Baby FMer GetTogether Postponed becuase of inclement weather

[Sandmannd]

So how many peeps do we think we have going?

[polarsusd81]

That is what I need to sit down and figure out. I am going to start out a little spreadsheet to get it somewhat figured out I think. It looks like quite a few though. My buddy Travis that I was telling you guys about while we were out on New Year's Eve is going to make the trek up and join us out there as well. He is also part of the big brothers big sisters group in Minneapolis and he is going to bring out his little brother from the group.

[BigWadeS]

Shane,

2 here, me and Maddison will be there

[Sandmannd]

That's awesome Tom, would be nice to have more big bros/sisters out there. I think that is a great program. Wade, will be fun to get the girls fishin' together.

[polarsusd81]

A quick check of the weather on the trusty interweb, is calling for a high of 13-15 for the day. It will be chilly, but the sun is supposed to be shining, and not too much wind. We will be out there for the warmest part of the day. Lets hope they update it with just a bit warmer temp as we get closer to the date. I think about 25 would be perfect, but we get what we get.

Tom

[Sandmannd]

Lets hope they keep it where it is. As wrong as they have been it should be 40 that way.

[Shack]

Count me in for 3-5 people.

I also posted this Sunday, but it had gotten lost, but count me in for a couple packs of dogs and a couple bags of buns. If you need more, let me know. Or if you have a case all ready sitting at home let me know.

Also Tom, if you want to make a post with what would be nice for us to help out with (bring), that would be helpful. I know about rods, tip ups and warming shack (I might have one to bring), but anything else let us know.

Thanks..

[polarsusd81]

Shackbash, Thanks for your help. I think I have the dogs and buns pretty well taken care of. I counted up all the people and put together a spreadsheet today during some down time and it looks like we have about 60 people confirmed. If we get 50 of those, we would be doing great. I have also planned for additional people to join up and check out what is going on from the area, and planning to bring about 150 dogs and buns out. Call me crazy, but I know most adults and bigger kids will eat two and the little ones will maul one. I made a shopping list and included the other essentials, the paper plates, cups, napkins, chips, juice, milk, water. I am not planning to provide soda, because it is for the kids.

It also sounds like we have a few donations coming from FM sponsors to hand out as door prizes to the kids... Way Cool!!!

I am going to bring out a card table to set food up on and will have a few garbage bags to throw trash in.

I definitely want to give a big thanks out to all the people that are helping out with the get together. It is a pretty good amount of work to get something like this going, but it will be worth it. I even have a few people that have told me they can't make it this year, but to let them know the date for next year as early as possible.

Another note, if you have wheelers or sleds, and are willing to bring them out to cruise to the spot on the lake from the public access, it would help alleviate some parking issues. I know quite a few people that will be bringing them, but not everyone has one. We are getting closer to announcing the exact spot of the get together, and I will get a lake map from the DNR and highlight areas for parking both for those with wheelers and sleds as well as those using the footmobiles.

Tom

[Sandmannd]

Hey Tom, I have a 5 foot buffet table. Let me know if you want me to bring it to use. It would have more room for everything than a card table. I'll bring my flip over to help with warmups and my auger for the hole drillin'. Let me know what else you need help with.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Yep.. going to be a blast... I got mad at the weather dude this morning on channel 4.. he has some cold temps in his forcast for that day!.. grrrrrr..

Anyway.. I already have in my hands well over 100 ice jigs from Outdoor Pro-Store to handout to the kiddies.. Jammin Jigs also gave me 20 free Fishing Rods to hand out. Frankies Bait is donating all the bait for the event!... Thanks to them as well... and if you stop by please be sure to thank them as well!

Thansk for all your hard work Tom D!

[polarsusd81]

We are going to have a blast. I went out this afternoon to check the spot out again...hehe...and we should be able to see some kids catch some fish. I fished for about 30 minutes, got 15 crappies and 2 nice gills. I put them all back with the intention of letting the kids pull them back up the hole. We have a good amount of ice out there, but I am hoping people wont drive out to the spot unless they are on a wheeler or sled. Big vehicles around all the little kids could be dangerous, so I think we can all understand that. I hope we get maybe an inch or two of snow before the get together because it was pretty slick walking out there. The warm temps last weekend melted all the snow and after it got cold again, it all froze up. There is not much for grip out there if you don't have some cleats on your boots.

Deitz, I stopped in and talked to them today after I was on the lake and it sounds like they have some pretty interesting things coming up for kids this year. They are also pretty stoked to be able to help out a bit with bait and such.

Tom

[polarsusd81]

I also went over to Fast Track this afternoon with Troy McLure, and we picked up a few HSO hats that we have been wanting for a while. I also got one of the beanies with the ice leaders logo on it. I think Hunter is ready to go.

He likes the Ice Leaders Beanie.

I will email all the guys that are helping out on Monday morning to try to coordinate a meeting place and time for all of us.

[rockman]

It was cool meeting you at Thorne Bros. on Wednesday evening for the seminar.I am going to say at this time that I am 'tentative' for your event, only because I may have to work that Saturday because of the Monday holiday.I will confirm if I gotta work by tomorrow, or Monday.If I am good to go,are you still looking to have use of a trailer? If so, let me know, and I will hook it up to the wheeler right at the landing.Looks like it will be a fun time.I may even get my teenagers to come along, but that remains to be seen. I am glad to help,anyway.

[hanson]

Hmmmm... I just may slide over your way on Saturday for moral support.

No kids here but I have a strong interest in fishing, hope you guys will accept me. Did I hear there was going to be food?

