2012 Cool Cats was a lot of fun!

[DTro]

We had a fun day out on the ice chasing kitties. For anyone who has not attended an HSO Get Together, you should give it a shot. It's a great way to meet new folks and and maybe learn about a new lake or tactic and maybe even check out some new gear. For example, just walking around yesterday I spied on the ice, an LX7, a Micro Vu camera, Otter Thermal Pro, Clam Twin Hub, Jason Mitchell Thermal shelter, Striker Ice Suit, SM Solo and IceGator augers, just to name a few.

Even though the fish were not very cooperative we had a great time. It surely made the fishing better than the catching, but as always we were able to scrounge up enough to provide Borch an opportunity to coat a handful of fresh fillets in his world famous beer batter for lunch. Included in that great lunch was also world famous chilli and beans. Not to mention some deep fried mac n cheese and catfish balls and TONS of other great stuff. Even fishing themed dessert!

Fishing was a little better right away in the morning and right off the bat a double!

Gordie was busy shuttling people all morning with his wheeler. Thanks Gordie!

and then HSO's own Rick and Joe showed up with a big surprise. A random drawing for a new Clam Twin Hub!! That was unexpected and thanks very much to Rick/Joe and HSO for donating that. We gathered around and waited for our number to be called.

The number was called, and it was Buzbunni. Here he is posing with his new house and setting it up right afterwards.

After that it was time to get fishing, and little by little our bucket of fish grew and more people filtered in. By lunch time, we had a large group and fresh fish frying in the hot oil. There are way too many people to thank for the food, so I will just say a big thanks to everyone! If anyone went home hungry, it's you own fault, because there was a TON of food

Here's some cool fishing themed cupcakes that BSG's girlfriend Summer made. Even fishing line! I did however have to question why the little fish didn't have whiskers. (kidding of course).

We named the event in honor of a lifetime contributor and attendee IceHouse Bob who sadly passed away not too long ago. Bob's beans were famous and he always had his "kitchen" set up and handed out shiny new forceps to anyone who asked. I thought about Bob several times during the day and wish he could have been there. I think he was there with us in spirit though. Someone printed out a few pics and had them set up in our buffet line. Very cool.

Back to fishing....

Nice to see the little guys get involved. Captain America??

Heck, I even got to fish a bit

We even had a big fish contest. Here is Brian "TOW" with his dandy 24"er that took home not only the title but also some nice prizes donated by Borch, Gordie and myself. Nice fish and congrats!

It was a long day and we all fished a bit into the afternoon and slowly people packed er up and headed home. Several of us remained out there until after dark and were rewarded with a few fish. The highlight of the evening was Buzbunni (living up to his tagline signature) laughing at himself after a little propane mishap. He also did an excellent job of keeping the Apple Pie company most of the night. I'm not sure which came first though?

As I was packing up and heading out, Andy came walking over with a kitty. Here is Powerstroke Andy with his first (and of course biggest ) cat.

Thanks again to everyone for coming and mostly to Borch for organizing/hosting and putting on such a great event! See Y'all next year.

[BSG]

I had an awesome time. Didn't catch a fish, but I had way more fun [PoorWordUsage]'ing all afternoon. As always, it's cool to put names with faces and all that stuff. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a annual thing for me.

Thanks everyone who participated and brought stuff to eat. Everything was wonderful.

[Gordie]

Here's a couple pics of Joey's Kitty. He worse than me

[Eric Wettschreck]

I've said it before and I'll stick to my guns.....iffin you've never been to an HSO get together you're really (I'm serious) missing out on good times.

Food- People bring their A-game.

Friends- Can't get any better.

Fishing- It never sucks.

Explosions- They happen.

Words can not describe how much fun Justine and I had on the ice with all yous guys yesterday. I only wish every day was as cool as Cool Cats.

[Borch]

I have so much fun just connecting to fellow HSOers that I hardly wet a line during this event. It's such a good time actually talking face to face with the folks we share our love for fishing and hunting with online with on the forums.

Like Eric said, "I've said it before and I'll stick to my guns.....iffin you've never been to an HSO get together you're really (I'm serious) missing out on good times."

There are still several great events scheduled targeting all kinds of fish species. I hope to see you there at one of them.

[T.O.W]

Thanks for the great time everyone. It was really nice to put some faces with the names. Thanks for the cool prizes for capturing the big fish, I was totally blown away with the goodies. I put some of it to good use today and took my Mom out to the hole and she caught a couple cats for the first time. Hope to see you all again on the ice soon.

