, but so many of the people with ALL the high end information and experience rely on that to make a living and I can't blame the them for not broadcasting it to the world.

Currently PB is a GREAT place to get started in the hobby and a very good place to share the more intermediate concepts and out-of the-norm experiments. I am very thankful for all those who have made that so!

Hey who you calling middle aged... I'm just kidding I'm 43 its prolly time 2 own it. My wife gives me a hard time bout this forum. She calls it porn boss lol. And if told her yeah not much porn on here mainly older men talking bout fish. I dont care as much bout the fish more the looks of the pond. The fish are a bonus and have several different kinds. I been told a few times different things bout mixing them all but I really dont care. I dont sweat the small shit.

I must admit that I do enjoy the contrarian point of view when presented in a reasonable manner. Understanding counterview points to my own, really helps me decide what is BS or not. Two of my biggest fears in life are: making decisions based on tainted information and a profit and loss statement that is fudged.

The accepted theory of operation changes over time for most things. This happens by poking and prodding, not just accepting the status quo. The hard part is not being an A55 while engaging in such inquiries.

Forums like Pond Boss are my favorite way to gain knowledge in a new endeavor. Thanks to all for making this a daily place to check-in and learn a thing or two every day.

Against my better judgement, I'll venture out from under the rock and offer my perspective. The biggest difference I see on the forum of today vs. years past, is a lack of balance. There's still plenty of valuable, informative, helpful, often excruciatingly detailed info to be had, but there's very little fun and/or entertainment.

Sure.. Bruce, Cecil, Scott, CJ, and a host of others are gone, but so are the likes of JHAP, and Bob-O...that's what's missing, the opportunity to escape the detail orientated world of water, and enjoy a diversion for a few minutes. You've got lots of talent here on the forum today, but it's easy to get too wrapped up in it. It's a pond, a weed, and/or a fish..you're not trying to disarm a nuclear warhead with a rusty set of fence pliers. Maybe try to lighten up a little, once in awhile. There will always be questions needing answers, but a community needs to be more than an encyclopedia.

Back under the rock.

sprkplug, Thanks for crawling out and posting my friend! Great to hear from you.
Utah uses the slogan "Life Elevated". Every time I read that on one of their license plates, I think of you, your present occupation, and how you elevated this forum.

Come on plug! Don’t crawl back under that rock stay out and agitate us a bit more .... that is what is missing. Good to hear from ya

Thank you David!

4C is all that - thank you buddy.

I like this experiment...consider male only LMB for this fishery...they may focus solely on 4-6" BCP as they top out at 2 lbs and gape won't keep expanding putting your trophy BCP at risk. BC will continue to grow and will start focusing on larger BCP [8-10"] you may intend to harvest.

I'm afraid the conditions laid out for my return are as unacceptable today, as they were back then. I'm going back on what I said I would do, just by posting now. No worries, as the view from under the rock does afford a unique perspective. That's why I said what I did in my earlier post. What I see missing/changed from the old days is more than a list of familiar names, it's the familiarity born of having shared more than pond related questions and answers. I think you should try and get some of that back.

My goal in the 1/2 acre pond is some large pet blue catfish. The crappie are a bonus for my neighbor to catch. I am sticking to fish that recruit so far, but would consider non-recruiting species if things get out of wack. Still are at early stages since plant life is developing slowly in the clay bowl. Leaves blow in from the south this time of year, so fertility should gradually improve. Even the ill-advised lotus is only spreading very slowly after a couple years and the only bud it had got cut off, likely by a painted turtle. Had an adult bald eagle come in for a look at this pond yesterday, but it did not stay long as I had one of my dogs along. On the subject of respectfully having an alternate view, I sometimes struggle like most. Sometimes I just need a nap:)

Like everything in life, the world never says the same. People come and go. I'm glad my X wife is gone I do like those that stick around here. Helps me with this pond stuff. Every time I think "I got this" the dam pond changes.

It is good to hear from Splug; hope things are going well with the elevator career.

The forum evolves - change is constant.

RAH - In addition to what TJ said, consider a few HSB that would target the YOY crappie when they are in open water that would help a lot to deter overpopulation; the BC alone might not adequately control high numbers of 4"+ BCP. BC will not likely eat YOY crappie unless that is the only fish available.

I will definitely consider HSB if the BC overpopulate. I can get these easily. Only thing in pond now are FHM and LCS. Perhaps a few RES would also not hurt once I have some plants?

YouTube is great until you need to ask a question.

One size does not fit all.

I prefer a discussion board like this one to youtube/fb, but I'm old.

You can find something on YouTube that will agree with anything one might imagine. Science and evidence seem to predominate here. Lots of logical folks here.

HSB manage my HBCP populations pretty well - those F2 fish are very strange looking/mutants, don't mind feeding the HSB.

Agree with Augie

Ahhh...I have missed your thoughtful commentaries and sage advice on both pond and "other" issues Sparkie! ...I still get the itch to try making some syrup! Is that big FHC still around in your pond?

I've noticed several of the questions in the forum are 3 years and older. Maybe there is a way to show the newest reply to the post first; that way the forums don't seem neglected.

I for one am ashamed to admit have not donated to the forum, apart from subscribing to the magazine. I am really guilty there, and have a lot of seemingly valid excuses. Planning a donation soon when my family is back on its feet (long story).

I do try to contribute content when I have something to offer when I can, to offset the lack of donations. I am no expert biologist, just an engineer with a hobby.

FYI for image sharing: I have been using Google for image storage when not on FB. It works well enough, just a pain in the butt to embed then in a forum like this. All the other image hosting sites have gone to a payment system.

