New and old Friends!

Yesterday in following a very long post, I reunited with a fellow that I haven’t talked to in a very long time…we haven’t made a fishing date yet…but we connected and it’s going to happen now….

Also, in ’03 I was spending about 4 days every couple months at our regional office that’s about 6 -7 hours from my home. I was always looking for fishing areas around there…couldn’t ever find anything…Yesterday in a private conversation, I found this fellow IDA member that not only lives close to the offices, but has been catching fantastic size muskies and small mouth…I saw the pictures!

I have to tell you, in the last two years that I’ve been a member of IDA I’ve made more friends, learned more about fishing (even my home waters) and have fished more new areas than I have ever thought possable.

The problem is that I don’t know who to thank…James and the IDA staff that facilitate the website or you folks that ARE IDA!

Now that I think about it, it’s kinda fitting around Thanksgiving.

Thanks James and the IDA Staff and thanks to all that make MY site the best most friendly most informative fishing (and other)site on the net!

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I have to tell you, in the last two years that I’ve been a member of IDA I’ve made more friends, learned more about fishing (even my home waters) and have fished more new areas than I have ever thought possable.

The problem is that I don’t know who to thank…James and the IDA staff that facilitate the website or you folks that ARE IDA!

Now that I think about it, it’s kinda fitting around Thanksgiving.

Thanks James and the IDA Staff and thanks to all that make MY site the best most friendly most informative fishing (and other) site on the net!

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Ditto.

I’ll second that Brian!

Right on, Brian!

Great site, great guys.

Everybody have a great Holiday and lets get some ice out there!

Rootski

In fact..I’ve made so many new friends…I can’t get out with all of them and still keep my job and wife happy!

Right Rootski? It’s going to be a long winter…well get out there!

Everybody have a good and safe Holiday

I’m looking forward to it, Pal!

It won’t be long now. All we need are a few nights of below zero temps and we’ll have some ice.

I agree with everyones comments about this site. It is GREAT. I have also made friends and try to hunt or fish with them as often as I can. I hope to meet a bunch more and fish or hunt with them also.

Thanks to all the IDA staff and all that contribute each and every day.

Ron

Agreed, Brian. As I’ve said in a different post, I have had more offers of an open seat this past year than in the previous 15 that I have lived here. Where you folks been all my life?

I have to thank James personally for turning me on to this website during conversation while I was on a guided trip with him. But goin back to the Fish the River, EFN, and now IDA, this is the BEST bunch of guys! PERIOD!

I agree with everything stated above.
Great site…great people and I have found some great friends here!!!

Agreed, I have met some great folks folks from here and had the pleasure with fishing them them, great site with great people and a wealth of info here.

Cattin_Addict

I CONCUR!!!!

In-Depth Angling is THE REASON I am so hooked on fishing . When I first started visting this site (waaaaay back in 2001) I was not nearly the fisher-person I am now……Sure, I fished every now and then, but mainly for stream trout and only when somebody invited me to go with them. And honestly, I really had know clue to what I was doing .

But after hearing about this site, I started visting on occasion just to read the fishing reports. Then I found the message boards and started reading the posts……and after a few months, I decided to register up….and that’s when my obsession really took off .

Because of this site I made my first trip to lake pepin in the spring of 2002 in a quest for some of those gaint walleyes I kept hearing about……..Boy were those first few trips humbling . The only way I knew how to catch a walleye was with a jig, and the only place I knew to fish was Camp Lacopolis. But after a full summer of exploring, and reading and asking questions here, I stared to get a hang of it. And now I’m to a point where I feel confident that I can go down to ANY part of the river at ANY time of year and catch fish. Whether it be walleye, bass, catfish or sheepies . I just can’t get enough.

My tackle box has increased in size 10 or more times, to the point were I don’t have enough room in the boat for all the different tackle boxes I have now. My rod count has gone from 2 too 13 . And as I keep reading and learning more techniques that I want to try, I’m sure my NEED for more equipment will continue to grow….actually, I see no end in sight (which is a good thing ).

Now I’m not going to say that my new found love of the river and fishing, which were directly related to my use of this site, were the “only” reasons I chose to come to college down here in winona, but I will say it was the MAIN reason !!!!

Because of this site, I joined walleye searchers in 2003. I’ve met quite a few great guys from the club, who are also on here. I made some good friend through the club and fish with a few of those guys quite often. If it wasn’t for this site I would have never even known such a club exsisted .

Heck…..more or less, because of this site, I got to work at a bait shop this summer!!! Can you say “Sweetest job EVER” .

And because of this site I have fished, hunted, or otherwise met dozens of great guys. Some of which I’m sure I’ll still be hangin out with 20+ years from now .

As strange (or sad) as it might sound, I guess I can truely say this site has changed/shaped my life over the last 3 years . The information shared and learned here is more valuable to me in my everyday life than anything I will ever read in a book.

So THANKS James…..and the rest of you who have made this site SO FREAKIN AWESOME!!!

very good “whippersnapper”!

I would like to say ”THANKS” to ”EVERYONE” for their part in posting and sharing here. Its everyone who makes this a great site. Thanks Everyone. Thanks, Bill

I like in-depthangling because its so darned informative. Weather your fishing for walleyes, kick [censored] smallmouths, catfish or what ever it seems this site covers it all with true and experienced accuracy coming from the anglers here at the site. If you’ve got a question on how to fix something or looking for bite information or wanting to hire one of the very good guides that know the miss this is the place. I’ve noticed that the people here can talk one to one with more of the neighbor language than hyped talk, thats more relaxing for me and others im sure. This site REALLY!! is a very entertaing and informative and the advice and ideas here are honest, who could ask for more! Im tring to get a couple of guys to come down and go bowhunting, pheasant or rabbit hunting next year. By the way THE RABBITS ARE JUST THICK THIS YEAR!

