Pickwick Road Trip

[Uncle Leo]

I'll be at Pickwick this evening. We have two boats

fishing the river tomorrow. Man...I can hardly wait!

If we catch something interesting, I'll post a pic or

two.

Woo-Hoo!

Rubbin' a little salt in Leo's wound Kent?

Sadly now I am severely damaged. Two more Bass Ales now for you Kent. One for me one for you.

[cart7t]

I regret to inform everyone that I won't be able to attend the RT this year.

With the wife still out of work after 2 years it's just a financial matter at this point and money spent for the trip could be better spent elsewhere. 

Hope you guys have a great time and for those that will be fishing with burley..........  make sure he has his cell phone on before he goes to bed.   ;D

Catch em up and be safe.   

[CWB]

Won't be the same without you, Bud. :-[

I'll try to catch a few around the docks at the Marina for you.

[roadwarrior]

In a few weeks we will start posting Pickwick

fishing reports. With a break in the weather,

things should start to pick up.

8-)

[electrikal]

This is an article on smallmouth at Pickwick in this month's Alabama Outdoor News - http://www.aonmag.com/article.php?id=1973&cid=82 - should whet the appetites for the road trip!

[Pitchinkid]

This is an article on smallmouth at Pickwick in this month's Alabama Outdoor News - http://www.aonmag.com/article.php?id=1973&cid=82 - should whet the appetites for the road trip!

You gonna be able to make it Electrikal

[Glenn]

I regret to inform everyone that I won't be able to attend the RT this year.

With the wife still out of work after 2 years it's just a financial matter at this point and money spent for the trip could be better spent elsewhere.

Hope you guys have a great time and for those that will be fishing with burley.......... make sure he has his cell phone on before he goes to bed. ;D

Catch em up and be safe.

I'm sorry to hear that.  You'll be sorely missed, but not forgotten.  We'll raise a toast in your honor. 

Hope things improve for you soon!!

[roadwarrior]

This is an article on smallmouth at Pickwick in this month's Alabama Outdoor News - http://www.aonmag.com/article.php?id=1973&cid=82 - should whet the appetites for the road trip!

Man, great post! Most importantly, the highlighted

area (around Panther Creek) is within an easy boat

ride from the Lodge. There is another ramp even

closer and a short drive from camp.

Study your maps for similarities. Panther is so

obvious, it gets fished hard by every tournament

fisherman and weekend warrior. The lake is huge,

there are unlimited options!

8-)

[electrikal]

Pitchinkid - yes, I have plans to be there several days. I'm only about 60 miles from Pickwick Lodge so I not sure if I'll stay - hate to miss out on the fun though! I may bring a tent and stay a few days especially Weds. night. Looking forward to seeing some faces from Guntersville & meeting a few more members.

Rick 

[SMfisher]

as of right now looks like i won't be able to make this years road trip. was trying to get things worked out but is not looking good, i'll keep trying till the last day to sign up.

[roadwarrior]

I'm practicing tonight.

8-)

[Long Mike]

Just a reminder for those of you contemplating the road trip.  On March15 the rooms we have blocked for the attendees will be released to to the general public.

[Long Mike]

Here are my thoughts.  Despite all of the great intentions of many of the members, only nine of you have officially signed up (excluding us Coordinators and Moderators.)  As far as I am concerned, the Official road trip is in great danger of being scuttled due to lack of commitment.  I haven't spoken with Glenn about this yet, and this only my personal opinion.  Guys and Gals, either crap or get off the pot.  If I don't receive at least twenty more sign-ups by March 15th I'm going to recommend to Glenn that we abort the road trip for this year. Glenn, feel free to correct me if my assumptions are wrong.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Wow, that sounds like jumping the gun just a bit Mike.

I know there are four or five people (WV and PA contingent) with reservations rooming together that are not on the list. I am sure there are more...

[Jimzee]

Mike, I'll send my registration to you right away.  I agree with Wayne, I think you will see quite a few people sending their info in over the next couple weeks.

[firefightn15]

Jimzee and Speed, you guys better make it, I left a special package with Mike for ya'll to try!

[cart7t]

I had no idea my public announcement would cause such an apathetic reaction to the road trip by the membership.

To all potential Road trip attendee's. While I'm very sorry I can't attend, which is probably the reason for you wanting to change your plans.