An option would be to roll over the forums to Disqus, which is a hosted service. Works well enough on Wundergound, but honestly I like ubb well enough.


As an aside, note how dpreview camera site is laid out. Articles are posted, and there is the ability to post comments about them below that are tied to forum logins. If the goal of a website is to attract a community of people and therefore customers, this is about as good as it gets. However, with more people comes more problems, and I have had a lot of trouble with flat-out jerks there. The type that if they tried to pull a stunt like they do in a bar face to face, would not end pretty for them.

I have been using free PostImage.org again to add a url to an image.

Postimage.org provides free image hosting services for forums and they allow forums to add their image hosting service to a forum by installing the appropriate Image Upload extension. "Our plugin is a perfect solution for forums with visitors who are not quite tech savvy, and have difficulties uploading images to the Internet"....does that sound like us or what?

https://postimages.org/plugins


Yes I have found that to be true in most cases. Maybe that's the reason many of us have our ponds...to get away from people a.k.a problems...lol

Has Imgur changed its free access? Its easy to use.

My opinion of free image hosting services is that you get what you pay for, and after that you get the high hard one.

Everyone knows the shenanigans that photobucket pulled with their free site.
Then tinypic went belly up. I was using that one and now I'm in the process of re-uploading all of my pics to photobucket's pay service and a major thread rebuild.

If you have pics that you want online for the long haul... for the little bit it costs to use a pay service... well worth it...

I use Google photos for long term storage, auto downloads my phone pics when I open app. For forum posting I upload to imgbb.com, this is a small hassle but painless so far.

I don't really know if PhotoBucket has improved, but I always had a PhotoBucket Pro pay account and the last two years of fooling with their changes Photobucket sucked...finally threw in the towel. Very clunky, dropped their great "image edit for dummies" feature, no real tech support. If it's improved that's good to hear. As far as PostImage being free...all I use it for is to create a URL for an image. I don't store images there. So what do I have to lose? I don't use PostImage because it's free, I use it because it is so easy, quick, and simple to use. But whatever people want to use is great.

I just screen shot everything i put on here. I dont have any problems getting them on here. Still cant figure out how to get the picture up on it's own without clicking on it 1st.

I just screenshot them and download from my phone. I dont use any other site any more. I did imgur at 1st bit I find this easier. The times it would help to figure it out. Is times like side by side pictures to compare. Others on here have fixed them for me before. I dont do it on a computer either sending have the right click option.

RS, thanks for letting me know before I finished with instructions.

Sprkplug,

I didn't know you had left. I spend a fair amount of time digging through the archives and it seems like you are always here. Your signature gave me a chuckle today. Thank you for that.

I'm lost did I interrupt a post? Wasnt trying 2 offend anyone.

No offense taken. Just that I was posting desktop instructions when you post only by phone. No worries, really, your response did save me some time working on something that wasn't helping.

So you can post pix via phone?

Yes mine is a galaxy- I have to screenshot it 1st then switch to full reply screen-file manager- then choose file - this will be different for all phones mine is under file and the images. Then you have to click add then done choosing files. Might sound hard but it's really pretty easy after the 1st time. I Hope's this helps everyone.

I have tried everything to post pics, actually exactly like you showed from my iphone, also from my pc, but all my phone pics are too big even after editing, to post, if I crop them down enough to work there's no picture left, for the life of me I cant figure out how you guys post great big nice color pictures and I can draw a picture with crayolas and it tells me its too big, beats the heck out of me, I thought I was a wee bit tech savvy but I guess not so much.
I finally got one to post from my game camera that had less megapixels I guess.

You should have something similar to this to change your settings when in camera mode. From low image quality to high.

If y’all figure it out pass it on please(iPhone)

Make sure your screenshoting it. I guess it takes down on the quality im not really sure why. I do know it dont work for me unless I do it.

Tried the screen shot, still tells me it encountered a problem, the file won't fit the perimeters set.

Sorry but I have to #teamgalaxy !!!

$3/month for photo bucket. That’s about what I donate here. It’s very easy.. even for me.

Why choose Photobucket over Imgur?

First off I want to say I am not tech savvy at all. Not even a little bit, but I post pics from my iPhone. I had an old iPhone four and never could get it to work. My phone quit working so I had to get an iPhone ten x?? Or something? But I was having problems with pics being to large so I go to my photos click on it email it to myself, that way I change it to a smaller size and then I go to the full screen thing and it works, just writing this makes me wonder if I could post pics again or I just got lucky posting pics for a couple weeks. Bottom line if a guy like me can do it, someone a hell of a lot smarter can explain how to do it.

P. S. I wish I still had my brick Nokia phone yet. I loved pranking my buddies yelling awful stuff on the push to talk feature.
Ahhh the good old days

Both my kids are IT professionals and recommended Imgur. Anybody disagree with using this photo site?

That's why I use an image hosting service. The software automagically adjusts the picture size to post on a UBB forum, and then you can click the pic to open it full size in a new browser tab.

Yeah, it costs a little bit, but I use it for other stuff besides posting here, so to me it's worth what I pay for it, at least for now anyway.

If I was starting over, I’d definitely go with a no cost option. But I’ve got pictures in photobucket that have been there for years. Tied to posts from camping, hunting, motorcycles, and pond building. If I tried to switch now every post would be picture free. I guess I’m locked in. For $2.99 a month I’ll live with it.

I just left my old pics in Photobucket and started from there with Imgur. Not interested in putting new pics in an outfit that offers up surprises like that. Probably will have no effect on such behavior, but at least I am not rewarding them.