Happy Thanksgiving Jake
And you’re still a “whippersnapper”

I would have to agree that this site is a great way for me to speed up the “I gotta go fishing” adrenaline! Plus, it has been a great sourse of information and even new fishing items for me….thanks to everyone involved!

Yep! Still addicted here too!
Chris

well I am going to have to agree with everyone that spoken up here at this site. I also have to say that has been great for me to meet guys/gals that enjoy fishing and hunting as much as I do. I am also really happy to see the support and the energy put towards ARM to spark our loves and passions into the youth. I have met alot of people and have learned new ways to fish and has made me want to get out on the water even more. (but thanks to a broken boat, didn’t get water time this summer). so I hope that everyone has a safe and happy thanksgiving and also happy holidays. also I can’t wait for the ice to come in. got to get the ol fish house ready for that first day. oh by the way, I have room enough for someone that wants to go and spend the day watching a bobber in a little hole. ha ha ha.

thanks

shane

Jake! That was more eloquent than I’d have ever expected from you! Are you actually attending classes now? Just kiddin’!

I couldn’t agree more about the comments preceding my own words. I’ve spilt my enthusiams over this site many times before but I just never seem to tire of thanking those responsible for providing such an environment and complimenting the patrons that really breathe life into these threads!

Just last week I had the honor of sharing some river time with an IDA member and I’ll be sharing time again yet this week with another member! It may be fishing that brought us here but I honestly believe it’s the people that keep us here…. I really do! If I wanted only fishing lingo and articles……. there are hundreds of other resources in which to devote my time…… but life ………… yeah, life…….. That’s what I find here and it’s kinda like the Red Green Show…… “We’re (all) in this together”.

My hat tips to everyone…… that has been here all along, as well as those who may have just recently discovered it. I hope we all continue in the values that have made us such a great “family” for generations to come.

A first class site is going to attract first class people and there are no better people around than those on IDA.
Here is to continued growth on IDA so we can still yet meet more great people.
Ryan Hale

I’ll drink to that Ryan!

So would Jake…in a year or so…

I’ve never experienced anything quite like this site. Everyone is so open and honest that you get to know other people before you ever meet them. I have met several people from the site and they all were as nice in person as on the board. One other great thing about this site is that it is so family oriented. My fourteen year old is on here more than I am and it has so many good side effects. It helps him to work on his communication skills and keeps him interested in the “right” things in life(except for a growing interest in green carp). I have seen several others from the next generation making an apperance on here and I think that bodes well for our passion.

This site is full of people who love to fish and hunt and all willing to share what they know with each other. And everyone is willing to help someone with words and prayer when something bad had happened to them or their loved ones. We have ALL become one big family here and thats very special. You just don’t find that on any other sites. At least I have never noticed it anywhere else. We all belong and are all very important here and we all learn from each other. Thanks, Bill

I thought I would take a trip back in time to see what I was doing last year about this time…Come to find out, I’m doing the same thing now…as I did then…NoTHING!

It’s mind boggling when you realize how much fishing and other (not so important) info is in the back pages of IDA. I found directions to a secret hole…that I knew about..just didn’t know how to get there except by helicopter. Found some very funny posts from the likes of Putz, Catfishgirl, Kooty, Jake, Sandtrap, Sliderfishing…and the list goes on..and on. Found a few posts that made my eyes well up as read through them. I found that I STILL haven’t gone fishing with Rootski! Also that I was invited to go muskie fishing and didn’t see the post! (where’s the kick me in the butt graemlin!)

Found out that a few people left us, some to be in a better place, some that just disappeared. I found that our little fishing home within our home has multiplied many times over with new individuals that bring new experiances and knowledge.

What’s really amazing is, for the size of the community, I’ve never met a better bunch of people!

So I thought that I would bring this back up to the top…from the “bowels of IDA” because the same things hold true this year as last.

All I can say is WOW! what a year! Better than ’05 and not as good as ’06 is going to be!

Everyone slow down just a bit and look around you during the holidays. Enjoy the time with your family, friends and IDA family!

Merry Christmas!

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(where’s the kick me in the butt graemlin!)

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You asked for it!

I agree 100%….Looking back I have had some great times on the water with fellow IDA members. 1st off I got a chance to go fishing with my 4th grade teacher, who I don’t think I have seen in a lot of years, we just happened to bump into each other on IDA….We fished pool 4 last spring and it was great to spend some quality time with such a great person. I am looking forward to another trip…Small world TBO/MN . Then I got to spend some time with KOOTY fishing for muskies…Let me tell you this man is a riot to have in the boat, and you are more then welcome to join me anytime. Now that you will be up in Otsego I am sure that we will be able to find a weekend or two…I think the highlight for me was the ride in the riverpro with none other then the one and only Alvinmack5. We fished the upper miss near Brainerd and fishing was slow but with that kind of company in the boat it did not matter. So I agree with everyone else, this is a great site with a bunch of great people. Briank I am stil waiting for that big cat bite ….

ilbfishn Now I like that one

2005 for me was very bitter sweet. A lot of good, and a lot of bad. But all in all I had the time of my life with folks from this website! They (You!) are all there when things go bad, and you are damn sure there when things are good!
Thanks for everything!
Tuck