I am just thinking about how great this site is, and the question of “How old is IDO?” came to mind. Which leads me to, “How did it finally come to the state it is in now?”. I realize the later question could probably be a novel. 
So no need to answer that question right now.
BTW thanks to everyone that keeps this site as great as it is. Members, Staff, Sponsors, James, ect, and the people that we don’t even know about!
Thanks,
FDR
i joined “fish the river” in 2001.
Been around since the FTR days myself. I have to say this place just keeps getting better and better. Love the hunting side as well.Its an ongoing part of my day and has been for a long time.Love to check the latest topics and see whats going on. Fun when the Vike fans start to whine 
all joking aside its a great site with more than just the typical fishing banter
So the original name of the site was “fish the river”?
I remember “Moving Waters”. I believe that was the name before FTR.
That’s when I first fished with James.
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So the original name of the site was “fish the river”?
Actually it wasn’t. If you can remember the first iteration of this site… you’ve been here a LONG time. And if you can remember my original username that means your member ID number is one of the early ones too. 
I’ll post up a little history later tonight.
Member # 5
Name James Holst
Title IDO Pro Staff & Admin
Total Posts 17925
Fish Bucks $346.26
Homepage http://www.in-depthangling.com
Registered on 04/30/01 02:06 PM
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I remember “Moving Waters”. I believe that was the name before FTR.
That’s when I first fished with James.
Bingo. My old guide site was “movingwaters.net.” This whole site, staff and now TV show sprang out of a guide site that installed a message board that would allow me to better communicate with my customers. It really is quite crazy when you think about the growth path this site has taken over the years.
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if you can remember my original username that means your member ID number is one of the early ones too.
I’ll post up a little history later tonight.
H2O ??
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H2O ??
Secret Code name for…… well then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. 
I still have my FTR hat.Getting old as dirt now.
[quoteI’ll post up a little history later tonight.
Thanks James!
FDR
More specifically it was
~H2O~
Remember “EFN” the Electronic Fishing Network? Often referred to as that “F’n” website!! 
-J.
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More specifically it was
~H2O~
Remember “EFN” the Electronic Fishing Network?
-J.
Dang it Jordan. I thought I would get the cookie for a prize!!
It was fish the river when I joined and it was the only place you could learn about chasing big cats I could find. I find other fishing sites are too full of BS to visit daily. I’ve met and fished with maybe 20 members and I haven’t found a dud yet. One of my best friends I met on this site. Birds of a feather.. I remember when Brian joined and began his journey as a professional cat man. now you can’t shut him up.
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More specifically it was
~H2O~
Remember “EFN” the Electronic Fishing Network?
-J.
Ahh Man!! I was close… I cheated though.
You guy’s win, Back in 2000 I was only 13yrs old and probably didn’t care about surfing the internet looking though fishing forums… 
My guess is March of 2000 is when it was all started, Look’s like that’s when Mr IDO started as ProStaff 
Stumbled across this Moving Waters picture page: Moving Waters picture page
I still have the FTR sticker on my boat. And my FTR hat.
Funny… I was just looking at the back of my brothers boat this weekend… Has a EFN decal, FTR Decal and IDO decal…. When I joined, I believe it was Fish The Lake ???
big G 
I still have a few FTR stickers around that havent been used yet. Think there is even a combo pack of ring worms on the self signed by James at the sports show years ago when they where being promoted threw Gander.
G:
Fish the lake was an offshoot of FTR. I joined in ’02 after watching James fish with some dude on the River on tv. I was so intrigued about it as I had friends who lived near the river and always knew it would be a great place to learn more about. I went to school in NE Iowa and targeted LaX as a place to live, just got lucky and found a different slice of heaven. I tip my EFN hat to James and the Gang. As it has grown, we have lost some and it is too bad, but it is still a great site!!! Still wish I could make a gathering!!!
I was on here when it was FTR, then spent a lot of time on a few trapping sites. Fishing has been regaining my peak interest over the last couple years, so i have been hanging out here the majority of time.