I'll ask the obvious question...what keeps the other, currently free, sites from following Photobucket's "Bait and Switch" scheme sometime in the future? Especially, if Photobucket is successful with this strategy.

All,

These discussions are the reason I would like this forum to host all of the pictures I post here. I believe the ability exists, and I know the pictures I post here will remain here.

I would love to know if Bob and Mike have any plans to upgrade the site. Add a secure connection (TLS), and the ability to host all of the posted pictures. Just to name a few upgrades that are available.

For me the value of the site is the knowledgeable and friendly folks here. I do not expect anything will last forever. Its fun to see pictures, but I personally do not sweat losing access to posted pictures at some point. I do care that my sentimental personal photos are backed up in multiple places.

I agree that would be great Brian! Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen as I recall several posts in the past from Sunil stating that the forum is a big money loser for Bob and Mike. I would expect it is more likely the forum just goes away. I could be wrong as they may consider the forum as a valuable marketing tool to get new subscribers to the magazine. I don't mean to be a doomsayer. It just seems to me, if the forum is important to them, we would see Bob and Mike participating more.

...just my 1 cent

P.S. ...and yes, I donate every year to the forum. I still think that button should say "invest" instead of "donate." I have saved a lot of coins as a result of the advice from the forum!...what the heck, I think I will click that button for a second time this year!

I’m always trilled to see the forum owners post, but I feel the moderators do a fantastic job of keeping the machine humming. I personally don’t come here for absolutes, but rather opinions and different perspectives so I can make an informed decision. Some decisions work out, some don’t, but they are mine. There is a forum on the “Book”, but guess where they send people with hard questions? Good ole Pond Boss, the owners reputation in the industry make this the go to place for reliable information. Well done everyone!

Bill D., you bring up an important aspect which is the financial viability of the Pond Boss Forum.

We have heard in years past from some who felt that the forum's goal was not to make money in and of itself, but more so to drive business to the magazine, Bob's consulting/fisheries business, and Otto's dirt moving business. And as such, forum users should not have to lend any financial support to the forum; they certainly have a point.

Assuredly, the first purpose of the Pond Boss Website, as it is with most all businesses' websites, is/was to drive business to the companies.

Then the forum came along, and it took on a life of it's own, as it grew and morphed into something more (note the get togethers, regional and national, etc. The internet friendships and those that developed into physical friendships, the camaraderie, etc.) The forum also gave numerous people the confidence to start their own businesses (Nate Herman, Esshup/Scott, Rainman/Rex, Blaine Hession, etc.)

Now, as we sit here today, Pond Boss could have a website that still drives business to their companies...and they could have that without the Forum.

If Lusk and Otto decided that they no longer wanted the expense of keeping the forum up, every single one of us here would be incredibly sad. We would all have a major hole in our lives. We no longer come here to drive business to Pond Boss as we are already customers of either the magazine or Lusk/Otto's businesses. We come here for each other, warts and all. And we honestly all love it.

It is that realization that more of us must come to. If we love this place so much, then imagine if it was gone. That alone is reason enough to support it financially.

SUNIL very well said. I just made my donation. It was only 10 bucks that I did but what if 10,000 of the 16,000+ memebers do that ever year. That's a $100,000 a year. That should help pay for some upgrades every now and then. I would be very sad if this went away. If your reading this jump up to the top right side of the page and click donate. Who on here cant give 10 bucks. Now that I think of it I should have did $20 maybe next time.

I haven't read through much of this thread, but I've gotta admit one of the reasons I don't ask more questions and participate more is due to the fact that 90% of the most valuable and commonly sought out information is archived. Going through the Common Q&A section or doing a proper google pondboss.com search almost always gets the answer I'm looking for. I find myself frequently bumping old threads to ask additional questions. This forum could stop all posting today and I'd still be searching the archives several times a week. It's an incredible resource. I wonder how many others like myself spend more time reading old threads than partaking in newer ones. Just my 2 cents.

I do both. I always look at the recent posts then I go thru old post. Yes the new post could stop and still be a wonderful resource but its also nice to see all the improvements of ponds.

Nothing keeps it from happening, or maybe they just shut the doors like tinypic.

If you have images that you care about a free service is not a good place to put them.

Augie....because of you I am giving Photobucket another chance. I had not signed into my Photobucket account in forever. It was fun looking at all my old pics. However they immediately notified me I was over my limit for storage, so I paid up and we'll see how it goes. It doesn't seem as slow as it was when I departed, so maybe they have cleaned up their act. We'll see...

It probably sped up since they must have shed quite a few accounts when it became a paid service.

One problem I have is how images are served up on a lot of sites, they don't have an extension so php wont embed them.

Here is a view from my roof:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nV8Myx9nF5AgSPfbA

Kind of a nice spot.

It is kind of rotten that it is money-loosing for Pond Boss, especially since traffic is obviously quite low on these forums.

I hope that you don't wind up regretting that.

I tried every trick I could think of to use my DropBox site. It worked for linking pics, but no matter what I could not make it work with UBB for embedding pics. I spent a couple hours conversing with DropBox tech support and they couldn't figure it out either. I could embed pics on other sites, but not here, and there was no mechanism for the automagical resizing that happens with Photobucket.

If I can figure out how to get Photobucket to do a couple of the automagical things that DropBox does, I will drop the DropBox subscription and be money ahead.

Augie...it's certainly worth a try. I used Photobucket for years. They had an edit function that was great and very user friendly. The new version may not be perfect for me...we'll see...but it could still serve a purpose as a place to store images and do some minor edits.

