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. 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. 

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

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

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.

I will be there for the Sat. evening meal.

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

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.

Wrist bands arrived! Yeah!

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!

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


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

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


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

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


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

I got my BWJ issues sorted, and yes, before anyone points out the obvious, I have BWJ issues and issues with BWJ.
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.   

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. 

All issues are $1. each.

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.

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. I hope to see you at Copia!

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.”

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 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   

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.

Old Salt 

That's not a bad idea mpeeples. 
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. 

ST-NEAL

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

Is ST-Neal an abbreviation for Saint Neal?

Kind Regards,

MossBack Bob

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

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

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