[Eric_Kruger]

How did I miss this? lol Dang it, for some reason I was thinking it was next month lol

[Brad B]

How did I miss this? lol Dang it, for some reason I was thinking it was next month lol

normally it is the first saturday in March but Borch had to change it to the 14th of January instead of March this year.

[buzbunni]

Explosions- They happen.

Indeed they do my friend, indeed they do .

More on that later...

Thanks to all for the hard work put into this event. Haven't been to Cool Cats in a few years and it was better than ever. Great food, great people, lots of fishing talk (you can learn alot if you listen). Fun times.

Go to an HSO event sometime; you will be glad you did.

Thanks to all the cooks and bakers. I chowed until I was stuffed. Thanks for the generous prize donators. A special thanks to Rick for bringing a Twin Hub II for the Grand Prize. I NEVER win anything (can't say that any longer ), and so that was fun.

A few pics..

Yours Truly with the Twin Hub II. I caught a crappie in it, and so the initiation is complete

Chili and beans (perhaps that was the cause of the explosion in my shelter???)

Justine manning the burners and working hard so that lazy people like me can have a great time. Thanks for your help Justine!

My friend Kraig's first ever cat on his 2nd ever hardwater excursion. Might have won big fish? And no, I didn't lose it down the hole while cleaning the blood off. No I didn't. I could never do that. I would never do that. Who would do that to a good friend!? Sheesh! (I feel sick).

Borch workin his magic.

Patience rewards those who wait. SO GOOD!

This is how a propane lantern is supposed to work

Why does my shack smell like burned beard and fishing line?

[buzbunni]

Forgot to mention the explosion.

It was a dark and stormy night....

Wait, that's been used before.

Ah. Just tell it.

So, long about dusk I decided I would fire up the single mantle coleman lantern. I do have a couple of Frabill lights in the shelter, but I kinda dig the warmth (and warm light) that the lantern affords. I had a portable buddy with a one pound tank installed running in the shelter at the time.

I pull out the lantern and a fresh new coleman 1 lb. tank and begin to screw it into the lantern. It appears that the threads are gaining proper purchase, but never-the-less, a bunch of propane leaks out while I'm trying to screw the tank on.

I try this 3 more times.

Just as I'm giving it a go for a 4th time I think to myself: "time to give up on this tank and air out the shack a bit before I try again with another tank."

Too late.

WHOOSH. Or BOOM. Or whatever. The floor of the shelter is in flames.

Takes me a moment to realize what is going on. Just as I'm about to flip open the shack the flames extinguish.

I hear Dtro and everybody else holler, "what was that?"

I reply, "you heard that?"

They, "yeah we heard that. It was loud as heck".

I unzip the shelter and throw out the propane bottle (like it's going to help at this point) and step out of the shelter.

My buddy Kraig calls out to me, "My line isn't attached to the rod any longer!"

All 3 rods had the line burned off of them.

Back in the shelter I go.

Dtro comes over. I unzip the shelter and he says, "yeah, I can smell something burned in there."

Probably a bit of my beard along with the fishing line.

Scary, and pretty dumb on my part.

Thankful that I will have a chance to apply a lesson learned.

Take from this tale what you will, and don't make the same mistake I did.

I quote Del yet again: "We can laugh about it now, we're allright."

Epilogue: It appears that there was a faulty something on that one pound tank. It was not cross threaded, but something was causing it to leak.

[mncountryboy92]

[img:center]http me with my first cat was only about 2 1/2 pounds got it one Swedish pimple with single hook(dont like treble hooks on them since cant use live bait on them )with live fathead and bobber

[Stick in Mud]

Glad to hear you guys had fun. I'm terribly bummed out I missed it...woke up that morning with a terrible sore throat and decided it'd be wise to stay home.

What's everyone doing next weekend?!?

[Brad B]

Buzbunni,

did this happen in the new clam or was it a different house. atleast you are okay and didn't get hurt. how bad did the shack get burned(if at all). any pics.

[Modern Ice Angler]

Well those two ugly son of a guns who caught the double at the top of dtro's post sure had a good time! LOL.

Much thanks to everyone who put this together, brought food and had a fun attitude. It was my first HSO event and I must admit it was a great time. The fish could definitely could have been more accommodating, but such is life as an angler!

Loved the conversation and talking some fishing and a bunch of other topics, definitely a bunch of good guys and gals. I hope to make this a yearly spot on the calendar.

Thanks to the event I have a new signature statement in honor of Eric's comments at the event.

Thanks again everyone, we had a blast!

[dan z]

looks like a blast, the explosion topped it off, it aint no cat gathering if nothin goes boom.

[DTro]

Heres a video I did...and yes I say jimmy but I meant lenny. Same thing anyways

More videos at HSOshow.com