BTW....I really like this site for editing images:

https://ipiccy.com/

Well, there is always WordPress. *shudder* as much as I dislike it, it is a viable alternative to ubb, and allows flowing articles on the front page with comments, etc. It does need a lot of customization to make it relevant to a particular site.

https://wordpress.com/

May be worth looking into as it would allow integration of the main site with the BB, making it a little easier to manage with interactive articles. It would also allow Blogs, which for the pros here, could be valuable to gaining customers and supporting them.

Bringing over the archive of this data may be the trick. Not sure how that would be done.

MODERATORS please feel free to PM me direct if more appropriate?

I don't understand why we're unable to host pictures on this site and keep them contained herein. I have fun a few forums for years and never found hosting plans to be expensive. And by that I mean less than $100/month provided massive storage space and great bandwidth. So $1200 per year should get PondBoss Forum everything it needs to have pictures and disk space and bandwidth. MAYBE if we get a concrete number members will donate to subsidize the cost?

Does anyone know who hosts this forum and what the monthly (or yearly) rate is, and what is included? Often large disk space is included but the money is made on the network bandwith (and high quality photos can chew through bandwidth). Can we get real numbers to learn if we (forum members) might be able to assist in sourcing a better host / plan so that pictures could be uploaded and contained here and not linked?

I asked Lusk to chime in here, so let's see what he wants to do.

Hey Guys,
Just read the entire thread. Great input! Loved seeing Sparkie chime in as well.

Here are my first thoughts...when we started the first forum, in 1998 (yes, 21 years ago), it took a few years to outgrow the software. With help from the founder of the Texas Fishing Forum, JP Greeson, we went with UBB and have stayed with them since 2002. Yes, we can upgrade, if we want to spend the money. When we started the forum, we basically had two goals. First was for information and idea exchange. Second was to drive business to the website so people would subscribe to the magazine to help fuel the business for profit.

That's not what happened. The forum became a family and I was amazed at the strength of the friendships that formed. To this day, I'm still amazed at the friendships and relationships and what this forum has done, not only for pond owners, but for all the people who have been involved in it, even those that show up for a short time. It's truly humbling.

Just today, a man who found this forum years ago, called me. He's fishing near where I live and wanted to come by for a few minutes. We talked about what Pond Boss has meant to him, how information from here has helped him help his neighbors, his ponds, and his life in general. He lives in Illinois and has attended a couple of the Pond Boss conferences as well. He made my day.

I didn't expect the forum to take on its own life, but it did. Today, with all the different types of social media choices, it does make sense that this forum slows down.

Frankly, the value this forum brings has nothing to do with Pond Boss's bottom line. I wish it did. Actually, it should. It's greatest value, to me, is the people who participate and share their knowledge and experience. The archives are a fringe benefit. The dollars it brings are not.

Yes, the forum does lose money. We spend about $400 each month on the host, and advertising revenue doesn't come close to supporting it. Few advertisers wish to support the forum, but quite a few are happy to have banner ads as part of their bundled advertising package with the magazine.

If the members want to ante' up and contribute to upgrading the UBB software, we'd welcome that. As a businessman, part of my mindset does believe in "pay to play", especially when there's so much value here. One of the hard sells/obstacles I've seen over the years is people not truly understanding what information they get here actually saves them by not making fundamental mistakes. I've gotten many emails and notes from people telling me that the magazine and forum have saved them time and money by figuring some things out before writing a check. At the same time, I've heard comments time to time from contributors stating that what they tell people has value, and therefore that's their contribution, rather than dollars. I appreciate that point of view as well.

Here's what I'll do next week...I'll get with our staff and have them investigate what it will take to upgrade the software. I'll report that back to the forum. This is your forum, too, and if you guys want to upgrade and will come up with enough money to do it, we'll do it.

That doesn't change the fact that I see huge value of this forum because of the people who participate. We've watched a number of people start their businesses here and have been proud to help them do it. We've watched people grow. Heck, I remember when Greg Grimes and his bride weren't able to have children, and Greg felt a sense of family here who helped him through it. Then, when their two babies were born, we were there for them...all of us. How important is that? It's reasons like that that I won't let this forum die.

Regarding people who have disappeared...I have banned a handful of people and all of those have been for good reason. My life has been threatened, people have threatened to harm my family and friends...over a dadgum forum! The people who have been banned were given chances over and over. They didn't play by the rules and they're gone, and I'm glad they are. I still look over my shoulder from time to time with one particular nut case. But, like Sunil said, that's 7 or fewer people. All others who left did so on their own accord.

Here's the bottom line on that topic. If people can play by our simple family rules, they are welcome. When opinions or topics become toxic, I'll step in and do something about it. If people are antagonistic, I'll call them out. Then, stop the behaviors and we continue. Or, choose to go away.

I do think part of the reason this forum has slowed is because of other social media. Yes, I do a Facebook Live broadcast most Wednesdays. I do it to share knowledge, entertain people, and answer questions. I also do it to drive business for Pond Boss subscriptions and to solicit business for our advertisers and yours truly. Since I make a living as a lake consultant, that venue is a good place to get in front of another crowd.

Didn't mean to write a book, but this thread really hit me in the "feels". Glad to read the passion. Heck, I want to drive to Kansas and see John Burns. I bet if he turns sideways, you can't see him.

Back in a few days, after we check out what it takes to upgrade.

