What happened to the road trips!??

[BassinSoldier]

Hi Glenn and Kent and all the mods, and everyone else…I’ve been away for a while and coming back around just wanted to know, are road trips still a thing?? Me and my friend Bryan had a blast, and we are both Iraq vets and we were both humbled by the kind words and fellowship we had on the road-trips years back. I don’t know if he still gets in here often but I still check in from time to time and just wanted to say that I personally had a great time with all the crew back in the day. That being said, as the title states…are road trips still a thing?

[Captain Phil]

My wife and I enjoyed many road trips. We have driven all over the country numerous times.  Road trips are the best way to see America.   We loved small towns, big cities not so much.  With today's air travel being so annoying, we are surprised more people don't do road trips. On a road rip, no one can tell you what to do and when to do it.  We prefer better hotels over RVs and camping.  Now that we are older, we limit our driving to 4 hours a day.  There was a time when we drove all day for days at a time.

[J._Bricker]

Not sure @BassinSoldier, but it’s possible the Pandemic had a lot to do with the Bass Resource road trips fading out. I remember reading about BR members stating they were on their way from where they lived, whether they were towing a boat or not, the great times fishing and like you said the “fellowship” of finally meeting other members. The BR Road Trips sounded like a great event that be fun to attend in the future. Maybe 2024 would be the year of the next Bass Resource Road Trip event.

[12poundbass]

I never attended one but read about them. If I remember correctly the attendance started to dwindle, it was difficult logistics wise to be able to round everyone up, and people backing out a the last minute all contributed to the end of the BR road-trips. 

[Captain Phil]

I was not aware BR had road trips.  Must have been before I became a member?   I assume members would gather for a meet and greet fishing trip?  Sounds like a good idea, but given how busy people are these days, I can see why they were hard to pull off.

[Alex from GA]

Being on a fixed small income the gas prices are keeping us from going.  We have a small camper that we pulled from GA to Maine four years ago.  Took a kayak and fished in several states.  Even caught a fish.

[Mike L]

I went to the first one we had.

If I remember right it was in 2014 on Wilson Lake. 
 

There were a lot of current members who attended then

@Glenn

@roadwarrior

@papajoe222

@BassnChris

 And many others
 

And some I lost contact with…

Flukemaster

Brian Needham

Long Mike

Big O

And others. 

 

That was when the Rage Bug was a prototype and Big O passed out packages of them to everyone to get some feedback before they were released to the general public. 
 

 

Mike

[TOXIC]

I’d certainly be game for a road trip to meet some members.  As it stands I am getting ready to to a big overhaul on my boat since it has been sitting an extended period of time.  I fish with my buddy who lives closer to our preferred fishing holes, so my boat sits.  We do 2 main road trips every year where I pull his boat with my truck.  We go to lake St Clair and somewhere in Florida.  I’ve helped organize these types of get togethers and the biggest problem is when you have people on both coasts and everywhere in between.  That’s when you kinda have to do regional events.  It would be a hoot if it could be put together.   They always are.

[Mike L]

I tried to put something together for the Florida guys 2 years ago. 
About the time I started to finalize things Mrs Mike got Covid and then everything stopped. 
 

I’d be in for getting together sometime also, it really doesn’t matter where. 
 

 

 

Mike

[thediscochef]

I joined too late to attend any official BR events but if I can make the $$ happen I'd be there for sure 

[Glenn]

4 hours ago, Mike L said:

I went to the first one we had.

If I remember right it was in 2014 on Wilson Lake.

Unofficially, the first one was a Lake Fork in 2006.  Officially it was 2007 at Lake Fork.  For the next 7 years the annual event visited several other venues including Kentucky lake, Pickwick, Guntersville, and Wilson.

 

My original vision was to grow it to the point it would held at the same place and time of year.  Make it the "Sturgious of bass fishing" so to speak.  But that turned out to be too ambitious.

 

The problem was basically twofold:

1. Logistics - coordinating boaters/non-boaters, evening dinners (both potluck and restaurant), group reservations for lodging, guest speakers, sponsor donations, raffle, boat rentals (if available) etc. is major work - and expensive.

2. People backing out.  Turns out most people just LOVE the idea of the roadtrip, but won't attend when it's time to plunk their money down and/or get time off work.  What ends up happening is that everyone raises their hand at first and commits to going.  Reservations and other logistics above are worked out.  And then 4 weeks before the event, people start dropping out like flies.  What was originally 75+ people that said they'd go ends up being around 20.  Ironically, the one event that had the biggest turnout was when we charged $50 per person.  We had nearly 60 people at that event. Of course, they got more than that back in the form of sponsorship goodies and raffle prizes.

 

We tried different places and dates in an attempt to improve turnout, but that didn't help much.  Even tried replicating the one with the most turnout, but that ended up with 27 people.