(who can blame you)

There is possibly going to be this guy, Kevin Van Dam, who might make an appearance along with a couple other of those Elite pro guys. While I understand that barely makes up for the heartbreak you've suffered learning of my non-attendance, please give those pro's a chance. Some of them know a few things about fishing you can learn from them that I might not know.

Besides, if the trip gets cancelled, Mike gets stuck back at home ducking his wife's honey do list for a week.

[Pitchinkid]

we'll be there mike. quit sweating it so much. Procrastination runs ramped in this group.

[the donkk]

My registration will be in the mail on monday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. 

[Long Mike]

What you folks don't know is that there are two more large groups who will be holding tournaments out of the park at the same time we will be there.  I'm getting pressure from the park folks to firm up the number of people we will have attending so they can allocate meeting rooms, dining arrangements, etc.  Normally, I procrastinate with the best of them.  Just ask my wife about my honey-do list.  However, in this case it's beginning to work against all of us.

[cart7t]

Meeting rooms?  Dining arrangments?? 

Sounds so hoity-toity.

Mike, I've got a 55 gallon burn barrel at the house if you want to pick it up on the way down for use in a pinch.  Some firewood you can cut on the grounds along with a bunch of beer from the gas station/liquor store RW said you can crawl to in an emergency and I think you're set.   

[Long Mike]

Glen, this ain't my dog and pony show. I'm just the poor sap who is trying to make sure that everything goes right for the attendees, the sponsors, and the Pros, should they choose to show up. The sponsors and the Pros will ask Glenn "How many people will be there?" At this point, Glenn can only guarantee nine people, plus his volunteer crew. If you were a sponsor or a Pro would you spend any time, energy, or money to attend such a function? I wouldn't.

So, it boils down to two options. We either have a good turn-out, say fifty people minimum, or we abort the mission as an official Road Trip. Those who still want to attend are welcome to do so, but everyone will be on their own.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Just my opinion, but this is going to set a terrible precedent for future Road Trips.

The previous ones were never about numbers....  :'(

[cart7t]

Glen, this ain't my dog and pony show. I'm just the poor sap who is trying to make sure that everything goes right for the attendees, the sponsors, and the Pros, should they choose to show up. The sponsors and the Pros will ask Glenn "Is that cart7/Glen guy going to be there and if not, How many people will be there?" At this point, Glenn can only guarantee nine people, plus his volunteer crew. If you were a sponsor or a Pro would you spend any time, energy, or money to attend such a function if you weren't going to be there? I wouldn't.

So, it boils down to two options. We either have a good turn-out, say fifty people minimum, or we abort the mission as an official Road Trip. Those who still want to attend are welcome to do so, but everyone will be on their own.

Fixed it for you.

Seriously. Even if 20 some odd folks show up and it's not enough for KVD or another pro to show up for, who cares? Are these RT's about forum members getting together on quality lakes and trying to catch some fish or are they about get aways to higher quality lodges/resorts with meeting rooms, banquet facilities and getting some "names" to show up?

Honestly, I would love to be there and who'd have guessed way last year when I originally committed to go that my wife would still be unemployed all these months later making it impossible for me to go financially.

Hope this all turns out for the good, hate to see these things end because they're not increasing in size every year.

[Glenn]

Let me set the record straight on this - nobody is talking about ending anything.  At least not me.  And since I make the final decision, you can bank on that.

That said, the reality is we're most likely going to have to scale way back this year, unless Mike suddenly gets a windfall of paid registrations in his mailbox by March 15th.

As it stands, there's not that many people going, and a good chunk of them can only stay a few days.  This means there's just not enough numbers to justify the giveaways, raffles, speakers, banquet, etc. 

So it wouldn't mean we're "cancelling" the event.  We'd just be scaling back. The plus side is that your $50 registration would be refunded.

Again, that's the writing on the wall as it stands today.  If we suddenly get about 20 people registered, things will change.  Promises to attend don't mean anything.  A paid registration in Mike's hand is the only thing that counts.  So if you're planning on attending, get that registration to him by March 15th!  8-)

Understand the reduced attendance in in no way a reflection on the quality of the event, or an indication of lack-of-interest.  It's quite the opposite, actually.  But the reality is, the economy has hit everyone hard, and a trip like this just isn't feasible for many people this year.  But we still want it to be a fun time for those that can attend.

So that means we scale it back this year, and shoot to bring it back into full swing next year.

Hope that helps!

Glenn