Make Pond Boss Great Again! Just kidding. I have learned so much here. I actually have a Purdue fishery expert wanting to bring students to visit my YP/SMB pond this spring to see if I have "special conditions". I told him he is very welcome, but I am just following advice from this site. Keep up the great work and keep Pond Boss great! It's people, not technology, that makes this forum great!!!

There are some nutcases on forums. I have been on another forum for almost 16 years. Here's a link to a case that happened because of that forum.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdok/pr/california-telescope-enthusiast-sentenced-prison-cyber-attack

Congratulations, RAH!

Did not know you were interested in telescopes John.

Here is an interview of my son Jason. He is big into telescope digital photography.

Astro photography

Part 2

shows some of his pictures

Thank you. Was really excited when retired neighbor reported back on his success catching SMB of various sizes. He remembers catching SMB in local streams many years ago, but they are all gone.

Well said and done Bob. Dang, have I known you and Otto that long?

Prior to PB Mag and this site, there was no pond info out there. Then, after PB started, Mississippi State put a Q&A area under their site. There have been a few more and some may still be there.

Had this site existed prior to me stocking my first pond, I wouldn't have killed everything. TWICE

I'm pretty new on here and am really struggling with renovating my pond. I am getting a quote on dredge with a small DINO6 dredge for a 2 acre pond. I've asked lots of questions on here but no one ever replies. This really reduces a forums traffic IMO. My initial post had a lot of replies but the last 3 had near none. I've asked for help on sealing a galvanized drain on an old pond as well. crickets. I've moved on to other resources. This forum has left me a bit disappointed. I'll soon not check the forum at all.

Jin,

Sometimes a question comes along that requires some special advice where there are very few people qualified to answer. If it has been a while, type "bump" in the reply area of your post so it comes back up again with high visibility. You can often find the answer to a question by Googling your question and add the keywords Pond Boss. Here is a link I got that way this morning for your topic. There are many more.


http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=338970

Jin,

When you don't get a response on this forum, it's probably because no one has a good answer.

If you have a specialized question that needs a specialized answer, and you understand Pond Boss to be a 'go to' source, send an email to info@pondboss.com.

Better yet, go to www.pondboss.com and look at the resource guide. https://www.pondboss.com/Resources?lid=306&lci=39

The forum is an important piece of our puzzle, but not the entire piece.

I most often find that unanswered posts do not supply enough detail on which to provide a useful response. A bit of effort from those asking the questions is sometimes required. If I do not get a response, my first question is how I can ask the question better. IMO, folks here go out of their way to be helpful.

I realize that an awful lot of this stuff is regional. I’m not qualified answer a lot of stuff that happen North of Texas.

Yellow perch, walleyes, etc comes to mind.

Howdy everyone!
I am connecting with all of the platforms that keep our website, email and forum up and running. I'm getting prices, length of time the system will be unavailable, what upgrades will accomplish, etc.
Just know that I'm looking into it and will report back as soon as I hear from each company.

Thank you for being a part of our Pond Boss family!

LeighAnn

Wow, awesome! I am glad my post has stimulated a healthy conversation.

We met the neighbors this weekend that purchased the house recently with a 3 acre pond that I envy, they welcomed us over to fish! They have zero pond knowledge yet, apart from they are pretty and hold water.

I can't wait to turn them on to Pond Boss. It seemed a little forward to jump right in with too much enthusiasm.

An interesting thing my son said looking over my shoulder is how old-school this site looks. I commented back that his generation doesn't even know how to use a bulletin board. They simply don't use them! It is all immediate gratification apps, real-time or YouTube. He agrees.

I asked him how would he look up his discussions later, or if he needed an answer and the expert wasn't available right away. No clue. Ugh. I need to work with him.

I am looking forward to the possibility of an upgrade on the forums, and will certainly donate when our situation gets better, which is very soon! My wife is in the process of getting hired at the VA, but it takes a ton of time and paperwork before she starts. The coffers are spitting up moths, and frankly it is a bit stressful going into winter low on funds. She cannot collect unemployment once the offer is accepted, and it has already been 6 weeks.

Thanks. This was helpful.

UBB is WAY old-school.

https://www.socialstrata.com/blog/reintroducing-the-ubb

"Didn't mean to write a book, but this thread really hit me in the "feels". Glad to read the passion. Heck, I want to drive to Kansas and see John Burns. I bet if he turns sideways, you can't see him."

I was reading this and thought CRAP, Bob wants to come see me!!! Then I realized it was to see John! You're place is much nicer than mine John!

Maybe some day Lusk will want to meet me too.

Hey Snipe!
I want to meet everyone on this forum!

(Well, most of them)

I think it would be great to have a "Campfire" or here's my pond/Gathering/Hangout/oldfartsmeeting... forum. A forum that is just a general forum. Most of the forums are topic specific question based.

Now Bob you have already stood me up once. I must have got put in the others. I wont hold it against ya this time.

Brian L - Great idea, I run across things that I think are interesting related to ponds but am reluctant to post as it isn't "serious." like this, with an attempt at a humorous caption :



or this:

Black Crappie

I made a thread called POND PORN. This is the type of things I thought people would post on it.

roudy....Yeah for that stuff that doesn't really fit anywhere... And that beaver is a sculpter!

Roundy, I bet those beavers are just like I am when I am trying to cut down a tree that has it's crown stuck up in the others, especially when knotted up with grapevines! Little series of shift-number characters popping up over my head as the tree pops up in the air rather than falling over.

Okay, boys!
We'll pick a date.
Bring beer, wine, and food.
We'll hang out somewhere.

If my pond was done and full I would invite everyone on here (regulars). Maybe next summer its 2 damn cold for all that around here.