 

A few years ago, a much smaller event was planned at Toledo Bend (no raffle, speaker, organized dinners, etc), and the same thing happened.  I think 12 people ended up attending, with most them staying 2-3 days of the 7 day event, and not all on the same days.  It forced 4 to a boat on some days.

 

So ya, neat idea, and it's awesome when you can get 30+ people to attend.  But that's a lofty goal. Plus no matter the lake that's chosen, there's a ton of people complaining it's not near them. I even had one sponsor quit because it wasn't held a third time on Lake Fork (near where he lived).

 

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but just explaining why we don't do it anymore.  Some people have hosted their own regional events with mixed results. I don't think any of them had more than 10 people.

 

@BassinSoldier I remember you and your buddy!  It was great meeting you guys and hanging out with you!

[papajoe222]

I was disappointed when I first heard that the official BR Road Trips were canceled. The following year, I believe, an unoffical one was held. No sponsors, or give aways, and non-boaters were paired with boaters prior to the event. I recall reading posts about it (I didn't attend). Considering the location I thought turnout was decent, but again, as Glen mentioned, there were no sponsors, guest speakers, guides, or raffles.

 Kent, Gary, Mike, Bluebasser (sorry, his name escapes me) and I had a very informal road trip on Table Rock a couple of years back. Despite being sick (I never did find out what it was) and the fact that we didn't catch much, if anything, It was a great time.

  Those kind of gatherings are always fun, you get to put names and faces together and get to enjoy your favorite sport in the process. I encourage all our members to form local groups and plan small, short trips to a location fairly close to others that has never been fished by the group. All it takes is one person to take the initiative to bring a group together. If the idea blossoms, we could have an end of season competition between the groups and 'crown' one as the best for that year.  I know, wishful thinking, but you never know.

[NorcalBassin]

Cool concept and hopefully some form of it may return some day. I've never been down south but that's the sort of thing that could get me there.

[TnRiver46]

3-4 days camping/floating several miles of a river would be awesome……… eat what we catch….. and bring rice and beans in the event of a skunking 

 

I did a fishing road trip in Michigan earlier this summer and that was great

 

Could we try a “everybody fend for themselves “ model but still meet up at a body of water and fish together? I can camp in a tent while @Cbumpsleeps on the deck of his boat and @T-Billy just fishes all night instead of sleeping 

[Glenn]

22 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

3-4 days camping/floating several miles of a river would be awesome……… eat what we catch

I did that in the Yukon. 7 days in a canoe, living off of freshly caught Grayling.

[Koz]

I actually brought this up with Glenn a few years ago because I, ahem, run a hotel on a lake. He mentioned those same concerns to me as he listed above.

 

Of course, I could make the room charges non-refundable...

[Susky River Rat]

This sounds like an awesome idea. I know I can honestly say unless it was a very close body of water for a day out I could never pull this off. I have to keep my wife happy first lol. She doesn’t say to much about my fishing or what I spend on it. Spending time away from here to fish would be a big no no.

[Mike L]

8 hours ago, Koz said:

Of course, I could make the room charges non-refundable...

That’ll do it!

 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

This sounds like an awesome idea. I know I can honestly say unless it was a very close body of water for a day out I could never pull this off. I have to keep my wife happy first lol. She doesn’t say to much about my fishing or what I spend on it. Spending time away from here to fish would be a big no no.

Bring her 

[gim]

I could see the logistical issues behind doing something like this.  Its not hard to visualize it.

 

I have a pretty decent grasp on where some members are located though and if I'm ever in their neck of the woods, I'm going to contact them in advance about meeting up.  Even if its not to fish, getting together for a beer or a meal sounds appealing.

 

If anyone is ever in the greater Twin Cities area and wants to fish, PM me in advance.  I'll try to make it happen.  Just don't show up in January when there's ice on the lakes lol

[roadwarrior]

4 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

Spending time away from here to fish would be a big no no.

 Time to visit the Mom Store for a trade-in.

 

 

 

                                                        

[Susky River Rat]

@TnRiver46she will go on the boat we have gone down to stonewall for musky but it was more of a vacation than just a fishing trip. There has to be other things for us to do. I have to spin in the right way. So donates to butter her up would be welcome ?

[BassinSoldier]

Thanks Glen, it was great meeting you and your wife as well. If nothing else I have some great memories. I had a blast at the 2 trips I attended. I’m sure the economy isn’t helping anybody on the boater side of things either here lately, not to mention the travel costs and gas, etc. I get it. I miss Kent’s box of wine also ?

[Swamp Girl]

I'm sad I missed out on these opportunities. It would have been great to actually watch the BR Brain Trust fish. 

[volzfan59]

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I'm sad I missed out on these opportunities. It would have been great to actually watch the BR Brain Trust fish. 

I agree! I've had the pleasure of meeting @Glenn his lovely wife, @TnRiver46and a couple of others (can't remember their names) at the 2019 Classic. There's so many other's that I would like to meet, hang out and fish with.