:-*I know some like to make plans early, so we are going to use Country Inn & Suites in Menona as our QJ motel. We will reserve meeting room as we have the past couple of years for Friday and Saturday evenings. We will plan our usual meet n greet beginning at 3 pm on Friday, and morphing into Pizza Friday evening. We will have our annual BBQ dinner on Saturday. This is a great opportunity to connect with fellow QJERS and to plan or retell trip stories. 8-) Maps are always welcome. If you haven’t been to one of our gatherings, they are the secret highlight of Copia.

To reserve a room, please call them directly at: (608) 221-0055
Request the ‘Canoecopia ‘ rate of $115 per room per night. Breakfast and WiFi are included, and breakfast is another great time to connect. Up to 4 persons can share a room, which makes this a great deal. It sure is nice to not have to drive somewhere to eat and meet. It’s all right here.  8-)

This thread can be used to connect if you want to share a room. I’m not a matchmaker,  ;D so I suggest PM or email once a connection is made. :D

If you are planning to come to our annual Voyagers Rendezvous, please post your plans here. 8-)

OS,

I am planning on being there and will book a room.  I plan on attending the Friday gathering, but will be meeting with friends from Ely for dinner Saturday and will join the group after dinner.  I'll try to scare up some Leinie's again.  Thanks for organizing this and I'm happy to help out if you need.

pd

I will make it for Sat and Sunday at the show. I'll be there for the BBQ dinner on Sat too.  Looking forward to it. :)

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Copia 2018.

Where has the year gone. I will be there on Friday and Saturday and leaving on Sunday morning. I already booked my room at the Country Inn Menona.

I will be there for the Sat. evening meal.

Last year at Copia was my first sit down with the group in the O.S. meeting room.  Very enjoyable time well spent.  I and at least one friend will be at the show again Friday evening and Saturday morning.  If the group Bull Session will be recurring again prior to the 4:00 PM show opening I would be happy to attend and donate to the food fund.

Kind Regards,

MossBack

Be there. Getting in Friday. Leaving Sunday AM. Anybody needs to split a room, post here.

FWIW I just made room reservation at Hampton In Madison West - $84/night - $192 all in.  I almost went to the Hilton downtown - as low as $119/night which is very low for this really nice property.  (I am in Madison a lot recently for business and am a loyal Hilton Honors member - thus the Hampton - its all about points! :)  )

I'm a solo guy even in hotel rooms as I'm a light sleeping introvert who snores.  You get the picture.  Anyway, I got $75 for a queen bed and comp breakfast at AmericInn not far from the convention for Sat. night only.

I  just registered at Rutabaga.  Kind of strange.  Big print $15.  Big print $2 off early registration.  Pull down and pick 3 days - "+$10.00" in  very tiny print - which I completely missed at first.  Equally tiny print $1 for Josh Kestelman Scholarship Fund,  (I'm not good at resisting charity requests - especially tiny ones.) I go to check out and its $24.  Took me a while.

Called and they said they know the software is confusing and all new is to be launched in a few days.  So now you can buy with old familiar but odd software or wait and risk being caught by new system  glitches.  Perils of the online purchasing world we now live in.

Some days I'd like to return to pencil and mylar drafting, first class mail, and long distance calls that cost money so people plan and organize before calling.

Wrist bands arrived! Yeah!

Copia information is now live online.   (You need to Login or Register

Don't for get to sign up for dinner, in that thread! 8-)

I’ve been checking out the presentations. It looks like there is a lot to like. Having been to other Copia shows that had very little for Q and other wilderness paddlers, this one has enough that I may stay over for Sunday. Check it out. I’m looking forward to seeing you at Copia this year! 8-)

It's looking like a good number of QJers will be at Copia again this year. Some of the "regular attendees" have not posted yet. If you are planning to come, don't forget to make reservations, and we will have a great time. Meet 'n Greet starts Friday at 3pm and runs through evening. We will be in the QJ room until 10pm or so, so when you arrive, come check us out. New this year, we will have a Quetico map on a board for discussing or planning your Q trips. Also, I will have some free Alaska travel information available for those looking to explore the Last Frontier. Less than a month to go. It will be here before you know it. Kudos to MuleLars, Wally 13 and Portage Dog for their assistance in planning and preparation. Don't forget to sign up for the best BBQ in Madtown on Saturday night. Bring your maps as we have the best Q information on the planet gathered in our room. We'll be glad to show you which lakes are fished out so you don't waste time or effort.  ;) ;D 8-)

BillConner wrote on Jan 21^st, 2018 at 12:07pm:

Wrist bands arrived! Yeah!

Just received mine as well. Hotel (Country Inn) is locked down as well. See you all that Friday.

Veggie-like option on that barbeque meal?

HighnDry wrote on Feb 13^th, 2018 at 4:31am:

Veggie-like option on that barbeque meal?