I have no problem hosting another get together here also.

As far as not seeing me if I turn sideways, well maybe not that drastic but I definitely don't look like this any more.
Me installing Carolynn's thinking rock
Guess they are going to have to change all those photos of me in the post offices.

Looking good John. Losing weight is not fun, but it is worth the effort. I hope this cold weather leaves us for a while.

It's not always about losing weight. Just rearrange it lol. Replacing 5 pounds of fat and gaining 5 pounds of muscle makes a huge difference.

+1 to Augie on UBB being old school, and not in a good way. I've been part of many forums - mostly related to vehicles and motorcycles I've owned that have felt much easier to navigate. I think they have a more intuitive "sticky" function at the top of relevant categories. And the many remaining dead links (pondboss.com/forums/ instead of forums.pondboss.com/) can get annoying. I think the encouragement to use photobucket image hosting and the subsequent letdown has made it more difficult to use and enjoy as well. By the way - nothing is free, folks!

Now that the negative feedback is dispensed with, this forum has been hugely helpful and valuable to me. I joined 6 months ago after a word-of-mouth recommendation from a colleague who has a pond. And I would be happy to make a donation! But I haven't. And in a world full of people asking for donations, I think someone taking the time to lay out where the money is going would be helpful to me and to others. Business do it, churches do it, etc. An annual financial/vision for next year post and discussion.

And honestly, until now, I thought my magazine subscription was paying for the forum! Consequently, I thought that people donating were just trying to earn a gold sticker from Bob or the moderators and to get recognized in the Hall of Fame... or maybe just feeling exceptionally generous.

I think there is a communication gap. Some members have been here since the beginning - for years and years - but newer members probably don't know all of the backstory and history and things that have happened with ex-members, financial structure, etc. If you want to induct a new generation and carry the fire (er, water?) forward, we need to think more about drawing in newcomers so that they don't post 3 questions and then vanish after they get an answer. We need an explanation of the present, a vision for the future, and something to work toward. Something along the lines of "these are our current operating costs, if we want to upgrade it would increase our costs to this amount, here is how the experience would improve, there are this many active users, etc."

Like I said, I have already benefited enormously from this forum, and it's something I hope to be engaged with for years to come. I'm interested in keeping it alive, let's come up with a plan to - as RAH joked - Make PondBoss Great Again!

As someone relatively new to this forum, I was always getting confused by all the acronyms that were used. It took me a few months before I was sure that "BOW" wasn't referring to fishing with a bow (sorry, very slight exaggeration).

To attract and keep new users, fewer acronyms and more plain talk helps.

HaBi Farm....I assume you know about this:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442

But I agree...I rarely use acronyms.

I agree on acronyms, but laziness often prevails. Will try to do better. When I do not know an acronym, I google "acronym", "pond boss" and the letters in the acronym. Then I use Ctrl+F to find that acronym. You can try it with "BOW".

To be fair, the post explaining the acronyms is just the third item in the "Common Pond Q&A" section. It's easy to find, and also easy to ask "what does _____ mean?" I don't mean to sound rude, it's just hard to imagine people who are actually interested in learning and participating being driven away by acronyms.

I used to work in SpEd, where we talked about IEPs, MDTs, SATs, WISC-IV, WJ-IV, and I even started out on the S-B:L/M.

If you have children, you might have heard some of these acronyms. Anyone have a guess on what they mean?

Many persons who are very interested in ponds will soldier through and figure out how to navigate this site, what most of the acronyms mean, post pictures here, and so on. They won't be "driven away". But IMHO many will find it easier to check out Utube, FB . . . and then stay there. And someone who is currently only superficially interested in ponds may develop into a pond expert in the future . . . to be found on Utube, FB . . . in this competitive online environment.

I would say that the suggestion on acronym use was given in good faith and I think some of us took it that way and will try to reduce their use.

I didn't think that the comment was in "bad faith." In thinking about why people are not staying involved or why new people aren't joining, I just had a hard time picturing this being a factor and disagreed.

The acronym thing is a fair criticism and I thought it was a little over the top when I joined, though I'm not a huge fan of acronyms in general. "BOW" is a particularly silly one in my view, we are talking about ponds on PondBoss, right? . My response was simply from the perspective that it didn't - to me - appear to be relevant to the "slow around here" topic. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Makes sense. I have been reading and learning from this community for a while now and really appreciate this forum. I just get frustrated sometimes by all the acronyms thrown at us these days, but am guilty of using them as well.

The recent discussion around acronyms has me smiling. Acronyms are always awkward around anyone who hasn't learned them. I rarely use them except for here ... even when I text. I only use acronyms when I have first defined them or in a community where it is typical for most or all to understand the acronym. Which brings me back to here.

Were it not for the prevalent use of acronyms, I probably wouldn't do it. But early on, it seemed appropriate to learn them and to use them when participating in the forum. I'm smiling wide because I have taken the time to shorten many of my posts through edits applying acronyms. Even so, I also often deliberately omit an acronym when in response to post where they are omitted. IMHO, acronyms have a place here and are very useful in saving space and keystrokes. I've got an 11 year old and a 9 year old. I can tell you that acronyms do not deter them in the least and that they have their own repertoire of them and are learning new ones.

I tend to agree with those who described the archives as being complete enough to answer common questions. Many prefer to glean from this resource and find it sufficient. There are a lot of ponds out there for sure ... but most are not managed intensively and most owners of these pond don't find any fault in them. They accept them for what they are and enjoy them anyway.