I’m wondering how many regerstered users there currently are? I compare this site to Paul Dobbin’s site Trapperman.com I was there back in the beginning when it was only a hand full of guys on a dinosuar of a bulletin board. Now, its grown to be one of the primary sites for trapping. As of tonight they are at “Member #12,424” That doesn’t count all the deleted users that came and deleted their profile.
Man, you guys are old I can barely remember yesterday!
If I could remember the old days it would be with James guiding 40 days in a row on Pool 4 in the Spring. If you got to Evert’s about 6:30AM he was always out prepping his boat and he was never too busy to give a guy a tip or 3 on what to try. I do vaguely remember having a snot nosed kid in tow and we could barely find the river much less catch a fish out of it. Thanks to the various generations of this site and one heck of a lot of great people that snot nose kid is a pretty good stick and I can at least find the river now
WOW I did realize I have been loitering around here this long, member #57, time flies when you are having fun.
I was originally w/ FTR. I heard off all the fish in Pool 2, but couldnt snag one most of the year. This site really helped me to get the patterns dialed in.
I joined back in ’03, and I think it was still FTR back then. I wanted to try fishing pool 4 and I think I saw James on a TV show so I booked a trip with him. I learned more than I expected and started spending time reading all the information here. Now, I visit the site daily and usually learn something new every day. Have met a lot of great guys on here and have even fished with a few and made some really good friends. My favorite part is telling people I’m going fishing with a guy I met on-line. Always results in that wtf look.
ME, just dont tell em you met at eharmony! 
Well gang I have not been a member here that long, but thought I’d take an opportunity to just to say how much I enjoy this web site and the folks here. It’s great to have a source that is not only local but regional as well. I make trips to Minnesota and Missouri during the year and can usually find helpful info here. 
.. Can’t say enough about James and what a great guy he is…he’s given me an opportunity to provide reports for Iowans and for those that want to fish here…
I hope that my outdoor career takes off in the same fashion, but if not, I still love writing and being out in this great country of ours.. Thanks James…!!!! 
I started when it when it was the old EFN FTR and FTL. My roommate actually found this site with some DUDE catching absolute pig walleyes night after night after night on Mille Lacs. I started to read his reports and the next fall tried to catch these fish. With one 14” fish in about 32 hours on the water from fishing many different miles of shoreline, I was devastated. I really started to dissect his present and past reports. James really used to keep his information to a minimal and he would give you a lil bit, but not very much info, but had you coming back for more with those pictures of PIGS. After starting to piece together 2 years of information on bottom content, speed, baits, Side of the lake, etc. my outings started to become a lil more rewarding and started to catch some nice fish on the East side rocks. Then after lurking on the site for a few years signed up on the site (Fish The Lake) and booked a trip with this Guy that caused me fits on how he would consistently boat not only monster fish but would have 40-60 fish nights pretty routinely. Man, what a decision that was. 
The information I soaked up like a sponge in that first trip with James was priceless and well worth the price of 5 trips and man did we catch fish. From then on I started to fish more, become more active on the site, meet other people like Chris Tuckner who also had this fall trolling thing dialed in and I started sharing boat time with him and James both. The time I spent in the boat with these guys, information would jus tsep into my lil pea brain at the same time I was creating great friendships. Also the likes of Steve Dezurik who basically started my passion and knowledge for the open water trolling and making me more well rounded fisherman on Mille Lacs. From there, the rest is history. The amount of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration that Tuck, Steve and James shared with me made me into the fisherman I am today and reinstated my passion for fishing. The way I feel they took me “underneath their wing” and taught me the fine points and all the little things and details that make the Fall and Open water bite up there so special is something that I will never forget. Thank you gents! 
When I first became Staff here, James and a wise old ugly Cat dude once told me, the more I put into this site the more will get out of it. You know what James & that old ugly cat guy was right, but they did not tell me that the return would be 10X of my investment! I often get asked if I visit other fishing websites, I reply by saying, “No why should I? This is the best place on the NET!
Thanks again guys and thank you James for giving us all this place we call home!
In my best Johnny Carson impression…
IDO is so old, Al Gore invented it before the internet.
Continue.
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I’m wondering how many regerstered users there currently are?
As of 8pm last night, there were 19,199 registered users.
-J.
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