Yes, the sides are corn, baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad. Turkey is one of the meats. 8-)

I plan on attending

Old Salt wrote on Feb 13^th, 2018 at 4:52am:

HighnDry wrote on Feb 13th, 2018 at 4:31am: Veggie-like option on that barbeque meal? Yes, the sides are corn, baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad. Turkey is one of the meats. 8-)

Awesome. Thanks to you and your brothers-in-arms who have set this up for us!

I will have some selected back issues of the BWJ available for sale for $1 each. I do not yet know which ones will be available, but will post when I have it figured out. Most are from the ‘90’s. They will be available in the QJ meeting room or by specific arrangement. Thanks  8-)

I got my BWJ issues sorted, and yes, before anyone points out the obvious, I have BWJ issues and issues with BWJ. ;D
Here is what I will bring to Copia. I’m not interested in shipping, so unless you are in SE Minnesota or will be at Copia, don’t reserve anything. Anything remaining will be offered at the Spring Outdoor Expo in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 28.

I have some photocopies of favorites articles from the following issues. These are Free, first come...
Spr 89, Sum 89, sum 90, w 92, f 94, sp 95, sp 96, sp 99, w 00, w 01.

The available full issues are:
Spring 91-94; 97-98; 2000-03.
Summer 90; 92-99; 2001-03; 2015.
Fall 91-93; 95-98; 01-02; 13; 16.
Winter 91; 93-00; 02-03; 2 copies of 99.   8-)

If it’s not listed, it’s not available. You can reserve issues by posting here or by pm. Average conditions are good to excellent.  8-)

All issues are $1. each.

That was quick. The whole lot is gone. And no cracks about my ‘issues’. Sending them to Stew.  8-)

In doing some long overdue Spring cleaning, I have assembled a box of assorted outdoors, fishing, and paddling magazines that I have subscribed to over the years. Most of them are from the '80's, 90's, and early 2000's, up to about 2005. The vast majority of them are In-Fisherman, many from back in the days when the Lindner family started and owned the brand. Others include: Fishing Facts, Minnesota Sportsman, Canoe & Kayak, and a few others. I have not tried to sort or organize them, but I will bring the box to Copia and they will be available for you to look through in the QJ meeting room. I prefer to distribute them this way.

While gear has improved greatly over the years, the tactics, tackle, and fishing strategies and destinations still remain, and if you are looking to improve your fishing for your next canoe trip, the advice in these issues is still good today. 8-) ;)

I am NOT selling these issues, but if you value them, a donation to help defray the costs of room rental and craft beers for our QJ gatherings will be appreciated. Much of what I have learned about fishing came from studying these issues. They are FREE for the taking. 8-) I hope to see you at Copia! 8-)

I have been informed that the Country Inn & Suites where our festivities will be held is now a Radisson. Don’t know if the outside signs have been changed. Hopefully, no one will be too confused by the changes. There’s still room for you to join the fun. 8-)

Did we get an upgrade? Maybe they just really appreciate our business!

I think ‘Radisson’ may be the French word for ‘bring lots of cash’!  ;D ;)

The whole Radisson thing turned out to be a red herring. It’s still a Country Inn & Suites.

We had a great time together both Friday and Saturday evenings. We had lots of tripping tales and planning going on. Our own Wally 13 conducted an impromptu fishing seminar on his slow death rig. We met four new friends who paddled the Wood River Lakes system in Alaska. They are planning another epic voyage into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in NE Alaska. We had several first timers come and they all survived the occasion.
We welcomed back some who had missed a few years. It’s a great opportunity to put names to faces. Once again we had the best pizzas, BBQ, and brews in Madtown. We’re looking forward to our trips this year. QJERS plan some epic trips. 8-)

We had a great time at Copia again this year!

A round of applause to MuleLars for making the arrangements and bringing the brew. Others who contributed to thirst avoidance syndrome include Wally 13, portage dog, and Snowdog. Many helped with setup and tear down of our meeting room. 8-)
The spirit of helpfulness and cooperation was awesome 😎. Thanks to all. We planned some epic trips. 8-)

Thanks Mulelars! Also, thanks to OS for his coordination. It was a good Copia and I appreciate wallee13's impromptu hands-on lindy rig demonstration. Marten also did a great job in sharing a wealth of information on Atikaki with me and others. Our "guest speakers" on Wood Tikchik state park in Alaska and their canoeing experience was a treat. Looking forward to the coming soft-water paddle season. I also saw a pink flamingo somewhere or maybe I was just hallucinating?

It's always great to see everyone here in our fair city!! It was a great gathering, and I look forward to seeing everyone next year!

The odd thing is, this year I saw three different people walking around 'Copia with signs that said, "Looking for a pink canoe sail". Guess Jimbo picked the wrong year to miss  ;D ;D :D

Seriously, I'm happy to be the point man here. Another great show, indeed.
ml

Thanks to all that added to the success. A correction: I mentioned that one of the Copia speakers stated Manitoba had put new restrictions barring passengers on planes with canoes tied on. Bluewater Aviation informed me they have heard nothing of such a new rule.