Lmao, some acronyms are a little more standard, or at least to me, I don't mind most and sometimes a new one can be kinda fun to decipher, but sometimes it takes me a second to figure out some of the fish species acronyms, fwiw, I enjoy the site very much and check on it nearly every day, I mostly have my struggles with posting pictures, for some reason I have a hard time getting my pics to the required size to be able to post, but I may have that almost figured out, been able to post a few. jm2c now Im gonna go fry up some CC that I caught on the river this weekend!

Gehajake ur my kinda smartass. You hardly ever use them. That post gave me the honest to god chuckles. My wife even looked over at me n said WTF you laughing bout. It's takes me longer to figure out how to write them in my head than it does to just spell it out. But I'm good with whatever. I find myself sometimes using short words like prolly, bout, kinda.

I would think the simplest way to handle acronyms would be for the the OP(original poster) to add the full description in parentheses after the acronym.

So if BCP(black crappie) or APW(American pond weed) was referenced, then there wouldn't be a need to hunt down the acronyms page.

Just a thought.

I keep a five page list of commonly used acronyms on my desk at all times. It was posted by Theo Gallus on 7/30/06 #92442. It has helped me a lot.

I try to minimize acronyms in scientific publications even though all but the most common acronyms (e.g. DNA) must be defined on first use. I do this because I want to respect the readers time (having to go back and find the first use). We are all inundated with alphabet soup these days, so I try to do my part not to add to the confusion. But as mentioned earlier, I also sometimes use the most common fish acronyms here. And I am a poor typist.

A running joke where I work is that we have too many TLAs and FLAs.

(TLA = three letter acronym FLA = four letter acronym)

I used to have to write hobby kit assembly instructions "back in the day", and I have barely gotten over it all these years later. I still write like my audience is in 6th grade. I cannot help it!
So I have to actively search and replace long strings with applicable acronyms to seemly sound like I know what I am talking about.

Well, that's my excuse and I am sticking with it.

My favorite is RTFM (Read the manual).

Have you ever been asked to keep your thoughts to yourself??

Asking for a friend.....

Sunil as a moderator it seems you should be a little nicer than that. Isn't that what a forum is (thoughts and questions with answers).

RStringer, they say you always hurt the one you love. It's been 5-6 years since Sunil and I were on a road trip together, so I'm thinking his separation anxiety was too painful to keep bottled up inside.

Here's a pic of me carrying Sunil's water bottle for him on our last trip. Good times.

And I took that picture!

I think there is some history there that goes back a ways. Kind of an inside joke all in fun, that those outside the loop do not recognize.

I learned early on in this forum that Sunil likes to pull chains, but only on those he is close to.

I was just kidding!

FireIsHot (aka Dreamboat Annie) make such a nice target...especially around the holidays.

Glad to hear you fellas know each other then. Dont get me wrong I love a good smartass I happen to be 1 of them myself. I was thinking you was just being rude. That pictures looks like the Rock and Danny Devito lol.

Usually one of the two us will lob a cannon ball across the bow of the other when we're bored. In all honestly, I consider Sunil a lifelong, forever, trusted, moderately adequate friend.

Did you 2 know each other before the forum? I have been wondering how many people have actually meet up. Snrub is the only one I know of that is close 2 me.

No we didn't. In my old life, I worked every third day, and I could take days off when I wanted them. I actually first met Sunil years ago at Richmond Mills on a fishing trip. I've driven to several member's get togethers in Nebraska, Illinois, and Brian's(Highfyler) place here in TX, and met quite a few "distant" forum members, and have continued to PM and see them on a semi-regular basis. In fact, Scott(Esshup) comes down from Indiana every year or two and helps me with pond related projects that are 2 big for me to handle by myself. John's(Snrub) place is on my list next time he has one. I first met John when he and his wife drove down here for one of Highflyer's deals in TX.

All playing aside, I've really learned a lot by visiting other guys/gals ponds, and not only got to put a name and face with a username, but learned tons. A perfect example of that was my trip to TJ's place in Nebraska. I obviously knew about fish cages, but I'd never seen them utilized in a pond in such a positive manner. Now I have fish in them almost daily, and several sitting around if needed.

RStringer, sometimes you gotta fill that gas tank up and hit the road. It really can be a lot of fun, and a great learning experience as well. I need to do a get together myself.

Very well wrote I'm pretty new to this whole pond stuff. I do like learning about them. Never would a thought there so much to them sides water and fish. I find all of it very interesting to read about. I had just started really getting into bout the time of snrubs last deal.

FireIsHot paid a visit when we were building our cabins.

Log cabins are pretty damn sweet. If that's a hole for a window I'm gunna need to see some after shots. I'm a sucker for a good story.

If you decide to have one, mark me down if there is any way I can make my schedule fit. I would love to see your place Al.

John,

Allen's place is close to ours, and I am trying to plan a get together this spring, so pack a tent and you can do both!

Just don't go for a boat ride after dark with him.....

Sounds like someone gets a lil handzzzy.

Cool! Both times yours we wanted to make it a motorcycel trip and then something came up and took the car. I still want to make it on the MC. Some nice riding down in that area and over into LA.

Well, I guess I won't have one then.

You can carry my water bottle if it makes you feel better.

I find giving him small, short duration tasks works best. Once 'Bonanza' comes on TV, he's not worth much.

Love the bantering, Life is way too short to not have a little fun as we go thru it, and none of us is gonna get out of it alive!

Hey! Speak for yourself. I'm going to get out of this alive, that's my story and I'm sticking to it, till I'm proven wrong.