[polarsusd81]

Rock, if you can't make it, it wouldn't be a big deal, but would be nice to see you out there. My uncle is bringing his wheeler and trailer out there too, so we probably wouldn't need it, but if you do come out, it might not be a bad idea to bring the wheeler to alleviate parking for those using footmobiles.

Hanson, come on out. I am sure you will be able to catch some fish with us. We are going to have dogs and fixins along with some chips, juice, milk, water. It is always nice to have a few more FM guys out there. We just may have to make a trade, cause I am looking forward to fishing the cool cats for the first time this year.

[Sandmannd]

Hanson, come out out, would be nice to see you again. Anyone that wants to come out and help the kids and do a little fishing is welcome.

[rockman]

Looks like you got it covered with the trailer.That's allright,just looking to pitch in if you needed the help with it.It's still not official yet, but I may be available to stop by next Saturday.If not, have a great time, and I know you all will.Channel 9 just forecasted 5 degress for a high temp next Sat. Yikes! You guys definitely need to bring the Big Buddy heaters on that day!

[Sandmannd]

Yea, I hard it was gonna be cold. I hope they did as good a job forcasting that cold as they did the big snow storm we never got on Thursday this week.

[polarsusd81]

I am not liking the cold forecast. Talking with Deitz, we were thinking about postponing the get together til a warmer weekend, but there are a lot of people that are still planning to bring the little ones out. I will be out there no matter what, and I am sure quite a few others will as well. I kinda cheated and brought Hunter out on Saturday to see how he would do out there with the nice weather and all, and he had a blast. He caught his first fish on his rod with a little green genz worm and a little atom noodle. If it is cold, I am pretty sure most will only come out for a little while, and a 2 hour window isn't bad for that. I am getting ready to email all the people helping out to see if we can't figure out a time and place to meet on Saturday. I like Sandmannd's idea of maybe they just blew the call like they did the snow storm last week.

Anyway, here is Hunter with his first fish, and there will be a lot more of these pics to come after the get together. I really had a hard time going out before the get together with him, but we had my dad and uncle begging me to go out with them and they brought the two girls along so he had some other kids to play with.

[Sandmannd]

That's awesome Tom. Hope we have a good one on Saturday. The only thing that sucks if it's that cold is that we won't get to play on the ice as much. I was talking to Big Wad about bringing my portable so she can keep warm while we fish. Would be nice to be in the 20's so we could all be together on the ice. If you could move things around to postpone, might not be bad. But you never know about weather anyway. Up to you, I'm in either way.

[Shack]

I will come, even if it is cold outside. Let me know Tom if things are is going to change big time. But I am planning to go out no matter what (as long as it is not 30 below). I have been telling my wife and I am in the free and clear.

I cat fished (I guess) to much last summer and my wife has been telling me to work on the basement. Which I have been.

Click here to see what I have been doing.................

So, I am ready to get out and fish with the kids. I just hope it just works out! I will be there for sure.

[BigWadeS]

Hey Guys,

Right now with the current forecast I am on the fence about it, hopefully the weatherman, in this case Belinda Jensen is wrong for this weekend. If the high is below 10 above I probably wont head out but we will see come this weekend, it should be a great time.

[polarsusd81]

Hey guys and gals,

Sorry to have to say this, but in the best interest of the children involved, we are going to postpone the official get together due to the inclimate weather we are forecast to have this weekend. With it being so cold, we don't want to get kids sick or worse yet, frostbite. This get together is supposed to be about making sure the kids have a good time on the ice, and freezing them into little icicles is probably not the best impression to give them on their first trip out. We knew from the start that weather was going to be the biggest factor, so we chalk one up to mother nature this time, we will still get out there with them, and we will keep all the door prizes and other details the same, just a different date with some warmer weather.

Thanks for your understanding.

Tom

[Deitz Dittrich]

These events are about visiting, sharing information, and putting names to faces within the FM comunity. This just doesn't happen well when the temps are going to be so bad. I have talked to polarsusd through e-mail and said I would be willing to help get this going again once temps have settled down.. I suggest a date late in Feb or even early March. The only date I cant is feb 16-17(I'll be working the Duluth Sport Show.)

As Tom said.. Mother Nature wins round one.. it just means we will have to come at it harder in round 2.. LOL

[polarsusd81]

I am thinking the best possible date would be February 23rd, as we will still have good ice in the metro, not conflict with cool cats get together on the Horseshoe chain, and not conflict with a trip Troy McLure and I are taking to Lake of the Woods on March 7th through the 10th.

Let me know if that date works. I have already heard a lot of people say the 16 of February wont work well for them. Trust me, we all want Deitz to be there.

Forgot to mention, I will still be out there, in case anyone doesn't get the info.

[Sandmannd]

The bites, but the cold bites worse. It's a good call. These little guys and gals can't hold up to the cold and if it's -30 wind chill we'd all be in houses and not out having a good time like it was intended to be. If's you do it Feb 23rd I won't be able to make it as Big Wade and I are heading up to Red Lake. Other than that I'm open. But go with what works for everyone so we get as many kids out as possible. If I can't make it to this one, we'll have to do it next year. If you need anymore helpe reorganizing or anything, let me know what I can do.

[Shack]

Ya know, go figure. Last week (early) I would have never guessed it would be this cold during this weekend. I tell ya MN sure gets its fair share of ups and downs. I really stopped watching/listening to the weather about 4 years ago and have not turned back. I would have guessed it would have been to warm

Also you guys have a great point about the "get together" aspect. Not much of this gets done if everyone is in their shacks or head'in to the truck or car. I guess we will stay home. I might take my free pass and go to Medicine Lake on Sunday. Will see how far below zero it will get.

Thanks Tom for all your help and late Feb., pretty much is wide open, except for March 1st (Cool Cats). Lets us know!!

Good luck!