MuleLars wrote on Mar 11^th, 2018 at 6:24pm:

The odd thing is, this year I saw three different people walking around 'Copia with signs that said, "Looking for a pink canoe sail". Guess Jimbo picked the wrong year to miss  ;D ;D :D ml

MuleLars -

You should be happy to learn that the pink canoe sail found a new home.  For the past year it has resided in the store front of a Quetico-area outfitter, along with a lot of other "unusual" canoe-camping paraphernalia (though, usually "pink").  All "collector's items", someday, I'm sure.

FYI & I'm glad you guys had another good time!

Jimbo   8-)

Our meeting room was kind of a microcosm of Copia itself. On Saturday evening, there were at least three discussion groups happening simultaneously. Marten had a group discussing WCPP and Atikaki. We had another group discussing Alaska rivers and lakes, and Wally 13 teaching the slow death rig. You could participate in whatever conversation, or move from group to group. It was an awesome evening. 8-)

I couldn’t tell you how many canoe trips got planned over the weekend, but several did. Thanks to all who pitched in and helped. A little surprising that H & D was having visions of pink birds over the weekend, probably need to watch for symptoms of “too much fun syndrome.” ;D

Thanks for putting this together Old Scout and MuleLars!  It was nice to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones. 

I would like to thank Old Scout as well and Mule Lars for the awesome BBQ. 

It was a fun time and I have some pics of sat. evening on my phone but can't seem to figure how to post on here.  I can text them to someone with knowledge.  Send a PM with # if interested.

I also would like to thank Wally13 for the demo of the lindy slow death rig.  I'm definitely gonna get all the parts for this and give it a try in Sept.

Can someone tell the the name of those hollow 3 inch worms?  I should have taken pics of that stuff.

I expect either Old Scout or Old Slat should have the answer to that question, Tom T.  If neither of them know, you could always ask Old Salt, I suppose.  All three of those "Old" guys are top notch when it comes to identifying angling accessories.  They've been around a while....

Jimbo   8-)

Gulp 3 inch Killer Crawlers. 

I checked with Old Slats and Old Scout, and none of us can remember. We were likely involved with the Alaska discussion group at the time. There are several who make this bait. We advise sticking with known products, Gulp, big bite, kalins, chompers, and the like.

It can be a little tricky living with my selves. When my wife calls, ‘Rich’ we sometimes trip over our selves running to her. ;D

Old Salt  8-)

My thanks as well to Old Salt and MuleLars!   I had a wonderful time and learned much!  I guess not surprising how much we have in common.  Oh well, like they say.....great minds think alike.   ;)

I had a thought that I shared with a few of you.  If comfortable, it might be nice to sign out with a first name.  It would help memory challenged folks like myself put name to faces or at least "handles".

Heading up to do some "timber time" (to quote Bob B.) on Thursday for a week or so.   Warm weather coming.......

Spring is here
The grass is ris'
I wonder where
The flowers is?

Safe travels........Mike

That's not a bad idea mpeeples.  8-)
As you can see we SHORTEN handles too.

Since we have a MP, we'll have to think of something creative for you IF you don't mind.  ;) ;D

ST-NEAL

ST,

I like that idea, too.  Let's see... Jim-bo.  Yes, I think it works!

I'm not sure what we'd do with "Old Salty Slat Scout", though.

Jim-bo   8-)

Mike, my son in the Army has a facebook friend (also in the Army) named Mike Peebles.  I wonder if that person could be related?

Tom-T

;D If Prouty and Nanda can reinvent themselves...  ;D ::)

Rich 8-)

Is ST-Neal an abbreviation for Saint Neal?

Kind Regards,

MossBack Bob

MossBack wrote on Mar 14^th, 2018 at 1:05am:

Is ST-Neal an abbreviation for Saint Neal? Kind Regards, MossBack Bob

I've been called a lot of things but Saint wasn't one of them. ;) ;D ;D

For the new people, ST is short for SoloTripper

Tom T.....

I don't think we're related.  HOWEVER, when I did my e mail name of michael.peebles it was already taken.  Had to add a 1 in back of my name.  The number 1  was out of necessity not vanity  ;)

I do live in St. Peter.  Maybe I could change my name to Peter and then be........ ::)

Later........Mike

This has moved into a good topic!

Since it's been a solid 4 years since I've muled a pack across a portage -- and that likely won't be changing too soon -- I'm considering revising my handle to reflect my more sedate lifestyle  ::)

In the meantime, you can call me Scott  8-)

That's good news Marten re: planes with canoes and passengers!

Just getting back into home things since 'Copia and visiting family in WI.  It was a good show and great to catch up with old faces and new folks like MikeP.  Thanks OS, ML and all that contributed to the QJ happenings.  It's now serious canoe trip planning and prep time....just as soon as I shovel out of this 4" of white stuff in VA....jeez...welcome spring! 

Honoring MikeP's request,
portage

err.....Stew

I forgot who gave me the recipe for pudding (Nido and instant pudding) .....thinking it was Portage Dog.  Finally got around to making some prior to this years trip.  Outstanding! 
Thanks much!
Safe travels.......Mike :)

Excellent Mike!  Glad that worked out. Ask me about the crème brulee next.

pd