Speaking of getting out of here alive..since they allow "burial at sea"...I wonder if anyone has chosen to be "buried at pond"? As much as many of us love our ponds it might be something to consider.

https://www.newenglandburialsatsea.com/burials-at-sea/

I couldnt tell my wife those plans. She might try to make it happen sooner than later. Just kidding I hope.

Heck RS I bet guys that go the cremation route have been buried in their own pond....no one including "Big Brother" would even know.

Hi Bob,
It has been about 7 weeks since you promised to get back with the forum members about needed upgrades to this forum software. Since photo hosting and the problems with many online photo hosting places continue, much of the past archives are less helpful due to blurred or missing photos. Having onsite hosting of pictures plus giving an option for viewing this forum in a apple/android app would be very helpful.
I think there is strong support for the members helping with the costs too.

I think there is strong support for the members helping with the costs too.[/quote]
Count me in.

Yes. Cremation followed by a Viking funeral.

I like it!

I wonder if it adds nutrient load to the pond?

Awww man!

I actually figured a lot of people would choose to have their ashes placed in their pond they love so much.I have family members ashes that have been spread in the Gulf of Mexico near the beach where they loved to be. All our waters where we live lead to the Gulf.So the wife and I both will have our ashes put in our pond and they will eventually flow into creeks that lead to rivers here that lead into the Gulf of Mexico!! to be with loved ones!! That's our working theory anyway, Hah!

There is new meaning to go swim with the fishes.

My family has been given instruction that my post-cremation remains are to be uncerimoniously dumped into the Missouri River on Ploughboy Bend.

John, all ponds like potash, but I'm not sure about under cooked potash. Most that have been here know I overthink a project before I ever start. I want no issues once I move forward with a plan. I hadn't given enough thought to just doing the Viking funeral thing, and had a cold chill run through my body. If the boat had of tipped over before my body was up to temp, I could see my wife screaming and crying, with DD1 standing beside her and telling her everything was going to be ok as he threw spinnerbaits at me trying to get me back to the bank. A cremation first seemed like a better decision.

We'd need some stout tackle and some exposed treble hooks to bring you in - thinking Muskie rig with a Believer on strong braid, at the very least.

TJ, I was going to say something a smidge snarky, but you're probably right. Dave with a musky rig is better than Scott with 4# line and a 1/32oz jig.

#2 and 1/100th oz Jig.

Or I could break out the Saltwater Tackle, I think I have a Penn 50 SW (2 speed) spooled with 100# Spectra.......

Al, I would probably be casting to see if you provided good structure.

Well fellas as of this sunday I will be gone. Just for a week and will be back. Going on a cruise to the Bahamas with wife n kids (5 females) wish me luck please. Might do some fishing there. But my plan involves some sort of diving. I hope you all have a wonderful start to the new year also.

I did that on my first time cruse. Islanders live on island time and even though your watch may read the same as theirs they might cause you to miss your cruse departure time. Yah Man, it's island time!

We did some trolling on the 1st cruise and diving on the 2nd. I prefer the diving I can fish here anytime. Yes always have to be very aware of the time.

Have fun down there

We will do. Kinda dreading the drive. 12 hours with queen bee n 18,17 and two 11 years olds. But once we get aboard 7 days of someone cooking n cleaning for us. My wife runs daycare so those 2 things are constant for us.

Careful. Short term vacationing in exotic places can lead to this. Three months per winter, so I can vouch for it being addictive.

I'm in Snrub. What's the dow side of it. Besides the cost of course. I see no reason to be careful we try to go somewhere every year. Its EXPENSIVE when you take your kids along.

Midnight Dec 31 at the "big pond".

New year celebration is a HUGE deal here. Fireworks like in the picture going off all up and down the west coast of the island.

Shrub, that is cool looking.

That's one addiction I welcome. Made it to New Orleans getting on boat tomorrow. New years eve would have been cool for sure but twice the money on a cruise.

Didnt end up doing any fishing. We did get a close up view of them thou. If you ever get the chance to do this it was very cool. BUCKET LIST ITEM CHECK

What the heck is that, Rusto?

I've never seen or heard of that.

They are basically a cross between a mini bike and submarine. Your head is in a glass bubble. They were as much fun as you can have with your clothes on lol.

How deep were you guys?

They had air tanks connected to them. The line that is on the top of them is connected to a bouy. The line where 20 feet long. Thats so the person on the boat can keep track of everyone. They was freaking awesome. They weren't real fast (bout a brisk walking speed). Kinda like a scooter underwater. We was down just over an hour.

Just renewed the subscription and donated. Don't wanta miss any issues of the POND BOSS magazine.

Heading to Alaska July 5 for 10 day cruise. Going to try to do a short Salmon or Halibut fishing afventure. By short I mean 4 hours out of the 6 we will be in a port. What town? Heck, I don’t remember

Delighted for you, Dave! Beautiful & fantastic fishing.

I have been on 3 now and love them. My wife isnt into being cold so Alaska wont be happening. I think it would be a enjoyable one to go on. Are you going out of the Seattle port?

Seattle? Yep. I know the town pretty well. Compared to West Texas, it’s nature gone nuts due to never ending rain. On nice days, people there say “Enjoy the sun.” Instead of “ Have a nice day.”

Granddaughter married a Navy Submariner and they were there for about 14 years. Since they are now in Hawaii, I expect it will be our last time there.

Once, in a cafe the waitress asked where I was from. My accent clued her. When I said Texas, she immediately asked if I owned a gun. I said more like 30 or 40. She had never met a gun owner and had a lot of questions. Different world there.