A shout out to CWater and others, THANK YOU!!

[G.Gordon]

I joined back in July 2011, just one month shy of my heart surgery. Knowing I was going to have to take some time off from fishing, I decided to stop lurking and join in the conversations. I asked in a thread about where to launch my kayak to be close to cover. At that time I had never even been to Bucksaw or up from there. All I knew of Truman was above and below the dam with a friend in his boat.

CWater suggested a location and as soon as I was recovered, I launched there and caught a limit from a blue Ascend D10 kayak. I repeated that situation day after day learning every piece of timber within paddle distance.

Then I started fishing with a friend out of his boat, taking it slow from Bucksaw to learn a trail, then he turned the boat over to me to use at will, then we parted company and I bought my own boat.

Seems like a decade ago and the feeling I get when heading up from Bucksaw is good and if I catch fish or not is not the goal now. Most of the time I try to learn still new areas, force myself to pass up where I caught them last week or yesterday.

I've fished in others boats and others have fished with me since then and there are truly some good people on here.

So, THANK YOU, CW and others for making me feel welcome and sharing your knowledge. What a great community of Crappie anglers.

[LSL Angler]

There are a lot of good people on here, one of being your self. I also have learned alot from being out with CDC members, Jared, Jamie, Kyle, Charlie, and Jim. Gordon took my brother out while we all fished the last day of spring camp and put us on some nice fish. I would suggest that you try to fish with other members because we all have our own special way to fish and you learn something from each one you fish with. Nothing but good people that i have met here.

[MontanaBoy]

Same story for me. I have met many great people from this site and been given the opportunity to learn some good fishing techniques and spots. Thanks Catman & CrappieKiller!

[Jigging15]

Gordon you have came a long way in a short time. Heck less than two years and we had you playing camp host. This a great site for learning more about crappie fishing. Lots of great people on here willing to help others out and not just with fishing. This MO group has pulled together when needed to help others out when they have been going through tough times or have been battling illness or recovering from accidents. Also I have met some people that I will now be lifelong friends with because of this site and fishing. Most of them I had never met until I got in the boat with them to go fishing or the other way around. Also lots of great memories from the camps through the years and all the great people that attend them each spring and fall. Speaking of camp Gordon when is fall camp?

[SlabGitR]

Hello Crappie members, I just wanted to chime in just for a minute and thank KCBrown for the time that he has spent teaching me how to fish for these elusive crappie. I met KCBrown through this forum first and at one of the Member meetings held at the Landing Restaurant in Liberty. My wife and I were only able to attend for about a half-hour during that meeting but we were able to meet KCBrown and his lovely wife. From the very beginning he and all of the other members made me feel welcome which really meant a lot to me. You see I am a Type 1 Diabetic on an Insulin pump. I had to stop working this year at 52 because of brittle hypoglycemia or what you may know as low blood-sugar. The wife really gets nervous when I want to go fishing so she encouraged me to find someone who enjoyed fishing as much as I do that I could go with and not be on the lake alone. I got rid of my bass boat and bought a Hobie Kayak in hopes that It would be safer for me to get on smaller bodies of water not too far from the bank. Little did I know that God would answer my prayers and bring Mr. Brown into my life. Gordon contacted me and invited me out to Truman to fish with him in our kayaks. What a trip. First of all we went to Windsor Point on Truman and paddled all the way across the lake to a cove that held crappie. Gordon moves through the water at a very good pace, I did all I could to keep up and keep him in sight. He started spider rigging from his Kayak which I had never even considered and immediately started catching fish. Although I was short of a limit when I got home I had a wonderful time and learned so much from him not too mentioned how happy the wife was to finally have some fresh crappie to eat. Just to think that I had just really met this guy and how he went out of his way to get me out and on the water almost brought tears to my eyes, all I could do was thank him. Just this past week he invited me out again to fish from his boat which I immediately accepted. The morning was slow, we only had two crappies at noon. I was just kidding when I mentioned to him that we should just go and catch some bluegills. Too my surprise he said lets go. So we proceeded to put away the bass boat, drive back to the city and go fishing in a HOA lake. Wow was all I could say when Gordon caught the first fish which was by far the biggest Red Ear Sunfish I had ever seen in my life it turned out to be almost 12 inches in length and it was just the first one. Then I finally got into one and another and another when we got tired we went back to his house and he sent me home with a whole mess of large bluegills and red ears. There was a total of 33 fish which I cleaned everyone of them. I do not know how to fillet, so I just did the best I could and the wife is still in disbelief. I look forward to learning how to fillet from my new friend. In the end it just goes to show you that there are a lot of really good people on this forum, Gordon is just an exceptional person and I really feel honored to know him and haven spent time with him on the water. Now I am looking forward to our next trip,
Crappie Camp next year, learning how to spider-rig from my kayak and sharing all of this with someone else like me who needs a little fishing companionship. Thank you so much Gordon for everything and all of your time. Keep your live well full and a line in the water.
Haywood "Woody" the Slabgitr.

[Jigging15]

Why wait until next year for crappie camp. Woody??? We will try and have another fall camp on Truman in October. We just need Gordon to be camp host and pick a weekend.

[G.Gordon]

A. Woody, I enjoyed our time together. Thanks for the companionship and the stories. Great times. B. I will probably never be able to attend a fall camp. Medicare's AEP or enrollment season is Oct 15-Dec7 meaning we are busy with certifications and clients from late Sept until December 15th with no time off and working Saturday to boot.

[Jigging15]

Dang we will have to find another sucker to be camp host. You learned quicker than I did Gordon as I did it several times. I also will be way to busy this year but would be willing to help someone else out.